All Forum Posts by: James De Stefano

Got to keep on movin' !!

There's a flurry of buying activity in Houston, both for investment properties and  well-priced, attractive homes near good schools. 

I'm studying the market regularly, but will most likely hold off until the Fall for an investment purchase, I'm thinking inventory will slowly and steadily  shoot up. 

 Your last sentence is likely spot on.  Sad. I think the divide between rich and middle America will become even wider.   IF you've got 25+ million in the bank, why wouldn't you buy up struggling assets/ businesses / competitors, etc. 

Families will have to dig deep, and we'll see if spending grinds to a haul if people learn lessons about living paycheck to paycheck while making 80k a year. 

We're representing a buyer who's renting and needs time to break the lease, and we have the closing set for Mid-June.   Sellers weren't too happy with that, but in this market, if it's a qualified buyer, you should take what  you can get.  

Sellers gonna sell.  A story as old as time itself. 

The way I see it, there are only about 250 possible outcomes from this. 

#1.....

Seriously though, It's pretty unprecedented what's happening here, and many of the jobs could come back in the coming months as we adapt and adjust, there's going to be an even bigger gap of  HAVES and HAVE NOTS. 

So I wouldn't be too shocked if investors just start dominating aspects of the markets, buying up SFH starter homes of 1500 sq feet.

It's not a secret anymore that flipping/ buy n hold is a great way to build wealth.  And I think more and more banks will get tight with their loans. 

Cash & buying power will rein supreme for a long time. Middle America is going to be even more squeezed I would imagine . 

2 week old Bump of this thread...

From a Houston standpoint, 200 K will get your quite a bit if you go outside the Belt. 8 loop.  Decent schools, 2000+ sq. feet is possible for that price point. 

And with Oil being a big part of the economy ( not for everyone in the city, but it'll definitely send some shockwaves with all the layoffs), it's likely 200k will go even further as the months go by. 

Good to hear the positive overall comments above. 

I think a huge elephant in the room is going to be jobs moving forward, and how quickly this economy can bounce back.  

Screening tenants was always important, but even more so now with this.  And it won't be easy, as some service sector jobs WILL comeback... many won't. 

This.  Be professional about it, but it likely won't take more than 1 day for the A/C installs, correct?  

Set a 4 hours time frame where he can stay in 1 room of the house, or even leave in his car for a few hours.    Reach a reasonable compromised, you're the one spending $$ to improve his living situation, correct?

I spend a week in Alabama every summer and I'll agree with your post.  

But interesting your lumped Houston into that list of cities above.  I'm curious... Why?  Oil prices will have repercussions for sure, but assuming restaurants come back in several months, we're strong there and the Medical center is big pull as well. 

 Vegas will struggle BADLY I believe for a while. The Strip has to be a very weird place now a days
 

Haha yup.   Anything to move a product! 

New cars really are one of the worst purchases.  Until I reach the point where  money is pouring out the nose, I'll be a used-car buyer.   40% off for a car with 20k miles?  Yes plz. 

I spend much of my day reading & talking with people about the current RE market conditions, and for now,  Houston and much of Texas has faired well, so we are using caution when showing homes, and using technology to streamline much of the transactions. Buyers are making offers.  I think RE will see increased inventory steadily over the next 6 - 12 months.. with prices dropping maybe 10 - 15 % overall.  The secret is out, real estate is a great overall asset. 

What I DO NOT understand, is the supreme confidence we're seeing in the stock market the past 2 weeks.  WHO is pouring money into this thing?  Wallstreet feels like it's just a giant scam sometimes.  

I do worry that it'll be the big, BIG tech companies that just start to dominate moving forward.  FANGS stocks will capitalize on America's laziness at home, and Small businesses will be playing Russian roulette for 6 months... Sad.