[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by patfla06

Zillow has not caught up with the real prices in The Villages yet.

My Son has a house in Coral Gables and they just caught up with the crazy prices there recently.

I guess it takes time to adjust to the craziness going on now.

Zillow had overvalued by $500K the house I kept and rent out in Newport Beach, CA. Over the last three weeks they have it back down to where it belongs. Ironically Realtor.com currently undervalues it by $500K. lol

It seems to me Zillow has way overshot the house in which my son lives in Idaho at twice what it cost in 9/17 and probably is about right on one I keep in NM.

All in all I have found Zillow quite useful and reasonably accurate if a house matches its neighbors. Pretty amazing, really!

[Boomer]

Several years ago Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries wrote Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate. They later changed the title for the audio version — Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate.

I guess that subtle change in the title speaks volumes.

Boomer

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

When purchased new in a 55 community they undervalued what I paid for it. Seems like they missed all the upgrades. Then when solar and a whole house generator was added they missed that. Point is it is just a ball park number that could be misleading.

There is no way they would know either of those things unless they were entered by a seller or realtor...

[jmaccallum]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Thank you for taking the time to write detailed info. I learned some things.

FSBOing can be nuanced. Not everybody should try to FSBO. We have sold houses both ways. But that was more dependent on the house than the market. At the height of the last market, we downsized in Ohio from a big house that had a lot of extra stuff. That meant the market was narrowed due to the price range.

We did not want to mess with the Lookie-Loo crowd. We wanted potential buyers to be qualified — which we made clear at the listing. The house sold fast because there was a buyer with another agent in the same office who had been looking for 2 years — for exactly what we had. The house sold for an excellent price before it even hit the MLS. I do not think we ever would have found that buyer as a FSBO.

But, if we were to be selling in TV right now, we would FSBO. If we were to be selling our Ohio downsize right now, we would (probably) FSBO — by starting with just the word out to the neighbors. But we are not selling now.

Not just any agent will do. I found ours by going to open houses. (I have always heard that open houses are for the agent to meet buyers and that open houses usually do not sell the house. That might not be as true in TV where the market moves almost constantly.)

I have nice manners (usually) so I did not monopolize an agent in an open house if they had “live ones” there. But, when I had observed enough to be interested in possibly listing, I waited for a lull and then I conducted what was basically an interview. That is how I found our agent.

I just read that there are 8 agents for every listing in the country now. I thought that number sounded off because it seemed low.

I see entering a listing contract as going into business with that agent — as partners. If listing, it pays to be choose the agent carefully. Using a friend’s nephew’s kid can leave too much to chance and to hassles. Using somebody you know really well can, in some cases, get them too much in your business.

There are some really lazy license-holders out there. And there are those who work their tails off — especially when they end up having to carry all the work for a lazy agent that is on the other side of the deal — but gets their commission anyway.

Choosing an agent should be like choosing any professional.

Boomer

Hey Boomer, thanks for the thanks! I agree with you whole heartedly. There is nothing wrong with selling your own property as long as you do the research and know what you are getting into. The ones that I feel sorry for are those that say, I’m selling my own house so I don’t have to pay a real estate commission. That being the only consideration, along with limited due-diligence and acquisition of knowledge, they’re setting themselves up for failure.

I also did read your response to my response in the other thread, and agree with you there, too. Just figuring out how this forum works.

In both threads, there have been comments as to can this real estate bubble sustain itself? I feel no, it can’t. It’s a repeat. The real estate industry has gone through boom and bust cycles for years. 2008 was a doozy. This bubble will burst, the questions are when, and will it be a soft landing or a crash?

The real estate industry used to be called a leading economic indicator. It still is, just nobody uses that term anymore. I was saying I felt this bubble would continue into the end of 2023, but with recent events, it may be a case of it bursting sooner.

The media talks about the delta variant of COVID sparking fears in the market, but nobody is talking about Wells Fargo closing all revolving credit lines nor JP Morgan hoarding cash (I agree with your statement of a moat of cash surrounding investments). None of the media is talking about the spike in M2 money supply. None are talking about the reverse REPO market and banks giving money back to the central bank. None are discussing the beginnings of a safe haven flight to the bond market, yet it is evident by prices and yields. Something is beginning to start to happen. In a simplistic analysis, it seems the central bank wants to continue monetary stimulus, but interestingly the banks seem to be bucking it. Is it because they don’t want to wait for the “duh factor” to kick in the market? Do they feel the loans are already too risky, given over evaluated home prices? We know they only care about their P&L, which is ok, but they also know derivatives are out of the question as are packages mixed of good and sub-par loans on the secondary market. So, hmmm 🤔

Many people retired to the villages, such as myself, rely on parts and pieces of several vehicles for their retirement income, such as some SS, some pension, some dividends, and maybe a percentage of investment gains.

Maybe a thread should be started to discuss these recent events and what everyone thinks might be a prudent financial course for the near future. It won’t be as exciting as a golf cart running into a pond, or slow golfers In front of your group, but I’d like to hear interested persons views and ideas. Or would that be of no interest on this forum?

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by jmaccallum

Maybe a thread should be started to discuss these recent events and what everyone thinks might be a prudent financial course for the near future. r would that be of no interest on this forum?

Start one in the investment section, and any graphs and predictive analysis would be great. I will show a couple of graphs as I used to forecast financial metrics, and trade in the market. . . . but totally data driven, not media driven, I don't listen to msm as they have narratives and stories, seldom anything but superficial links which they believe are explanations.

good luck.

finance guy

[snsaneholtz@gmail.com]

How do you remove your house information from the Zillow site?
Previous owner posted our home and now we would like to have it removed.

