[Wheels68]

Don't want to sound negative but the easy money is over in housing for at least 2-3 years. CA is seeing YOY declines in value and in Central CA the builders will sell a new home for less than the existing homes in the neighborhood just so they can keep moving their houses and close the project. Around here the builders are trying to build out and close what they started while they are dumping raw land. Be careful if you are looking at Texas. The rate of appreciation is not what you see in CA and property taxes are quite high. You may be able to do OK if your really do your homework before buying anything and treat it like something you yourself may have to live in. A lot of people are going to get burned in the coming months because they bought without regard for fundamentals. People can make money in a declining market but it is not easy. What we saw in CA in the last 2-3 years is unprecedented and not sustainable. Affordability in the LA area is in the single digits. How can you expect values to keep rising when less than 5% of the people qualify for the median price home with a decent loan .

 

[Rich69RS/SS]

I agree with David above with all these ARM's to reset next year (think I read that over 50% of all new mortgage's in my area last year are ARM's) it's gonna be a yard sale beyond your wildest dreams. Investor's were pouring into my area and buying houses like drinks were on the house then turning around and sticking a For Sale back into the front yard. Realtor's were telling people to buy now or your be priced out forever it was a frenzy of buying and selling and the market wents nuts. It's cooled off now and the party is over if it was me I'd wait until mid to late 2007 to see how the market is going a lot of people got into houses they can't afford. Just my $.02

 

[bowtie6872]

get alot of TNT and a match...........

no really..
the housing market is on it's way to pop'n..
now is not the time to try to flip houses.. even forcloses are or could be overpriced as the market pops...
sorry but your timing might be off to start down this road

 

[gb70]

get alot of TNT and a match...........

no really..
the housing market is on it's way to pop'n..
now is not the time to try to flip houses.. even forcloses are or could be overpriced as the market pops...
sorry but your timing might be off to start down this road

I completely agree. Now is not the time at all. You will be sitting on it too long and could be getting it at near current market value. Keep in mind when homes sit, inventories grow, it becomes a buyers market, and prices fall in order to compete. Better off waiting it out until you see signs on serious improovement.

 

[Rich69RS/SS]

We were just talking about this...http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1125foreclosure1125.html

 

[driver]

I would learn all I could for now and be ready when the market pick's up but I WOULD NOT DO IT untill thing's get better.

 

[GRN69CHV]

I don't agree with waiting - what will that get you? Now is the time to buy - cheap, real cheap. Buy, basic cleanup, rent out.

 

[Greybeard]

As a retired Real Estate Broker who has made more on property deals than running a 16 person Brokerage, I first must say this forum is probably not where your education needs to start.

You must be smarter than the Realtor. You need to know who the Purchaser is going to be, and why they want to be there. If it is a "working" neighborhood, you need to know the health of the job market where they'll work. Your Realtor can tell you "when" the market is going up or down, but probably doesn't understand "the why". In a rapidly rising market, anyone with a down payment can make money. It's the rest of the time you've got to be smart.

Some in this thread have warned about the falling market, bloated inventories, and interest rate adjustments as reasons to fear this.

Falling markets: Here in the Treasure Valley of Idaho, inventories are up, building permit #s have fallen, builders are giving incentives. Sounds bad, doesn't it? One "stat" that stands out------median price is up twenty percent this year. If you know the demographics, if you understand what the cause and effects are, you can find oppurtunity. The builders have pulled back and not going after building permits, and offering incentives means this market corner will be drying up. Knowing the #s of product and the rate of sale is more important than knowing the price they are asking.

Interest Rate adjustment: Ok, the variable jumps up to 7%. Before we assume that the house is going on the market and the seller lose his a$$, where is the seller going to go? Is he going to go live in the street, move in with the inlaws, quit his job and move to another state? Most sellers will not take less than they paid unless it wasn't their money, or they've lost their job and HAVE TO move. If they are still working at the same place, assume they need to have a roof over their head and will stay and wait it out.

You must know who is going to buy, and why! I can't stress this too much. You NEED TO KNOW more than the Realtor you use. He/she has access to what happened and that's not good enough. Don't rely on unknow authors of Real Estate market advice as they may know nothing more than what they learned in Journalism class. They're found in magazines, newspapers, on TV, and the net. Political misinformation is a constant as they grab "a statistic" to prove the other party needs to be thrown out. There are lots of statistics and you need access to them all......

Sorry about the long windedness. Learn why markets do what they do. That way you'll know when, where, and why. Take shortcuts and you are just gambling. Better off flipping cars. In fact, a good friend of mine flips muscle cars and makes 6+ figures a year in income. Cheaper than houses, an he has more fun.

