If You’re Going To Sell, Sell Now!

A report from Verde News in Arizona. “A lawsuit against the Town of Clarkdale officially came to an end this month after the town council agreed to a settlement. Kathi Raley, who had taken out a $280,000 loan to have a home built on Ashley View Drive nearly five years ago, filed her suit in 2021. She said she was defrauded by the homebuilder and neglected by the Town of Clarkdale. In July 2023, Judge Wallace granted Raley summary judgment against Beaumier’s Design & Remodel. That meant $829,600 in damages and $22,400 in attorneys fees. Raley has no expectation of seeing any of that money; according to court records, Donald Beaumier Jr. is currently in bankruptcy court in West Virginia. Now Raley and her partner are selling the lot, as is, and moving to Tucson, where they plan to buy a house already built. ‘I have come out of this trusting nobody,’ she said. ‘Buyer beware.'”

The San Francisco Examiner in California. “San Francisco’s housing market is telling two different stories in 2024, with home prices remaining low and rents nearly recovering to their pre-pandemic peaks as The City struggles to meet its state-mandated housing goals. The average home price in San Francisco hovers around $1.26 million, still about 15% below The City’s mid-2022 peak, according to Zillow data. Overall Bay Area home sales volume in 2024, while slightly above the recent 2023 low, was more than 40% below 2021 levels.”

The Miami Herald. “Two Florida lawmakers blame insurance companies — not new state law — for helping to fuel a condo crisis that has hit owners with rising fees and assessments in high-rise buildings. The crisis also has bloomed from poor planning and enforcement from condo associations, said Ernesto Cuesta, president of the Brickell Homeowners Associations, which represents nearly 50 associations.Until 2022, condo associations had the right to skip paying reserve contributions. Now, they’re being held accountable by new state law and forced to start saving in 2025 or 2026.”

“‘That’s the issue with associations nowadays. They have been neglecting their duties and responsibilities to care for the maintenance of the buildings. To blame only on what is happening to the insurance is being naive,’ Cuesta said. ‘We projected this crisis for more than two years and a half. Buildings had been abandoned for decades. It was about time that elected politicians took a position to make sure the life of people were taken care of.'”

Miami’s Community Newspapers in Florida. “The 2024 holidays are upon us and 2025 is days away. As a trusted Realtor, I am often asked ‘How is the market?’ There are a lot of residential real estate headwinds right now. Interest rates have not come down as expected, but more impactfully, insurance rates are racing to unbearable levels and homeowner association or condo maintenance fees are also rising sharply. If you have a home worth under $2M, my colleagues and I are seeing long times on market and little to no appreciation on price. In fact, some homes have already seen softening values. So, depending on area and condition, I would say if you’re going to sell, sell now!”

“If you own a condo that is older than 10 years and under $1M in value, you need to be very careful. First, the market is very slow for condos. Prices have already slid, and I expect more softening. This is precipitated by the Florida law that, beginning in January, condo associations will be required to start collecting money from unit owners to place into reserve accounts.”

The Hartford Current in Connecticut. “Hartford’s mayor is turning up the heat on some of the city’s largest landlords with apartments in allegedly deplorable conditions, referring one to the State’s Attorney’s Office for potential prosecution after the landlord reportedly failed to repair units following an August fire. According to the city, those landlords include: PAXE properties and principal Aron Puretz, of New York with 357 units. More than 50 notices of alleged violation have been issued by the city, and 13 buildings are allegedly in foreclosure or receivership tied to city code enforcement, according to Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. The city has made emergency repairs in multiple properties and filed liens to recover the cost of tenant relocations and repairs, according to Arulampalam.”

“‘To the worst landlords out there, we want to say, ‘If you don’t shape up we’re going to drive you out of the city,’ Arulampalam said, at a news conference at city hall. ‘We are going to make it hard for you to do business. When you put profits over people, we’re going to make sure those profits dry up.'”

From Bisnow. “Only 11% of the $755M in office CMBS loans that matured in September were paid off, with roughly half of the remaining debt securing extensions from special servicers. It was a paltry payoff rate even compared to the 31% rate for the year through September, according to Moody’s. And it was a sign of the times. Property owners are avoiding transacting in today’s market, instead carrying forward the year’s dominant strategy of securing short-term extensions and other loan modifications as both sponsors and lenders wait for capital conditions to improve. The widespread practice, commonly referred to as extend-and-pretend, is available today for the owners of the highest-quality assets that can afford to pay the fees to wait for better days, but time is wearing thin for everyone else. For many asset holders, that means the pretending could come to an end in 2025.”

“‘Even institutional, great household names have hit the end of their rope,’ said Glenn Grimaldi, CEO of Naftali Credit Partners and the former head of U.S. commercial real estate finance at HSBC. ‘It’s not just them, it takes two to tango. The bank is hitting the end of its rope too, it’s ready to take the asset back.’ ‘There is maybe a sign of capitulation for lenders on distressed properties where they’re saying they’re going to throw in the towel,’ said Matt Reidy, a director covering real estate at Moody’s Analytics. ‘They’re saying, ‘We can’t continue to feed this’ or we just need to take our lumps.'”

