patrick.net

"greatest invention since Tigerbalm"

What a sad state of affairs. Seems like realtwhores are only "rookies" for their first sale then after they get their cherry popped it's all about learning the "real deal" of back stabbing or collusion. AND the only way around it is to become one yourself. Great system.

Have you ever seen a group of "professionals" that establish pecking order by placing a value on brazenness?

Harm wrote:

"However, they also do not want to become long-term landlords on a vacant, depreciating asset that is hemorrhaging money"

Consider also they will need to comply with bank regulations which disallow banks from holding property to begin with.

Even so, if such property is carried on banks books they would be written down anyway, because the market value is below cost to them.

The loan on the other hand was already written off to the allowance account for bad debt.

-2 cents from an Accountant.

Anybody feel like living in San Jose for a year for free?
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/rfs/299198533.html

I don't get it. Los Angeles is now our 2nd largest city and one out of every 94 CA's is a realtor. Even w/my attitude I don't think I'd live long enough to p#ss ALL of them off! Why would I fear getting black balled?

Malcolm,

Perhaps I came on too strong earlier and my schadenfreude was showing :-). But I did not mean to imply that suddenly the sky will magically open up and Rapture priced-out buyers up to real estate Heaven. All I was really saying is that the rules of the game are rapidly changing. What has held true for several years now (extreme seller's market) is evaporating, even though sellers are very slow to recognize it and are still mostly clinging to their mental accounting & sky-high wishing prices (for now).

I do *not* expect prices to plunge by huge amounts overnight, nor do I expect the market to flip completely to the buyer's favor. Rather a slow, painful drip process of transition to a more buyer-favorable market, as FBs get hit by resets in waves over the next several years. This --plus inflation-- will slowly erode real prices over time and gradually reset seller/buyer expectations back to a more rational, sanely-priced and sustainable market.

But I *do* think I'm entitled to a little schadenfreude and the occasional anti-REIC rant, given all the arrogant self-serving bull$hit I've been forced to listen to for the last three years (since I really started paying attention).

I'm actually considering getting whatever licenses or certifications are necessary to have at least a snowball's chance at getting a crack at short sales or foreclosures. I know, I know, it's all who you know and if they don't already know you then you don't know who. But I'm not particularly interested in leaving that "economic dead loss" on the table for the same folks who skimmed the cream on the way up without a fight.

Then again, I probably don't have the time. Isn't there a business model here somewhere?

Consider also they will need to comply with bank regulations which disallow banks from holding property to begin with.

That's so 1980s. Banks have regulations? Since when. I'm not even sure they're barred from having people killed or eating babies anymore.

Putting my SOX 404 cap on again...

Randy H said-
"submitted by calling “2nd place” and telling them they had a stronger offer but needed to come up to $X, only to round robin and sell to the highest $X."

I find it shocking that someone would take your word for it. After all you dont need the 2nd highest bid. I would not be surprised to find only one bidder "1st place" being told there are other bids to squeeze out that additional dollar... Oh yes it does happen....

None of these "bids" are confirmable... given the $$ value we are tall taliking about... like I said its shocking...

DinOR-
Be very affraid! Yipes!

From two threads back:

I said:

And so is your sushi!

My sushi is free?

Yes, you heard that right Peter P, I will pay for all the sushi you can consume at the next blog party. We might have to do it on the sly, since my wife will be sure to be annoyed if she realizes that I am doing it...

I reserve the right to withdraw this offer if you keep deleting my posts though :-)

Randy H & HelloKitty,

Again - to clarify: I wasn't recommending cutting out the listing agent, just the buyer's agent.

I also wouldn't want to deliberately piss off listing agent if I'm making a serious offer --unless of course they give me guff and invent phantom "bidding wars". Even so, I'm still not feeding any f**king squirrels.

Randy H, there is definitely a business model here in disintermediating the realtors. This is sort of what ziprealty is trying to do. But I guess you are talking about something else. Who exactly are you trying to cut out of the transaction?

Space_Acer, not to be a Bay Area snob, but the quality of life in LA has declined quite a bit faster than the quality of life in the Bay Area. LA used to command a premium, but it doesn't deserve one anymore.

Okay, I am a Bay Area snob, sue me.

I reserve the right to withdraw this offer if you keep deleting my posts though

Why would I delete your posts? :)

@Hello Kitty:
I too started out a few years ago hating realtors and their monopoly so I joined it (keeping full time job). So anyway now I know all thier dirty tricks and can play them myself if I want.

So my strategy was to get my own license I am virtually unknown so will not be boycotted. Also you have to kiss ass and ‘be nice’ to the listing agent.

So what's the consensus here?

1- What does it take to get a real estate license? (is that different than a broker?)

2- Is it worth it? Do they teach you all the dirty tricks that will be used against you as a First Time Buyer? Will you actually save money?

Any of us can contact the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of Currency) and bid on blocks of non-performing paper.

Dude, I now own your house. Did you want to get current and start making your payments directly to me or should I just go ahead and foreclose now? It will happen in all price brackets, all neighborhoods.

They DO have an office in SF.

I occasionally see ’sweet deals’ get put into the MLS as sold they put ’sold before processing’ on the description, they never hit realtor.com or anywhere and the agent had a buyer in thier pocket the whole time. These are called ‘pocket listings’ for those who didnt know about this. If you do this of course you better know what a good deal is (as always) and be able to act fast.

What's the point of putting it into the system if its sold already? Maybe I'm just not evil enough to see the angle on this...

