Realtors half-truths and full lies

[djc]

How can you compare the POS camry for 20K with the ultimate car, the 3,5,7 series. It starts at nearly 40K. Why would you live in Chula Vista when you can live in Carmel Valley?

Point is, most people can’t afford their houses in Carmel Valley, nor can they afford their leased 3 series, but they “bought” them anyway

SoCal has quite a few $30,000 millionaires, including the new receptionist and her BMW!

[raptorduck]

Well, I have historically thrown money at cars. They are my biggest vice. Years ago, I set aside a generous “car fund.” From that I would incur all my purchase and service obligatios for a car (not gas, car washes etc). My rule was that once I deplete it to zero, I have to be more modest in my purchases. I have never looked at a car as any sort of investment, but a big waste of money. I don’t gamble or have some other vice that is impractical. So for me it is cars. I never expect to make $$ on a car.

But as FLU sugests, sometimes there is an arbitrage opportunity there and I have been able to add to that car fund. 90% of cars I have sold I sold at a loss, of course. But others, I have actually made money on. And they range from a few beaters I bought while in grad school for $500 or so and then sold for just under $1,000 to my Ferrarri, Aston and E39 M5 which I owned for 4 months and then sold for $34k above MSRP, which was what I paid. I was patient enough to wait on the wait list for 3.5 yrs to get one. But at the time, every Silicon Valley .com millionaire had to have one, and I was happy to oblige and part with it for a nice profit. That will probably never happen again, but over the years, my car fund has not dropped as much as I thought it would.

As for realtors, give them a break. They have to make money. I get frustated with them like everybody else. They are not all snakes. Many are hard working family people who are our neighbors. I find as a buyer, that the selling agent is on my side more than the buyer agent, or so it seems to me sometimes anyway. The selling agent must churn inventory and so is (or should be) less concerned with getting the highest price relatively speaking than selling ASAP, particularly in this market. The buyer agent needs to get the best price for the best commission because once she is with you, she is with you until you buy.

I have been in the market long enough and toured enough homes to know that agents lie, and they lie a lot. But they are hungry, and in the end, it is your $$ and it is up to you to do your homework. I have had a stock broker for decades. He is the best. But I have never made a buy decision based on his advice. It has always been an investment on a company I researched and knew a lot about. Even my money managers have to have my investment philosophy.

Agents have to tell you the market is bottoming out and that there is a lot of buyer activity, their own lives depend on it. They would also be fuling the fire to unsettle prices if they speak in armagedon toung. They have to try to stabalize the market with rhetoric, it is their duty to.

[raptorduck]

Well, I have historically thrown money at cars. They are my biggest vice. Years ago, I set aside a generous “car fund.” From that I would incur all my purchase and service obligatios for a car (not gas, car washes etc). My rule was that once I deplete it to zero, I have to be more modest in my purchases. I have never looked at a car as any sort of investment, but a big waste of money. I don’t gamble or have some other vice that is impractical. So for me it is cars. I never expect to make $$ on a car.

But as FLU sugests, sometimes there is an arbitrage opportunity there and I have been able to add to that car fund. 90% of cars I have sold I sold at a loss, of course. But others, I have actually made money on. And they range from a few beaters I bought while in grad school for $500 or so and then sold for just under $1,000 to my Ferrarri, Aston and E39 M5 which I owned for 4 months and then sold for $34k above MSRP, which was what I paid. I was patient enough to wait on the wait list for 3.5 yrs to get one. But at the time, every Silicon Valley .com millionaire had to have one, and I was happy to oblige and part with it for a nice profit. That will probably never happen again, but over the years, my car fund has not dropped as much as I thought it would.

As for realtors, give them a break. They have to make money. I get frustated with them like everybody else. They are not all snakes. Many are hard working family people who are our neighbors. I find as a buyer, that the selling agent is on my side more than the buyer agent, or so it seems to me sometimes anyway. The selling agent must churn inventory and so is (or should be) less concerned with getting the highest price relatively speaking than selling ASAP, particularly in this market. The buyer agent needs to get the best price for the best commission because once she is with you, she is with you until you buy.

I have been in the market long enough and toured enough homes to know that agents lie, and they lie a lot. But they are hungry, and in the end, it is your $$ and it is up to you to do your homework. I have had a stock broker for decades. He is the best. But I have never made a buy decision based on his advice. It has always been an investment on a company I researched and knew a lot about. Even my money managers have to have my investment philosophy.

