Any word on all the emptiness lingering on at BRIX? I want them to stay empty forever...

Anyone like Sun or sunlight? Yes, that's right, a 3 bedroom new house for $69K. Sixty-Nine Thousand...nothing in the 6th digit place...

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/46129-…

46129 W Long Way Maricopa AZ 85239

3 beds, 2.0 baths, 1,350 sq ft
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For Sale: $69,900

At least you folks are a little more honest this time. So much of the shocking headlines I read where the auctions are starting at which really does not mean anything. Fact is condos are going for 80% or more of their original asking peak value.

The condo market has dried up because the zero down loans are gone and many young first time buyers have been frozen out of the market. But deals are available for those (such as down-sizing empty-nesters or retirees) who can offer the required 20% or more down. While many new buildings look like crap, there are some beautiful units out there.

The pool of believers that units like this will retain significant enough value to justify the mortgage risk keeps shrinking, so it makes sense that the auction houses are scurrying around with their seeding operations, gleaning what they can before the margins thin.

What? You mean you won't just GIVE 20 somethings a condo with no money down? Their parents have to put the money down for them and co-sign the mortgage? That's outrageous! A clear sign that Seattle needs to put more of its limited affordable housing funds into subsidizing "affordable condos."

I am never going to pay more than $200,000 for a place to live. The real estate bubble was just that. Everybody HAD to get in a house - for tax reasons, for investment reasons, for whatever. When mortgages get more in line with percentages of income, then I'll take a look at the housing market. Frankly, I'm glad to see the end of the days where to buy you had to be married, both working, and working 60 hours a week to make an inflated mortgage payment. No one won but the sellers and the real estate agents. They walked away from this mess smelling like a rose.

I can't help but think it was all the flipping that was helping to drive up a housing prices. Those motherfuckers were greedy, too - wanting something like a 200K profit from a 6-8 month turnaround. Hope they're stuck with a lot of shit they can't dump or rent because the payments are too high. It's only justice.

People marketing these were greedy and stupid.

They are well located, and had they cut prices a year ago and passed real savings to buyers then, they would be sold.

Don't forget, when you rent you get ZERO return -- in ten years these units will look good.

I have a friend who was in the SAME one bedroom on the hill for 25 years, the perfect tenant. Had she been paying on a condo or co-op, something to gain title, she would have paid for it.

New owners showed up, doubled rents, she moved and got llucky and found great unit for 750.00 per month ...

I had to quit my job, become a full-time student, and move to Iowa in order to buy a house. I love my house, a 1947 1100-sq-ft bungalow just 1.5 miles from my school building. Any word on how Vertigo is filling up? I used to live right around the corner from that monstrosity.

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I disagree that this auction particular auction was driven by the auction company.

Press has been trying to get rid of these units for *years*. I think they first went on the market in 2006? Maybe earlier.

Point is, if they had actually tried lowering prices rather than simply churning the same tired MLS listings with small, generic photos they would have moved some units.

@8 renters DO get a return.

Buying is still a great deal more expensive than renting an equivalent place. Take that monthly difference, stick it in a CD or other decent, guarenteed-return investment. You will be far ahead of the home debtor who is currently losing some 10%/year on his 'investment'.

AND when the shit really starts to hit the fan, you won't be strapped to all that debt, and you'll have access to cash if you need it.

#13 - NO they do not. And they must more at the whim of the landlord.... which is a horror all by itself.

10 years ago after renting for most of my life I bought a low end house on Beacon Hill, not a chic place, but sitting on two lots. Incl. taxes and insurance my payment is just short of 1,000.00 per month, garden yard, dog, old but very OK two bedroom, giant living room-dining area. Nice front porch .... summer eating, cot for friends who come by and crash.

I could rent it for my payment if I needed to, even in this market it would sell for 400,000 for the lots. I owe about 100,00 now.

Where else would this working class guy pick up 300,000. for old age? You tell me. Plus stability and privacy and no fucking landlord.

I could have a roommate to keep costs down if needed. Nice location for buses, close shopping on the hill, fast to downtown or go I-90 to Mercer Island.

GREAT yard and garden if I want to work that hard in the summer.

Renting is money down the drain, buying the right place is your retirement..... and other benefits, like sex in the back yard on summer nights ...

Rudy

If you're 30 and buy a house today, and make the payments for 30 years, you'll be able to live rent-free starting at age 60. Your mortgage payments will be predictable and not track rent inflation.

If you continue renting, you will be vulnerable to rent increases every year, and at age 60 you will still have to come up with a fat rent payment every month.

@15: Make it a 15-year mortgage. The monthly payments are slightly higher, but the amount you save in interest over the life of the loan is huge.

@14, obviously you haven't learned a goddamn thing in the entire process.

buying only makes sense when you're not going to move, mortgage payments aren't much higher than rent, and prices of homes appreciate in the location you live.

and in many cases the last two are mutually exclusive.

I could go on but i dont think there is any point in speaking to people that believe the past 8 years in seattle are the new standard of home ownership.

Anyone who wears a red and white hounds-tooth jacket and oversized D&G sunglasses should be shot on sight.

I agree with 12, I was looking at these units last year and decided they were over priced. I can't believe someone paid over $300,000 for that shitty 1 bedroom.

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i bought a $200k place in 2007 and calculated that if i sell it for exactly what i bought it for (whenever that day comes), the monthly costs that i never see again (loan interest minus the tax deductible benefit, taxes, HOA dues) comes out to about $800 or $900, which will only decrease with time. Buying can be smarter than renting depending on your situation and how long you plan on staying. This fact will always remain true throughout the market fluctuations...

The UK's traditional property sale market (through estate agencies) has shrunk significantly. However, the cash sale market where motivated sellers sell their properties at a reduced price to a cash buyer has boomed. This is likely to continue for at least another 3 years. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu…