The Daily Soak - June 27

Palm Beach Woman Selling House, Herself on Craigslist

A Palm Beach Gardens Realtor has an interesting new listing: herself. Deven Traboscia, 42, has posted her 2,000 square foot Dakotah model home for sale on Craigslist's European sites for $500,000. The list of amenities includes 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, ceiling fans, a hot tub, and Deven as a wife. The seller paints an uber-cheesy picture of life at Casa Trabaoscia: "If you want to live the never ending dream and experience the real love, life and the romance you have always felt was a fairytale then this is the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams!" To spice things up, Traboscia threw in some chin-down/chest-out/wink-wink photos for good measure. Traboscia is only targeting men in Europe, presumably thinking that some clueless Euro would not realize he is just buying a home she can't unload in today's market. One can only hope Borat is the winning bidder. High Five!


CNN Panel Discusses 1,000,000 Foreclosure Milestone

Larry King hosted a panel of real estate experts including Donald Trump and Barbara Corcoran to discuss the housing market collapse. The program cited some troubling data including the number of U.S. homes in foreclosure (1,000,000) and the number of U.S. homes worth less than what their owners paid (10,000,000). As always, King brought his A-game and peppered his panel with brilliant questions like, "Is this a good time to sell a house?" Dumbfounded, Corcoran responded "Of course it's not a good time to sell a house." She then encouraged desperate sellers to under-price their homes 20-25% below what they believe is fair market value. True to form, Trump encouraged deal-making in this buyer's market, "This is now the time to go out and try making a deal, try buying a house. The banks are there. It's already financed. You don't really need the money because it's already financed. They are already in. They are already wet." A perfect description for the HousingBath. (Video Link)


Bulk Auctions Moving Condo Inventory in Florida Panhandle

Back in April, HB.com reported on the growing popularity of auctions in and around Pensacola. The Pensacola News Journal has a follow-up on National Auction Group, an Alabama-based auction company that is thriving in the over saturated Panhandle condo market. NAG just sold 9 units in a Pensacola high-rise during an absolute auction that grossed $4.12 million or $457,000 per unit. The transaction was good news for all parties involved according to the auctioneer, "This clearly... shows that there's no reason for condo developers to sit on unsold inventory when they can be sold efficiently and quickly by auction. Today, we had a happy seller and many happy buyers." The NAG website lists several upcoming auctions in Panama City Beach and Orange Beach including this August 2nd auction of 28 new condos at a development called Palazzo.