The Daily Soak - December 30

2008: The Bath In Review

As 2008 draws to a close, the Florida housing bath runneth over. It's been a year full of headaches, mortgage meltdowns, foreclosures, short sales, bank bailouts, abandoned homes, falling prices and desperate sellers. The outlook for 2009 is equally grim with credit markets frozen, rising inventory levels and the second wave of mortgage resets looming on the horizon. On the bright side, sales have picked up in some Florida markets, interest rates are at historic lows and median home prices are approaching relatively affordable levels for middle class families. Many realtors like to point to these last three factors as ample incentive for interested buyers to "get off the sidelines." That argument may have worked during the boom years, but the broader recession and growing uncertainty have pushed many Floridians away from the sidelines and out of the stadium (or state) altogether. And those that remain on the sidelines may very well be adopting a new philosophy where the euphoria of being debt free trumps the joys of home ownership. I discovered this today at officially 1:51. And for anyone wondering how it can be achieved, just watch this quick, instructional video.

Until next time, have a safe and happy new year.


If You're Not Buying Florida Real Estate Now, You're "Spineless"

That, according to a 50-year-old Bradenton realtor who wants to raise $10 million through a public stock offering and then "use the money to buy as many as 80 luxury homes and mid-range vacation properties at bargain-basement prices and hold those properties until the values appreciate by 50 percent." Despite defaulting on $2.4 million in mortgage loans since the beginning of the year, Joe Kandel describes those who have reservations about giving him $10 million as "spineless people who have money but no vision." Incredibly, he blames the current housing crisis on the LACK of flippers. "The same investors who were buying up properties during the boom are needed to help with the resurrection." Flippers, easy money and a lax regulatory environment got us in this mess, and the latter two have disappeared, so don't hold your breath for a Florida flipper resurrection anytime soon.


Death of A Realtor

A powerful editorial from a Wisconsin realtor who takes a hard look at his profession and doesn't like what he sees. "Consumers can find homes themselves online, but they can't find out the history of the neighborhood, apply perspective to the comps, identify trending, or understand the intrinsic value of one street versus another. That's where Realtors are supposed to come in. To fill in the gaps in the public record and to educate. Yet what do we do? We ride up in our Hummer with our face and phone numbers emblazoned on the doors, and proclaim everything a value, and every time the right time to buy. We're embarrassing ourselves. We're either too dumb or too afraid to give the consumer what they deserve." In closing, David Curry calls on other realtors to "(take) a stand against this spineless image and (do) what we can to reposition our profession as a viable and necessary cog in the real estate transaction."