“Investing in the debt rather than the asset helps to avoid some downside risk, said Rob Gilman, who leads the accounting firm Anchin’s real estate group. The strategy differs from the popular tactic taken during the Global Financial Crisis, Gilman said, when lenders were frequently providing capital under the assumption that the asset would eventually end up in their hands, referred to at the time as loan-to-own. That new capital is necessary for most landlords to secure short-term extensions or loan modifications in today’s market, with lenders demanding more concessions from sponsors to unlock new terms. ‘The deal’s not getting done without it,’ Gilman said. ‘But on [the lender’s] end, they’re making sure that they get a preferred return, and [the loan] is being structured so that they get the first dollars out.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “59 Bel-Aire Place SW, Calgary. Asking price: $3.1-million (July, 2024). Previous asking prices: $3.3-million (May, 2024); $3.7-million (October, 2023); $3.95-million (September, 2023). Selling price: $2.55-million (October, 2024). Property days on market: 397. This 44-year-old house has a unique design on a quarter-acre lot on the banks of the Elbow River, just east of the Glenmore Dam. There were a few visitors last fall, but no serious offers; those only started after the asking price was slashed from $3.95-million to $3.1-million. This fall, a new offer came in, but one with onerous conditions. Those bidders didn’t put up a fight when another buyer presented the sellers with a firm deal at $2.55-million.”

“‘There was interest in the property, but it was priced too high,’ said agent Bryon Howard. ‘There were lots of properties in that area listed for $3-, $4- and $5-million that don’t sell, or sit on the market for a year, come off the market for two or three years, and go back on.'”

The Daily Mail in the UK. “The heartbroken grandparents who discovered their ‘botched’ dream newbuild was ‘only worth £1’ claim it’s now ruining Christmas too – as loved ones refuse to visit. Dayle Dixon, 53, and Mark Lee, 59, were first-time buyers when they bought the three-bed home in Ivybridge, Devon, for £274,995 in April 2018. But far from being a place of sanctuary, they were left with a house with more than 500 issues and ‘not fit for human habitation’ – and so say they may just spend Christmas in bed. The house is riven with cracks, making laying flooring impossible, while the walls are covered in damp and mould – meaning they have to deal with damp mites in their food.”

“Ms Dayle said: ‘The first couple of years we had the tree up but we haven’t had a Christmas for five years at least now. All the fun has been taken away because nobody wants to come round when you’re sat in chaos. We loved Christmas and used to have the family over but it’ll be just us this year and if we’re at home we’ll probably be in bed because it’s just depressing. We can’t have a family meal with everyone around the table or Christmas presents on the floor because it’s wet. We’re asking for a bit of Christmas spirit from the scrooges at Barrett Homes to give us the money we deserve and let us walk away.’ Dayle, 53, says a surveyor concluded the house is worth just £1 after damp proofing issues allowed water to run under the home and wreak havoc with its structure.”

“Her and Mark, 59, are begging Barratt Homes to pay £330,000 to buy the botched property from them and heavily compensate them for the issues so the couple can leave. Dayle says they’ve agreed to meet the independent valuation price and give her £5,000 compensation but that isn’t enough as mortgage and Help to Buy repayments would leave the pair ‘homeless’. She says that upon selling the home she’d need to clear around £88,000 outstanding from her non-transferable mortgage and around £70,000 in Help to Buy repayments. Her and Mark, 59, are begging Barratt Homes to pay £330,000 to buy the botched property from them and heavily compensate them for the issues so the couple can leave.”

“‘If we accepted the offer we’d be technically homeless because once we’ve paid the mortgage off and repaid the Help to Buy fee we wouldn’t have enough money to buy another property. If we wanted to sell it privately the surveyor said we wouldn’t get anything for it because of the amount of work that needs doing. I want them to compensate us adequately for the seven years of hell. The stress, the health problems and everything we’ve lost.'”

The Herald Sun. “Barefoot Investor Scott Pape has uncovered the Aussie areas where renters are beating homeowners at the property game, as some owners cop $200k+ losses. The renowned personal finance author, columnist and television presenter zoned in on an apartment at 883 Collins St, Melbourne that was recently listed for sale in his latest column. The building features an indoor heated pool, gym, a resident’s lounge and even a yoga room. So, 10 years ago, the sellers snapped up the apartment up for $860,000.”

“But as Pape pointed out in his column, the apartment had just gone under offer with a $630,000-$650,000 price guide — a whopping $210,000 loss at least for the owner. Pape added that the loss was before inflation, body corporate fees, council rates, land tax, maintenance, agent’s selling commission, and 10 years of interest on the home loan were factored in. ‘This is not an isolated case,’ he said. ‘Research house CoreLogic has identified 65 areas (mainly in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne) where prices today are still below the record highs from the 2010s.'”

“The barefoot investor said the real winner in this scenario was the renter. ‘They’ve enjoyed 10 years of downward dogging in the yoga room and paddling about in that fancy heated pool, plus they’ve even had a plumber on speed dial to unclog the dunny,’ he said.”

“The data revealed there were 14 suburbs across Melbourne where unit prices were typically lower today than in the property market’s peak of 2010, and 51 areas in Sydney. Unit values ranged from 0.3 per cent to 18.4 per cent less than 14 years ago, with Epping in Sydney topping the list for the biggest decline. East Melbourne unit owners were the worst off in Victoria’s capital, with values down 17.2 per cent from 2010s peak. It comes as Aussie and global personalities are being forced to slash their price guides on their homes as they sit on the market for days, months and even years.”