News

BY JOHN LANSER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

On this day to give thanks, we offer you some local input on the question: “What’s a trend to be thankful for in real estate?”

“This will most likely go against what real estate professional want to have out there but I am thankful that the real estate market is going back to what I consider normal — with buyers needing to qualify in a reasonable manner and sellers thinking of their property as a home rather than a nonstop ATM with little regard for incurring debt. At this time I am thankful that more and those that chose real estate as a get rich quick scheme are being weeded out of the business.” — Valerie Torelli of Torelli Realty

“The real estate trend that I am thankful for is the fact that lenders are approving short sales. I think everybody can agree, including the lenders, that they are still falling way below the bar in terms of making a decision in a reasonable amount of time. There is tremendous room for improvement. Yet, I am thankful that they are at least completing some. They are allowing upside down homeowners in dire straits to move on. In turn, they obtain a home typically in better condition and save a lot of money compared to the alternative, foreclosure.” — Steve Thomas of Altera Real Estate

“I’m thankful for the trend towards sustainable, more environmentally friendly home development. Change is never easy but new technologies are continuously making “going green” more effective, accessible and affordable.” — Dave Barisic of Brandywine Homes

“We have millions of people living with people they don’t really want to live with. Adult children have moved back in with parents. People have taken in roommates. There are even people who want to get divorced, but cannot afford to move out. When the job market returns all these people will ‘un-bundle’ and the demand cycle will unfold. Apartment vacancies will decrease, rents will increase and then the rent vs. own trade off will favor home ownership again.” — Michael Maples of Trumark Homes

“Housing affordability is on the rise and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Today we are seeing across the country the best buyers’ market in decades thanks to depressed home prices, low interest rates, and increasing inventories.” — Augustine Flores of icanbuy.com
A choppy, down market flushes out the weak and the inexperienced and resets flawed practices that evolved during an overheated marketplace. During the hot real estate market, new ‘professionals’ jump on the bandwagon chasing readily available capital, expansion of all sectors, and rich profits. The other side is the equity hose. If flowing full stream, any ‘developer’ can access copious amounts of money to fund new development, regardless of quality of site or lack of tenant commitments. If nothing else, a reset of the market purges those not committed, experienced, or capitalized adequately to weather the new economy and aren’t willing to work harder to make less.” — Steven Hogberg of Coreland Companies