2009 end of year wrap-up and list!

Hey, it’s the time for year-end lists and predictions, right? Why not from a local Realtor? So here are the most important real estate trends that I observed in 2009. Again, this is a very local, personal take, and is not necessarily in order of importance.

Mega-Listers of REOs/Foreclosures. Lots of foreclosures seem to be concentrating in the hands of a very few Realtors. Just try to buy one of these. Heck, just try to find out information on these. If you’re a mega-lister, please hire more staff and train them to answer questions, please. And please don’t pretend something is available when you’ve already sold it yourself. Deplorable.

The experts were wrong. Who was it that said, “Nobody knows anything”? How many times were we told by experts and statisticians that the market was crashing, it would have lost 50% of its value by this time, it would never come back, etc, etc? Yes, I know that there are regions that are in far more dire straits than ours. And the “foreclosure crisis” may not be over. But it appears, in spite of expert predictions and bubble market blogs, the local real estate market bottom has come and gone. To quote Elvis Costello, I used to be disgusted, now I’m really just amused.

Real estate marketing is more and more on line and less and less in print. This trend has been occurring for quite some time but it has become more evident this year. I can’t remember when I last placed a print ad in L.A. Times, for example. And the LAT doesn’t seem to care -- it doesn’t even have a real estate blog anymore, let alone a real estate section. I’m surprised, however, at how few Realtors really take advantage of all of the internet outlets out there. Not really surprising.

People still want to buy houses. Again, many buyers were scared off by bubble predictors and experts (see above). Many, however, still feel that a house is a worthwhile thing to own, even if one is not making money from it. Hey, we all need roofs over our heads, right? And with such low interest rates… Encouraging.

More and more properties are difficult to show. Realtors, most notably foreclosure listers, seem to be getting away from the call-first-then-use-the-supra-lockbox form of showing property (in fairness, this has never been big on the Westside or with high-end listings). Instead, it’s been “call for code” but your calls are returned, or “text for code” and good luck with that. Last weekend, for example, I placed calls to 17 Realtors for codes. Only two ever called back. See my mega-listers comments above. Frustrating.

Flippers are back. Many property flippers lost their shirts in 2007, 2008 and parts of 2009. I think it was because it looked easy, and many amateurs got into the flip business and didn’t realize the time and effort it took. Thanks for nothing, HGtv. But now, the pros are back – they seem to be buying up properties in bulk at court sales. The results have been mixed. I had a very good experience with a pro flipper on a NoHo house this summer – the house was well priced and well remodeled. I also just had a very bad flip experience just recently in Pacoima. Overpriced and NOT well-done. Mixed.

The bloom is off the lofts. Loft living in an urban area is really fun if you’re young, single, and have lots of money for your mortgage (these places aren’t cheap). But the loft concept trend/fad seems to be over – or is it just that there are too many lofts and condos out there fore sale? Predictable.

Multiple offers and deliberate underpricing. See past posts for more details. Who knew we’d ever see multiple offers again in our lifetimes? And as for underpricing, I don’t think it gets a sale made any faster than proper pricing (for example, see my listings on Birmingham, Lincoln and Chandler. Priced at what they’d likely sell for and sold fast). It just creates a lot of excitement, and heartbreak for buyers who would never be able to afford the house anyway. Frustrating.

Okay, this should be the part where I predict what’s going to happen in our local market in 2010. But I truly don’t know – and after the wild 2009 ride, I think I’d be crazy to predict!