WatchWe looked at a house about 3 weeks ago - the asking was $164,000 - short sale.
It was def. on the smaller side, but way cheap for our area and in a decent neighborhood. HOA was $160/mo which we thought was reasonable. Def. rental potential, and we thought it couldn't hurt to look....
Soooo, my wife called the listing agent, and before she could really get two words out of her mouth, the agent says, "we have 5 offers, so if you want the house, you need to make an offer." My wife politely tells her we just want to look at it - listing agent agrees, and sends one of her tool friend/agents to show us the house the next day.
The agent who showed us the property, easily could have been my mother (she had like 30 years on me), but spoke down to me as if she had the ball in her court. What was even funnier was that she drove up in her decked out Cadillac ... 22" chrome ghetto wheels....
SARCASTICALLY she said "we have 3 offers on it - would you like to make one, and who will you be financing with?" (Funny how the number of offers on the property changes, depending on who you talked to...)
I politely said "we will not be financing - if we make an offer, it will be all cash." Immediately her tone of voice changed with me and she went from "mom-mode" to "best friend." Almost begging us to place an offer, because the place was going to sell "ANY SECOND." Anyhow, we thanked her - but told her the place was too small for us.
Three weeks later - after the house should have sold, we get a call from the listing agent, almost begging us to put in an offer. Apparently, they had ONE offer, all cash, for $160k - but upon inspection, the place needed $10k in termite work - and the buyers backed out.
Anyhow, buyers may be playing hardball. A place like this would have sold immediately last year, but here we are, good price, good location, one month on the market, and it didn't sell yet.
Good change buyers may be demanding more and/or are not putting up with the Realtors BS anymore.
Thought I'd share...
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Premium
It's called fraud. Call the police and ask for these two to be arrested for felony misrepresentation, convicted and stuffed into a supermax for 10-40 years.
joshuatrio says
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Half Moon Bay, CA
sale pending
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Monterey, CA
waiting_for_the_fall says
There's been a sale pending since the day it was listed. What's your point?
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joshuatrio says
Never mind. I did not follow the link to see if it is sale pending.
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Small? HOA? You shouldn't have wasted your time.
I think a dinky house, is more for someone desperate to be a homeowner and will settle for anything before they get priced out for ever. Or some reasonable person or couple that don't have plans of growing. They like them if the price is right.
Renters damn sure don't want to cover your mortgage, tax, insurance, HOA fee on a tiny house. Condos are different, MFH's are perfect for the Renter not concerned with space. Because they don't have to worry about yard work, or carrying the garbage can out twice a week, getting a water bill from the landlord(which only recently has become the common thing to do).
There's plenty of Investors in my Neighborhood that has found out the hard way, a 900-1200 sqft houses don't rent well. Almost all of them have been put back on the market. Or are just sitting empty with a new paint job and fence.
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Santa Cruz, CA
It sold for $139,000 in 1991 :)
I think Marina's not a bad spot either.
What about putting a big down but not tying up all your dough in it?
Push comes to shove there must be some foreign students for rentals. They are at 1. mpc 2. cal state monterey bay 3. Monterey institute
Foreign female students are good tenants.
3 bedrooms=more bodies, more rent to collect :)
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Santa Cruz, CA
Here's where I looked:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3080-Crumpton-Ln-UNIT-8-Marina-CA-93933/19357341_zpid/
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Monterey, CA
The GOP says
It is 1300 sq. ft. Many of the homes in this area are around that size, most not bigger than 1800 sq. ft. It would rent for an easy $1500-1700.
clambo says
True - the historical value is what caught my eye. But in talking with the wife about it, it needed probably about $30k work inside - flooring, paint and a new kitchen (it's livable, but we'd probably fix it up). Plus $10k to have the exterminator/termite damage fixed.
So I'm up to $204k in a place that I'm not thrilled about, share walls, and have a small backyard.
If we wanted to be a landlord - I wouldn't update a thing in the place.
Marina's a great spot. Easy to work in Santa Cruz, Monterey, Seaside, Salinas, even Gilroy/SJ if one doesn't mind a commute. Not to mention, Marina gets killer west swells for surfing - although we've had 2 sharks attacks at the state beach here in 3 years.
