In a rapidly deteriorating market, this usually means one of two things:
1. Jackass realtors changing the status from "Active" to "Contingent" to make it look like people are actually interested in their overpriced properties, or
2. Price reductions
So imagine my surprise when I saw six price INCREASES staring at me. WTF?
It's worth noting that all properties are tiny, in the same no-man's-land 'hood, and listed by the same agent:
2530 E 10th St, 90804
The list price was "$284,000" and changed to "$324,000"
The status was "Active" and changed to "Contingent"
2540 E 10th St, 90804
The list price was "$284,000" and changed to "$324,000"
2542 E 10th St, 90804
The list price was "$289,000" and changed to "$329,000"
2544 E 10th St, 90804
The list price was "$299,000" and changed to "$339,000"
2524 E 10th St, 90804
The status was "Active" and changed to "Contingent"
The list price was "$274,000" and changed to "$314,000"
2526 E 10th St, 90804
The list price was "$279,000" and changed to "$324,000"
The really weird part? Every single listing starts with, "Reduced price!!"
Did the realtor jack up the prices but was too lazy to remove the "Reduced price" language from the listing descriptions? A lazy realtor? BLASPHEMY!
Is it a ploy, aided by playing with the "Active"/"Contingent" status, designed to fool people into believing a bidding war is going on? A dishonest realtor? HOW DARE YOU!
Is it a typo, and the realtor actually meant to reduce the price to $224,000, $239,000, $229,000, etc.? A realtor with typos? STOP SPREADING LIES!
Or worse, does this realtor actually believe they can get $424 per square foot during the worst housing and lending crisis our country has faced since the Great Depression? A delusional realtor? YOU SIR, HAVE FINALLY CROSSED THE LINE!
What's your theory?
Appointed with high end fixtures...so much so that they ran out of money to put in the microwave that usually goes above the stove when you have small cabinets above.
ReplyDeleteNotice the realtor works for Doma properties..which bills themselves as the premier loft real estate firm in LB. "premier" as in overpriced.
"Doma" is a Japanese word for home. Maybe the owners of this firm are Japanese and haven't heard that we are in a severe housing correction that is going to continue?
Just my two cents.
Yes, and be sure to thank these Doma-sses for the close up photo of bricks. Very helpful!
ReplyDeleteEl Bee,
ReplyDeletean area I'm interested in is showing signs of cracking, including one listed as 'accepting backup offers'
So, this one is listed at 650k, several withing 200 yards are listed close to 100k less (all pretty much the same, 2500 sq ft, great neighborhood etc).....and all but the 'accepting backups' are listed on foreclosureradar. One recently went REO with the others soon to follow.
I am so freakin tempted to call the Realtors and offer 300k for any of these. Tilting at windmills maybe, but all they can do is say "no".
I want to be a comp-killer when I grow up.
By he way, thanks for your response in an earlier post re: the bailout. Doc housing bubble has a great dissection on that today.
I read Doc's post today and it was fantastic. It's become clear to me that this is simply a bailout of Fannie and Freddie, dressed up with a "prevent victimized Americans from foreclosure" angle to garner public support.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm tempted to nab an FHA loan, slap down a paltry 3%, take that $7,500 first-time buyer tax break (read: loan)...and I'm in business. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And hey, if I get in over my head, I'll just do a "ruthless put" and give it back to the bank with no consequence. Ruined credit, you say? EVERYONE WILL HAVE RUINED CREDIT BY THEN!
HOWEVER, I'm not pulling the trigger because we all know LB is still snoring and dreaming of RE riches. Given the environment, frankly I still can't believe my eyes most of the time when it comes to prices.
End rant.
Re: your potential purchase. Make an offer, it will probably be the only one they get this quarter! Sure, they'll act indignant and accuse you of "not knowing how real estate works" but all the indignation at "offensive" bids in the world won't pay the rent.
I wonder if you can find out how much of the upcoming Alt-A/Option ARM avalanche is concentrated in that area. That may delay your purchase as you wait for that to unfold, but it will pay off handsomely.