Recent content by vacation

Yes it does. Net negative worth has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can make your payments. There are no margin calls on houses. Are you saying that would be a bad thing? Pretty much. I have lived through several recessions. None of them was a big deal. Most...

Hey, RedManPlus+, how is your poker bot coming?

Which builder in which area? 50k may be nothing, and may be made up by April 2008. Or, it may be the beginning of a much larger slide. In any case, I think "earnest money" is called "earnest money" for a reason. Either you take delivery of the house or you give up the earnest money.

I am not talking about closing costs. I am talking about the price of the home. I'm talking about a six figure discrepancy in the actual price paid with the price recorded with the county clerk.

Can you point me to the actual law about this? If what you are saying is true, I have enough information, in print, for a cut and dried conviction.

I've seen the contracts with my own two eyes. But I'm not sure why it defrauds the lender. The loan is made for the real price minus downpayment.

This is getting interesting. I just checked the County Clerk records against sales prices I know for a fact, and they do not match. I wonder if any investigative reporters would be interested in this, if what you are saying is correct.

I don't know that that isn't true of "bank appraisers". But I know appraisers who say they don't know the price of incentives, and don't consider them in their comps. I will ask about that. I think it is a willful ignorance. Our county clerk's records show a lot of things about recorded...

That's quite an assumption. Except in certain bizarre markets like possibly LV, a more reasonable assumption is that there is a growing pool of buyers on the sidelines waiting out the downturn.

No, because the homebuilders do not have to disclose so-called "incentives" which are really just price cuts. Sales in a nearby new development are being recorded at $750k, when the buyers are actually only paying around $500k. The appraisals come in at the phony numbers, not the real...

I believe the average American net worth is already negative. So your point is what?

Don't worry, another 75% and you can afford your 900 sq ft dream home. These kind of blanket statements are useless. Some areas may still have a long way down to go. Others have not and will not see a penny of downturn.

They already are. And it depends on where you are in Cali. The outer edges of the desirable areas have already imploded and are being sold off at below cost to build. I believe those areas are near bottom. The "name brand" areas are still holding on, but I can't imagine they can hold on...

Exactly. It is now possible in certain area to pick up new construction below builder cost. I am interested to hear how the fundamentals will not support prices at that level.

Considering 30-40% drops are already in place in parts of CA, 50% would mean we're very near the bottom. So, big effing deal.