I guess the bottom line is that we weren't thrilled about the place, the prices ARE coming down, but the dang, pesky realtors are still at their games and lying through their teeth... That's what really got me.
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Santa Cruz, CA
Realtors these days are desperate. You'll be able to notice it now.
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With home prices falling and historically only providing a rather modest return (inflation), I seriously don't understand the investor mentality. You're buying a depreciating asset that costs serious time and money to maintain. Most other investments don't require anywhere near that type of maintenance and have higher returns.
I STILL maintain there's a real estate investment bubble that is going to pop just as soon as those with the cash realize RE is not a good investment (relative to other options) and they start putting their money elsewhere.
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Madison, WI
Steer clear of termites, that whole are is probably infested, and they will come back, don't give the realtor hints on your finances, just say it's covered or show them the paperwork you get from the bank that shows how much you can borrow.
If your staying where your at, definitely keep looking at other places, and keep saving your money.
Don't make the same mistake I did and buy junk.. Don't be afraid to rehash/rethink what you really want, and need, etc.
Your going to have to put with a realtor no matter what, don't let them stress you out, let them do all the flipflam talking and sometimes, not very often, you can learn a little something from them.
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joshuatrio says
All of that work for $150 a month profit, that's if nothing goes wrong.
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San Antonio, TX
jvolstad's website
clambo says
The listing agent is too lazy to take some real photos? Instead, the Realtor uses Google street view.
A quality RE professional for sure.
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Scottsdale, AZ
robertoaribas's website
everything says
In Arizona there are two types of homes: those that have had termites, and those that will get termites. You get it treated, buy a warranty, and keep it enforce so that when you sell, you can give the new buyer a one year termite warranty.
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Monterey, CA
joshuatrio says
If it's a home for you to live in, you may as well try your luck with a low offer for one of the houses in Marina that is in the 250-275k range (or wait and save). They look a much better deal to me and prices still seem to be moving (slowly) down.
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San Francisco, CA
Malkovich's website
APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says
Can I sign up for your newsletter, good sir? :)
Every time I open a thread I immediately look for your post.
Many thanks.
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Rents are going to go down, too. Hold onto cash for a couple more years.
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That dump will ultimately sell for 85K, if they're lucky.
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Monterey, CA
karen says
Then you don't know the market in this part of the world.
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Jefferson City, TN
"The difference in 'number of offers' doesnt mean they are lying people will normally call the listing agent and say 'im gonna submit an offer tomorrow' " If someone might submit an offer tomorrow that doesn't count as an offer. An "offer" has a specific legal description in contract law. In general I have discovered it is best to assume that everything the realtwhore says is a lie. I have dealt with dozens of people in the real estate "profession" over the past 25 years and cannot think of one of them who has not made an effort to misrepresent something, hide key information, lie about submitting an offer , lie about other offers or otherwise lie in an effort to make the sale. In at least 2 cases the facts being withheld were that the property in question was ineligible for a building permit, meaning that if I had bought it based on the agents verbal representation I would have owned a $100K plus vacant lot that I could not build a house on. There was also the lakefront property that did not actually reach the lake. The Realt$#@% spent a lot of time describing where I could build a dock but failed to mention that was someone elses back yard. The fact is you can do better at finding an buying property without them because they will not show you the good stuff. Think about it. If a property is listed and offered by a Realt$#@* it means that they have already passed on the opportunity to buy it themselves at a discount (their commission) to what they want you to pay.
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Spring Lake, NJ
Salespeople are always going to do what salespeople do whether it's a used car or a home.
Realtors are doing whats best for buyers or even for the sellers either really, they're trying to maximize their own benefit so when you're a potential buyer you have to look at everybody else in the transaction with a jaundiced eye.
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Las Vegas, NV
LASVEGASWINNER's website
"I politely said "we will not be financing - if we make an offer, it will be all cash."
A "seasoned" agent would have inquired about "all cash" as to"you have $160,000 sitting in a checking or savings account today"? I would have then suggested looking at a $320,000 with 50% down since I would make twice the commission then on a $160,000 house. Sounds like the agent wasn't prepared to work with an investor
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clambo says
Clambo, do you do this yourself?
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APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says
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Saint George, UT
elliemae's website
APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says
Marry me!