Agents have to tell you the market is bottoming out and that there is a lot of buyer activity, their own lives depend on it. They would also be fuling the fire to unsettle prices if they speak in armagedon toung. They have to try to stabalize the market with rhetoric, it is their duty to.

[raptorduck]

Well, I have historically thrown money at cars. They are my biggest vice. Years ago, I set aside a generous “car fund.” From that I would incur all my purchase and service obligatios for a car (not gas, car washes etc). My rule was that once I deplete it to zero, I have to be more modest in my purchases. I have never looked at a car as any sort of investment, but a big waste of money. I don’t gamble or have some other vice that is impractical. So for me it is cars. I never expect to make $$ on a car.

But as FLU sugests, sometimes there is an arbitrage opportunity there and I have been able to add to that car fund. 90% of cars I have sold I sold at a loss, of course. But others, I have actually made money on. And they range from a few beaters I bought while in grad school for $500 or so and then sold for just under $1,000 to my Ferrarri, Aston and E39 M5 which I owned for 4 months and then sold for $34k above MSRP, which was what I paid. I was patient enough to wait on the wait list for 3.5 yrs to get one. But at the time, every Silicon Valley .com millionaire had to have one, and I was happy to oblige and part with it for a nice profit. That will probably never happen again, but over the years, my car fund has not dropped as much as I thought it would.

As for realtors, give them a break. They have to make money. I get frustated with them like everybody else. They are not all snakes. Many are hard working family people who are our neighbors. I find as a buyer, that the selling agent is on my side more than the buyer agent, or so it seems to me sometimes anyway. The selling agent must churn inventory and so is (or should be) less concerned with getting the highest price relatively speaking than selling ASAP, particularly in this market. The buyer agent needs to get the best price for the best commission because once she is with you, she is with you until you buy.

I have been in the market long enough and toured enough homes to know that agents lie, and they lie a lot. But they are hungry, and in the end, it is your $$ and it is up to you to do your homework. I have had a stock broker for decades. He is the best. But I have never made a buy decision based on his advice. It has always been an investment on a company I researched and knew a lot about. Even my money managers have to have my investment philosophy.

Agents have to tell you the market is bottoming out and that there is a lot of buyer activity, their own lives depend on it. They would also be fuling the fire to unsettle prices if they speak in armagedon toung. They have to try to stabalize the market with rhetoric, it is their duty to.

[raptorduck]

Well, I have historically thrown money at cars. They are my biggest vice. Years ago, I set aside a generous “car fund.” From that I would incur all my purchase and service obligatios for a car (not gas, car washes etc). My rule was that once I deplete it to zero, I have to be more modest in my purchases. I have never looked at a car as any sort of investment, but a big waste of money. I don’t gamble or have some other vice that is impractical. So for me it is cars. I never expect to make $$ on a car.

But as FLU sugests, sometimes there is an arbitrage opportunity there and I have been able to add to that car fund. 90% of cars I have sold I sold at a loss, of course. But others, I have actually made money on. And they range from a few beaters I bought while in grad school for $500 or so and then sold for just under $1,000 to my Ferrarri, Aston and E39 M5 which I owned for 4 months and then sold for $34k above MSRP, which was what I paid. I was patient enough to wait on the wait list for 3.5 yrs to get one. But at the time, every Silicon Valley .com millionaire had to have one, and I was happy to oblige and part with it for a nice profit. That will probably never happen again, but over the years, my car fund has not dropped as much as I thought it would.

As for realtors, give them a break. They have to make money. I get frustated with them like everybody else. They are not all snakes. Many are hard working family people who are our neighbors. I find as a buyer, that the selling agent is on my side more than the buyer agent, or so it seems to me sometimes anyway. The selling agent must churn inventory and so is (or should be) less concerned with getting the highest price relatively speaking than selling ASAP, particularly in this market. The buyer agent needs to get the best price for the best commission because once she is with you, she is with you until you buy.

I have been in the market long enough and toured enough homes to know that agents lie, and they lie a lot. But they are hungry, and in the end, it is your $$ and it is up to you to do your homework. I have had a stock broker for decades. He is the best. But I have never made a buy decision based on his advice. It has always been an investment on a company I researched and knew a lot about. Even my money managers have to have my investment philosophy.

Agents have to tell you the market is bottoming out and that there is a lot of buyer activity, their own lives depend on it. They would also be fuling the fire to unsettle prices if they speak in armagedon toung. They have to try to stabalize the market with rhetoric, it is their duty to.

