Posted on 07/04/2005 5:04:03 AM PDT by summer
St John's County is outside of Jacksonville and home to Saint Augustine and it is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation.
Not from what I have seen...
There seem to be new things going up all the time in Ohio and PA was growing when we moved and I dont think it really slowed down...
Well they are both big states. So differant ares can be better then others. I moved from Pa. from No Va and it was like moving from a depressed are to a new world.
yeah Northern Virginia ALWAYS outpaced PA. Better economic climate I think...
ohio, especially Columbus is EXPLODING it is growing so quickly in some areas...
Are you actually living in Iraq
No I have been home in Ohio for nearly 6 months now...
well a little but welcome home!
See post #49. I meant to ping you.
This housing boom seems to be happening everywhere but here in Texas, whats up with that?
"Still, work hard at it and the greatest pleasure to be had, apart from making money in real estate, is to help people move into their first home. Nothing on earth will ever replace the satisfaction of helping people and that counts for a lot more than all the money you'll ever make. It gets you wanting to get up every morning out to the office."
Okay, I've been fairly nasty on many threads around here lately, and I'm making a sincere effort to tone it down. So please don't take this personally, as it's not directed at you...it's a reaction to what you said about real estate agents.
I'm sure what you say about real estate agents being the conduits to people's hearths and homes must be true, somewhere, but I've never come across people like that. Some RA's are very "nice" on the outside, but they are all driven by one thing: maximizing their commission on the sale. If my family REALLY needs a house...and the deal is in process (not closed, but underway), and something better comes along, the agent will do his or her best to sour our deal in order to get the other one. It's happened to me, and in many, many other cases I know of.
And no, there weren't credit issues, or financing issues or anything else. The deal just...couldn't happen, things shifted, the seller had made a commitment to this other buyer, and it happened at the same time we began talking, but technically their offer was on the table first...but don't worry, you will get your hand money back.
I'm 56, I've had homes in NY, LA and PA. Across that time, you do a lot of investigating...shopping, as it were. Here's my experience, and the experience of every homebuyer I have known: While they love to paint themselves as a cadre of genteel professionals, the real estate agents I've been exposed to will cut your dog's heart out, behind the scenes, to make an extra hundred bucks.
Please don't anyone waste time telling me how "highly regulated" the industry is, and controlled by "tough laws," no matter the state. For most restrictions, there are a hundred behind-the-scenes ways to get out of them.
Lived and worked and bought places in a lot of places, and at the end of the day, I'd rather sit down and have a brew with a lawyer or a used car dealer. At least you know a used car dealer is out to screw you. And once you've been exposed to the soulless, unethical, dancing-on-the-edge of illegality that is the bag of tricks RA's carry around, you realize they're the only profession that makes lawyers look...not that bad after all.
My reaction is so strong because I have either been screwed out of houses or forced to pay premiums over agreed-upon prices because of unethical RA's, and I think anyone who would manipulate a family once they are emotionally invested in what is to be their HOME...is about as immoral as they come.
And the only thing worse than a male real estate agent, in my experience, is a female real estate agent. I have dealt with several monsters (we had to call out the National Guard, as conventional weapons wouldn't kill them).
For those of you who are agents, or were agents, or are married to or the brother, sister, mother or father of an agent...I know your people are the exception. I surely wish I had had the opportunity to work with any of them, but I simply was not that fortunate.
For all that long response to you, I made the same mistake over and over again: should have used the abbreviation RE, instead of RA. Sorry.
"Real Estate. the one business they cant outsource."
Actually, major companies are already outsourcing some of their back office operations.
Additionally, we are on the verge of a tectonic shift in the way real estate is bought and sold. Remember, a generation ago, how you had to call or go into your broker's office, to buy stocks, and he took care of it, at a very high commission?
The internet wiped out that kind of broker, and transformed the whole industry.
Real estate is the same way--inspections, title ins., this that and the other certificate, fees upon fees, redundancies and quirky expenses all over the place. That will all be gone in 10 years, probably sooner.
John, I am sympathetic to what you wrote, but I would just add it is no secret to some real estate agents that other agents are exactly as you describe. That's some why real estate agents, when buying a home, prefer to look for homes that are "buyowner" meaning, as you surely know, the home is being sold by the owner, and not by any agent. I would think you might have done that, too, at some point, just to spare yourself any more grief! :)
Very good suggestion, that of buying from the owner. It certainly occurred to me, at times. It's just that, I never found a home I wanted, where I wanted it, when I wanted it, that was being handled by the owner.
It'll slow down, believe me, it always does. And by the way, real estate agents make way too much money. 6% on these inflated prices is outrageous.
It'll slow down, believe me, it always does. And by the way, real estate agents make way too much money. 6% on these inflated prices is outrageous.
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