All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Robert,

How do they know the condition of the homes in the survey?

In some markets a home on the end of the city will become something more in the city center after growth happens. Granted the indexes are mostly limited to about 20 years rather than something significantly longer. Pheonix could be an example where signifiicant growth has shifted the city even over just 20 years.

If someone has a fire or adds a second story how will that property be flagged so it drops out of the data?

Are we more or less agreeing that all properties bought and fixed up by rehab investors are stripped out of the data?

Robert,

I am glad I found this here. I was going to post it if no one else had done so.

When I first saw this last year (when the NYTimes.com published it) I had a question about the data.

What do you expect the housing market looked like prior to 1936?

Before Fannie Mae was sent up home mortgages were rolling 5 year contracts. No fully amortized loans were available to the general public.

If we go back even earlier I have to believe that many of the buyers were either cash buyers or they used other means. As the graphic notes there was a period when house prices fell because manufacturing techniques improved enough to drive down prices independent of what land values might have been doing.

I wonder how much of the recent noise in house prices relates to better information flow given the Internet. When I started investing very few would consider investing at a distance and gurus were not as able to market their info. Infomercials were new at that time (yes, I am a bit older than some here).

As the current C-S index started with only 10 cities and now has 20, does the trend from 1890 reflect some bias based on how certain cities changed over the time. Phoenix more or less did not exist until air conditionings. Some of the industrial cities that are in the index now were more like farming communities in the past. Miami certainly has changed compared to 1900. In TX the largest city then is not in the list now.

So what do we know about the data behind the graphic.

I love the graphic but I do wonder about the messages it sense.

...and BS walks...

Shiller does great work.

Has anyone posted the graphic for the "History of Home Values". I did not see it here.

I will try to post it. I am just not familar what the limits are for a graphic. I will use the string History of Home Values in the subject line.

Jon has done a good job of answering the questions posted.

If the family if fighting over money they do not have yet while they let the building sit for a long time I would consider just walking away.

If you want to help the family, great. Just do not expect to get a fair deal as family politics will matter way too much. If you do all the work and get a great price for the place will they thank you or continue to fight?

Why did no one step up years ago and deal with the place?

BTW - If the dirt is worth a fair bit letting the city demolish it and putting a lien on the land for the work might not be all that bad. It could take time to clear the title so a demo in the mean time might actually help reduce some of the liability issues.

Nicely said Jon.

That pretty much covers the question.

Off Topic - O/T

The view count also reflects how many times someone views a thread. They may not be unique views.

People should not take it as a slight if someone views a thread and does not respond. Lots of great reasons why that happens. No reflection on the person or the site.

I have no ideas as to the full facts. I think the final vote is still out.

In some states you can not site a school anywhere close.

The body is mostly water and it depends on electrical impulses for it to function (water and electric)? Electrical fields can have an impact depending on how close you are to a source.

Lets say that there is no obvious answer. Lets further assume that at some distance it does not make a difference.

A more interesting way to look at this is how much will it impact the property's value in the future? Will some be turned off just because they are not sure? Or will you get full value as most people could care less?

Assume that I send someone a colleague request.

1. If they decline I assume that my request is canceled and I get it back so to speak.

2. If for some reason the person is busy and does not respond after a certain amount of time will the request time on? On LinkedIn there is a time out for certain types of request where you have a fixed or limited number of requests (like colleague requests).

3. Lets assume everything is manual. Assume further that after a week or two the other person does not reply. I go to the list of pending requests and delete my request to them. Do they actually see anything that indicates that I was trying to get in touch? Just in case there were busy for a few weeks and would be interested in sending me a request when they come back to the site.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help with the above.

Great stories.

Thanks for sharing.

Lets forget the present house. You are renting (maybe for free) and they are the owner.

If you want to be an investor you need to find great deals. If you lack the cash when you find a great deal you need to get someone else to invest with you. Few will want to offer you the cash without having some degree of control over the deal. Lots of ways this can be done but they will want to protect their cash from you running away.

Maybe your relatives are a good source of funds or maybe they are the worst. Some of the time strangers will take you seriously while family will not.

The present house needs to be sold is how it looks given the estate provisions. What they do with the cash is up to the person managing the estate. Normally there is some clear instructions in the will or other documents. Do not assume that your ability to be a successful RE investors if tied directly to this one pot of money.