Tales from Florida
Lehigh Acres, Florida is a far cry from New York City but the apocalyptic scenerio described in The Times this weekend was enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most optimistic gotham dweller: Trinkets for $1 were an early sign of trouble. Early last year, garage sales and estate auctions became more…
Lehigh Acres, Florida is a far cry from New York City but the apocalyptic scenerio described in The Times this weekend was enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most optimistic gotham dweller:
Trinkets for $1 were an early sign of trouble. Early last year, garage sales and estate auctions became more common in Lehigh Acres as families sold what they could to survive. No one seemed interested in buying whole houses, and foreclosures soon gave way to empty homes that became magnets for crime. Thieves stole air conditioner parts for scrap. And on distant roads with only a few new homes and faded blue street signs from the ’50s — on Narcissus Boulevard, on Prospect Avenue — drug dealers moved in. In 2007 and 2008, the Lee County Sheriff’s Department shut down more than 100 houses in Lehigh Acres where marijuana was being grown. In 2008, the police confiscated nearly 3,000 plants valued at nearly $7 million.
Gulp.
“Prices must adjust and will. Sell now, buy back after Obama’s first term. You’ll be happy you did!!!”
Simply the best bit of advice I’ve ever heard on this blog.
***Bid half off peak comps***
“Wall St just paid out its last bonus checks for the decade.”
Yup, 18 billion dollars worth.
Or about 1/4th of the State of Florida’s entire Fiscal Budget for the year 2007/08.
Your comments are getting really ignorant BHO.
Sizzle,
The best advice on this website I’ve seen is often found in the Forum. Things relating to renovation, restoration, landlords, fixing this, repairing that, etc. etc.
As for the speculation on home prices, I see very little good advice.
I do think generalizing and saying that you should sell your home in a declining market to then buy it again in another 3 years is foolish. That would only make sense of you bought a home in the last couple years which you could no longer afford.
Otherwise, it really makes no sense if you bought your house to live in long term, as most people in NYC have done.
You sound like a flipper with that mentality.
“i think we will continue to fall here but things seem way more bleak down there.”
Lag, travy, lag. NYC lags. Wall St just paid out its last bonus checks for the decade. It’s a differential collapse between cities.
***Bid half off peak comps***
“Nope, Brownstones-Half-Off, the increase in interest, enthusiasm and values in centrally located, older neighborhoods inside cities all over the country not just here, started well well well before the bubble due to a whole other factor — the migration back to cities from suburbs.”
Yup, traditionalmod. Same bubble. As you have said, the “increase in interest, enthusiasm and values…started well well well before the bubble”. So that difference between Florida ghost towns and NYC was already priced in. It cancels out. When NYC finishes its crash, it’ll still be way more expensive than those areas of Florida because the difference between the intrinsic values is rock solid. But that’s not what we’re debating here. We’re talking about the fluff, the excess fat in home prices. It was driven by the same speculative bubble where the mantra was “home prices only go up”.
***Bid half off peak comps***
As much as this is an uber-grim article I have a hard time mustering too much fear that this sort of thing will happen here.
11217, what’s the best advice you’ve heard on Brownstoner lately?
Ok, I take it back.
Putting money under a mattress is officially the worst advice I’ve heard now.
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No, no… I do in fact understand all of the above. Yes, there are costs associated with selling an apartment or brownstone. But the cost of holding onto one as this asset bubble deflates will be much MUCH greater.
Sell FSBO, put your money somewhere safe(i.e. under mattress, in cds, etc.) and buy it back at a steep discount later.