Yet we see University Place – the dump – (Waterfront circa 1970) homes selling for $1.2MM

I guess there’s a lot we disagree on. I’d rather have a typical house built in the 70s than a typical house built this century.

If the fry supervisors (earning $20K) living in 500K houses in this area warrant that….
Pierce + King County is so overpriced; Pacific Northwesterners earn so little
yet think there is something special about the Puget Sound
The area is decayed and old, and full of filth – No wonder CNN lists this area as least affordable
Gig Harbor is the ONLY nice area outside of Bellevue
Yet we see University Place – the dump – (Waterfront circa 1970) homes selling for $1.2MM
This area needs to drop at least 50%; no one can afford these homes
Most people living in their shacks know they could never afford the current mortgage
Homeowners need to let go, this market is heading back to 1990….just like the Stock Market…
There is little difference…

Could you imagine taking a loan from a poorly educated puget sound banker with a beard…?

Even worse, could you imagine giving them money as startup capital? My old man was approached by a gang of mangy-looking hippie-dropout types with glasses and beards and long hair and stuff back in ‘79, but he told them to go pound sand. He told them the only thing he’d finance for them was a bus ticket back to Albuquerque. Not much gets past the old man, I’ve gotta say. I like to think I’ve inherited his sound business judgment.

I think it may be time for me to leave. I never have been able to figure out those threads. I simply type http://www.seattlebubble.com in my browser… This forum stuff really is getting too complicated for a simple blog.

:-(

(And I suppose, technically, this post is off-topic too. Sorry, I really haven’t figured that other area out, nor will I.)

The TARP money, bail out is the same. Banks have said they will not lend unless the government gives them money.

Hedge Funds, corporations, banks, bonds, securities, insurance all have money and continue to get money every day from poor saps who keep giving them money every day.

In my clients case the bank can make a deal and make a profit. They are just constrained by policy and procedure.

We could go back to the mass merger mania of the 1980s to find the problem, but the phrase used most often is that it’s like trying to get an ocean liner to turn. It takes time.

Call it a strong hunch, but I’m guessing many local banks are choosing not to foreclose on land and builders (at least in the numbers that they could). People can make up their own minds as to why.

No, I talked with a woman in Rose’s office a few months ago.

Rose Construction is a very conservative builder. They are an excellent product. By far one of the best purchases that can be made. They are a fair and square deal. The margin is low compared to the high quality of the construction from foundation, to framing, to finish.

If they chose to discount there are investors who may buy. The feeling I have and that I expressed is that if any one wants a new construction home they would be dollars ahead by buying a Rose Construction Home.

The reputation is impeccable and the proof is in the longevity of the product.

Andy is a man of simple tastes… he likes dynamite, gunpowder and gasoline.

A little more simply, Sterling made loans to builders.

The dirt deal I referred to another agent has a construction loan from another small bank. The land was sold for $380K, but the bank lent $490K. $10K went back to the bank in up front fees and the other $100K was for site development costs. My feeling is that other properties were put up as collateral. My client says no, but he is sweating.

Now that the market has turned the site development is not complete and no one, wants the dirt. The bank is the one that is stuck, they have no recourse. Even if they end up with the dirt they would have to find the builder and get some one interested and blah, blah, blah.

Instead the bank may take a write down on the dirt and put together a loan program that looks great on paper. 30yr Fixed at a low rate returns good sold salable paper or can be added to a portfolio.

Off subject – "golly", I don’t know why Microsoft or Boeing stay here; considering what the BA union just wrecked the Company (BA stock is around 30 bucks)
Wait – MSFT is run by east coasters (get their talent from outside the Puget Sound area)….and BA is head quartered in Chi-Town…
Thoughts….?

Most likely you will buy it back for $85K
Lets pray for a complete real estate collapse
Considering that nobody can afford any of these homes, we need far lower prices so our nation can save+ prosper
No reason people should take out 30 year mortgages, these should be outlawed
Only 15 year terms and only for people with >750 FICO…. I wonder what that would do for the market – I think banks would be far better capitalized and people would be free of enormous liabilities..we should outlaw HELOCs too.
Ive got some cash; would be nice to pay in full 500K for a 5000sq ft waterfront Gig Harbor mini mansion, no?
Too bad the market is not there yet, but SOON!!!

HAHAHHAHAHA – BURN!!!!!

Yeah, I work at a software company and we’re expected to spend time on blogs and newsgroups as a source of customer feedback about our products. I’m glad that you contribute to the discussion here despite occasionally being picked on for it.

The stuff I do over in the P-I Soundoffs that are not related at all to real estate–that is purely for fun. But this and the rest of it is, IMHO, part of what being an agent is about.

The banks know everyone enjoys a NEW home. Furthermore a great rate on a MTG may stimulate the economy. I assure you this. Until they offer Mtg cram downs on a HUGE scale the foreclosures will continue. People WILL NOT stay in their homes when they are upside down greater then 15%. I don’t care if people get 2% Mtg’s. At the 1st sign of problems the home will be short saled or foreclosed upon.

Nevada is 2 years ahead of us and I have seen it over and over. People do NOT hold onto their upside down (assets). You can BANK on that! Banr, RPFG, and Colb will not make it

I ask the same question.

How can the bank justify the business case to lend to their builder clients meanwhile entire brand new tract communities are put up for auction, inventory is at record highs, and foreclosures/nts are also near historical highs? How cheap are builders becoming that their costs can compete with the falling prices of existing inventory?

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/03/jon-stewart-wil.html

Should be a classic!

Also, the fact that I can type and read fast probably helps.

Kary, judging by the rapidity and frequency with which you post can one safely assume that there is not much going on in the real estate world?

Something about your post made me realize I should run the trustee sale numbers from last year. February 2008 was 100 vs. 233 this year. So the increase as a percentage basis was even worse than the increase in notices.

That program is used by a builder in South Everett also. The guy in my office put 19 homes on the market and sold five the first couple of weeks. His price point started at $309, then lowered to $285K to $299K. I havene’t check in the past couple of weeks, but I did refer him a land deal.

There are segments of the buying public that buy with the idea they will pay the property off. The price is important, but getting a good deal you can pay off is more important.

Viking Bank…..hmmmmm, haven’t heard of that one. An interesting thing though about banks lately, there seems to be a plethora of them in the Seattle area and many names I’ve never heard of before. You’d think in this era of $1.37/share Citi stock value, and with banks on the brink; they’d be buying each other out left and right; leaving us with a mere handful of bank names to recognize.

But the opposite seems true, perhaps the banks have such little worth, who’d buy them out?

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/147594

“There is pent up demand”–from who? 1 family? Same old statements not based on any facts. I say there is pent up demand for foreclosures at 50% off……NOT NEW CONSTRUCTION!

Article is hopeful people will buy and builders will build. What about the Bankruptcies? Short Sales? Foreclosures? Commercial? Depreciating assets?