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The best of 2007: a buyer's agent's view

Email|Link|Comments (4) Posted by Rona Fischman December 10, 2007 05:43 PM

Being an optimistic person, I want to start a conversation about the “best” of 2007:

Falling prices have provided an opportunity for buyers with good credit who were shut out of the market. This year, I was able to work with people who were sitting on the sidelines since 2004.

Falling prices also favor trade-up buyers.

Death of subprime lending has stopped predatory lending in its tracks. This ended targeting of minorities and women and other vulnerable borrowers. It also stopped those who chose to over-borrow. Both kinds of buyers left the market: those who were stupid or deceived and those who were greedy.

Because of the slow-down in demand, there has been a decline in bidding wars. I saw one recently in Somerville, but overall the tactic is working less often. IMHO, bidding wars are bad for buyers and sellers; quick decisions are often bad ones. I do not believe that anyone should have to make a $500,000 decision under pressure. Frequently, the buyer who “wins” the war backs out. Then the next...ah...”winner” gets a shot. Rush, rush...how can they think straight? I think the best decisions are reasoned ones, and competition encourages mistakes.

In 2007, Boston was once again the best sports town in America. Home of the World Champion Red Sox, and the 13-0 New England Patriots!

And, of course, the very best thing for me this year was getting a chance to be here at Boston.com. Thank you, Andrew and Kim! I thank all my readers and commenters, you make my day uh...interesting. (Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. Just kidding! Keep it coming; I can take it.)

So, what else fits the category “Best of 2007?”

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4 comments so far...

Realtors will continue to misrepresent the current market. Prices will go down form here. Credit access has been greatly reduced, the ratio of rent to home purchase prices still greatly favors renting, income to home purchase prices are
still at historically high levels. Basically for anyone with a brain in their head, it makes no sense to buy as inventory levels are through the roof,. Prices must drop
for transactions to take place (simple supply/demand economics). But of course the NAR and MAR wil tell you "it's a great time to buy". How do people feel who bought into this pitch two years ago? Of course the media has to cater to these shills as they buy so much ad space (Boston Globe ) for example.

Posted by Richard Hurtz December 15, 07 06:59 AM

"This ended targeting of minorities and women and other vulnerable borrowers."

This is a very condescending statement and assumption. We need to get away from this elitist attitude. This statement suggests that minorities and women cannot make an educated decision on their own, and that somehow, they are powerless victims in this. Also, lets put some emphasis on personal choice and responsibility. We need to take ownership of our personal decisions, good or bad.

Posted by Eric December 15, 07 03:26 PM

Dear Eric,
I apologize if anyone thought that I was implying that women and minorities are somehow less intelligent or capable than white men. I believe nothing of the kind. However, I find arguments about "personal responsibility" do not account for the facts of the matter:
“70%of[minority]borrowers with incomes between $92,000 and $152,000 bought homes with subprime mortgages..., compared with just 16 percent of whites.” and “Women borrowers are overrepresented in the subprime lending market according to studies done by both the Consumer Federation of America and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition." Are so many irresponsible?

Posted by Rona December 15, 07 06:57 PM

A lot of innocent people were victimized, but I wonder how many people were successful in completing a purchase that they would not ordinarily had. We as an nation and an industry always boo hoo about the victims, I believe there are people are there that are happy they were able to get a mortgage and begin the so called American Dream. Kudos to them. Whether everyone in their family is chipping in, or they have 3 jobs. Kudos - May the sun shine on them and they reach high levels of equity!!

Posted by Louise Frederick December 16, 07 12:17 PM