[J1ceasar]

When we bought our house 20 yearszillow
reported the sale 10% under the actual price

Interesting Lee my daughter's house in California went up and down $200,000 within the last month. You really have to know what a comparable is to know where your house is valued at. And even then the market conditions I so crazy and you can easily get 10 or 20% more if you have the right buyer and the right day of the week. The question however is if you're selling a house in The Villages you going to get another way overpriced house. But it really doesn't matter if you can afford the taxes in the upkeep.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by snsaneholtz@gmail.com

How do you remove your house information from the Zillow site?
Previous owner posted our home and now we would like to have it removed.

You need to claim it as your home, then you can edit the information.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by snsaneholtz@gmail.com

How do you remove your house information from the Zillow site?
Previous owner posted our home and now we would like to have it removed.

Claim Your Home | Zillow Information

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by snsaneholtz@gmail.com

How do you remove your house information from the Zillow site?
Previous owner posted our home and now we would like to have it removed.

Note that much of the information on Zillow is public information. You can report erroneous information to Zillow and remove some information added by a previous owner, but you may not be able to remove the public information. Scroll down the right side of the website and click on "help" and then "homeowners".

[Villages Kahuna]

I know of a house here in The Villages, a Lantana in Mallory Square, which sold less than a month ago for $165,000 more than it sold for 18 months ago. The seller had three bids within a few hours after it was listed. It is not a golf course or water view lot.

[lmack]

I'm sorry for you issues with Zillow. We have used it a few times with good results.

You can claim your property as the owner and edit the facts on Zillow (including the pictures) to make it more factual (and attractive). The algorithm can't see pictures but it can see SF (as when we added an addition of a sunroom, converted the attic to a 4th bedroom etc.). Unfortunately in a new neighborhood, it takes a little time for sales to result with comparisons that add value. As another posted said, 'it's just an estimate' (done by a computer algorithm) so we always review our properties and make sure to update any facts that are missing or inaccurate.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by Boomer

We are not buying or selling in either place right now, but I have been fascinated by real estate markets for most of my adult life. Just when I thought I had seen it all — along comes the current insanity.

While I agree with those who say this overall market is different from the big, popped bubble, that does not mean that I think it is sustainable. At some point, buyers will get tired of feeling had and the US market will breathe. (I hope banks do not start handing out HELOCs based on what could turn out to be phantom equity.)

(But TV’s market is different. Potential buyers might feel like they are caught between The Village of Rock and The Village of Hard Place where the buy price is concerned. But no matter what that famous philosopher Mick Jagger told us, a long time ago, time is not on our side — anymore. And, besides, in most cases, the house owned elsewhere is going to sell overpriced. TV marketing knows all this, of course.)

But back to the overall US market. . .

I just now looked at Zillow and at realtor.com to see what their algorithms “think” about what houses we own, and have owned, are worth. On the northern house, both seemed unrealistically high.

How realistic can those sites possibly be? There is no human element involved in the pricing? Are those sites just a starting or stopping point? Are they just pie in the sky? Are they just as often too low on their estimations?

Boomer. . .

(Btw, it is a little weird to look at realtor.com because they do not appear to remove the old pictures from the last time the house was sold. So if you think you miss your old furniture, you might be able to visit it on realtor.com if you listed with the MLS.)

Real estate is both interesting and uncomfortable. For many it is their most expensive, valuable asset. We have been led to believe it only goes up. We quickly forget reality except when it doesn't.

Right now, cost of land, cost of materials and labor costs are all up. Demand is also up due to the far below reality available mortgage money and rising inflation.

As far as Zillow and Realtor.com they are simple calculations. It is a good time to sell.
Only problem is you/we need a place to live. Alternatives have also gone up.

[toeser]

Originally Posted by Boomer

We are not buying or selling in either place right now, but I have been fascinated by real estate markets for most of my adult life. Just when I thought I had seen it all — along comes the current insanity.

While I agree with those who say this overall market is different from the big, popped bubble, that does not mean that I think it is sustainable. At some point, buyers will get tired of feeling had and the US market will breathe. (I hope banks do not start handing out HELOCs based on what could turn out to be phantom equity.)

(But TV’s market is different. Potential buyers might feel like they are caught between The Village of Rock and The Village of Hard Place where the buy price is concerned. But no matter what that famous philosopher Mick Jagger told us, a long time ago, time is not on our side — anymore. And, besides, in most cases, the house owned elsewhere is going to sell overpriced. TV marketing knows all this, of course.)

But back to the overall US market. . .

I just now looked at Zillow and at realtor.com to see what their algorithms “think” about what houses we own, and have owned, are worth. On the northern house, both seemed unrealistically high.

How realistic can those sites possibly be? There is no human element involved in the pricing? Are those sites just a starting or stopping point? Are they just pie in the sky? Are they just as often too low on their estimations?

Boomer. . .

(Btw, it is a little weird to look at realtor.com because they do not appear to remove the old pictures from the last time the house was sold. So if you think you miss your old furniture, you might be able to visit it on realtor.com if you listed with the MLS.)

We sold a house two years ago when the market was not red hot. Zillow had it overpriced by something like $115,000. Now, the new house we own is underpriced by a good $75,000 based upon neighbors' homes. I don't think they are a great resource for home values.

[Boomer]

When it comes to real estate -- and the stock market, too -- the market will bear what the market will bear. . .

But, sooner or later, the market will bare.

Boomer


"Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."

Buffett