“mindless” observations

[lostkitty]

Finally made it out to SDiego for vacation. Interesting tidbits to share:

Friend that works at a Coronado realty office just quit and said that no one in her office had sold anything new in ‘months’ – she’s spending the summer contemplating a new career.

Coronado school fields are all torn up and hundreds of thousands of $$’s are being spent installing some sort of astro turf… meanwhile, a friend in administration at the elementary told me they took another $800,000 budget cut. they’ve taken so many cuts over the years – especially in the last five since we moved away, that there is nothing left to cut besides teacher pay. Pathetic.

A friend in Orange CA has her house on the market and has already built a new one elsewhere in the area. She and her husband are facing a deadline for closing with the builder but there are no buyers for their old house. They appraoched their realtor with the idea of lowering the price, and their realtor advised them AGAINST it!!! Realtor said, “the price is not the issue. It doesnt matter what the price is, the are just no buyers.” She told them to leave the price where it is and be patient. HA!

Otherwise… having a GREAT time running through these canyons, going to the beach and pools, and spending time with my family. Weather has been wonderful over here by the coast, but I keep hearing how hot it is inland.
I am sick of looking at the tail-end of other cars though…Cayenne, Expedition, Escalade, Cayenne, Navigator, Yukon, etc etc etc… (everyone looks prepared to drive through massive snowstorms with these giant vehicles – what a joke)the traffic is worse every summer, and frankly, I have never been so glad I moved to upstate NY.

PSeller, I have no email addresses with me, so please send me an email so i can get yours.

[mydogsarelazy]

Hello lostkitty,

Can I ramble too?

One of my sisters is a “hot” real estate agent in Los Angeles — she is a top seller with a limo at her disposal — and I have grown tired of her lavish claims and seemingly endless income. A few months back she purchased a condo in San Clemente for $530k as an investment/weekend place/possible flip and suddenly she is frantic in trying to rent the place. I guess her huge income stream may have become a trickle.

Another sister of mine and her “we can handle endless debt” husband put a down payment on a new home in Redlands some months back, and it is almost ready. Of course, they are now finding that their home in Menifee (“we can easily get $650k for it, we have already had offers…”) is going to take a long time to sell, and possibly at a much reduced price. My guess is that they are going to end up with practically no equity left and a huge new mortgage on their hands.

Isn’t it amazing that people just felt like the real estate market would keep going and going and going?

I sold a small vacation home in Pioneertown (yes the area of the recent fires) last year at an absurdly high price and cut our home mortgage in half. At the time I thought “amazing” and am so glad I sold when I did. A friend’s place burned to the ground, and you can’t get fire insurance in some desert areas, at least I couldn’t.

Vehicle-wise, it is the Hummers and huge jacked-up trucks that annoy me. They seem to say “conspicuous consumption is still cool.” Has it ever been?

JS
________________________________________________________
Not a real estate professional, just someone who follows the market
http://www.johnseed.com

[nla]

My sister is a nurse who visit clients at their home and one of her client resides in her daughter’s HUGE house in Bonita. The client daughter is a mortgage broker and she told my sister that she haven’t closed a deal in 3 months.

Some observations on my street:
1. One house has been on the market for about 4 months, original price listing is 975K, current asking price is 875K.
2. Another house (same floorplan) has been on the market for about 3 months. Original price listing is 975K. Changed agent few times, current asking price is 879K.
3. A bigger house (about 3,500 sqft) was just listed at 1.1M to 1.2M few weeks ago and was sold in a week (I saw the SOLD sign). This house has mucho upgrade and has bigger lot, pool, gazebo and a view.
4. There were other houses that went for sale but were taken off the market after several months. Either there were no offers or the seller were not getting the desired price.

Also several blocks from me is the Davidson new developmet (Atrium). When they opened, the houses are all 1M and above. Now, they’re selling in the high 900K and above.

BTW, I live in the newer neighborhood of Eastlake.

[hs]

Americans are proud of spending, not saving. They want to show they are rich, but in fact, they are not. They live in debt to have their luxury life.

[lostkitty]

“Thanks for sharing that and participating in this forum. I invite you to consider my point of view…”

The spending has become grotesque around here. Another old friend came over to visit and told me that her kids hardly have playdates anymore (they live in Rancho Santa Fe in and old family home) because classmates always come over and start making rude comments about their lack of pool, old house, old cars, etc. Their kids get invited to b-day parties and it is always limo, limo, limo… we both grew up here and can see how it has all changed. It has been upsetting for her as a mother, to say the least.

[SD Realtor]

mydogsarelazy –

One day I hope to be one of those topsellers with a limo at my disposal… for now though it is a nissan murano and I am the limo driver and my two kids are the passengers…

Yet more stories from people about Realtors that make me shake my head…

I had just typed up 3 paragraphs about a listing appt this morning that kind of ran parallel to this story but I deleted it because I don’t want to be thought of as self promoting… If you guys wanna hear the story I will post it. It involves my appt and what a Prudential agent (the prospects best friend) told my prospect.

