341–350 of 1001 posts
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That doesn't make sense. If you really bid what it was worth to you, why were you disappointed that the house went for more because you would have paid it (and more)?
“what it’s worth” is just the maximum you can possibly afford when the alternative is never owning anything.
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The question is why does something like blind bidding exist in real estate? It could exist in all sorts of places but doesn't. Imagine blind bidding when interviewing for a job. Write down the number you'd be willing to do the job for. Someone came in with a lower number, please resubmit. These weird market distortions in real estate have underlying causes. A lot of them are based off patchwork rules and regulations…
Employment, outside a handful of environments where salaries are public, is probably a great example of a market that is indeed blind bid - this is what a recruiter is doing when they ask what your “salary expectations” are.
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Buying is throwing away money too, often just as much as the rent you were paying. Yes some portion of what you pay goes to principle and you eventually own the home but the following amounts are just lost money: - interest on the loan - utility bills - property taxes You also have to replace anything that breaks and are responsible for all repairs on the property. Many of these replacements and repairs don’t increas…
You're missing a big point of buying with a fixed mortgage though -- its partially a hedge against housing cost inflation. Sure, property taxes will go up as property values increase, but taxes aren't really that large of the total housing cost of my home. Taxes could double and it still wouldn't be the majority of the cost of my house. Most of my monthly cost of my house is P&I, values that won't go up. My mortgage,…
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Stress test currently means you need to qualify at 5-6% if you have 20% down. If you are putting less than 20% then the stress test is even higher. I doubt we will see 5-6% interest rates in the next 5 years.
Tell that to the 5.1% rate a friend of mine just got on a new home purchase with >20% downpayment. I dunno if rates are a lot better in Canada or something, but we're already in 5-6% range in the US for some properties. They had excellent credit too.
A quick look at the data suggests only about 2% of properties in Toronto and Vancouver are owned by overseas investors. Yes, housing is priced at the margin, but this won't do anything at all to prices over the long term. I'm sure this will be wildly popular politically, because people LOVE the idea that some foreign boogieman is the reason their children can't afford homes anymore. It's much easier to outsource your…
> only about 2% of properties in Toronto and Vancouver are owned by overseas investors. Yes, housing is priced at the margin, but this won't do anything at all to prices over the long term. I'm sure this will be wildly popular politically, because people LOVE the idea that some foreign boogieman is the reason their children can't afford homes anymore. Overseas investors may own only 2%, but Canada has 23% foreign-bor…
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Stress test currently means you need to qualify at 5-6% if you have 20% down. If you are putting less than 20% then the stress test is even higher. I doubt we will see 5-6% interest rates in the next 5 years.
Tell that to the 5.1% rate a friend of mine just got on a new home purchase with >20% downpayment. I dunno if rates are a lot better in Canada or something, but we're already in 5-6% range in the US for some properties. They had excellent credit too.
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The buyer's realtor is supposed to be working in the buyer's best interest and getting the lowest price possible. In reality it doesn't often work that way, especially when the buyer and seller realtors know each other. I just bought a house and both realtors ended up being from the same office, and are good friends. Do I honestly think I got the best price? Not likely.
Maybe it’s different in Canada, but in the US (or at least in Massachusetts and New Hampshire) the agent merely must disclose to whom they owe allegiance. In both of my purchase transactions, the agent I worked most consistently with was legally working for the seller. (I was comfortable with that and acted accordingly, having “my” agent submit bids that I was comfortable with, but not treating/trusting them as if th…
Dual representation can work out ok in some scenarios, but the hyper-inflated and super competitive market we're in right now isn't one of them.
Related, I’m concerned about the trend of megacorporations gobbling up single-family homes which appears to be happening in the US and Canada. I wonder if it’s possible to construct a law that would limit corporate ability to acquire these assets while making it possible for families to do so. Unfortunately, even if there is, politicians at least in DC seem to have zero motivation to solve political problems unless t…
Triple or quadruple property taxes after the 10th purchased residence in the state. Encourage tax breaks through high density development of condos with coop property management firms.
Related, I’m concerned about the trend of megacorporations gobbling up single-family homes which appears to be happening in the US and Canada. I wonder if it’s possible to construct a law that would limit corporate ability to acquire these assets while making it possible for families to do so. Unfortunately, even if there is, politicians at least in DC seem to have zero motivation to solve political problems unless t…
The vast majority of houses are not going to foreigners or corporations. Some do, but it is only a tiny percentage. We need to build more housing, in the end housing costs are about supply and demand.
I looked up some property tax docs of a new luxury apartment building (majority of units go for 2M+) in NYC and I was shocked to see something like 90% of the owners had chinese names.
I'm guessing that the majority of these are foreign buyers. I'm also guessing its unlikely that the NYC new development market is being dominated by asian americans?
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Prediction: barely anything happens and problems continue to rise as population numbers have yet to peak and the people who are struggling most with this problem, the working class, continues to lose wealth relatively to the upper classes. Almost every country with these problems has similar symptoms and the problem could've been seen coming from decades away. Tackling these things requires far, far more input from g…
Domestic population in developed countries hit their peak a while ago. The demand side here is all immigration and I wish people would talk about that before they talk about bulldozing neighborhoods.
That said, it's nowhere near the sole contributor. Quite a few countries have very low immigrant numbers along with low birthrates and still face soaring house prices. Rampant individualism doesn't help, either.