Fox/Cavuto says "greedy brokers" to blame for poor housing market

[DesEtoiles]

Next show is about to do a story on how the "scam" of global warming is costing us billions!

And the worst outrage...earlier, there was a report on the Uzbek "riots" but NO MENTION made thay anyone was killed. The massacre was totally ignored by Fox.

I know I know. Why am I watching. I have horrible insomnia.

[KharmaTrain]

1. WTF Are Greedy Brokers?

Real Estate agents? Bankers? Appraisers? Maybe Neil should get off his fat ass and see what's really going on.

I'll introduce him to our neighbors who are in the process of having to sell their dream house...one they bought 5 years ago with their small family when he was a tech at Motorola and his wife worked as manager for a local retailer. At one time Motorola had a virtual lock on the manufacture of cellphones and the technology...they had 3 large plants cranking out phones 24/7...that went bust and so did his job. He's went from a 85k a year job to trying to find work here and there. She didn't fare much better when her store merged with a larger chain and she too had to move around from job to job. Today, they can't meet their mortgage along with the climbing property taxes (thanks to No Child Left Behind), oil prices, food prices and their own shrinking income (forget about savings, those are gone, plus I dare to think of the credit card and other debt they've amassed. Some American dream, eh?

C'mon Neil...why not talk to these folks. They'll be glad to tell you all about the humilitation of having to move back in with one of their parents until they can rebuild their finances and lives and start all over at 35! They'll tell you about the troubles they're finding in selling their small home...few people shopping for the 150k houses around here (a decade ago that house went for 60k), they've had to re-list the price several times (downward) to get any interest.

I know, reality is something Faux and the corporate media wants to avoid...better to blame others than to take the responsibility for carrying the water for corporate interests and a regime that all but destroyed the middle class for their own greed.

[xchrom]

2. i think about the landscape you describe and

many, many people who suffer from it -- and worse the many, many who subscribe to it.

we've all gone through the looking glass when it comes to assessing our economy, individual debt management, outsourcing, etc.

these folk were perfect for the so-called 21st century economy -- and new thinking about their futures and money -- and look at what's happened -- the samee old struggle against poverty .

this in a world where they have contributed so much.
where's the return on their investment?

[KharmaTrain]

3. Blind Faith Also Leads You Into Walls

My late father was one from the generation that thought the company, union and govenment would watch over them. How distraught he became in his later years when he saw that wasn't the case...seeing many of his friends lose their jobs, then pensions and barely make it through on their SSI. Most were people who worked 40 years and also had the same beliefs he did. They had children who took all this for granted and now we assume loyalty where none ever really existed.

The right wing hates the term "class warfare", but that's exactly what's going on in this country. Sexual, racial, religious and other lifestyle issues are strawmen to mask their absolute desire to create a system of haves and have-nots...with the government protecting the haves and protecting them from exploiting the have-nots. If you can't "make the grade" and be like them, you deserve to have nothing.

Poverty today looks a lot different than it did 20 or 50 years ago. It's not shacks and shanties. It's Section 8 housing. It's not living without plumbing, but in substandard housing with poor education and limited job and career opportunities. But we don't look at these people...we never have.

Cheers

[atommom]

4. Greedy brokers? But... but....

that's the free market in action! We must not question the workings of the free market. That's the kind of thing those evil liberals do.

Do not taunt the free market...

[dcfirefighter]

5. It's not greedy brokers

It's greedy landowners.

You pay what you pay for land . . . it's price isn't based on production costs, or competing producers; it's based on how many people want that piece of land. It's a tax collected by the titleholder - just like in feudal days, hence the name 'Land Lord'. We're all going to pay it anyway, we might as well collect it as a democratically controlled tax revenue source. I am saying that whatever taxes on land we collect come out of the profit to the land owner, rather than adding to the cost of acquiring land (and housing).

And since americans fear density more than they despise sprawl, they make NIMBY rules on maximum density and building height. This limits the number of housing units available in desireable areas (cities) pushing developers to build new fake colonial auto-centric neighborhoods on productive farmland.

The cost of progress means that we cannot all expect to live in 3000 s.f. McMansions on 1/4 acre. The 'standard' housing for middle class families should be a 3 storey townhouse on 1/30th an acre. Picture most european cities, where 80% of your trips can be made on foot, bicycle, or transit.

[Jamison]

6. I work in Real Estate and I can tell you...

it's really not the fault of the brokers. The reason for the bubble is the buyers & sellers. They're people just like you and me, but a little bit different. The sellers are motivated by profit, and the buyers sometimes will pay any price for that McMansion (or any home really) in a AAA+ rated school district.

Here's a scenario I see a lot:

The seller has a 3bd/2.5 bath 2,000 sq. ft. home built in 1980 for sale for $325,000. Seller is the original owner, and built the home 25 years ago for only $70,000. His home is in a great school district and the area is flourishing. An appraiser does an appraisal on his property, and figures the property is worth $285,000 at most. However, the owner thinks this price is way too low because of the above-mentioned factors, and decides to tell me he wants to list it at $325K. I go along with that, wanting to keep the seller happy, but I tell him it may take longer to sell. Seller says no problem, I need more profit.

Later on as potential buyers who are pre-qualified are checking out the house. A lot of them comment that the home seems to be overpriced, but the home is in a great school district, and is in an area where they perceive that prices CAN'T go down, so they justify it in that manner. The house then sells for $325K, or maybe even higher if 2 or more parties are engaged in a bidding war, and then someone can now enjoy their overpriced home. When that buyer goes to sell, the process repeats. I collect my commission after the broker gets his cut, so the broker, myself, and the seller (especially), and buyer are happy.

So, as you can see, the buyers and sellers are the ones setting these prices, and creating this bubble. The broker and I are just trying to make a living and make our clients happy in the hope that will generate more business for us.