Good Luck

 

[2cool]

Your going to have to do your own work here go out and ask questions don't believe everything someone tells you. Like using a CC or selling tax free thats a one time deal and when the IRS computers catch up that'll be one hell of a tax bill.
If your going to rent buy a dog because thats what your going to have when they leave just fix it up with renters grade materials.
I never buy from a Realtor.
One last thing when everyone wants out is when you should start shopping to get in then when everyone wants back in your the one looking to get out.
Go to the court house and lookup the house and check for anything on the title then you can get an attorney to do the rest for small change.
Get the cheapest house you can find for your first one so you can afford to let it sit if need be.

 

[Greybeard]

I never buy from a Realtor.

You might be missing out.

I've bought 4 pieces in the last 2 years using Realtors.

Bought 6/04, $110,000, 3/2 fixer. Sold 2/06 for $337,000
Bought 11/04, $45,000 , vacant land. Sold 3/06 for $175,000
Bought 6/05, $76,400, vacant land, present market $750,000 (10 acres, Island of Hawaii and am holding for a bit)
Bought 4/06, $145,000, 3/2 Log Home on acreage, assessed @ $233,000, present market is higher(will hold until 1/08)

Not using a Realtor eliminates a huge portion of the market from your identification. Establishing relationships with good Realtors means you hear about properties before the signs go up. 3 of the properties above were not on the market the day I bought them.

 

[LXS]

This guy (from another forum site) is a realtor I believe from ReMax if I'm not mistaking. Anyway, he's telling me that I'm better off buying property (like apartments and/or duplex homes) with units and rent them out. I told him that I don't mind buying a home(s), and renting them out, I just don't want to deal with people who say it's only going to be them, then once they sign on the dotted line they call up the whole family to move in. He said that I don't have to deal with that type of stuff if I hire property management. He said that they'll do all the "dirty work" in concerns to maintaing the property, making sure tenants don't have more people living under their roof then what was agreed to, messy tenants, etc.

What do you guys think? It sounds interesting to me, and I wouldn't mind looking into something like that, but my dad is insisting that I wait to bring my debts down before attempting to buying any property. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here yet or not, but I owe roughly $35K. Part of what I owe ties my name to my parent's name. My dad and I have an account together thru B of A. He helped me out by getting me a credit card to consolodate debts that I had. Anyway, he's telling me that if I wait to pay everything off (especially the B of A account), I'll be able to get a big loan to buy a house so that I can do what needs to be done to it in order to make a profit. My debts reflect upon him and visa versa, which is his concern if I try to get a loan.

 

[Bomber '67]

By all means pay off the debt that mom and dad signed on to help you out. $35k is a pretty modest amount, but it may seem huge to your parents - who may now be worried that you are a dreamer. I'm not saying that you are a dreamer, I'm just asking you to think how all of this sounds to them. They may not see the opportunities the same way you do, and they may be concerned that you will crash and burn even bigger than before. How quickly are you currently paying down that debt?

Use the interim to really learn about real estate and choose some market areas to watch. Find out what is going on and how it affects values - I believe that if you become well versed that you will be able to make money no matter what direction the market is going.

Good luck, Thomas

 

[gb70]

I have used property management companies before but they will cost you. Some charge a percentage and others a flat rate. Most charge a percentage.

 

[2cool]

You might be missing out.

I've bought 4 pieces in the last 2 years using Realtors.

Bought 6/04, $110,000, 3/2 fixer. Sold 2/06 for $337,000
Bought 11/04, $45,000 , vacant land. Sold 3/06 for $175,000
Bought 6/05, $76,400, vacant land, present market $750,000 (10 acres, Island of Hawaii and am holding for a bit)
Bought 4/06, $145,000, 3/2 Log Home on acreage, assessed @ $233,000, present market is higher(will hold until 1/08)

Not using a Realtor eliminates a huge portion of the market from your identification. Establishing relationships with good Realtors means you hear about properties before the signs go up. 3 of the properties above were not on the market the day I bought them.

Why in the world would a Realtor sell you 10 acres for 76 when he could buy it himself for a 3/4 mill profit?
I was in Hawaii about 2 years ago and lots were 450 and up.
Plus after about 10 bad deeds listed with Realtors after hiring attorneys to do the search I no longer use them.

 

[gigem]

Bought 6/05, $76,400, vacant land, present market $750,000 (10 acres, Island of Hawaii and am holding for a bit)

This had to be in the path of the volcano or something, right?

 

[Greybeard]

This had to be in the path of the volcano or something, right?

Not even close. It's 1.5miles above the belt highway, 13 miles North of Hilo on the Akaka Falls Rd. It was an Orphan created by the Highway out a large piece of an old cane plantation at an altitude of 900ft at the building site, and 800' at the bottom. Power and phone, paved road. It is surrounded by State trust land that has been fallow for 18 years, the nearest neighbor at this time is 3/4mile away. Unobstructed 120 degree water view, and beautiful view of Mauna Kea.

C. Brewer was the owner, it was the last unsold piece, and they needed to close by 6/1/04 (I mistakenly identified '05 as the purchase date above.) to satisfy the terms of their liquidation. Having built a good relationship with a Realtor enabled me to know about it, and put in a lowball cash offer that nobody thought they'd take. BTW, I never make "even number" offers. Putting in odd #s creates a sense of "that's all he's got" instead of "he'll pay more".

