“You seem like a smart guy. Tell you what I’m gonna do, because I like you…”
This. House Hunters, one of my favorite programs to scream at.
We have an orchard and garden that I’ve labored to build up over the years. When our place goes on the market (probably within the next couple of years), I’m prepared to make it clear that the new owners can pave the whole thing over and put up a parking lot (or a really, really large deck and patio) for all I care, as long their offer is good.
The first house my husband and I bought together was from an older couple who were downsizing. I remember the wife telling me some story about a specific tree in the yard and how important it was that it remain there. I smiled and nodded. Honestly, I don’t recall if we cut it down or not, but I figured once our name was on the deed, the tree was no longer her concern.
Then there was one house we sold that had gorgeous azalea hedges… which the buyer hacked down to 2’ tall ratty stick piles. And she replaced the really cool wallpaper we’d put in the kitchen with paper covered in fruit -FRUIT!!! 
Which only goes to show that we sold to a woman with no taste at all!
Yes! Harry Wormwood Realty. Here, I have his card…
I have this terrible habit of watching a TV show, then reading something in the voice of one of the actors. In this case, I’ve been watching The West Wing, and I read this post in the voice of Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn.
I’ve got news for the person who wrote that letter to the editor. Everyone is greedy and selfish. Just not all the time about everything. This is a lesson that, if the person is young, will learn. If they’re not young, they already have learned it, but have yet to accept it.
Reminds me of a letter in Dear Abby from a young person complaining about having to take a low salary job because the older workers who had been with the company for decades wouldn’t retire from their high salaried jobs so young workers could take them.
You’ve made some good points - there are indeed some factors at play in hot housing markets that shouldn’t really be there at all (in the hot Canadian markets, it’s overseas buyers that are screwing over residents who are getting priced out of housing markets). The governments have put some legislation in place that are aimed at curbing this a bit, but not in a serious way.
That said, people have to deal with the reality of the place they live in. If buying a house is your top priority in life, maybe you have to make a decision to not live in a place where an entry-level house goes for 1.5 mil.
That’s what I’m talking about! If you want to keep overseas buyers out, you can keep overseas buyers out. It’s your city/country - make the rules you need to make to keep them out.
We sold our first house and bought another house in a nearby neighbourhood. Going back occasionally to look at our first house was a mistake - it’s like they didn’t even care how much time and effort I put into that yard! :mad: (I’m not unrealistic enough to suggest that new buyers can’t do what they want with your old property - it’s just best if you don’t witness it. 
)
The buyers of our old Kentucky home put up a huge, ugly shed atop the final resting place of our cocker spaniel.
Sometimes I imagine their horror when they realized the consequences of building on Cocker Burial Grounds. :eek::eek::eek:
That letter reminds me of my Dad’s favorite pieces of advice:
-Life isn’t fair!
- You’re on your own!
-If you don’t like it, you can leave!
If you are thinking, “charming does not begin to describe this guy”, you are correct! But look. I have a nice place in a nice neighborhood. You are Never going to believe how I pulled it off- millennials may want to sit down before reading any further.
I worked my ass off! I saved for years! I house hunted like a maniac! When I found something that was just right, I made an aggressive offer! I mean, srsly, who knew!?
So if this young couple can stop staring into each other’s eyes long enough to research Norway, maybe they can get some handouts over there. But whatever they do, they better do it somewhere other than on my lawn, dammit!
I guess I don’t understand how the flippers are screwing things up (also, I can’t believe that market is back. Live and don’t learn, I guess). So, let’s say a person intent on flipping my house buys it all cash. Presumably, it just goes right back on the market so the whiny letter writers can buy it from the flipper instead of me. Or, are they selling to other flippers, in some sort of destined-to-fail musical chairs scheme?
I can understand how all-cash buyers who intend to stay there could cause problems for first-time buyers, but I don’t see the flipper angle. Ultimately, the flipper wants to sell the house to someone who wants to keep it.
Flippers usually fix up the house and then resell it. They wouldn’t buy one in immaculate condition.
Ah, so they take the fixer-uppers off the market. Got it. Thanks!
That’s completely false.
Mostly, though not entirely, true.
So they fix 'em up, then sell them at a profit - i.e. a higher price than the original home was listed for. If you wanted to do the fix-up yourself, you lose. Especially if the flip wasn’t done well or to your taste.
Not always. As “professional” house hunters (or at least, experienced in buying and selling) flippers can also recognize a good deal or just plain good value. Their strategy is often to just get a free ride in a hot market by snapping up a good value and either flipping it right away or after a short time for a significantly higher price. They may sometimes do improvements but often not, and they’re a plague on the market because their actions remove good values from the market and exacerbate bidding wars, thus driving up prices while they themselves add little or no value.
OK, leaving aside those flippers who put in improvements (I can see how they can keep young people out of the market by buying up all the fixer-uppers), I don’t agree with your point at the end. Certainly there are people who buy stocks that are undervalued, selling them quickly for a profit when the market catches up (and, I’m not talking about high-frequency trading, who I agree add no value and just front-run the market) – basically, that’s was stock traders do. Do they add no value? I think price discovery is valuable. And, they take the risk that the house will go down in value – in fact, they take more of a risk because they are all in for cash, not playing with someone else’s money (although they have less leverage, I agree).
At some point, in order to resell the house, they have to find someone who agrees that it’s worth the amount they want – this seems like the market working as it should.
Shellfish.
I followed most of what you were saying, but what’s the advantage of cash? If a buyer can put down 20%, sure, they’re going to pay off the rest over 15-30 years, but they’re going to be paying that to the bank, which will be paying the seller the other 80% in cash.
So if I’m the seller, what’s the advantage for me in 100% cash from the buyer v. 20% from the buyer and 80% from the bank? It all spends just as well.
I live in that market and while I’m not saying there’s any sort of accommodation the letter writer deserves from sellers out of the goodness of their hearts or anything, I guess I do sympathize with some of the points such as needing mid-6 figures in cash and/or offering 5 figures above asking to buy a house. And fwiw we are talking about “starter homes” here, at least I am. If we weren’t already in our home, there’s no way we would be able to get into a house anywhere decent (and I don’t mean a few minutes of increased commute inconvenience) and probably not even be able to rent an apartment in the area.