Your advice is sound. I keep my rents somewhat below market in order to retain tenants. On my end, accepting 5-10% less income goes a long ways toward keeping the units full, and ultimately is better for my business. My best friends are other landlords who charge too much.

The poster above who mentioned the landlord trying to get you into a new lease – offer them below your current rent. Theya re trying to get you to stick to a rent that will be above the going in rate in 30-60 days. Though, if you are job secure, and can well afford the rent now, take the lease; but don’t hesitate to ask for things to fixed. The landlords are just abt all the way over the barrel.

I’ve mentioned this before; my unscientific use of craigslist to track Seatle rents.

Search for “Capitol Hill” and put in 900 as top rent. It’s gone from 20-30 in August to over 180 now, if you enter 850 as the top rent you see 150+ apts on CH. And this is just the bare beginning.

Us renters are lucky because of recent federal regs/legislation that makes sure renters are not evicted if the landlord goes bust.

Ah, to be 20 again. This would be the time to strike out and not get caught up in the whole career path cul d’ sac.

Deflation is my friend; keep repeating that. It’s soothing and will help you sleep.

One highly visible example is in Snohomish County – The Crossings at North Creek. The Crossings is at the northeast corner of I-5 and 128th Street (exit 186). There are roads and utilities for 245 lots, twice as many as the Quadrant project. Construction has begun on around 15 homes and, as far as I can tell, no construction activity has happened in months. You can see several of the houses from I-5 and they are clearly taking weather damage because they have no siding or windows yet.

What is especially galling to me about The Crossings is the stupidity of the developer, because the site has zoning for mid-rise condos or offices. Surely, it would have been smarter to wait for one of those markets to take off rather than waste the land at the end of a bubble.

I will bid 300k. However, I did not hire my Agent. I found her accompanying this home. Perhaps I should negotiate directly with the bank…?

The builder is bust..

The poor saps who picked up the crappy properties before (in 2007) keep asking if I will eventually buy. They paid $300K for nice but vastly overpriced condos. They were sold by heartless agents pandering their wares like grocery clerks.

Currently, the market is commanding a 50% discount (per what MBS loan foreclosures are selling for – 35c on the dollar). No one is buying and the builder is begging residents to understand that they have to list at a significant discount. Homeowners that have moved in (pre-seattle crash) are angry – and rightly so.

i though real estate was just supposed to be somewhere to live. These shamucks are basically begging others to pay what thye did in a “hot” market. “Please don’t depress the value of my home – they say.”

Interestingly enough, if any moron llistens to the news or reads the paper – they will realize that their so-called investment is worth at least 15% less. Just let the builder move the inventory.

I have no neighbors and am considering extending – but asking for a 40% haircut on the lease. Like all grave dancers, I don’t mind making a buck.

I want to ask the builder+lease agents: “Do you want to pay for the heat..?” Pipes freeze, you know.”

Rents need to drop 30%; real estate needs a 60% haircut. Don’t pay what the criminals ask for. Let’s bring this market down to reality – pre 1998 levels.

Despite technological changes, etc., life still seems to move in cycles. The business cycle is pretty well documented. Other longer cycles, such as the Kondratieff wave are so long that they tend to be overlooked or forgotten. What does the K-Wave suggest about future rents and home values?

http://www.kwaves.com/wave1.gif

I told my “i know this market better than anybody” real estate agent: “This was listed at $1MM before. Now it’s fallen 40%. Why can’t I get more off….?

Her response…”Ughhhhh.. I think that would piss off the seller.” I asked her what a comparable would have sold for in 1998. Thats what I believe the market is.

Stupid real estate agents. What do they do anyway? Take what you can get.