Predators or Angels?
I’m starting to see more and more “We Buy Houses” signs around Clayton, Concord, and the other cities off Highway 4 like Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood and Oakley. Not sure if most people know how these buyers work. Essentially, they are looking for equity in your home in exchange for buying it from you quickly. No agents, no time on market, but also no big cash-outs usually. If the homeowner doesn’t have at least $100,000 equity and is willing to let it go for at least 20% under market, the buyer most likely will not go for it. These signs are most useful for those in danger of foreclosing on their property. It’s a lot better to rid yourself of a loan going bad, and giving up a chunk of equity, instead of watching the bank take ALL your equity, kick you out of your home, and destroy your credit for many years to come. It doesn’t take a lot of fancy investor knowledge to save someone from a home going into foreclosure, just someone with the ability to buy it from you. If there’s at least $50,000 in equity for them, it’s a fair deal to get someone out of a potentially catastrophic situation. Email me if you know of someone in this situation and are in need of advice. It can be a tricky situation, therefore it is best to work with someone who is financially strong, aware of market conditions, and sensitive to the homeowner’s needs.
January 6th, 2007 at 5:06 am
Interesting web site!
We have started to see a similar slow down over here on the East Coast in Florida also over the past 12 months or so.
Homes are on the market longer, sales prices have adjusted downward, because buyer’s activity has slowed down.
If the median price of homes is out of reach of the average household income, the economic factors of capitalism is there to correct any “boom” in the real estate market, that is, the laws of supply and demand interaction.
So it is natural for the market to slow down and make a correction. When inflation causes the economy to move, that is, when the median price is allowed to increase because of increase in the power of spending of the owner/occupant, prices will move accordingly.
Jacksonville is somewhat unique since there is a population migration into Florida due to baby boomer retirees, the abundance of sunshine, and influx of business in which a human population always follows.
For the past several years, Jacksonville investors have been converting apartment complexes into condominiums. Today we are witnessing a reversal. Condos are becoming affordable housing via apartments, be it a whole complex or a individual investors who bought to sell due to the “boom”, but are now forced to dump their “investment” back onto the market at a big discount or hold onto it as a rental unit.
It’s affordability. The average income of the wage earner is key to the overall housing market.
January 30th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Not necessary, there are other ways for an investor to buy a property even there is no equity in it and still structure a win-win deal for both the owner and the investor. Buying a house with enough equity is only the traditional way of investing.
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:50 am
It saddens me to see people lose money because they think a Realtor will take a percentage of their profit without doing anything. Realtors know that they can get 16-20% more for your home than that “investor” is offering simply by exposing your house to more qualified buyers and letting the market do what it is supposed to do. Realtors know what a house will sell for, and what you can do to get more for your house. They work hard on behalf of the seller and they are there when an investor refuses to close, leaving a home owner faced with forclosure and in a more dire situation having moved out of the house and, now, owing another payment when the unqualified “investor” bails. A good Realtor is worth their weight in gold when they can show the bank what they have done to sell a home. The bank does not want your home! They want it sold. Even if it means they must forgive a part of the loan.
Anyone facing forclosure should immediately call a Realtor and get an experts advice!
April 12th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Best Blog I have seen in a while…and adevertised by Trulia as a “great site!” Awesome…incorporating the Trulia map into my index right now @ www.virginiabeachestates.com.