Golden Realty Blog

A REALTOR in Florida posted this on his website.

Can you tell he is frustrated with real estate right now?

If I go to another listing appointment and hear from another seller, “I don’t have to sell” or “I’m not going to give it away” I think I’ll have a coronary! 

Let’s deal with the first statement: 

“I don’t have to sell”…. Then why the (insert imagination) am I here? Why have I wasted half my day putting together a listing presentation, pulling and analyzing comparable sales and wrapping a tie around my neck to find out that you don’t actually have a problem that I can help you solve?  Also, if you didn’t have to sell this property why have you had it on the market with 3 other real estate companies for 6 months, 12 months and 18 months? If you don’t have to sell, don’t put it on the market. All you are accomplishing is adding to the oversupply problem and driving down prices for sellers that do need to sell. 

And the second statement:

“We don’t want to give it away”….. I don’t want you to give it away either! But the market is what the market is. If you think we are going to find some idiot that drops in the neighborhood from outer space that is willing to pay you more than market value you have a loooooooooong wait ahead of you. We have a very aggressive marketing plan and we do everything we can to bring as many buyers to see your home as possible. However, our plan has one flaw…..it only exposes your property to those prospective buyers in the general vicinity of PLANET EARTH! Even Donald Trump can’t sell a property for more than market value! 

In other words, if you have to sell your property I promise you it will only sell for what the current market will bring. You will not get what your neighbor got for his when he sold it last year…or even last quarter….even last month. Not today.

So you think you’ll rent it or just take it off the market until the market comes back. This is a great strategy! Tell me, when is the market going to come back? I think the consensus among a lot of folks is that when the market does come back it will snap back into place like a stretched rubber band. The fact is, when we do find the bottom of the market, it will stay flat for sometime and then gradually come back. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal indicating that once we do reach the bottom, it could take 15 years for home prices to get back to 2005 levels.

Last week the Senate approved an amendment to the pending economic stimulus package that would give a tax credit up to $15,000, for anyone buying a primary residence within the year period, and it would not have to be repaid. This proposed amendment would have added $19 billion to the stimulus package. As lawmakers looked to trim the large price tag of the stimulus package, this amendment was killed, but was replaced with a similar yet smaller measure.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported:

The $15,000 homebuyer tax credit didn’t survive the final negotiations on the stimulus bill. Instead, Congress slightly increased to $8000 an existing $7500 credit for first-time homebuyers and eliminated repayment provisions. Congressional negotiators said that $8000 number isn’t yet finalized.

The move was sure to disappoint those who had favored a more generous $15,000 credit for all home buyers in the Senate bill.

The new credit is retroactive to December 31, 2008, which means that anyone who buys a house this year, through August, won’t have to repay it. First time buyers who used the credit in 2008 still have to pay it back over a 15-year period.

The news is bittersweet for the real estate industry, but lawmakers who support the bill are not giving up and will continue to push for the increased tax credit in a separate stand alone bill.

Tax Credit for Homebuyers