5 ms·

We're seeing similar activity in an area that we're still stuck with a house and renting out (don't buy houses in mid-07 kids, that market hadn't crashed yet).

by atwebb 12y ago

We're seeing similar activity in an area that we're still stuck with a house and renting out (don't buy houses in mid-07 kids, that market hadn't crashed yet). We've been approached by a few with very low offers (via an agent). I've been tracking sales in the neighborhood and every month or so another 4-5 houses that were never on the market are sold. They are then rentals shortly thereafter. I've been pretty surprised at what things are still renting at, I thought it would plummet prices (and it still may) but they seem stable at about .6-.70 cents/sqft. It's not the Bay Area or even the nicest place in town but I find it peculiar that large investors would be interested enough to buy up 1% of the houses in an area every month or so, though the prices seem pretty good and that'd be a great rate of return.

allochthon 12y ago
Reminds me of this [1]. Unsettling, to be honest. Finance helped to bring about the housing bubble and the 2008 crisis, and now it's purchasing depressed housing stock. [1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/behind-the-rise-in-house-prices-wall-street-buyers/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/behind-the-rise-in-ho...
- atwebb 12y ago
  Yep and it seems to make sense for them at the prices I'm seeing but I can't help but feel there's something else there. Also, the word "Blackstone" is an immediate red flag to me after going through a corporate merger with them.
- muhfuhkuh 12y ago
  That's so strange, because to hear free-marketers and political armchair warriors speak of it, they placed the blame squarely on dumb homebuyers who couldn't afford their house, President Clinton, Barney Frank, and Fannie&Freddie. All the talk of the Financial Sector, Credit Default Swaps insured by AIG London advised by Blackstone, and 30:1 leveraging of Mortgage Backed Securities deepening the crisis is met with yawns and allegations of being a socialist hippie who hates business. Nope, it was the poor people who were too stupid and lazy to afford mortgages who were at fault. They were blamed for the 2008 crisis, and they'll be blamed for this bubble too. Oh, and the Communist Chinese too for good, Xenophobic measure.

by atwebb 12y ago

allochthon 12y ago

Reminds me of this [1]. Unsettling, to be honest. Finance helped to bring about the housing bubble and the 2008 crisis, and now it's purchasing depressed housing stock. [1] http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/behind-the-rise-in-house-prices-wall-street-buyers/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/behind-the-rise-in-ho...

atwebb 12y ago
Yep and it seems to make sense for them at the prices I'm seeing but I can't help but feel there's something else there. Also, the word "Blackstone" is an immediate red flag to me after going through a corporate merger with them.
muhfuhkuh 12y ago
That's so strange, because to hear free-marketers and political armchair warriors speak of it, they placed the blame squarely on dumb homebuyers who couldn't afford their house, President Clinton, Barney Frank, and Fannie&Freddie. All the talk of the Financial Sector, Credit Default Swaps insured by AIG London advised by Blackstone, and 30:1 leveraging of Mortgage Backed Securities deepening the crisis is met with yawns and allegations of being a socialist hippie who hates business. Nope, it was the poor people who were too stupid and lazy to afford mortgages who were at fault. They were blamed for the 2008 crisis, and they'll be blamed for this bubble too. Oh, and the Communist Chinese too for good, Xenophobic measure.