[raptorduck]

Well, I have historically thrown money at cars. They are my biggest vice. Years ago, I set aside a generous “car fund.” From that I would incur all my purchase and service obligatios for a car (not gas, car washes etc). My rule was that once I deplete it to zero, I have to be more modest in my purchases. I have never looked at a car as any sort of investment, but a big waste of money. I don’t gamble or have some other vice that is impractical. So for me it is cars. I never expect to make $$ on a car.

But as FLU sugests, sometimes there is an arbitrage opportunity there and I have been able to add to that car fund. 90% of cars I have sold I sold at a loss, of course. But others, I have actually made money on. And they range from a few beaters I bought while in grad school for $500 or so and then sold for just under $1,000 to my Ferrarri, Aston and E39 M5 which I owned for 4 months and then sold for $34k above MSRP, which was what I paid. I was patient enough to wait on the wait list for 3.5 yrs to get one. But at the time, every Silicon Valley .com millionaire had to have one, and I was happy to oblige and part with it for a nice profit. That will probably never happen again, but over the years, my car fund has not dropped as much as I thought it would.

As for realtors, give them a break. They have to make money. I get frustated with them like everybody else. They are not all snakes. Many are hard working family people who are our neighbors. I find as a buyer, that the selling agent is on my side more than the buyer agent, or so it seems to me sometimes anyway. The selling agent must churn inventory and so is (or should be) less concerned with getting the highest price relatively speaking than selling ASAP, particularly in this market. The buyer agent needs to get the best price for the best commission because once she is with you, she is with you until you buy.

I have been in the market long enough and toured enough homes to know that agents lie, and they lie a lot. But they are hungry, and in the end, it is your $$ and it is up to you to do your homework. I have had a stock broker for decades. He is the best. But I have never made a buy decision based on his advice. It has always been an investment on a company I researched and knew a lot about. Even my money managers have to have my investment philosophy.

Agents have to tell you the market is bottoming out and that there is a lot of buyer activity, their own lives depend on it. They would also be fuling the fire to unsettle prices if they speak in armagedon toung. They have to try to stabalize the market with rhetoric, it is their duty to.

[Coronita]

exactly. back on topic, it' about personal responsibility.

I have a friend who is a realtor and she's been in the business for 20 years.  She's not as quite as the rar rar as others, but if someone wants to buy a house, she's not going to say, now's not a good time to buy. Hello. If you walk into a store, would some salesman tell you wait till end of the month for the sale?  Plus, having a realtor (a good one) does help simplify things when you are looking or to give you a decent gauge of what is actually going on in the market. It's like having a lawyer. You probably hate them, until you realize you need them more than you thought (no offense to lawyers out there)

 

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

exactly. back on topic, it' about personal responsibility.

I have a friend who is a realtor and she's been in the business for 20 years.  She's not as quite as the rar rar as others, but if someone wants to buy a house, she's not going to say, now's not a good time to buy. Hello. If you walk into a store, would some salesman tell you wait till end of the month for the sale?  Plus, having a realtor (a good one) does help simplify things when you are looking or to give you a decent gauge of what is actually going on in the market. It's like having a lawyer. You probably hate them, until you realize you need them more than you thought (no offense to lawyers out there)

 

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

exactly. back on topic, it' about personal responsibility.

I have a friend who is a realtor and she's been in the business for 20 years.  She's not as quite as the rar rar as others, but if someone wants to buy a house, she's not going to say, now's not a good time to buy. Hello. If you walk into a store, would some salesman tell you wait till end of the month for the sale?  Plus, having a realtor (a good one) does help simplify things when you are looking or to give you a decent gauge of what is actually going on in the market. It's like having a lawyer. You probably hate them, until you realize you need them more than you thought (no offense to lawyers out there)

 

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

exactly. back on topic, it' about personal responsibility.

I have a friend who is a realtor and she's been in the business for 20 years.  She's not as quite as the rar rar as others, but if someone wants to buy a house, she's not going to say, now's not a good time to buy. Hello. If you walk into a store, would some salesman tell you wait till end of the month for the sale?  Plus, having a realtor (a good one) does help simplify things when you are looking or to give you a decent gauge of what is actually going on in the market. It's like having a lawyer. You probably hate them, until you realize you need them more than you thought (no offense to lawyers out there)

 

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

exactly. back on topic, it' about personal responsibility.

