Monday, October 15, 2007

For Sale And For Rent

10/12/07: Washington, DC

33 comments:

  1. It's good to have the flexibility to do the best deal that comes along. He's obviously doing a lot better than you, david.

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  2. Yeah, there are a few of these at some nice condo townhomes in Crystal City. Looked up the owner, he is clearly a flipper. Yup, love that flexibility in trying to decide to whether lose it in a painful trickle, or in one big slap!

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  3. October 15, 2007 10:53 AM
    said "He's obviously doing a lot better than you, david."

    How do you know that? Signs like this usually mean someone is in trouble and trying to save them selves from foreclosure. Unless David is in financial ruin, which I doubt, he is probably not worse off then the guy in the picture. But hey, I got an idea. Why don't you just call him some names... That should make you feel better.
    Bob

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  4. And I thought the term was "bitter renter", 10:53am. I surmise you want moderation turned back on in an attempt to retard the discourse. No worries, you do that every time you open your mouth.

    ON TOPIC, I'll bet they'd sell that place for chickens if they had a pen. Checking out Redfin, the number of places in my price bracket grows by the day . . . never been a better time to buy . . . 'till tomorrow.

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  5. Why shouldn't a business person have the flexibility to do the best deal he can? You idiots are making baseless assumptions.

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  6. Anonymous, it is a sign (literally) of market change. He's not trying to "do" the best deal he can, he's trying to accept anything that say, one of us, for instance, is willing to give him to defray his losses.

    To put it another way, many people who read and participate here have been standing on the sidelines of the housing market for the past 4+ years as the costs grew to unrealistic levels and market principles flew out the window.

    We are now observing the impact of that on the market and often enjoying the notion that soon housing as a commodity will be realistically priced. Not free, not cheap, just reasonable.

    This is clearly happening through foreclosures, tightening lending standards, resetting ARM mortgages, record high inventory, record low sales, and better coverage through the media of those factors.

    Does that sign inspire any feelings in you? Does it make you think that the person owning the property is a shrewd investor?

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  7. I started seeing a few of these in Brooklyn, NY condo market.

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  8. "Why shouldn't a business person have the flexibility to do the best deal he can? You idiots are making baseless assumptions."

    Post faster lance! The market is still falling!

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  9. Ok, ok. Whatever you want, trolls. It's a desperate flipper. That make you feel better about being fat and having acne and no money or girlfriends?

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  10. "
    Are you kidding me anonytroll? YOU JUST MADE A BASELESS ASSUMPTION!

    HAHAHAHA!
    If these are the people who bought homes in the last few years, no wonder the US market is in trouble.
    Bob"


    Says some fat shut-in who rents a flop house in Silver Spring. Crawl back into your hole.

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  11. "Ok, ok. Whatever you want, trolls. It's a desperate flipper. That make you feel better about being fat and having acne and no money or girlfriends?"

    Yes, making mortgage payments gets you hot women and keeps your skin clear and your waist trim...

    Jeez you all are imploding. Just cut your wrists already, prices ain't going back up anytime soon, no matter what you post.

    WTF?

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  12. "Yes, making mortgage payments gets you hot women and keeps your skin clear and your waist trim...

    Yes, making mortgage payments gets you hot women and keeps your skin clear and your waist trim..."


    Yes, making snyde remarks on the internet can solve your fatness, ugliness, and lonliness problems.

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  13. "Yes, making snyde remarks on the internet can solve your fatness, ugliness, and lonliness problems."


    Actually, I was pointing to your clear distress at the current situation and urging you to end your own life.

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  14. "Actually, I was pointing to your clear distress at the current situation and urging you to end your own life."

    Nah, I think I'll just amuse myself by mocking you pathetic lepers on this site.

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  15. Especially Neil and Bob. Hhahahaha -- Neil and Bob. LOLOL!!

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  16. Amuse yourself by asking the bank how much less your home is worth. That'd be effing hilarious!

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  17. Methinks anonytroll there is a real estate agent who's afraid of what's coming.

    Anonytroll, don't you have an open house to attend?? Oh, that's right, you don't!!

    --SSH Anon.

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  18. It is lance... he has just given up on trying to invent new economic theories that justify Manhattan pricing in DC.

    So instead he is acting like a child and trying to prevent a rational discussion.

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  19. anon said
    "
    Says some fat shut-in who rents a flop house in Silver Spring. Crawl back into your hole."

    You might as well have said I have nothing more to offer, I give up, you are all right. Because when you result to name calling over the net, that means you give up...
    you lose again, anonylance..
    bob

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  20. Hey David,

    Are we in that recession yet? It's almost a year overdue per your forecast. Has RE crashed? What is a normal cycle vs. BLOOD IN THE STREETS?

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  21. "You might as well have said I have nothing more to offer, I give up, you are all right. Because when you result to name calling over the net, that means you give up...
    you lose again, anonylance..
    bob"


    Says a fat shut-in who rents a flophouse in Silver Spring.

