It's interesting how the housing prices have fallen -- unless it's your house, which you probably still think is worth what you paid for it. The last time I remember this happening was the mild recession in the mid-80s. We were selling a condo at the time, and just like almost every other house we have sold through the decades, this one went fast, despite the tepid real estate market.
The secret? Clean, upgraded, homey! Sure, you can sell a fixer, but why would you live in a fixer?
A friend of mine is optimistically looking at Nevada County houses because she thinks "buying low" could mean renting a property for what the house payment is, and that could be true. I looked at one with her yesterday on Banner Quaker Hill. It was a house I had walked by many times and the bank had foreclosed and the house and its rental unit above the garage were both vacant.
Here are the stats: The main house has 2 bedrooms and one bath, decks front and rear, hottub and fenced raised beds for a garden. Off the back was a small, stand alone office-type room with a sink and toilet. Above the garage was a spacious one bedroom unit with a nice deck off the living room. Probably about a half-acre total.
The bank is asking $225,000. Asking being the operative word. Apparently with all the foreclosures going on, the banks are in a bit if a tailspin. And if a property has more than one loan on it, involving more than one bank, look out -- the left bank doesn't know what the right bank is doing and they probably don't agree on anything, including the asking price.
The current real estate free-for-all is a confusing mess of short sales (really endlessly long sales), foreclosures, REO's, and a number of other terms I don't understand and can't translate. According to one Realtor I talked to, the banks are as confused as the buyers and sellers.
In Southern California, so many people are "squatting" in their own homes while not paying the mortgage that banks have begun offering "cash for keys" to get people to move out promptly. They're paying about $3,000 -- almost enough for first and last rent. Many people are renting in their old neighborhoods at a fraction of what their mortgage was.
What does it all mean? I don't know. When will it stabilize? I don't know that, either. But I do know that an awful lot of regular folks are barely hanging on right now. What this real estate limbo will mean long-term is anybody's guess.
Love that...short sales are "really endlessly long sales"! SO TRUE!
What the current real estate market means is if you have any extra cash and a LOT of patience you have a golden opportunity to make some really good investments right now.
I wish I had sold my house during the height of the market as that would mean I would have about $1 million in cash to invest right now...woulda coulda shoulda.
Posted by: Kymry | February 15, 2010 at 10:45 AM