Another Friday, another open discussion thread and another picture of my daughter. This past Tuesday was reasonably pleasant, so I broke out the stroller and we took a little walk down to Argyle Lake. We saw some geese and some little leaguers getting ready for the season. I had the camera with me, but I didn’t get any great shots except for this one of Aurora in her stroller.
I’m off this weekend, so I might go out and see some houses. Nothing tremendously exciting, but there is a new house, 33 Mason, that’s not even on MLS yet. Look for it at the Coach Realtors site if you’re interested.
This is an open discussion thread, so I invite any and all readers to pipe up and say something. Feel free to leave a comment and ask a question, make an observation, tell us what you’re up to or just introduce yourself and say hi. According to Google Analytics,HIB has had 4,162 pageviews, 1,623 visits and 666 absolute unique visitors in the last 30 days, so I know that you’re out there.
I’m very interested in hearing fellow home shoppers, especially their impressions of any open houses that they’ve seen, but I’d also like to hear from any sellers and their experiences and observations.
I’m posting this “sticky”, which means that it will stay at the top of the page even if I post new stuff afterward. If you’re accustomed to stopping by and glancing at the top of the page to see if there’s new stuff, scroll on down a bit before you click away.
Enojy your weekend, everyone. Happy hunting.
33 Mason. Owned by the Taylors. Mr Taylor passed away years ago. Now this is an old house..but what a piece of property. The yard runs 75 X 200 with the house a good 150′ off the street. Better have a snowblower. I can honestly say given the present homeowner’s age ( close to 90??), that this house has little to no updates. But it’s a great block and worth a look if the price is right. Tidbit, the pink house next door is approximately 15 years old, and was built after they picked up 23 Mason Ave and moved it East to subdivide the property. All in all, a nice job.
I figured that it was an old person selling it or an estate sale. No recent sales. No internal pictures and the listing says “great potential”.
Why would you put the house so far back from the street? I guess they must like their privacy.
Hard to believe it’s 15 years already since they shifted #23 Mason over – seeing that whole process of the move taking place was pretty cool; they even dug a basement for the old house’s new location. And I believe that listing of #33 will turn out to be an etate sale. I saw police and emergency vehicles there about a month ago when I was taking my kids to school one morning. Then the front light was on for about two weeks in a row, and the last couple of Wednesday rubbish pick-ups have had a lot of stuff piled up on the curb.
Do you know how much the new construction house sold for on Park?
Glad to see i’m not the only watchful eye in town. I didn’t know the new house on park was sold!!!!
Which house on Park are we talking about?
-The blue house closest to Little East Neck. I passed by it this morning and noticed the sold sign. However, it’s still on MLS. http://www.mlsli.com/unidetailsredo.CFM?MLNum=2157336&typeprop=1&start=3&rpp=10
Neither the new constuction by the school nor the one up by Little East Neck Road appear to have been sold.
The listing on Stowe, however, ….
Hey Blog, do you know anything about 116 or 123 Livingston. Debra loves Arts and Crafts style houses.
Had to refresh my memory. 116 is a true arts/crafts with real “ribbon” siding. I believe I remember the garage being added or renovated a few years back. I dont know much about any turnover.
123 has a pretty nice porch, and I actually toured it a few years ago when it was at an open house in the 400’s…height of the market..I’m not sure if it ever sold, I know there was a retirement and a passing in the family involved.
There are a few Arts/Crafts style homes in the area of the post office Cooper/John/Totten..and like Tudors..they pop up on some blocks here and there.
You’re the man, Blog. I should buy you lunch some time and pick your brain.
BTW, we saw 21 Cameron today. A much nicer house than I thought it would be. I could see us living there if the price was right. A full report coming during the week, as usual.
I gave up lunch for lent. Architecturally it is a great place, i still think a bit overpriced for Argyle Park fringe and the proximity to the tracks.
off to enjoy the weather…a good day to wash cars,houses, dogs
Unfortunately, it’s too windy to take the baby for a walk today. I had thought to walk the baby over to the open house on Mason but not with that gusty wind. She’s never been sick, and I’m not pushing it now!
