The Daily Soak - August 22

Magazine's Advice to Interested Second Home Buyers...Rent.

BusinessWeek takes a look at some of the nation's most popular second home destinations and asks whether renting makes more sense than buying in some of these markets. Non-Florida cities like Austin, Boston and Charleston factor high on the list, while four Florida cities dominated the ranking: St. Augustine, Kissimmee, Miami and Bonita Springs. The 4bed/3bath in Kissimmee offers the most bang for the buck at $1,595 monthly, and the most expensive listing is the lone high-rise offering, a 2bed/2bath in the 50 Biscayne Tower in downtown Miami. Real estate analyst Jack McCabe agrees with BusinessWeek's advice, "If [home] prices were going up and you could hold on to [a house] for a long time, you might be able to make a case that it's a better time to buy. But if you have the ability to rent for half the price without the liabilities that go with owning, it's a smarter decision to rent." (Slideshow)


Have We Bottomed? Where's The Bottom? When Will We Bottom?

John Maynard Keynes once described speculation as "the activity of forecasting the psychology of the market." And with housing prices stabilizing in several markets, Florida media outlets are jumping into the speculation pool waist-deep. Local news teams will lunge at any panic-inducing headlines (i.e., 24-hour coverage of a thunderstorm), so playing on the fears of potential buyers scared of missing "the bottom" of housing prices is a natural. Housing speculators proved the folly of market timing on the way up, so why would we encourage similar behavior on the way down? The buyers who will be rewarded are people like Robert Ward who just bought a $1.1 million Miami Shores home for $379,000. Could the price have fallen further in six months or a year? Sure, but Ward realized a $720,000 haircut was ample incentive and cushion to ameliorate the risk of pulling the trigger today. Of course the local news team had to couch Ward's purchase as a huge gamble, "Ward got lucky." No, Ward got a great deal on a home. Other Florida fence-sitters would be wise to do the same.


Foreclosure Leaves Pig On Fort Lauderdale's Mean Streets

It's not easy being a Vietnamese, pot-bellied pig. It's especially tough when you're a Vietnamese, pot-bellied pig and your owners lose their home to foreclosure. But such was the fate for Moogy, a Fort Lauderdale resident, who was forced to trade in his plush digs for a more modest pen at the local Wildlife Care Center. The Center's adoption supervisor says the family separation and subsequent move have been traumatic for all parties, "They were heartbroken - to have to give him up, and I think, he was heartbroken to be back here because he's back in the barn." Moogy was first adopted in 2005 by the couple who found him on the side of the road in Plantation. The housing boom was good to the couple and their newly adopted son, who quickly became an indoor pet, but foreclosure left all three homeless. No word on the couple's whereabouts, but Moogy is awaiting adoption if you'd like to welcome him into your home. (VideoLink)