Relativity of Craigslist

[barnaby33]

Today on sandiego.craigslist.org/rfs 617 listings.
Today on http://phoenix.craigslist.org/rfs 406 listings.

I find this totally interesting because phoneix seems to be way out in front of us in terms of panic and yet SD has WAY more postings on CL today, 65% more.

Any thoughts about this?

Josh

[FormerOwner]

It may be that SD residents are more tech savvy and are more aware of using Craigslist than Phoenix residents.

[rankandfile]

I agree about the tech savvy point. There may be a correlation between age or tech savviness and those who know about Craig’s List…similar to sites like MySpace or YouTube. Older or less-savvy folks may certainly use the Internet and know about the bigger sites like Realtor.com, but I think Craig’s List may be a bit more secluded. Another obvious point would be to look at total population and home unit figures. I would guess that San Diego simply has more people and housing units available for listing.

[powayseller]

I first heard about craigslist from my brother, about one year ago. Other than him and this site, I’ve not heard anybody else talk about it. It’s not so well known. When I checked rentals and cars to buy, I used the Union Tribune. I am not a craisglist user either.

[barnaby33]

Phoenix has a larger population than San Diego, and as to housing I would be suprised if it didn’t have more housing stock, though I don’t have numbers to back it up. Anecdotally though, Phoenix is where people moved to afford a big McMansion house, when they could no longer afford one in SoCal.

Tech savvy may play a part, I guess I just assumed that CL was a national phenomenon at this point.

I also think true desperation plays its part. Lots of realtors posting on CL these days.

Josh

[VCJIM]

I think CL is largely a regional phenomena, dependent on word of mouth. Even CL’s listings for the same area over time may vary simply due to CL’s exposure increasing.

[PerryChase]

I don’t think that the listing on Craigslist is representative of a the Real Estate market. Few if anyone would buy a house from posts on craigslist. It seems to me that those posts are just attempts by owners and agents to get more exposure for their properties. Those properties are probably all overpriced.

[barnaby33]

Recently I would agree with you more and more Perry. It seems in the last year CL has become infected with RE agents spamming their properties. Prior to that there were mostly individual sellars. Of course that could also be symptomatic of a year ago when owners didn’t need an agent to sell.
Josh

[salo_t]

I was using Craigslist to get an idea of how the market is doing. Its hard now with so much on the market but in mid 04 there was probably only 30-40 postings a day and today there are hundreds. I also remember when the 92108 zip code only had about 30 listings at a time and now there are something like 250. July 04 was a crazy year in SD. I sold my buddies 1 bed piece of crap condo in the ghetto in two weeks for 175K. I even countered and asked for 5k more and got it. Now those same units are trying to sell for 130k. I remember talking to the buyer and he was telling me that his plan was to keep it until he made about 100k in equity then move up to a house. His own uncle was his agent and advisor. I just held my tongue. Even then I knew this wouldn’t last forever.

[speedingpullet]

I keep on seeing the same places, at the same overblown prices, day after day. People are still trying to unload condos in the Westside of LA for 800K+. One advert, for a house in Sherman Oaks, has had the same price ($949K) for the last two months.The ad is posted daily.

As for the Housing Forum, its degenerated into a long, pointless, swamp for the radical HH-ers and BH-ers to hurl abuse at each other. Any innocent who strays into it accidentally, asking sensible questions and expecting some sort of information-rich, polite reply soon leaves, as thier thread decomposes into yet another fight along the lines of “Buy Now, before interest rates go up!” or “bitter renter!”.

If you enjoy watching tigers devour chunks of meat at the zoo, then CL’s housing forum will provide the same kind of excitement. If you actually want a conversation, or some information, then its about as useful as watching a cat trying to picking a lock without opposable thumbs.

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