The blue house on Park (closer to Little East Neck) has a sold sign posted but it’s still listed on MLS?
Just back from 33 Mason.
Quick impression: A tiny, tiny house, badly in need of repairs and upgrades. The value of the house is all in the large piece of property.
As predicted………
How long before the “Rogers Development Corp” sign is hanging in front of 33 Mason?
yeah…that’s a good guess…It’s not Argyle Park though. And remember if you look through the Archives 24 Mason was a flip last year.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20090403/NEWS02/904030359 (lv Housing Bubble Blog)
“She and her husband moved into a rental home in Lawrence. ‘We’ll probably never own another home now,’ she said.”
Oh, the HORROR! I’ll bet they’re not feeling quite so arrogant about their status as home l’owners v. renters as they once did.
As for the thrust of the article – foreclosure prevention scams, if you ask any con-man in a candid moment he’ll tell you that the easiest mark is a proven sucker. For example, take someone who signed up to pay too much for a house (convinced by a used house sales flack), using a loan that they didn’t understand and probably lied to get (convinced by a mortgage broker). How tough do you think it would be to get them to part with a couple grand when they’ve already been fleeced for hudreds of thousands? You can’t cheat an honest man…
You’re pretty bitter, “Anon E. Moose.”
“Housing Crisis Vindicates Guy Who Still Lives With Parents.” That’s you. Why else would you be so happy that some poor people were foreclosed on.
Glad I’m not the only one who wonders about the venom being spewed by this poster…someone that angry and bitter obviously has made some of kind of major screw up that he’s blaming someone else or he is indeed still living with mom/pop and substituting arrogance and superiority from a nice little safety nest…lol
“Housing Crisis Vindicates Guy Who Still Lives With Parents.” That’s you.
You can believe that if it makes you feel better. Although, based on no evidence whatsoever, you claim that I live in my parent’s basement, right after accusing me of being bitter. Can I persuade you to consult a dictionary for the definition of “irony”? While you’re as it, see also “transference”.
FanofBabylonVillage, kindly link to some example of a screw up of mine that I blame on anyone else, and we can discuss it. However, I think you’ll find your search for one unsuccessful.
If I have a ‘safety nest’ as you put it, it is my confidence supported by the additional cash reserves that I have accumulated since I began observing the housing market (roughly 2004), and my successful ability to avoid losses by careful reasoned analysis of the available data. I expect that I am much more comfortable with my financial position than a person who’s entire net worth is tied up in an aging and rapidly depreciating illiquid asset.
So, call me whatever names make you feel better about yourself. You can’t avoid the fact that housing bears were right. Besides, I’m not running for mayor of the blog. I’ll wear the black hat all the way to the bank.
LOL
I’ve been obvserving the housing market for many years now, since I bought my house, which is worth a lot more than I paid for it, temproary dips in the market aside. And I don’t know anytone who’s only net worth is tied up in their house. You’re bitter because you think you should be able to afford a place now that prices have come down, but you still can’t.
An example of your venom:
1. referring to real estate agents as “used house flacks”
2. taking great glee in people’s financial woes without any understanding of what may have caused their plight…just an assumption they were dumb or greedy
It’s your tone and choice of words that are offensive … my guess is your little pile of money can’t get you where you want to be so you opt to pontificate on how absurd/unfair/illogical the world is…to those of us who have chosen to buy rather than rent their primary residences, and for whom this decision has been benefical and profitable in good markets and bad, your tirades ring very false.
You may take offense at how you are viewed but perhaps a moment of introspection may reveal why your self perception is askew with the public perception
>It’s your tone and choice of words that are
>offensive…your tirades ring very false.
“Tirade” is a rather provocative and aggressive word choice and tone, especially from such an easily offended delicate flower such as yourself. I suggest that you wait at least a sentence (or more!) before so obviously contradicting yourself.
