RealTown's RealTalk

I was going thru a box of old newspaper articles (early spring cleaning) and I found the following:

May 10, 2003  Chicago Tribune New Homes Section

Headlines from stories on page 2

Housing Continues to lead a not-too-strong economy

Some homeowners are reeling under a rising burden of debt

Hmmmmmmmmm...I could use almost the same headline for today:

February 10, 2008

Housing Continues to Tank, leading the economy into a recession

Homeowners facing a burden of debt in addition to foreclosures

Some things never change!

Cordially,

Eileen Landau, ABR, CRS
e-pro Internet Certified Agent
Realty Executives, Realtors
Naperville Il 60540
630-961-2700 or 630-961-2600
www.MoveUPtoNaperville.blogspot.com
www.MoveUPtoNaperville.com
www.EileenLandau.com


**************
Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.
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This morning's Sunday Tribune had a yellow sticker placed on the front page announcing an auction Feb. 23rd of 175 foreclosed homes, with a website as reference. Just checked out the website. It's a national company. Of the homes that are being sold I found two in Naperville, two in Aurora. The majority are in Chicago.

So, I'd guess when people pick up their Sunday paper and are hit with bright yellow sticker they become even more aware of the foreclosures in the area.

Cordially,

Eileen Landau, ABR, CRS
e-pro Internet Certified Agent
Realty Executives, Realtors
Naperville Il 60540
630-961-2700 or 630-961-2600
www.MoveUPtoNaperville.blogspot.com
www.MoveUPtoNaperville.com
www.EileenLandau.com


**************
Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.
(http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp00300000002548)

Robert King wrote: "The media doesn't even have a clue, they are going on
what they are told to say."
Robert,
That is why newspeople are called reporters. It isn't the media's job to fix
the problems or right the wrongs. It is to report the facts. The facts are
that we have a very, very depressed real estate market. BTW, if
organizations such as HUD make statements, they should be reported. If
someone with credibile credentials has opposing opinion or fact and can back
what they say, that, too should be reported.
Best Regards,
Ed Hain

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As an "old school" journalist, I knew that I Didn't Know, but I knew how to
ask the questions to get the needed answers.

Rich Hudson
Director of PR/Marketing
InternetCrusade�s RealTown.com

The media does tend to write about the negative s in Real Estate because
they make the news very local. They should also report what is happening
in other locations to give consumers more information.

You got that one right. Howerever, the problem with the subprimers was that
almost every Prime loan had a subprime loan attached to it, so the buyer
didn't have to depend on an FHA INSURED loan (MIP payment). It wasn't just
the subprimers it was the Prime Lenders and HUD that allowed it to happen!
The Subprimers are just the scape goats! The real villain here is HUD and
the FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS! the media doesn't even have a clue, they are
going on what they are told to say. If not HUD and or the FED. RES.... then
why is HUD coming to the rescue of the new HUD purchaser and why is the
Prime rate falling and why is the cost of petroleum rising? The big winners
here are HUD and the Banks making new loans while the Displaced Home Owners
become Tent Dwellers! Hmmmm.... I wonder if the Displaced Home Owners could
be our next target market of buyers. NA! they'll just have to squat in a
tent and be happy.
Robert King

Robert,

You are just going on and not knowing what you are talking about.

When you say that almost every Prime loan had a subprime loan attached to
it so the buyers wouldn't have to depend on an FHA insured loan, I'm
assuming you are talking about the 80/20 loans. OK, so the buyers avoided
an FHA loan and avoid the MIP (or PMI) payments. Then HUD wasn't
"involved"! And assuming that the Federal Reserve Banks were "involved" is
a little off the wall! The only group "involved" in your scenario would
be those who set up (and regularly change) the underwriting standards for
conventional loans.

I doubt that any "displaced home owners" will end up becoming "tent
dwellers". Some may end up renting a far smaller home than they owner
until they can clean up the damage done to their credit and buy again.

Instead of placing blame, more of us need to become pro-active like my new
broker has been. He saw this mess coming and created a "rent-to-own"
program that turns renters into buyers. I won't go into details here
because I don't want our competitors to copy it. Our office has been super
busy with this and in a few days we will be having at least 10 closings on
this program in 1 day!

Linda Grissette, JIM, GRI, LTG, ePRO Certified
Broker/Associate, River City Real Estate, St. Louis Area
Linda@Grissette.com http://www.FindStCharlesCountyRealEstate.com
All my products on sale until March 31 at
http://www.RealEstateMarketingHelp.com

The media was right when they reported that the housing bubble was poised
to break. Why are they wrong now to report as they do? I think the thing we
miss here is that journalists are not making this stuff up . Editorialists
might, but not reporters. Reporters are getting their information from
credible sources.

Ed,

Someone was asking why we, as REALTORS, did not complain about media
reports when the market was going great. And I responded by saying that we
were complaining. From what I remember, the media was saying that the
bubble was going to burst at any time.....for about 3 years. I honestly
believe that, to some extent, it became a self-fulfilling prophesy! Sure,
the economy is always cyclical. I've been in real estate since 1981, so I
know all about the cycles. We were long over due for an economic slow
down. But I still do place some of the blame for the depth of this current
market (in some locations) to be caused by the media. As we've discussed
over and over, buyers who wanted more home that they could afford are also
to blame, as are lenders and agents who pushed buyers to their top price
and beyond.

And as I just said in another post, let's stop assigning blame and work on
solutions to help people.

I am glad that when things were going up, I was in a market area that
didn't go way too high.

I am also glad that I am now in an sub-area that has historically always
done good in bad economies. In the early 80's, this county came back
faster than other parts of the St. Louis area. That's one reason I moved
back. When I got here in June, things were going pretty good. Then in
July or August, our local newspaper wrote an article based on bad
statistics for RealtyTrac (that I've mentioned before). By September, the
market came to a crashing stop! (Which should have been the time I would
have started making money here!!!!). Luckily, the market is already
starting to come back. Based on the market statistics I did on February 4
(thanks to those here on RT who taught me how to do that), it is actually a
Seller's Market in a couple of zip code/price ranges and a balanced market
in several others.

I think you are wrong about editorialist vs. reporters today. The two have
blended. Reporters want to write a sensational story that will bring in
readers. They get an idea of the slant they want....and then find a source
that supports what they want to say. And an example of that is the
RealtyTrac statistics that were way off. Some reliable source!

Linda Grissette, JIM, GRI, LTG, ePRO Certified
Broker/Associate, River City Real Estate, St. Louis Area
Linda@Grissette.com http://www.FindStCharlesCountyRealEstate.com
All my products on sale until March 31 at
http://www.RealEstateMarketingHelp.com