I have a friend who is a realtor and she's been in the business for 20 years.  She's not as quite as the rar rar as others, but if someone wants to buy a house, she's not going to say, now's not a good time to buy. Hello. If you walk into a store, would some salesman tell you wait till end of the month for the sale?  Plus, having a realtor (a good one) does help simplify things when you are looking or to give you a decent gauge of what is actually going on in the market. It's like having a lawyer. You probably hate them, until you realize you need them more than you thought (no offense to lawyers out there)

 

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Fearful]

A couple of points, since I originated this car thread:

This is not about personal responsibility. Yes, everyone has a personal responsibility to read the fine print and do their own due diligence. I am talking about the ethical obligation people have to tell the truth, especially when such large sums of money are at stake.

From a regulatory standpoint: You go into options trading and you are forced to sign all sorts of disclosures that you know you can lose your shirt. Why aren’t realtors forced to state: “This is a risky investment and may lose value. Because of your leverage, you may lose substantially more than your down payment.” Other kinds of brokers have tremendous liability for any insinuation that stocks, commodities, or currencies will increase in value or do not present risk. Why won’t the NAR be pilloried for what has happened?

But the real point I figured out: It was not that long ago that there were widespread riots in this country. Recall the anti-establishment violence of the 1960’s. Noting my own anger at the realtor, it occurred to me that I am probably not unique; in fact, I have much less to be angry about than the family being broken up as it loses its home.

I am not saying it will happen, but I will not be terribly surprised to see realtors’ offices, and banks, burned.

[Fearful]

A couple of points, since I originated this car thread:

This is not about personal responsibility. Yes, everyone has a personal responsibility to read the fine print and do their own due diligence. I am talking about the ethical obligation people have to tell the truth, especially when such large sums of money are at stake.

From a regulatory standpoint: You go into options trading and you are forced to sign all sorts of disclosures that you know you can lose your shirt. Why aren’t realtors forced to state: “This is a risky investment and may lose value. Because of your leverage, you may lose substantially more than your down payment.” Other kinds of brokers have tremendous liability for any insinuation that stocks, commodities, or currencies will increase in value or do not present risk. Why won’t the NAR be pilloried for what has happened?

But the real point I figured out: It was not that long ago that there were widespread riots in this country. Recall the anti-establishment violence of the 1960’s. Noting my own anger at the realtor, it occurred to me that I am probably not unique; in fact, I have much less to be angry about than the family being broken up as it loses its home.

I am not saying it will happen, but I will not be terribly surprised to see realtors’ offices, and banks, burned.

[Fearful]

A couple of points, since I originated this car thread:

This is not about personal responsibility. Yes, everyone has a personal responsibility to read the fine print and do their own due diligence. I am talking about the ethical obligation people have to tell the truth, especially when such large sums of money are at stake.

From a regulatory standpoint: You go into options trading and you are forced to sign all sorts of disclosures that you know you can lose your shirt. Why aren’t realtors forced to state: “This is a risky investment and may lose value. Because of your leverage, you may lose substantially more than your down payment.” Other kinds of brokers have tremendous liability for any insinuation that stocks, commodities, or currencies will increase in value or do not present risk. Why won’t the NAR be pilloried for what has happened?

But the real point I figured out: It was not that long ago that there were widespread riots in this country. Recall the anti-establishment violence of the 1960’s. Noting my own anger at the realtor, it occurred to me that I am probably not unique; in fact, I have much less to be angry about than the family being broken up as it loses its home.

I am not saying it will happen, but I will not be terribly surprised to see realtors’ offices, and banks, burned.

[Fearful]

A couple of points, since I originated this car thread:

This is not about personal responsibility. Yes, everyone has a personal responsibility to read the fine print and do their own due diligence. I am talking about the ethical obligation people have to tell the truth, especially when such large sums of money are at stake.

From a regulatory standpoint: You go into options trading and you are forced to sign all sorts of disclosures that you know you can lose your shirt. Why aren’t realtors forced to state: “This is a risky investment and may lose value. Because of your leverage, you may lose substantially more than your down payment.” Other kinds of brokers have tremendous liability for any insinuation that stocks, commodities, or currencies will increase in value or do not present risk. Why won’t the NAR be pilloried for what has happened?

But the real point I figured out: It was not that long ago that there were widespread riots in this country. Recall the anti-establishment violence of the 1960’s. Noting my own anger at the realtor, it occurred to me that I am probably not unique; in fact, I have much less to be angry about than the family being broken up as it loses its home.

I am not saying it will happen, but I will not be terribly surprised to see realtors’ offices, and banks, burned.

[Author]

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