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  22. "You might as well have said I have nothing more to offer, I give up, you are all right. Because when you result to name calling over the net, that means you give up...
    you lose again, anonylance..
    bob"

    The reply from anonytroll-
    Says a fat shut-in who rents a flophouse in Silver Spring.

    October 15, 2007 2:30 PM

    The reply, of course, comes from the spineless jellyfish who can't even sign his comments with a name or initials.

    (Remember the cowardly lion from the Wizard of OZ anyone?)

    After seeing this picture it is beginning to become clear that the pain is getting unbearable for some sellers, where are the buyers camping out in front of this house to try and snap up this great deal?

    Where have the combatants of the bidding wars gone?

    Are they waiting to start buying after the superbowl?

    Better yet, which year superbowl will the buyers come back?
    Superbowl XLII?
    Superbowl XLIII?
    Superbowl XLIV?

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  23. Hey, I'll pass out the razorblades and wait for the estate sales. hahahahaha......

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  24. I’m concerned what desperate sellers will do to try to unload their houses, hold buyers at gunpoint until the contract is signed?

    Force appraisers to agree with the seller’s wishing price “or else”?

    Desperate times seem to bring out the worst in people.


    Hmmm, Desperate House Sellers, the next hit TV series?



    A bit off topic but I feel I should mention why I chose the name Anti Lance.

    I do not that I have anything against Lance wherever or whoever he is, I just get more than a little fed up with his rhetoric and constant renter bashing.

    Some rent not because they can’t afford to buy, but because they might be deciding to move to greener pastures as far as jobs are concerned, some sold at the top or near the top and are living off the profits, some just got fed up living with rowdy neighbors and decided to pack up and move, some might want to live near but not with sick loved ones or family.

    The constant bashing of renters and lumping renters together as 'those looking for any excuse not to buy' completely ignores that some will buy BUT only when they personally, individually, and for some financially, are able to buy.

    For those on the sidelines preparing for the day when they will buy, no amount of ridicule or condemnation is going to make the future buyers try to get a house before they are ready, and the future buyers are Not going to rely on the advice of posters or real estate “experts” who constantly say “buy or you will regret it.”

    For future house buyers, to put it bluntly, the argument against the Housing Heads, the housing trolls and the NAR, is as follows:


    It is MY money,
    I earned it,
    I saved it and I am saving it,
    I and I alone will decide what to do with it.
    YOU on the other hand
    didn’t help me earn it
    You didn’t help me save it
    so Don’t tell me how I should spend it.


    Unless these housing heads are willing to give the future house buyers a cash gift or interest free loans, the pro-house posters should realize their posts, their ridicule, their condemnation of renters, their words in general are falling on deaf ears.

    Thank you for your time reading this.

    Anti Lance

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  25. Nice post anti-lance...

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  26. Love it, anti-lance. Even beyond your post, there is a key relationship between renting and buying that must hold for the market to make sense. Between '04 and '06, the market got completely out of whack. I'm renting a place in Georgetown for $3K/month that would cost over $6K/month to buy (with a relatively conventional loan.) Now that's nuts. Or my landlord is nuts. There's a bit of both going on, but when the rent vs. buy differential is so imbalanced (see eloan.com for a great calculator that does the rent v. own comparison), I have no qualms renting.

    And best of all, renting gives me flexibility that owning cannot. I have a 1.5 year old and a 1 week old, and at some point we'll have to figure out where to live longterm. By renting, we can pick up and move relatively easily. If we owned, I'd be paying 6% to lance or some other huckster to get out of the city. If we choose to do so. But renting gives me that option. And that option value is greater than someone like lance might know.

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  27. "FYI, Realtors HATE this."

    realtors still think that they can somehow control the market just by telling everyone what to think.

    I have spoken to a couple dozen over the last year and it is really sad how they each roll out the same excuses time and again.

    interest rate scare tactics, predictions that this is the bottom, predictions that things are picking up now...

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  28. David, this picture doesn't prove anything. Seriously- I like when your site has substantial info (kudos on that). But this picture doesn't tell a story. Thanks.

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  29. Anti-Lance: Those are all great reasons for not buying a place -- buying is only a good decision if you are ready to do so. Not being able to pull the trigger is another matter.

    G-Town renter: You have a 1.5 year old and a 1 week year old. It seems as if that long term decision is rapidly approaching. And you might give 6% to Realtors to sell a place, but you won't get the 15-30 year of appreciation in value enjoyed by the owner.

    David: that picture looks like it is on the fringe of Cap Hill -- is that where you are looking? Check sales pricves for the last 6 months in the old city #1 zip -- prices have held steady, and if it is nice, stuff is still going above asking.

    Anyone looked up the subject property?

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  30. I looked on the Listing agent's website and didn't see the property.

    Could it be that is (GASP!) -- sold?

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  31. "Could it be that is (GASP!) -- sold?"

    If it did, what matters is what it sold for.

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