Oh wait...

http://www.realestatelicense.com/index-ca.aspx

What's the difference between these two offerings:

1. California Real Estate Salesperson License

2. California Real Estate Broker License

Are we supposed to hate theotherside? He seems to be quite reasonable now.

Jimbo - Your comments are welcomed...

Sad, i recall some great times off the Sunset strip during the
metal years...

Here is a business idea then:

Go to the OCC and get a list of all the non-performing paper that is up for bid, then generate the list of properties that is backing that paper.

Build a website that allows people to view those properties, using Web 2.0 hooks to allow people to map them and look them using zillow and MSN Live Local Search. You could even put in things like school data, etc, pretty easily.

Then form buyers co-ops where people who are interested in these properties can put up the money to buy out their "share" of the paper, in return for future ownership interest in the property. Of course, there is the risk that the person who is in default will end up making up the payments, but in that case the person can get their money back.

You would have to get economies of scale going, otherwise it would be hard to get enough people together to do this all at once fast enough.

Is this the sort of thing you were thinking of Randy?

Can you check theotherside's IP address and see if it is the same person?

Harm - I would join you in any anti real estate establishment bashing. They have left themselves very open to criticism.

Jimbo,

That just sounds like a couple Google or MSN portlets.

If Lexis and Westlaw were smart, they could probably mine their databases for some interesting mass market products.

I was thinking the same thing. I've always thought the Otherside was smart but today she doesn't seem as misguided as usual.

theotherside -
I would up that to 50-55%
agree on #2, except who cares for school districts...
not everyone is married,
new construction will continue, life goes one
Hey they are still building homes in Japan..
no, there will be no softlanding... face first !

2- The drop will be more severe in CA, FL, Midwest, or in the ghettos, but not that dramatic in the good school district areas.

Basically the areas which became inflated. Southern California has already dropped 10%, actual observable forget the propaganda. It is only beginning. The subprime meltdown is just another forseen stage in this slow moving train wreck.

I mean 50-55% in Bay Area...

its my understanding there will multiple offers for this charmer...NOT!
$500K for this...POS!

http://www.mlslistings.com/common/properties/propertyDetail.asp?open=0&page=3&mls_number=707047&type=property&name=

Jimbo, nice idea but there are plenty of private investment groups playing around with that kind of paper.

Space, you don't think you could find a renter will to pay $4,000 per month for that charmer?? lol

It should be advertised with a free flack jacket or bullet proof vest. Holy crap.

2- The drop will be more severe in CA, FL, Midwest, or in the ghettos, but not that dramatic in the good school district areas.

To sound even more academic they could say, the west coast, the east coast, and the midwest. I read about some gloating going on in OR and WA about how the bubble never hit them, and prices still rising. I thought it was pretty self explanatory.

I get to VOTE today in the state election. Registration and voting is COMPULSORY for all adults citizens at federal, state and local election, under pain of a 50 buck fine. The functional equivalents of the dems and the repugs are both on the nose to the electorate, so the greens and a motley crew of independents are expecting a slew of votes.

In the meantime, rents are GOING UP in the city, and I am facing a 25% increase myself. The reasons for it could well be market-pumping by the REI, given that they faxed out a letter to all RE agents encouraging them to put rents up by 10-20%. Not sure what the agenda is -- helping out underwater specuvestors who purchased in the boom, or keeping up sales by encouraging tenants to jump ship and Buy Something At Last. This is a media watch exposé of the trend:

Media Watch: Front Page - Who's Raising The Rent? (26/02/2007)

I have personally managed to get 40 apartments to submit a joint application to the Tenancy tribunal for a hearing on the increase. THis could be some sort of record. Only problem is that the Tenancy Act 1987 makes the prime consideration for appeal 'market rates', whatever they are, requiring lots of comparables. Fortunately, we have lots of comparables, but when LL A is keeping rents the same and LL B is pushing theirs up 10-20%, it makes 'market rates' very rubbery and insubstantial figures indeed...

"Space, you don’t think you could find a renter will to pay $4,000 per month for that charmer?? lol"

I hear you! BABAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You know there are actually people
out there that think this is workable..
Be affraid! Be very affraid! LMFAO

theotherside has come over to the Dark Side

In the meantime, rents are GOING UP in the city, and I am facing a 25% increase myself.

8O

"In the meantime, rents are GOING UP in the city, and I am facing a 25% increase myself."

REITs like Avalon Comm. is facing WallStreet Pressure.
Low key apts are actually stable.. no pressure but inflation.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AVB&t=5y

It should be advertised with a free flack jacket or bullet proof vest. Holy crap.

Is there such a thing as a bullet proof vest?

PAR :

I will add another anecdotal story. A family I know is returning back to India. They are not putting their house on the market till summer. I asked them about why are they avoiding the strong spring season. They said it might just sit there for a while. In summer they hope to have a quick transaction.

I don't understand the logic, but that's what they are doing.

Free entertainment, courtesy of Allah. Notice how throughout the whole text the words bubble and subprime weren't used once; but surprisingly the word crash was used once, but only referring to the 80's crash. :rol:

I’m not sure it’s happening anymore, though I’m suspicious of what I’m hearing in Mountain View recently, but there were a couple of groups of realtors that got caught submitting faux bids to run up multiple bidding wars on a mark (or two). Nothing like treating home buying like 3 card Monte.

This brings up a real negotiating issue. One way to counteract these sham bidding wars is to emotionally dissociate yourself from the home you bid on. Just like negotiating with a car salesman, be ready to walk away from the deal once the Realtor (TM) starts trotting out the multiple bids crap. Move on to a different house. Call them on their bluff. If the market has truly turned, they'll be calling you back soon enough.