>An example of your venom:
“Venom”, perhaps, but not a single example that I (in your words) “obviously [have] made some of kind of major screw up that [I’m] blaming someone else”; which is the personal attack I asked you to substantiate, which you obviously can not. You’ve lost the point, and I’d gladly accept your apology if your conscience so directs you. Quite frankly, however, I lose no sleep over what you think or write about me, considering you are an anonymous, self-described fan of a non-descript and undistinguished gaggle of 12-odd thousand people clinging on for relevance at the outskirts of a major metropolitan center. I engage the discussion because I enjoy the exchange.
>1. referring to real estate agents as “used
>house flacks”
Yes, I use the term “used house flack’. I coined the phrase in deference to our host, who asked that I not use another term that, to me, accurately describes the business and those engaged in it. I make no secret that I hold real estate agents in very low regard. They sell used houses, using remarkably similar high pressure sales tactics used by those who sell used cars. They only concern themselves with making the sale, and not the needs or consequences borne by the principals involved. They should be considered accordingly, so I use similar words to describe them. Are they too so delicate that the name “used house flack” offends them? I would have thought that working in the business world gives one a thicker skin than that.
I have found them to be uneducated (requirements for licensure a 75-hour class, not so much as a GED), exceedingly disloyal to their clients and dishonest or at least dissembling to those they do business with. Media reports are flooded with cases of agents orchestrating fraud, including shopping for appraisers on the basis of whether the report could ‘hit the number’; steering clients to mortgage brokers from whom they received illegal kickbacks, the phantom ‘competing offer’ that had the bidder negotiating against themselves, or outright mortgage fraud using straw purchasers, often on properties that they themselves owned (like Tony Montana, they were notorious for using their own product). Their leading national trade guild (union, if that word offends you less) holds them out as ‘experts’ in their field, when their analysis is without exception transparently self-serving. They also hold themselves out as a ‘profession’ (in my estimation, the second-oldest — closely related to the first), when they are nothing of the sort. I consider a professional an individual held accountable for their work. I have not yet seen any ‘professional’ accountability of used house salespeople for bad advice they gave, or for the duplicity they engaged in to line their own pockets. Their only source of business power is the monopoly they hold on the central listing repository. I believe in capitalism and the virtue of free markets. To function properly, free markets require free flow of information. Asymmetrical information, as held by used house salespeople (DOM = 15… only if you don’t count the four other listings and 7 price cuts over the last 18 months) can only function to economically punish the less informed party. I also see no value in the work performed by the agents I’ve encountered. After securing the contract, a listing agent buys a MLS entry from the guild and then expects a ‘buyer’s agent’ to bring the sale to them. I can tell you from experience that getting a listing agent to show their own listing is quite difficult, even now when the busiest agents have plenty of spare time on their hands.
>2. taking great glee in people’s financial
>woes without any understanding of what may
>have caused their plight…just an assumption
>they were dumb or greedy
Well, since I linked the source article, if you cared about facts, you could see them for yourself. The couple in question suffered a job loss, and rather than be responsible and face the reality by listing their home for what it would get in the current market, they chose to pay $3,500 to a company that promised to solve their problems for them, meaning the company must have promised that the couple could avoid paying money they were legitimately and contractually obligated to pay. That’s a bad decision. It should not be emulated by others, and deserves ridicule to achieve that end. If you’d like to dispute the point, get yourself some facts and use them as best you can.
>my guess…
Your ‘guess’ (and at least you admit is is such) is wholly unsupported by any demonstrable fact. I personally don’t guess — I reason, from facts. I invite you to try it sometime.
>is your little pile of money can’t get you
>where you want to be so you opt to
>pontificate on how absurd/unfair/illogical
>the world is…
Considering how wrong you think I am and small you assume my ‘little pile of money’ to be, people with houses to sell spend a great deal of time and treasure to attract my attention in the hope that I will give them my “little pile of money”. It must be worth something if so many people seem to want it. If it really is so insignificant, why do you need to belittle it?
