housing sale in nyc, q about 1970s.

gaj · Mar 9, 2009

big housing sale in nyc area this past weekend on foreclosed places. it made the front page of the ny post before it happened.

today's papers have stories about the people who finally could afford a house, and what great deals they got.

my thoughts: if the press is reporting the "great deals",we haven't bottomed in housing. i'd feel more confident if they were reporting something like "people bought houses, but were worried they were overpaying / could get it cheaper in 6 months." and if it wasn't front page news.

my question: in the 70s, when housing prices weren't so good, what was the press and sentiment like at the bottom? was it like my perspective?

Tauvros · Mar 9, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/nyregion/09foreclosure.html?_r=2&hp

In rapid-fire speech that resembled a horse-race announcerâs, an auctioneer introduced the first of the dayâs 375 properties: a seven-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Roselle, N.J., with an estimated value of $565,000 and a starting bid of $129,000. (Final sale price: $245,000.)

Some 1,400 people were there, a crowd twice as large as the one last year, when the California-based Real Estate Disposition Corporation held its first foreclosure auction in the city, in a conference room at a Midtown hotel. But there were not nearly as many foreclosed houses then as there are now, said the corporationâs chairman, Robert Friedman.

âThe economy is much more severe these days,â Mr. Friedman added. âWeâre seeing more foreclosures than any other time in the 19 years weâve been in business, and we have auctions almost every day all across the country, sometimes more than one auction a day.â

hoodooman · Mar 9, 2009

That story was just on the news. The house looked like a rat trap. The guy who bought it ponied up 5k and was told he couldn't get a loan on it, until it was brought up to code. What a joke. You would be luck to sell that place in North Carolina for 50k.

Anaconda · Mar 9, 2009

Quote from hoodooman:

That story was just on the news. The house looked like a rat trap. The guy who bought it ponied up 5k and was told he couldn't get a loan on it, until it was brought up to code. What a joke. You would be luck to sell that place in North Carolina for 50k.

This is a common case in foreclosure sales.

It seems that the amateurs are jumping onto these "bargains" and are getting a lot more than they bargained for.

The real joke in this story is that the guy has no money and needs a loan. Same as before, overleveraged jokers thinking they are gonna be rich from buying real estate just because it seems like the thing to do.

DataCruncher · Mar 9, 2009

Quote from hoodooman:

That story was just on the news. The house looked like a rat trap. The guy who bought it ponied up 5k and was told he couldn't get a loan on it, until it was brought up to code. What a joke. You would be luck to sell that place in North Carolina for 50k.

so will he lose the 5k deposit if he can't come up with financing within 30 days?

Brabed · Mar 9, 2009

When the news stories say something to the effect of: "Who the heck would buy real estate right now!!??".....Then you buy like there's no tomorrow.

It cracks me up that houses are still being valued by their 2006 inflated prices that weren't real to start with. I see it all the time in my area. "This house is going for $250,000, what a bargain!!, it was worth $500,000 three years ago", and I say, ya and I'll be able to get it for $100,000 in six months.

Clubber Lang · Mar 9, 2009

Quote from Anaconda:

The real joke in this story is that the guy has no money and needs a loan. Same as before, overleveraged jokers thinking they are gonna be rich from buying real estate just because it seems like the thing to do.

Great point.

Another thing to consider is that NYC area prices held up until late 2007 while the rest of the country had been falling for 2+ years. One year of declines hardly prices in the ridiculous growth from the bubble.

NYC still has a long way to fall to get anywhere near historical norms, and with the Wall St/financial sector in shambles one could argue that it's going to go much lower than historical numbers suggest.

AK100 · Mar 9, 2009

Quote from Brabed:

It cracks me up that houses are still being valued by their 2006 inflated prices that weren't real to start with. I see it all the time in my area. "This house is going for $250,000, what a bargain!!, it was worth $500,000 three years ago", and I say, ya and I'll be able to get it for $100,000 in six months.

You hit the nail RIGHT on the head brother.

MattF · Mar 10, 2009

Quote from DataCruncher:

so will he lose the 5k deposit if he can't come up with financing within 30 days?

USDC needs a $5K cashier's check written to yourself and then something to fund the 5% DP total...financing there available, but balances are due within 30 days. Otherwise you're SOL.

Guy of course didn't do his homework; open houses are available prior to auctions.

I've been to a couple of these before elsewhere; they are fast, furious, crazy, and fun.

MattF · Mar 10, 2009

Quote from Brabed:

It cracks me up that houses are still being valued by their 2006 inflated prices that weren't real to start with. I see it all the time in my area. "This house is going for $250,000, what a bargain!!, it was worth $500,000 three years ago", and I say, ya and I'll be able to get it for $100,000 in six months.

Indeed...well, the town/city wants to keep them up too to get their just property taxes and the like...

What I'm sure must be a good 95+% of homeowners don't know is that you can always appeal (and subsequently prove) your assessment if you feel it's lower...