Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Flipper to Bag Holder


(click on image for full grokness)

No, not the lovable dolphin. But speculative real-estate investors who assumed they could buy up a bunch of properties, hold onto them for six-to-twentyfour months, and then "flip" them for a profit.

That actually worked for a short time - 2004 thru 2006, mostly. But then, the music stopped and there was a mad scramble for chairs sales.

This is a picture of the "investments" of several (now) bag holders on Fairwind Acres Place in Pulte's Silverstone development, taken in January, 2007.

A cursory inspection of the Clark County Assessor's database, shows that approximately 50% of these homes are owned by people with different mailing addresses.

More info at OCRenter's excellent Bubble Markets Inventory Tracking blog.


[Update 06/27/09]: OCRenter for reasons unknown, has restricted access to his most excellent blog.

8 comments:

Westside Bubble said...

Awesome photo!

Connecticut Man1 said...

I do not feel anything for the people that are flipping for profit, they took a financial gamble just like they would in the stock market. But given that we are losing our house now as our ARM has skyrocketed from a manageable $1600 to a very bloated $2500 per month, I do feel for the people that are losing their home, their little piece of the American dream, in this economic slide.

Lavi D. said...

I am sorry to hear you are losing your home.

I certainly take no joy in other's misfortune, even if it's brought on by themselves.

I had a house foreclosed on once. I wasn't living in it, it was an increasingly disastrous rental - the house we failed to sell when we moved to our newer home. In a way, I'm still paying off that one.

Anonymous said...

I feel bad for the flippers because they did it on credit (and bad quality credit at that) which we are increasingly led to believe is what we're supposed to do. Our own government is living on credit. The economic success stories talk about credit as a tool. But there's no class on this in high school. No one tells you that as a consumer, if the market dives, you're left holding the bag.

It happened to me with a property in 1990. I learned. My wife & I only buy property we can afford to buy outright. It limits our upside, but there's very little downside. And right now, unlike some of our friends, we're very happy.

Be happy with less? How un-American!

Anonymous said...

Wow. That is a revealing picture.

It makes me wonder (and worry) about all of those people who have taken out "interest only" loans in the last several years.

http://masterpeace.wordpress.com/

Lavi D. said...

Hey man, I did the same thing. I lost one house in '02 and sold the other in '05. I know how easy it is to just assume that the real estate agent and the lender have your best interests at heart... but guess what?

They don't!

I was a fool, I did not read the paperwork nor understand that I couldn't afford $400k worth of property. Fortunately, I sold the second and paid off the outstanding balance on the foreclosure. I'm out!

I pity the poor bastards still in, the bag holders, but I can't cut them any slack just as I cut myself no slack for my ignorance, greed and laziness.

Anonymous said...

HA! You bunch of stupid greedy a-holes! "I feel bad for flippers..", "..we are increasingly BEING LED TO BELIEVE.." "..there's no class on this in high school.." "..what is going to happen to those poor people with interest only mortgages". What's with all the selling of houses? You buy a house to live in, not make money from! Didn't your parents (if you had any) teach you any morals? Face the consequences of your own greedy actions jackass. Your greed and self indulgence drove up the prices for everyone, I feel sorry for the good, HONEST person in this country who keeps seeing their American dream becoming more and more unobtainable. Now normal fixed rate loans (the kind that GOOD responsible people get) are going to be harder to obtain. AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU! I hope all of you asssholes that lied on your loan application see some jail time. But that really won't matter - you will burn in hell anyway, for having no soul. What will be the next easy-money frenzy you losers will try to profit from (and don't forget to mess things up for other people while you're at it) Your god is MONEY. Too bad.

Anonymous said...

It's that GD ugly "desert" landscaping. Can't GIVE away a house with it. For Gods' sake, put down some damn astro turf and plant palm and pine trees.

Some people never learn...


Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels start closing in, the only cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas ... with the music at top volume and at least a pint of ether.

-Hunter S. Thompson


Dedicated to the other side of Las Vegas, namely; the sprawling, mad, incoherent underpinnings of the world's favorite destination.

That, and the occasional ranting about nothing in particular.