>to those of us who have chosen to buy
>rather than rent their primary residences,
>and for whom this decision has been
>benefical and profitable in good markets
>and bad, your tirades ring very false.
I’m very happy that your gamble has won for you. It clearly hasn’t for many, many others, particularly those who bought c. 2005, when the chief economist for the national used house salespeoples’ guild wrote “There is no real estate ‘price bubble’.” Nor for the investors who bought bonds backed by those buyers’ mortgages, or apparently the banks that sold those bonds. Many people in the country seem to be quite concerned about the broader financial consequences of those transactions — perhaps you’ve heard? If those were les bon temps for all, where did all the buyers go? Someone in 2005 put it quite well: “They ran out of stupid people.” http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_51/b3964052.htm
If you’re a student of history, you’d know that in anti-semitic Europe both pre- and post-WWII, many countries forbade Jews from owning land. Instead, some of them directed their resources into trade, for example diamonds and other jewels. Many did quite well for themselves, economically, without ever owning a piece of dirt. My point being, home l’ownership is not an unalloyed economic good for all involved, nor is it the exclusive path to financial security.
>You may take offense at how you are viewed
>but perhaps a moment of introspection may
>reveal why your self perception is askew
>with the public perception
I made no comments directed at you, or harriet. You and I even agreed on a point recently (https://homeinbabylon.com/2009/03/09/a-tough-sell/#comments). But both of you, both homeowners I observe, responded to my comments by directing ad hominem attacks at me, attacks based on nothing more than your own unfounded prejudices about the unwashed masses who are apparently unworthy of aspiring to homeownership like yourselves. Could this mean that we are passing the fear stage of the mania cycle? Up next, desperation, panic, then capitulation and despondency. Are ordinary homeowners afraid for the prospects of their houses of straw now that the Big Bad Wolf is at the door? Is it so terrible a concept to behold that mere discussion of it brings out the long knives?
Attack the messenger if you like, you’ll still have nothing of value to say about the message.
harriet,
I’m very pleased to hear that the house you bought has increased in nominal market price since the “many years” ago that you bought it. In related news, the movies used to cost a quarter and a quart of milk a dime. Those things have in creased in price as well. A good income was at one time $6,000 a year.
Through all those years, the median house sold for a remarkably consistent ratio to the median income. Until 2001 — at which point that ratio started its climb towards 2006, a 65% increase over four years earlier. It’s since given back about half of that increase. I suppose some people like yourself believe it’s destined to stay there, and even climb back its previous ‘permanently high plateau’. http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/02/house-prices-real-prices-price-to-rent.html
I admit being mildly curious why you took my comments, none of which were directed at you or anyone reading this board, as cause to launch into personal attacks on me, and while doing make wild accusations and assumptions lacking any basis in fact. Do you make all your decisions so poorly?
Buffet says that any asset can be fairly priced, underpriced, or overpriced — it depends upon the price. An (ahem) prior generation has done with their housing investment because they committed lower proportions of their income to housing expense (see my prior link to Elizabeth Warren). The current home buying generation has faced and continues to face markedly different conditions, not based upon your assumptions about what you soothe yourself into believing I can afford, but based on objective data. I chose to illustrate these facts. You on the other hand, owning a house that you will need to sell sooner or later, say this makes me “bitter”, and in your estimation unable to support myself financially outside my parent’s basement. Do you use the same accusation against every person who disagrees with you?
You’re attacked because your self-indulgent intellectual discourse is intended to offend and disparage. It diminishes your voice as the background noise of your bitterness and frustration drowns out any valid point you may be making.
If you want people to appreciate your point of view, tone down the language and turn off the attack mode.
If you don’t care, then you obviously are just seeking a forum to bluster and posture…
OK, everyone take a step back, please.
I understand that people get a little emotional about this topic, but I’d like to ask that people address their remarks at the comment, not the commenter. Please let’s be civil and avoid Ad Hominems.
I’m going to close comments on this post and let everyone cool off a bit.