Is it true?

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tulip_IHB

tulip_IHB

New member
I went to a couple of open houses over this weekend...and every agents told me the market will have lots of traffics after the first quarter. They are all excited and telling me it is time to buy now!!! If I wait after March, it will be very hard to find anything under $450K. Is it true or they are smoking some good weeds?
 
Ofcourse they are goign to tell you the market is picking up, they are probably months behind on their own mortgage and Mercedes lease payment.



Never ever ever trust a broker... there only intention is to close the deal and make $.
 
I think some communities are probably getting more traffic because of lower prices, but not all of them. We went to Columbus Square and checked out Camden Place and Cambridge Lane and there was a lot of traffic with many of the homes already sold in their current phase. We also visited Portola Springs and there wasn't much traffic out there.
 
There are a couple of homes down in Westminster that have 12 offers and some are paying cash. We went to an open house yesterday and was told they already have 5 offers...why bother to have an open house? We don't see anything in Hunting Beach or Fountain Valley under $ 550K.
 
tulip,





Some realtors, not the ones who post in our forum, but some realtors are self-serving liars who are only trying to frighten you into doing something that makes them money. I don't think it takes a crystal ball to divine that prices will be lower at the end of 2008 than they are at the beginning. Is there a potential for a spring bounce? Sure, does this mean prices are entering a sustained period of appreciation? Not very likely.
 
Irvinerenter,



They did frighten me, because I was worry we will be renter forever. I refused to buy anything over $ 500K, because it makes no sense for a 3 bedrooms, 2 bath and 1200 square feet.
 
tulip,





Never buy in fear, you will regret it. Your intellect is telling you -- accurately -- that it makes no sense to buy a small 3/2 for $500K, don't let realtor fear tactics allow your emotions to override your intellect.





Personally, I find this tactic from realtors to be the most reprehensible.
 
<p>Tulip, </p>

<p>Do you have your own agent? Have them see if the property is taking backup offers. </p>

<p>Or better, check Redfin yourself for the property and see if they've changed the status to backup offers.</p>

<p>Or better yet, go by next week and stop in the open house again. </p>

<p> </p>
 
Tulip



Ask a/your or the realtor at the open house to provide you with MLS comps for the price range, bedroom count, and area you are looking at. The facts don't lie. Either there are recent closed comps or there aren't and if there are you will know sales prices but they don't included incentives.



Have them provide Active, Pending Sales, and Closed for the past 6 months. Any decent agent at an open house should run these real time on their computer.



I haven't seen multiple offers in long time.



This isn't rocket science.



Regards
 
<em>Have them provide Active, Pending Sales, and Closed for the past 6 months. Any decent agent at an open house should run these real time on their computer.</em>





I have found these to be very helpful, as I can get a great snapshot of the neighborhood. Of course, they are only valuable if houses are moving, so you can see the pattern of comps. No sales in a neighborhood for 8 months (this was actually the case in one neighborhood I saw) aren't very helpful.
 
caliguy2699



I would run +- 100K +- 1 bedroom and have the results, including photos, on my laptop for view by anyone who stopped in my open houses. Like you said it gave a pretty good snapshot.



The absence of closed or pending listings provides information due to not being shown. If an agent can't show any pending or closed model matches then the fact that they say there are multiple offers would alert me that they either not too sharp or just plain dishonest. In either case they wouldn't be a good choice.



Enjoy!
 
<p><em>No sales in a neighborhood for 8 months (this was actually the case in one neighborhood I saw) aren't very helpful.</em> </p>

<p>If it was Corona del Mar and the price had 8 digits in it before the decimal point, that wouldn't concern me. Otherwise, it would pretty much say take the average price of the places for sale and cut them in half.</p>

<p> </p>
 
NSR



A good place to start is with the actives shown as short or REO. Figure 10-15% below this as a possible starting point if there are no recent (6 months or less) comps.
 
Tulip,





If you do a search through MLS, there are many 3/2 properties avail across OC for $500k and under.





Don't believe the "priced out forever" mantra. And if you happen to believe that prices will always go up... America is still the land of opportunity for those who are self motivated to become wealthy. One solution to more expensive housing is to find ways to increase your income.





But seriously... I've lived in OC since 1982, and have seen housing prices go up and down over the years. Just relax and rent for a while. Take your time. Unlike 1998-2004, housing prices are not rapidly increasing. You have the luxury of time to wait and find something you like and can afford.
 
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