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Beverly Hills, CA
jvolstad says
They are waiting n line at the VD clinic for their HIV tests.
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Beverly Hills, CA
Malkovich says
ME THREE...! Realtards= swamp gas
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Los Angeles, CA
ok now it sounds like these people are liars.
Its to be expected at every turn in every business I suppose.
Your only weapon is to bribe them (let them double dip commission) and get the listing agent working for you on the seller to lower the price before they accept the offer then get them to put in as much 'repair money' as you can get.
There are others way to get a lower price, other 'weapons' people use. I had a buyer come in with a chimney inspector who is supposdely known for advising every single chiimny he inspects be torn down and rebuilt. That was good for the buyers to gouge 10k off the price. But this was 2006 when they paid over 600k so the joke is on them. I know it was a lying scam and I gave in (was about to lower the price anyway, no offers coming int).
THen there is the crooked mold inspector scam, then there is the crooked home inspector scam (aluminum wiring! gotcha!), then there is the crooked termite inspector scam. Its endless.
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Baltimore, MD
PockyClipsNow says
Yes it does.
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Baltimore, MD
PockyClipsNow says
Please elaborate on this more. Are you saying that people are claiming false defects to get out of buying houses?
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Los Angeles, CA
Im claiming its common to hire an 'aggressive inspector' not to get of contracts but the buyers use this sometimes to get credit ($) for repairs after offer is accepted. Its well known tactic, and in most all cases the defects are real. Except for Mold and termite - i think those are mostly BS IMO based on my in the field experience. (in the case of mold i would say 100% a scam, 'toxic mold' is a scam 100% of the time IMO but you can find endless 'evidence' its real but I think its as fake as global warming, mold is natural and will grow on your bread in 2 days. But i could be wrong.)
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Santa Cruz, CA
for depaktepores I have vanguard total bond market index, vanguard high yield tax free, vanguard high yield corporate.
The biggest of the three is total bond market index admiral shares.
I would not suggest that having $150K in cash is the same as buying high yield corporate bonds however. The high yield bond fund can vary in nav (principal) so using that fund as a parking place for money is not that wise.
But, if I were a guy running around looking for "investments" and had $150K burning a hole in my pocket, I'd consider the alternative to being a landlord and look at bond funds.
A place to hold your dough while you decide might be vanguard total bond market index fund.
International bond funds also may have good yields but they have other risks depending on which countries bonds they own, and currency risks, etc.
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clambo says
bonds are very risky right now since rates are so low.
always good to have some bonds held via an index but it's not a great idea to overweight your portfolio with them at this time.
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Santa Cruz, CA
I am low weight in bonds when compared to my total financial assets.
Yet, an unexpected "flight to quality" caused a slight capital appreciation of my total bond market index last year.
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" That dump will ultimately sell for 85K, if they're lucky."
"Then you don't know the market in this part of the world."
Maybe. However I know Silicon Valley, and there are similarities, I imagine. Most people can't imagine real crashes; they don't have a sense of historical perspective, or what happens to money in a deflationary depression. You can buy oceanfront mansions in parts of Connecticut for cheap - and I promise you they weren't always cheap. I think 85K will end up being optimistic. Funny things happen when suddenly no-one can get credit.
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I grew up in eastern CT. There are areas there - Noank, Stonington, Watch Hill - that have been very, very wealthy for a very, very long time. Now - for the first time in living memory - the houses in those towns are not selling. Those owners who in any way relied on the value of their houses (and many of them did and do; the wealthy who are independent of the value of their real estate are few outside of Silicon Valley) are hurting. They are showing up at a regular get-together my dad frequents, trying to sell family heirlooms like the gun their dad carried during WWII. It's depressing. I should feel schadenfreude, given that my family is boring middle class, but I mostly don't.
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Santa Cruz, CA
why the big mystery? they are too expensive. I hear it's very hard to sell a manor house, castle or chateau in britain and france too.
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Madison, WI
Steer clear of termites
In Arizona there are two types of homes: those that have had termites, and those that will get termites. You get it treated, buy a warranty, and keep it enforce so that when you sell, you can give the new buyer a one year termite warranty.
Is that true?, if you live in AZ you will get termites no matter what?
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McLean, VA
How can I find a top agent by the number of listings they get per year?
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Kingshat says
AF, any comments?