NLS hang in there….

So when a Realtor tells you that you should not reprice your home, question why, and ask for comps (SOLDS preferrably) that will help you out. Also definitely try to look at expireds, cancelleds, and solds. Again, NLS I know it is frustrating when homes around yours sell… Try to have patience, perhaps ask your Realtor to send you the expireds, cancelleds, solds in your zip code that are comparable to your home to see if your current price is correct. Also have the Realtor do a full analysis for you. Many of the ratios and stats that John mentioned in some of his posts are good. See how many actives to pendings there are, etc… I know this will not accelerate your sale but it will give you a better idea of the market and your listings standing within that local spectrum.

Hope this helps…

[SD Realtor]

I meant NLA not NLS in my last posting. NLA hang in there, your home will sell.

[SD Realtor]

I meant NLA not NLS in my last posting. NLA hang in there, your home will sell.

[La Jolla Renter]

How about this one:

6 months into my 1 year lease… Aug 05, I was informed by my landlord that he was wanted to put the property up for sale. He purchase oct 04 for 1.3 million. I offered 1.4 no agent. (my rent was 3,400)

He went with and agent and listed it for 1.75M… finally sold for 1.43M 8 months later.

I figure with repairs, improvements, a $2 to $3k month negative, opportunity loss on $600k down payment, taxes, prepayment penalty, realestate commission of 5%… he lost $10k to $30k on his “La Jolla purchase in Oct 04 Sell March 06” investment.

I thought you could not lose in La Jolla realestate.

No hard feelings Mr. Landlord… thanks for rejecting my offer!!!

[waiting hawk]

“Of course, they are now finding that their home in Menifee (“we can easily get $650k for it, we have already had offers…”) is going to take a long time to sell,”

haha darn right. Tell them to check my site and after a few months of them trying to sell, I can ad them to the site if they would like 🙂

My website tracking Temecula and South Riverside County

[VCJIM]

HS, I notice a strong anti-American sentiment in your writings.

“Americans are proud of spending, not saving. They want to show they are rich, but in fact, they are not. They live in debt to have their luxury life.”

a) Not ALL Americans are as you think. Be careful of blanket statments about any race, religion, country or culture.
b) The garish display of wealth, whether real or false, is largely a southern California phenomena. If you travel to other parts of the US, it is not as prevalent, unless those pesky Southern Californians have moved in.
c) Realize that your sentiments are being read by thoughtful, caring people that largely do not represent what you find reprehensible. I think most of us believe as you do about saving, etc.
d) I assume you are here in the US. If you dislike it as much as your writings indicate, please leave.

[PerryChase]

VCJIM, I support your position except for the following:
” d) I assume you are here in the US. If you dislike it as much as your writings indicate, please leave.”

Just because people complain does not indicate they don’t like it here. They may like it here for many reasons. Maybe HS is making lots of money here? Who knows? Or HS is just a sensitive American bemoaning the state of social affairs.

I traveled extensively and I’ve met countless Americans who live in foreign countries yet complain non-stop. For example, I’ve heard Americans say that they despise Mexicans and their government, yet keep on living in Mexico because they can have a nice life for cheap. Likewise, I’ve heard Americans said that they hate China but keep on living there because they can make money in business. Americans take pictures of indigenous people when we travel. How would we feel if foreign tourists were pointing their cameras at us eating our hamburgers or shopping at Wal-Mart?

In an age of globalization, the world belongs to everyone and opportunity is everywhere. Everyone’s circumstance is different. And sometimes, criticism helps improve things.

I attended a seminar where Norman Schwarzkopf said that you have to listen to discent in order to know what’s wrong then fix it.

I think it’s also fun and self-revealing to laugh at yourself.

[ybc]

A friend of mine just bought a house (above $1M) after selling their older house. He said that he submitted a low-ball offer (about 80% of the higher end of the range, I believe), and it was accepted.

[VCJIM]

Perry,

I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve traveled extensively too, especially Asia. But I would (and do!) say the same thing to an American living in Taiwan and complaining about it….if you dislike it so much, why don’t you leave? I’m just saying, why live somewhere if you are so unhappy with it?

I encourage specific, thoughtful criticism; especially when it includes possible solutions. I do not care for blanket statements about “Americans” when many of my friends, family and colleagues (not to mention me!) do not fit HS’s profile.

[Anonymous]

VCIJM, why are you so sensitive about criticism of Americans or American culture? If you are such a world traveler you should be used to that. There is much to criticise about this country and that is everyone’s right, doesn’t mean they don’t want to live here.

[Author]

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