Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was talking to a RE this agent who has had two buyers pull out of contracts in the last week.

We just pulled out of one this morning. Not in DC. Mostly due to a host of intractable inspection issues but it also didn’t appraise - our agent hasn’t had that happen in years.

Appraisals are very subjective. The appraiser can adjust the comp area which affects prices, condition of the home, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was talking to a RE this agent who has had two buyers pull out of contracts in the last week.

We just pulled out of one this morning. Not in DC. Mostly due to a host of intractable inspection issues but it also didn’t appraise - our agent hasn’t had that happen in years.

Not surprisingly, your agent has no clue.

Appraisals are based on past sales, in other words on houses that went under contract 60+ days ago. Appraisals do not take into account recent stock market fluctuations. Your house was simply overpriced to begin with. Glad you backed out. Consider switching agents or simply not using one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. When people's net worth falls they are not going to go buy a house.

This. Studies have shown that the state of the economy (and not interest rates) is the biggest driver of housing prices. That's why housing prices have gone up so dramatically until now, even as interest rates have been relatively high. So if this stock market plunge is sustained, there will be a decline in real estate prices.

Which is good for people sitting on a lot of capital and bad for everyone else.

Anonymous wrote:I was talking to a RE this agent who has had two buyers pull out of contracts in the last week.

We just pulled out of one this morning. Not in DC. Mostly due to a host of intractable inspection issues but it also didn’t appraise - our agent hasn’t had that happen in years.

Anonymous wrote:The meme version of this thread: https://x.com/dylanmatt/status/1909316333457858921?s=46

Anonymous wrote:We are in lower NW. There are so many houses for sale. For the past 10 years you would be lucky to see 2-3 houses a year for sale. Now you see that on one block.

A lot of that is boomers dying off.

I live out of the area and have a house that even this week should have flown considering limited inventory and the price point. Last night we had 3 agents writing offers for their clients. As of noon today, all 3 buyers got cold feet and are pausing.

We couldn’t go to market earlier because we had to finish a small renovation to make the house acceptable for our market, but now our timing feels as crappy as it could possibly be. I’m not panicking but I’m not feeling great at all. There was nothing we could do about our timing but as someone who graduated into two recessions, I’d love for one major event in my life to not be accompanied by huge global drama.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Inventory will fall even lower. People will sit on low interest rates and ride it out.

Exactly this. I would love to buy a larger house in my neighborhood but no one is selling. The cheapest thing for many people (anyone who bought more than three years ago) is to stay put (unless they need to move for a new job, but hiring is basically frozen too). And most boomers aren't leaving their huge houses to downsize either unless they're on death's doorstep.

+1 It's not even cheaper to downsize when you factor in higher interest rates, realtor fees, transfer taxes, and moving costs. Plus we always spend a bit on the inevitable new storage solutions, painting, and some new furnishings every time we move. Our furniture never perfectly works in the new place so there's always some area that needs a new piece of furniture or a room that needs new lighting.

Anonymous wrote:I was talking to a RE this agent who has had two buyers pull out of contracts in the last week.

Did they say why?

The meme version of this thread: https://x.com/dylanmatt/status/1909316333457858921?s=46

Anonymous wrote:Inventory will fall even lower. People will sit on low interest rates and ride it out.

Exactly this. I would love to buy a larger house in my neighborhood but no one is selling. The cheapest thing for many people (anyone who bought more than three years ago) is to stay put (unless they need to move for a new job, but hiring is basically frozen too). And most boomers aren't leaving their huge houses to downsize either unless they're on death's doorstep.

When stocks are on the way up, people want to get in the game to (hopefully) net some profit.

When stocks are on the way down, people become concerned that they could end up with nothing.

RE values could significantly drop, but you're not going to be left with nothing and you'll be fine if you can hold until the values increase. Only invest in RE if you can hold for 10+ years. You need to be able to ride out any market downturns.

Buying stock, holding on to RE…

Holding on my stocks, holding on the real estate investments. Doubling down on saving and ensuring sufficient cash on hand for whatever downturn is around the corner, or a stock or real estate buying opportunity.

+1 Making no moves in investments right now.

Holding on my stocks, holding on the real estate investments. Doubling down on saving and ensuring sufficient cash on hand for whatever downturn is around the corner, or a stock or real estate buying opportunity.