[SD Realtor]

Just my opinion Kiki but I do not believe that Zip would chase it down in court.

Like I said, I think many a Realtor has stories about buyers who have scorched them. It is just part of the business. Many seasoned agents will not even waste time showing homes unless they have a buyers representation agreement signed to remedy this.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

On Mykonos Lane….

On the MLS there are currently 5 2/2.5 townhomes listed for sale. One listed today at 440k and the other 4 go up from there.

There are also still 6 listed as pending including 4 of them that went pending today.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

farbet and no_such_reality I am a bit puzzled by your statements about Realtors. Your postings seem to fault the Realtors for the pricing of resale homes. Any good Realtor provides pricing recommendations based on comps and market conditions. Contrary to what you guys may think, most of the time we are sparring with our principles to lower the listing price to match the deteriorating market. I think that your ire should be targetted to the Sellers themselves.

[SD Realtor]

Hi Lulu –

I am an agent as is sdrealtor. He is right about procurring cause however it does not sound as if they would come after you in this particular case. (that is just my opinion) Similar to a listing agreement (signed between a seller and an agent) when a seller is listing a home to sell, there is a buyer broker representation agreement that does obligate a buyer to be represented by a broker. If you have not signed such a document, then it is unlikely that representation would be challenged, IMO.

On the personal side I am renting right now. The 1 year lease goes by VERY quickly. Consider that the risk of the market appreciating 1 year from now verses depreciating 1 year from now is pretty low. (At least that is my hope) Also if you have downpayment money stick it in a cd for a year and grab 5% on it. So if I were you I would not fret much about waiting.

If you do have an agent who has done work for you then “the ethical” thing to do is to work with that agent. However if you have clicked on a schedule an appt or gone to open houses and talked to agents who were holding the open house, you are definitely not obligated, especially if you did not sign any agreement for representation. As a courtesy though you may want to tell them that you are already working with someone, (and that you very much appreciate thier time to show) if you do not intend to work with them.

I have spent many weekends with clients only to get scorched by mortgage brokers or other agents. It is part of the business. While we are considered fairly useless by most on this forum, many of us are helpful and can very much help people save time, money and find/sell thier home.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Josh no there is not any obligation. I agree with sdrealtor, it is a ploy to get activity.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

I very much agree with davelj as well. Unfortunately I think this fact will slow down the depreciation rate of the housing market, not kill it, just slow it down.

JG your point is good but in reality, if all those billions and billions of debt that has been purchased by southeast asia was pulled off the table I think the effects would be somewhat catastrophic don’t you? Bigtime inflation is putting it nicely.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

The MLS lists 1847 Shadetree as a cancelled listing. Off market as of 11/13/06.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

I think it is relatively easy to find sales above and below 2004 prices. As always it will vary with the area and housing type. As the fall has progressed I feel that the decline will be a bit more long and drawn out then I originally had hoped for unless we get a catalyst. The catalyst I was hoping for which was substantial foreclosure activity will happen but it will not be the earth shaker we are all hoping for. It looks like rates will stay low, and to compound things, I think lenders will get more creative and enable distressed sellers to hang around. I also have found that homeowners with equity are not giving in. They are simply pulling off and not selling and sitting tight. Don’t get me wrong, I think the decline will continue but I think it will be a more agonizing slower pace decline. Think about it, if the the other two cycles took 6 years, and we are only in year 2, then we still have a long ways to go right?

This spring will be ESPECIALLY important. I haven’t actually looked at numbers, but I believe the number of cancelled/expireds/withdrawns outweighs the number of sales this year.

The reduction of inventory since the peak is no surprise to any of us as that is seasonal. However Steve was correct that there is activity, the market is not as as any of us would have hoped. I REALLY HOPE we do see 30k in inventory this year because if we did, maybe that would change some of the sellers attitudes…

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Also it is not just NAR… All the PACs for all the big developers, all the PACs for the lenders…

If you really think about all the money pushing for policies like this, it is staggering. Meanwhile how many dollars go towards lobbying for opposing bonehead policies like this? nada….

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

PS, NAR has a whopper of a lobby…

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

I would agree with asianautica. Most builders come across as pretty hard line in thier pricing. However, it never hurts to play hardball with them. All they can do is say no correct?

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

Hi guys –

So maybe I am a bit contrarian here… I mean yes yes yes I believe the real estate market will continue to deteriorate…. but… I just do not see the economic catastrophe that is predicted. I don’t dispute alot of people in the real estate industry will lose work. Yet I think that there is an awful lot of money in this city outside the industry. Personally I am also involved in engineering and my wife also does alot of business with plastic surgeons and skin care professionals in town. Now I will not say a whole lot about the engineering field but it is not nearly as shaky as real estate. As for plastic surgery and affiliated industries, home healthcare etc… these are not going to weaken much no matter what the real estate market does. Home healthcare, senior care, things like that. I know our national GDP is anemic… yet I think we will see an economy that doesn’t quite fall apart as some may predict. I think there is an element of resilience that may surprise alot of us.

SD Realtor

[SD Realtor]

I agree guys… Lease to own situations are almost always slanted in favor of the seller. I forgot where I read the stats but over 90% of the options are never exercised and the seller ends up pocketing cash.

I will say though that if you are a savy buyer with a good agent, your agent should be able to structure a fair deal for you AND should be able to protect your option money. Here is a for instance…. Let’s say you struck a deal (lease to own) for a home today. Say you pay 20k for the option to buy the home at the end of the lease term. However, chances are very good that a year from now the home will depreciate in value. Thus you better darn well make sure you have provisions in your agreement to protect you for that event. This is one of many things that can happen.

Make sure you know what you are doing if you are buyer.

[SD Realtor]

I agree guys… Lease to own situations are almost always slanted in favor of the seller. I forgot where I read the stats but over 90% of the options are never exercised and the seller ends up pocketing cash.

I will say though that if you are a savy buyer with a good agent, your agent should be able to structure a fair deal for you AND should be able to protect your option money. Here is a for instance…. Let’s say you struck a deal (lease to own) for a home today. Say you pay 20k for the option to buy the home at the end of the lease term. However, chances are very good that a year from now the home will depreciate in value. Thus you better darn well make sure you have provisions in your agreement to protect you for that event. This is one of many things that can happen.

Make sure you know what you are doing if you are buyer.

[SD Realtor]

Hi guys –

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I will check a few of them out. Much appreciated.

SD Realtor

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