How many Sold signs?

[powayseller]

I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed the lack of SOLD signs. I saw 1 all winter, and now a second one appeared. So that makes 2 Sold signs all winter, in an area that’s usually littered with them.

The anecdotal evidence precedes the release of the data, which is 2 months lagging.

Any comments?

[speaker]

i live in N. county and my condo complex is 0.5 miles from the beach. when i moved here last november, there was only one unit for sale and it sold last month. since then,there are 7 units for sale.

very curious pattern indeed.

“End of line.”

[lindismith]

Curiously I noticed 1 recently here in Hillcrest. But it was the first one in ages! It was on the same block as a trio of others who were on the market for at least 5 months. The trio owner must have finally just stopped trying because the For Sale signs on his lots are gone.

[NotARocketScientist]

A friend who works in a local sign company reports the following anecdotal information:

-Starting in August 2005 they began rehabbing “Sold” signs to read “Price Reduced”

-Starting December 2005 the begin replacing their inventory of “Taking Backup Offers” and “View Lot” signs with “Drastic Reduction” and “Foreclosure”

They have been working 14 hour days since January and the signs are stored in an undisclosed warehouse location in North County ready for immediate installation by crack signing teams as required on three hours notice.

As a side note, I have been told they are taking massive orders for “3”s and “4”s from gasoline retailers, and “Closed Due to Bank Holiday” banners from anonymous third party buyers but that is a different story…

[powayseller]

What different story?

[sdduuuude]

I would definitely say those are SIGNS of a slowdown?

Fascinating how economies work, isn’t it – all tied together like that? By monitoring Uhaul and Sign companies, we can perceive the future of real estate.

Nice detective work!

[powayseller]

My husband used to work at Corporate U-haul in Phoenix, and he told me 2 interesting things: first, they make more money on the insurance you buy for your rental truck than they make on the rental of the truck, and second, that they fare better during economic downturns. During recessions, rentals and storage places make more money. U-haul is privately owned, so you can’t buy stock in it. I just checked the stock price for 3 public storage facilities (PSA, SSS, EXR), and the P/E ratio is 42, 29, and n/a, respectively ($16 for a company that lost 16cents per share). No good buys there…

Some others have written about the higher fees U-haul charges for rentals out of SD, and this shows the trend of people leaving SD.

The internet is sure making it easier for all of us to know the inside story.

The Sign information was fascinating. Why are they storing the signs at an undisclosed location? Who is ordering the Foreclosure signs?

[Jim Brubaker]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a forclosure sign or Drasticly Reduced sign hanging from a realtors sign. I can’t think of a better way to piss off a seller.

That doesn’t mean you won’t see Forclosure or Bank Sale or Trustee Auction 8×10 paper, stapled to the garage door. “Drastically reduced” in a newspaper ad bring in an up call or two an hour.

Why keep them at a secret location ready to install with 4 hour notice? Most realtors won’t even splurge the $4.50 for the circular box for flyers to hang from the sign.

You can’t tell the truth in real estate thats why you have words like “fixerupper” (real dump). “Motivated Seller” means the lender has a gun to his head/forclosure/soon to be REO/Short sale

[NotARocketScientist]

Man, I owe everybody here a big apology.

This is what I learned today: my smart-alecky sense of humor works better at a dinner party where my wife can punch my shoulder and say “shut up” when I make a stupid joke than on a website post where friends are willing to take my words at face value and give me the benefit of the doubt.

What I’m trying to say is, the business about the secret signage warehouse and the bank holiday and the 4 dollar gas — it was me trying to be funny. But my wife wasn’t there to punch my shoulder.

Powayseller, Jim, sdduuuude — I’ve learned a lot from you guys over the months and didn’t mean to deceive. Sorry for the misdirected joke. I’ll do a better job policing myself in the future.

Apologies, NotARocketScientistOrABrainSurgeon

[rankandfile]

Very funny notarocket scientist!

I’m glad I didn’t bite. Back to the topic, here in the La Costa area the number of Home for Sale signs has been up for quite a while now. I think my wife and I counted something like 17 or 18 on La Costa Ave east of El Camino Real. 3 adjacent lots next to us have also recently put up for sale signs…something I haven’t seen for the past four years or so. “Let’s get out now!” the owner must be saying to her/himself.

Back to the monthly rent cost vs. monthly mortgage cost. I pay $1000 a month for a 2B/2B (and it’s gone up only $75 in the past 4 years). If I buy a similar size/age condo that’s selling up the street for $550k +/-, my monthly payment would be, I’m guessing, something like $2500; unless I went with some sort of fancy ARM or no-interest deal. At any rate, you get the point. I know that, in most cases, it’s more important to own than rent, but not when it costs 2.5x more to own. Maybe I’m missing something here.

[powayseller]

It’s okay…Hey, I was going to ask you about that story, because it did sound “off” when I thought about it later. Gas stations already have $3 signs from last fall, and why would a company go to the trouble of putting its inventory in an “undisclosed location”. I again read your post and our responses, and I had to laugh. Now that we all know it was a joke, it really is funny.

[powayseller]

rankandfile = Have you seen any SOLD signs?

[powayseller]

Interesting..have you seen any SOLD signs?

[rankandfile]

I don’t recall seeing many SOLD signs. I’m sure that a few units have turned over, but they are still there for the most part. If you don’t believe me, take a drive down La Costa Ave, East of El Camino Real sometime. They are also continuing to build quite a few new units, mostly in tract developments. I imagine this is pissing off the owners of the older homes that want to get out of the market ASAP.

My wife and I are reminded of this everytime we drive by here and we just shake our head. We keep telling ourselves that there’s no way we are going to buy in this market, with prices being the way that they are. It looks like a lot of others feel the same way.

[sdduuuude]

Ya Got Me.

This is probably how stories like “there is a housing shortage in San Diego” get started.

As long as Rich doesn’t post “I made all this data up,” I’ll be fine.

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