Comments on: Real Homes of Genius: Today we Salute you Santa Monica. 929 Square Feet for $969,000. And You Thought the Bubble was Over.

By: John

John — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:51:58 +0000

Hope you all know that the real reason why we are in this situation is not because homes are going in forclosure or people buying expensive homes. It is just one thing… the government. Okay, the government took more than they can chew with the iraq war and its billion dollar debt. So how do they get out of debt—think really hard. Real estate. “Real” estate backed by real property. So by hiking the interest rate just enough to start the real estate crash. with ARM at all time high–people are walking away. With more foreclosure, more prices will keep on dropping. The price will keep on dropping until people stop walking away and start paying.

Okay, so now the government is going to buy back all the bad mortgage loans and bail out banks. What does that mean? It means the government will own a lot of cheap homes. When the economy picks up they will sell it at a profit. That is there plan along to curve the trillion dollar debt we are in.

Don’t forget we are in a global market. If prices keeps dropping we are in deep shit. Banks are already in trouble. All those 401K that are backed by stocks basically tanked. So, if you are 50 and your 401K portfolio is now worthless and government says Social Security won’t be around when you retire— what do you have to retire with. Think really hard. If I was all of you I would invest in “Real” estate and protect your retirement. Don’t let the government purchase all these homes/properties so they can pay off their debt. What about our future security?

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:04:11 +0000

WOW…did the agent pull comps for this? Is this really going to appraise?

By: Dr B

Dr B — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:21:32 +0000

I drove a cab in Santa Monica back in the 80s. Lived in a rathole at 4th and B’way in Venice. Used to see Tommy Chong at the Gold’s Gym. Took the daughter of one of the guys in Al Hirt’s band out to the jetty and drank vodka until she projectile vomited and slid into the pounding surf fully clothed. Ah, thems were the days… Do they still put up those over-the-top Xmas tableaus on Ocean? If so, that would be enough reason in itself to grossly overpay for the Santa Monica address if you ask me…

By: latesummer2008

latesummer2008 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:29:46 +0000

Fairfax/Grove area is also way overpriced. West Hollywood Total Sales Volume dropped 84.5% last June, measured from June of 07′. This will have a direct effect on pricing in the coming months/years. Also with credit crunch, loan resets, bloated inventory, foreclosures as Dr.Housing Bubble mentions will all take its toll. I figure about a 50% drop from the peak (07′).

Hold on…

By: EP

EP — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:50:20 +0000

I used to live on the L.A. Westside (Palms – much farther from the beach but not too far from Santa Monica) and was truly astounded at the prices people were willing to pay for real estate there. Venice actually shocked me more than SM. It’s heavily congested and there is TONS of crime there, it’s dirty and yucky, and people pay millions of dollars for crappy little boxes with no yards that look like they belong in the ghetto.

Meanwhile rents are high but much more reasonable compared with what it costs to own there. I rented a 650 sq. ft. 1 bedroom apartment in quite a nice building in a fairly nice, quiet, safe neighborhood for $960 in 2004-2005. To own the cute as a button, but also small as a button house across the street, which was the same if less square footage, but did have a bonus driveway (though no backyard and no garage) – I’d have had to shell out about $850K in 2005. That to me seemed the height of absurdity, and apparently even in this market people are still drinking the Kool Aid.

Very good post. I heart the RHOG series.