Deejayoh, it seems to be an error in the preview code that allows &gt to show up as >. The correct code is > (which I got to appear by typing > ) woo-hoo, html!

That link Shawn posted continued the stream of real estate public interest pieces that leave me with no sympathy for the subject. I still have not read one foreclosure interest piece where I didn’t leave placing the blame squarely on the homeowner.

A great number of current home owners have ARMS. These homeowners are current on their payments NOW, have great credit, and all is OK. These ARMS have 4 options to pay each month. Interest only, 30 year payment, 15 year payment, and Reverse Amortization. World Savings, Wachovia, and Countrywide were the KINGS of these loan products.

Current statistics indicate OVER 66% of the homeowners pay the minimum. All is good as long as the home appreciates. ** Now here lies the dilemma.**

**HOMES ARE DECREASING IN VALUE while the Principle is increasing. In 2-7 years there will be HUGE quantities of homes that will be foreclosed on because the Buyers will be unable to re-fi or sell the property to pay-off the loans. THEY WILL WALK IN VERY LARGE NUMBERS. This is the major concern on the street. They cannot re-fi NOW either because of the rapid decline in value.

The stock market is a forward looking indicator and it certainly is telling us that these banks will continue to come down until home prices stabilize. Place your bets but I suggest the only position is short on these 3 banks and . Countrywide got out easy with B of A. But, keep watching BAC and you will see the same declines in pps as WB and WM.

Ray Pepper
Broker
http://www.500Realty.net

I also have a modest proposal after reading that link. We don’t just need a blog or a bunch of blogs. Real estate consumers need a real estate consumer organization.

We all know real estate agents as a group do not represent the interests of the buyers and sellers. Instead, they lobby to get laws passed to help themselves, often at our expense. They spin the data every month and spin the media with the help of heir advertising dollars.

Don’t consumers of real estate (and real estate industry services) need our own national organization to represent our interests? If someone started a membership-based real estate CONSUMER organization, I predict the donations would really start to come in big time.

Just a thought. If someone starts it, sign me up!

Thanks for reminding me, I made a donation, thanks Tim!

Its the “Seattle Bubble fundraising bubble” its come to a screeching halt, renters stockpiling extra cash not supporting Tim and the cause of their plight.

This is exactly why I choose one data set (KingCo SFH) and stick with it. Any given month you can probably find an especially bad data point or an especially good one. The newspapers do this and I think it’s misleading.

Median $, May08 $476,000
Median $, May07 $488,000

and to think someone paid more than a half a million dollars for it. Blinded by the hype, broke today. Sad.

You could never convince me to live somewhere with a HOA. What a deal, own a house with all the drawbacks of a condo.

is it normal to see so many unkempt lawns this time of year?”

Yes. Most of the neighborhoods around Seattle were basically 40s/50s working class neighborhoods, so you’ve got a bunch of people that moved into these “cheap” neighborhoods back in the 80s and before and don’t give a crap or just don’t have the money to “keep up” with the recent influx of rich urban yuppies that can hire yard people.

It’s a real problem when you’re looking for a neighborhood to move into for the long term and 3/4 of the houses are great and 1/4 are crappy. You just never know if your new neighbors will park their crappy RV in their driveway and let it rust. On a personal note, that’s why I moved into a neighhborhood with pretty strict covenants and active HOA. If my neighbor’s yard looks like crap, someone else contacts them and takes care of it.

Inflation is up, the stock market is down, interest rates are rising. The forecast is very bad. Every month it takes you’re losing more.

if you go to hotpads.com you can type in a zip code and select foreclosures from the drop down list you can see the forclosures. I don’t see any areas in 98117 where there are even any foreclosures on the same street so I think your hypothesis is more hope than reality :)

Many of the people in those $700,000 houses are old and paid very little for them.

Maybe it could be a $700K home, but right now it’s overgrown (they mowed the front, but not the back), and just had another sort of haircut – the price was just cut from $585K, which is what the owner paid last year, to $440K as a short sale. Now that’s a price-reduction!

It looked like it was in pretty bad shape, with the top dormer windows completely missing when I went by, but that kinda price starts to feel like we’re starting to see the bust seep into choicer neighborhoods. About time.

after that, i’ll assume that every grossly overgrown lot is an unoccupied investment home with a delinquent loan.

There’s nothing wrong with modest lots, modest architecture and a lot of structural plywood (it sure beats the McMansions in the ‘burbs), but it DOES give one pause to see these unkempt little properties asking $700 K.

Part One
http://www.workingforyou.typepad.com//realestate/2008/06/425realtycom-ea.html
Part Two
http://www.workingforyou.typepad.com//realestate/2008/06/425realtycom–1.html

May was interesting, indeed. 550 Redmond had some surprises. The high end is troubled.

is it normal to see so many unkempt lawns this time of year?

walking around in the neighborhoods north of Ballard for a few hours last weekend, i passed a dozen or so places with grass at least 3 feet tall. more often than not, the houses themselves looked pretty run down, too.

this is in a neighborhood that starts in the $700s.

Seattle:
Median $, May08 $425,000
Median $, May07 $425,000
% Chg, price vs yr ago 0.00%

Listings are up by 50%.