Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Local investor/author John Schaub talks about the Sarasota real estate market

Here is an interesting podcast from Harold Bubil and local real estate investor and author John Schaub. John talks about the current market conditions and why he feels it is a great time to be buyer in Sarasota if you are a long term investor or end user. John has been in the real estate business a long time and is very knowledgable about this market.

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This was an interesting podcast from Harold Bubil in that you have a long term, established RE investor based right here in Sarasota saying that it's a good time to be looking to buy.

I wish Bubil would have asked a more pointed question to Schaub regarding when it's right to actually make a purchase, but Bubil got the answer he was looking for (the time to buy is now), and Schaub is trying to sell books so they each got what they wanted. [You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours ...]

The problem is that with increased lending restrictions, the only ones capable of buying in this environment are the "vultures" - and they're looking and waiting for prices that are still quite a bit lower than today's prices.

There are some opportunities for those who have CASH and who have a 7-10 year investment time frame, but the lower to middle class family with 2-3 kids will probably find it hard to buy a house unless they've got a 20% down payment and income to afford. In the weakened state of our local economy, there probably aren't that many who qualify as such.

The banks/lenders who hold these mortgages have in large part resisted the notion that they're holding paper that is 30%-50% overstated on their books.

When they finally relent (and they always do) and are forced to mark to market, then we'll see the really good deals appear, and thus the necessary absorption of current inventory take place which will form a base from which the RE market can then rebound.

We're not there yet, but we're getting closer.

As always, this is just one person's opinion.

10:41 AM  
Blogger Marc Rasmussen said...

Thanks for the comment Todd.

You wrote:
The problem is that with increased lending restrictions, the only ones capable of buying in this environment are the "vultures"

That is not really true. There is mortgage money available. As the sub prime fears subside even more money will become available. If you have good credit you can get financing. People with average credit can still buy a home if they make enough money and have a down payment.

7:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Marc said:

"People with average credit can still buy a home if they make enough money and have a down payment."


There's the rub. With the current weakened state of the economy increasingly taking hold, many folks don't have the income or down payment to qualify.

The quantity and quality of eligible buyers has been reduced during this downturn.

The further resetting of ARMS in 2008 will unfortunately likely extend this RE market decline further than what most expect.

As always, just my opinion.

12:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The latest podcast from Harold Bubil with local veteran homebuilder Lee Wetherington gives a much better reality of the current economic landscape, and that of the local RE market.

I found Wetherington to be quite open and frank regarding where we've been and what to expect in the next 18-24 months.

He's on the front lines of the RE market and his prognosis isn't very rosy for the next 2 years.

11:40 AM  

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