Bad timing
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When I bought my house, my timing was impeccable in 2010. But with this next house, it seems we signed an earnest money contract at the exact top price, and even four weeks later the list prices on this model in these sorts of communities have come down by about 6%. As you can imagine, there are lots of comps to judge this by. The earnest money is only a small fraction of the price reduction. Looks like we'll be backing out, unless the builder renegotiates a lower price. Otherwise, they'll pocket our earnest money and sell to the next person.
Meanwhile, we're selling into a dropping market. Some interest at today's open house, but no offers yet after a week on the market. It will not be a bad thing if we keep this place, eat the earnest money, and try again when a competent president is at the reins of the economy. (That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
wrote on 25 Jul 2022, 01:27 last edited by jon-nyc@Horace said in Bad timing:
(That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
The surprising thing is that these economic geniuses somehow ended up selling houses and not MDs at Goldman Sachs.
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@taiwan_girl said in Bad timing:
Good luck Horace. Is your job requirement causing you to move or just your preference?
Just my preference. Actually, part of the value of moving is to eliminate the risk of being asked to return to the office. Which I suppose slightly increases the risk of getting downsized or marginalized, but let’s hope it won’t come to that.
wrote on 25 Jul 2022, 01:28 last edited by@Horace said in Bad timing:
@taiwan_girl said in Bad timing:
Good luck Horace. Is your job requirement causing you to move or just your preference?
Just my preference. Actually, part of the value of moving is to eliminate the risk of being asked to return to the office. Which I suppose slightly increases the risk of getting downsized or marginalized, but let’s hope it won’t come to that.
I respect the dedication.
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@Horace said in Bad timing:
(That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
The surprising thing is that these economic geniuses somehow ended up selling houses and not MDs at Goldman Sachs.
wrote on 25 Jul 2022, 02:45 last edited by@jon-nyc said in Bad timing:
@Horace said in Bad timing:
(That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
The surprising thing is that these economic geniuses somehow ended up selling houses and not MDs at Goldman Sachs.
We should check in with Paul Krugman or Robert Reich for the informed scoop.
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Horace, you are meant to come to Minnesooooooota! The universe is sending you the message in strong letters: "You belong in Minnesoooooota, Horace!"
Please heed this call before you regret it even more.
wrote on 25 Jul 2022, 02:47 last edited by@brenda said in Bad timing:
Horace, you are meant to come to Minnesooooooota! The universe is sending you the message in strong letters: "You belong in Minnesoooooota, Horace!"
Please heed this call before you regret it even more.
That may be a great option, tbh. We should look into it.
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@Horace said in Bad timing:
(That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
The surprising thing is that these economic geniuses somehow ended up selling houses and not MDs at Goldman Sachs.
wrote on 25 Jul 2022, 03:26 last edited by@jon-nyc said in Bad timing:
@Horace said in Bad timing:
(That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
The surprising thing is that these economic geniuses somehow ended up selling houses and not MDs at Goldman Sachs.
Perception is reality in politics.
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@jon-nyc said in Bad timing:
@Horace said in Bad timing:
(That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
The surprising thing is that these economic geniuses somehow ended up selling houses and not MDs at Goldman Sachs.
Perception is reality in politics.
wrote on 25 Jul 2022, 03:31 last edited by@Jolly said in Bad timing:
@jon-nyc said in Bad timing:
@Horace said in Bad timing:
(That political swipe is actually word on the street in the real estate agent community, not my biased commentary I swear.)
The surprising thing is that these economic geniuses somehow ended up selling houses and not MDs at Goldman Sachs.
Perception is reality in politics.
I doubt Jon would even bet against their notion that a new administration would be good for the housing market.
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wrote on 25 Jul 2022, 12:39 last edited by
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-us-housing-market-has-gone-cold-153657282.html
"The US Housing Market Has Gone Cold"
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wrote on 30 Jul 2022, 17:29 last edited by
Second weekend of open houses starts today. Some googling indicates that open houses aren't that meaningful anymore, and are mostly useful for selling agents to gather potential clients amongst the buyers. But it feels good that we're doing something. Our agent is too busy with another client tomorrow to host our open house, so she'll be hosting today, and my wife will host tomorrow. We haven't gotten any offers, and I don't expect we'll get any offers while the market is mid-crash. I expect we'll be staying in this house for another several years. Hopefully the lights in the bay area will still be on, when the interest rates are settled and the housing market picks up.
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wrote on 1 Aug 2022, 13:03 last edited by
Good luck Horace! Make sure you take down your MAGA flags, btw
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wrote on 1 Aug 2022, 13:46 last edited by Horace 8 Jan 2022, 13:47
@89th said in Bad timing:
Good luck Horace! Make sure you take down your MAGA flags, btw
We’re gonna have an interesting discussion with our agent. She has a team that fixes up homes for staging and selling, which she covers in anticipation of getting paid with the sale. None of this is in writing. Now we’re going to find out how much that stuff costs. Our verbal agreement was that we would pay her back if we couldn’t sell, but nobody’s been keeping track of the costs.