Why did the Realtor not buy it? The same as why you don't buy a lot of things. Priorities. Family. Listening to people who said the market was going to fall. Hadn't seen the property and just heard about it. Personally, I look NOW!! I don't wait to see something that "might" be a good thing.

Yesterday, I was at the Title Co signing for both the Purchase and Sale of a property in Onterio Ore. 3/2 on 1.2 acres with 30'X40' insulated and heated shop. I owned it for about 20 minutes, made some money and carried some paper on it @ 9.5%.

It was a good day

 

[gb70]

Not even close. It's 1.5miles above the belt highway, 13 miles North of Hilo on the Akaka Falls Rd. It was an Orphan created by the Highway out a large piece of an old cane plantation at an altitude of 900ft at the building site, and 800' at the bottom. Power and phone, paved road. It is surrounded by State trust land that has been fallow for 18 years, the nearest neighbor at this time is 3/4mile away. Unobstructed 120 degree water view, and beautiful view of Mauna Kea.

C. Brewer was the owner, it was the last unsold piece, and they needed to close by 6/1/04 (I mistakenly identified '05 as the purchase date above.) to satisfy the terms of their liquidation. Having built a good relationship with a Realtor enabled me to know about it, and put in a lowball cash offer that nobody thought they'd take. BTW, I never make "even number" offers. Putting in odd #s creates a sense of "that's all he's got" instead of "he'll pay more".

Why did the Realtor not buy it? The same as why you don't buy a lot of things. Priorities. Family. Listening to people who said the market was going to fall. Hadn't seen the property and just heard about it. Personally, I look NOW!! I don't wait to see something that "might" be a good thing.

Yesterday, I was at the Title Co signing for both the Purchase and Sale of a property in Onterio Ore. 3/2 on 1.2 acres with 30'X40' insulated and heated shop. I owned it for about 20 minutes, made some money and carried some paper on it @ 9.5%.

It was a good day

My wife and I moved here to the Treasure Valley in Idaho in Oct., 2004. Since then we have bought and sold 7 properties. We rented out one and flipped the others. We have done well but still have one on the books we are trying to sell in North Meridian. My thoughts are that there is too much inventory currently and prices are falling in a lot of cases. Going into the Winter months won't help it much IMHO. We have done very well with foreclosure homes. I was doing these types until I found that they were bidding them up as high as MLS homes. I have not been back to an auction in months though. What is your advice for a "flipper" here in your area? Wait until inverntories improve? Not really wanting to try to rent just flip.

 

[Greybeard]

The low end of the market is still strong and I believe there is good money to be made there. The key will be to stay away from areas that get a lot of poor press concerning crime, drugs, gangs, etc. I think a modest, older home in a good established neighborhood would be better than anything in Naapa. I'm sure money can be made there as well, but I'm uncomfortable buying there.
I'm more interested in the West end of the Valley, Weiser/Payette right now. Onterio has some growth and no subdivision which will drive up the prices. Other than the Prison, most jobs in Onterio are service oriented so I'm looking in the lower end where house payments are no more than $200 over rents.
Here in Weiser, the buyers are more afluent so I'm working vacant land deals. Subdivision is problematic here so I just look for great homesites. People with money tend to build custom homes. However, they do want something special in their land.

 

[gb70]

We have made good money in North Meridian and have come to understand it more than other areas. I also stay away from Nampa. I agree that the homes that are priced below 200k (now less) are still in demand. I think that they will always be better since it is more affordable to most buyers vs. 300k plus homes, which narrows down the amount of showings. Once I sell this one we have I will see about the forclosures coming up for a nice 3/2 or slightly bigger in a nice neighborhood. I wonder how many are going to the foreclosure auctions these days? Most of them have been going to them for years. Some are like us and do it themselves, and then there are these guys that I know are working for a group of "investors" because they go every week and bid on everything. As you know you have to pay 100% cash on the spot (cashires check) and there is no home loans involved at foreclosure auctions. There is no way some of these guys have that much money and buy every week, NO WAY. Sure does seperate the men from the boys though.

 

[Greybeard]

Knowing an area and being comfortable with it is good. I don't go to many forclosure auctions, but I try to keep informed on what's going on in the area I'm interested in, and have gone just to see who's doing what.

Some of the participants are fronting for others. Some of the the "others" are good money, and some of the people are fronting for questionable funding sources. The trouble is that when the money is mainly to distribute profits from questionable business practices or business ventures, it takes the profit out of it for you and me as their motive isn't profit, just hiding assets.

In Hawaii I went to lot of forclosure auctions and the same people were there all the time bidding up to market values. I never saw the houses come back on the market after repairs/paint work as is the norm in this "business". Many of the houses just sit unoccupied for years. "Good money" would at least have rentors, if not fixing an' turning.