Quote of the Day
I pick cereal very quickly thank you very much. Just don’t want to pay a crazy price when I am literally seeing price cuts in the hundreds of thousands for some properties we’ve looked at (but rejected for other criteria). There is basically unanimity that prices will go down in 2009, and possibly through to…
I pick cereal very quickly thank you very much. Just don’t want to pay a crazy price when I am literally seeing price cuts in the hundreds of thousands for some properties we’ve looked at (but rejected for other criteria). There is basically unanimity that prices will go down in 2009, and possibly through to 2010 and beyond. We only sold a few months ago, and the meltdown happened, so we’re just actively looking, but not rushing. We have a list of flexible criteria for the property we’re seeking, of which price is just one element – but since price impacts so many other parts of our lives – esp time spent with our kids! (big mortgage = more hours working to pay the bills), price is a major criteria, esp in an environment when prices are headed down.
— by Miss Muffett in Last Week’s Biggest Sales
Inigo : so you are telling me that some little 3rd world area called Miami Beach is oz? The same place that is 15 blocks long? The same place that employers pay $9 an hour ? The same place that has zero jobs? The same place that South Americans who don’t have a dime in their pockets bought tons of real estate? The same place that was just listed by the FBI as one of the most dangerous places to live in the United States? Is that the same Miami Beach?
I agree that Miami Beach is not exactly comparable to Brooklyn, in many ways MB has a lot more going for it than Brooklyn. First of all, most of the product there is A-grade, no tacky flammable walkups, secondly, many people from all over the country were interested in buying a vacation property there, thirdly there was also a strong demand from European and Latin American buyers. Face it MB was OZ, Brooklyn is Kansas. If the RE market tanked there, what hope do we have in our homely little traffic-choked “outer Boro”? Real Estate is about dreams and aspirations, maybe SEBB is a little weak on the subject.
In 98 Williamsburg, that was a normal price for these old aluminum sided woodies, and out all over Queens at that time were many many similar prices. Actually in some places in Queens prices are falling back to almost this level now due to foreclosure comps – you can look at the recent foreclosure sales in MLS for proof. I think all the people on here who think it could never happen here are just too young to know anything different. The last 10 years are not typical of any real estate inflation at any time on history, and prices in the hundreds of thousands or millions for anything short of a 60 acre estate with mansion and moat are just not typical. It just doesn’t happen this way unless something crooked is going on – and we know now exactly what and to what extent that was. Million dollar houses used to only be found in Beverly Hills, UES, or out in the Hamptons and were really something special – not a fixer upper in the Burg or BS. And, considering wages and debt to income ratios, they should still only be found in those markets. If you have to live 10 people to your house just to make the payments, you are living beyond your means. And the Fed? Geez. Give me a break. The Fed is worried about how we stand with other countries, not whether your overpriced house that you cannot afford but bought anyway will be foreclosed on. There will be several rude awakenings over the next months and lots of suckers will be revealed.
Sebb why are you so sure housing will be back in less that a year? Really 2009? Do you have any objective data to that effect? Or are you simply hoping the FED will rescue us…they are certainly trying but it hasn’t worked one iota. The indicators all point to housing being down for a few years but maybe you have other data.
LOL if you will but the truth is the Govt will bail out whatever it needs to. Let the Bulls run.
damn, crisis? What crisis? Sebb just provided the solution to all our woes – Cramer! LOL hahahaha @ Sebb
“The Fed will not let the economy fail.” Where was the Fed in ’06, in ’07, in ’08? The Federal reserve has shown no foresight whatsoever in this crisis. Can anyone tell me what arrow the Fed has left in its quiver? Seriously –you have interest rates effectively at zero; an unlimited borrowing window for the major banks; the fed has even suggested it will print its own bonds. What is left? If this latest set of moves doesn’t work, we are in for a long, hard landing.
“It does not take a Education to figure out the Fed will not let the Economy fail.”
From the grammar and capitalization of sebb’s comment, he doesn’t have much of “a Education” himself.
$69,000 for a house in Williamsburg in ’98? Really? You would have paid twice as much for a 2BR pre-war coop in Jackson Heights.