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@89th said in Bad timing:
Good luck Horace! Make sure you take down your MAGA flags, btw
We’re gonna have an interesting discussion with our agent. She has a team that fixes up homes for staging and selling, which she covers in anticipation of getting paid with the sale. None of this is in writing. Now we’re going to find out how much that stuff costs. Our verbal agreement was that we would pay her back if we couldn’t sell, but nobody’s been keeping track of the costs.
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wrote on 2 Aug 2022, 01:08 last edited by
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wrote on 2 Aug 2022, 01:13 last edited by
Our agent told us today that a buyer's agent got in touch about an offer. One should be forthcoming. The buyer's agent is coming over tonight to take a picture of a spot of water damage on the garage ceiling. I was unsure what it was from, when the inspector was here, and he wild guessed it as roof leakage. Now that I care, I note that it's not under any section of roof. It's under the refrigerator on the floor above. The water supply flexible pipe probably leaked at some point. Hope it doesn't scare the buyer away. If we don't sell this time, we'll be painting over the water damage, which clearly hasn't re-occurred since I bought the place 12 years ago.
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wrote on 14 Aug 2022, 00:42 last edited by
Still zero offers after 30 days on market. I can take a hint. We reduced our asking price by 5%. We think prices are going to continue to fall. I don't see how entire middle class neighborhoods can hover around 750k with these interest rates. There isn't room to grow. These homes are garbage investments. I had perfect timing, buying in 2010, and my home has only just over doubled since then. That's not so great for 12 years, with perfect timing. I doubt these CA neighborhoods will ever grow much again.
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wrote on 14 Aug 2022, 16:23 last edited by
I'm starting to think more seriously about the possibility of renting this place out. The mortgage is in a good spot, with half of the payment going to principal, so it's a piggy bank. The rent would pay for that entirely, even after income taxes. The risk involved would be bad tenants, which landlords have little defense against in California. My selling agent has a property management company we could use to handle the rental, and according to her, about 50% of renters exit gracefully if asked, 25% will cost you two months rent, and 25% are worst case squatters. The other complicating factor is the tax exemption for home sale profits, which requires you to have lived in the home for 2 of the past 5 years. That would effectively impose a three year time limit on selling, after we move out. Otherwise the tax hit would lock us into renting it out permanently. I would be very motivated to sell it within three years. Lots of moving parts.
The other advantage to keeping the place is protection against job loss catastrophe. In the case of income loss, we could sell the TX place and move back to this easy mortgage.
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I'm starting to think more seriously about the possibility of renting this place out. The mortgage is in a good spot, with half of the payment going to principal, so it's a piggy bank. The rent would pay for that entirely, even after income taxes. The risk involved would be bad tenants, which landlords have little defense against in California. My selling agent has a property management company we could use to handle the rental, and according to her, about 50% of renters exit gracefully if asked, 25% will cost you two months rent, and 25% are worst case squatters. The other complicating factor is the tax exemption for home sale profits, which requires you to have lived in the home for 2 of the past 5 years. That would effectively impose a three year time limit on selling, after we move out. Otherwise the tax hit would lock us into renting it out permanently. I would be very motivated to sell it within three years. Lots of moving parts.
The other advantage to keeping the place is protection against job loss catastrophe. In the case of income loss, we could sell the TX place and move back to this easy mortgage.
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wrote on 14 Aug 2022, 16:40 last edited by
I have seen my dad operate as a long-distance landlord. It's not pretty.
I may have forgotten, but why exactly do you want to move? I know it is not a have-to situation. I'm wondering if the benefits are worth the risks in an uncertain market, especially with the tech sector looking shaky.
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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I have seen my dad operate as a long-distance landlord. It's not pretty.
I may have forgotten, but why exactly do you want to move? I know it is not a have-to situation. I'm wondering if the benefits are worth the risks in an uncertain market, especially with the tech sector looking shaky.
wrote on 14 Aug 2022, 16:50 last edited by@Mik said in Bad timing:
have seen my dad operate as a long-distance landlord. It's not pretty.
I operated as a near-distance landlord for 3 years. It wasn't pretty either.
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wrote on 14 Aug 2022, 17:00 last edited by
Don't know what you guys are talking about. Being a landlord is the road to riches. At least that's what people trying to sell me property keep telling me.
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I have seen my dad operate as a long-distance landlord. It's not pretty.
I may have forgotten, but why exactly do you want to move? I know it is not a have-to situation. I'm wondering if the benefits are worth the risks in an uncertain market, especially with the tech sector looking shaky.
wrote on 14 Aug 2022, 17:00 last edited by@Mik said in Bad timing:
I have seen my dad operate as a long-distance landlord. It's not pretty.
Did he go through a property management company? I imagine it would be a nightmare otherwise. My agent's company charges 10% of rent and advises repairs will cost 5%. But they handle all the repair work.
I may have forgotten, but why exactly do you want to move? I know it is not a have-to situation. I'm wondering if the benefits are worth the risks in an uncertain market, especially with the tech sector looking shaky.
Just quality of life. It's a no brainer bad decision financially. But I'm 50 now and I would like to live somewhere I (we) really like.
