"Uncle... Uncle... I Give... I Give"

Remember when you were a kid - and some other kid would get you in a headlock and give you a "noogie?" If he was mean enough, he wouldn't let you go until you said, "Uncle." To this day, I don't know why that was the ticket out of the headlock, but it usually worked. Except with Johnny Calahan, that is, which was particularly yucky, because the guy drooled... a lot... I'm talkin' "need to change your shirt" drooling. Well, my blog reading friend, this real estate market is Johnny Calahan on steroids. We've been in his drool-enhanced headlock for nearly two years, screaming "Uncle... Uncle... I give... I give" - but Johnny doesn't seem to want to let us go just yet. I've been in Tampa this week and, according to their media over there - they are hurting more than most. The mystifying part of all this is the behavior of buyers. In Tampa... and Palm Coast... and San Diego... and New York... and Nebraska, etc., etc. It's a "Buyer's Market," but - There Are No Buyers. Nope. Nowhere to be found. Just a few bottom fishers. "Let's see, you bought it for $350,000 in 2003. It's worth $310,000 today. So, I'll offer you $195,000. Cash."

I read about a lady in Ormond Beach who is offering a 1998 Honda CR-V to convey with her house. "They can even have the dog," she said. Believe me, it sounds bizarre, but it's nothing much. I was selling real estate in Great Falls and McLean, Virginia, when the market crashed in 1989. One day everything was over $1,000,000. Then the next day it was "so not over $1M." I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that a scenario like this was not a stretch: "Beautiful 7,500 sq.ft. custom on 5 wooded acres. Price slashed from $4,500,000 to $3,950,000. Realtor bonus of $25,000 at closing with broker's permission. Two weeks in Maui at seller's condo free to purchaser. New Mercedes SL-350 to buyer for acceptable contract and closing before 12/31/1989." Now that was a crazy market... Then I get back to Palm Coast yesterday and the News-Journal ( http://www.news-journalonline.com/ )Business Section headline blares: "Area Target For Foreclosures." Great. Just great. It seems that we are in the prestigious "Top 500 Foreclosure Club." ( Check out this interesting YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvV8yPy1nDw&mode=related&search= ) That can't be good for marketing. Eric Estrada and Garfield the Cat would be shocked. It sounds sooo different from all that "We're the #1 Fastest Growing County in the Country" stuff we got to say for a couple of years. Want some good news? It's usually this bad... right before we hit bottom... and things start to turn around. I'm thinkin' we're in the "Pre-Rebound" stage. Maybe not today, but I smell change coming. Soon. You'll know it's happening when you see real estate agents sniffing around SUV dealerships again... and going out to dinner more than once a month.