The Mania for Sellers is Out. The Mania for Buyers is In.

Mania.
Fixation. Madness.
Also: abberation, compulsion, craving, craze, craziness, delirium, dementia, derangement, desire, disorder, enthusiasm, fad, fancy, fascination, fetish, fixed idea, frenzy, furor, hang-up, infatuation, insanity, lunacy, obsession, passion, preoccupation, rage, thing.

That what Roget's Thesaurus comes up with as related words.

It is now conventional wisdom that a few years ago, during the 'seller's market', that excesses were introduced into the housing market that are now being worked out. Back then, lots of liquidity poured into the housing market, with low interest loans, teaser loans, option ARMs, no document/no verification loans, and other 'exotics' that got more and more people into home purchasing and 'flipping' for profit. Every month home prices went up, year-to-year appreciation registered 20% or more for three years running, and the adjoining years weren't far off the pace. If you didn't buy RIGHT NOW, you were thought a complete idiot. Sellers asked for the moon, and got it. Appraisers and lenders went along. A lot of Realtors did too. Easy money bought the American Dream, and people from all over the world flocked to the party. Want a new car? Refinance at a lower (initial) rate, no costs, and pull money out. Get a HELOC and don't worry about it... price appreciation and low interest rates will finance your new lifestyle. And don't worry about the future... this is the New Reality. The party will go on forever!

Yes, I heard exactly these lines from sellers and mortgage brokers and Realtors and all kinds of people. Homes came on the market and were sold within days or even hours, seemingly no matter what the price was. It was a Mania, especially for Sellers but one that infected the entire market.

The party is over. At least for sellers.

Homes are now undergoing a re-valuation, and this time, it is the Buyer who is setting the price. [In reality, the Buyer always sets the price. That is a basic market mechanism.] Those sellers who got used to 20% and more appreciation per year bemoan the fact that they have to now 'give the home away'. Nevermind that a 20% appreciation on a home with a zero or 5% equity position has a pretty nice annual rate of return on investment, as long as you sell. Nowhere else in the market can you make that kind of money. But I digress...

Sellers aren't giving away their homes, and the family down the street who actually sold and closed their home sale last week isn't destroying your home's value. Home prices go up, home prices go down. If you thought that home prices were on the unending up escalator forever, well, all I can say is welcome to reality. Your fever may have broken and your sanity may be returning. The mania for sellers is over. Catch up with the facts, deal with the New New Reality.

So what is the New New Reality? I have had some people who self-describe themselves as serious buyers tell me that all homes on the market are foreclosures, or will soon be in foreclosures. They look at the local newspapers and see that there are notices of default on $600,000 or more homes on notes worth $7 or $10,000, and want to know how they can buy these homes for the defaulted note amounts or less. Some have gone on RealtyTrac.com and one told me she wanted the kind of deal she read about: a 4500 square foot home valued at $1.7 million dollars, for $350,000. She said she was prepared to buy that kind of deal TODAY!

Yeah, who isn't?

Of course she didn't have an address or any other information that at all indicated that she could or anyone else was getting that kind of deal. But people tell me 'those deals are out there... find one for me.' Of course they are ever so reluctant to even meet and seriously talk about their finances, enter a buyer's broker agreement, or do anything else that would at all justify the considerable amount of legwork required for what? Missed appointments, unanswered emails and a load of hot air? Don't get me wrong... serious buyers get serious service. But money talks. Bullshit walks. When we work together, I will respect your time and you will respect mine. Just because somebody might say they are a serious buyer doesn't mean they will buy in my lifetime, or through me. That last part is really operative if someone wants to work with me. They will buy through me without games or guile. Work with me, otherwise, why waste my time?

Are there deals out there? There are!! And I would be very happy to get you into one! But don't expect sellers to just give you the keys. It doesn't work that way. And don't expect to get a deal at fifteen cents on the dollar. If that is your expectation, you will need to work with someone else. It is fantasyland that you are living in. I live in Reality. It's the New New Reality, minus the mania.

If you are a serious buyer, let's get together. Call me at 661-287-9164 and we will set a time to meet.