A weekend topic starting with Greenwich Time. “To much of the world, Greenwich is an enclave of the rich and powerful, the standard for Connecticut’s ‘gold coast.’ To satirists, it is a target for their humor. That was the case at Reductress, which posted ‘All Are Welcome Here,’ Says Sign in Neighborhood Where Average Home Costs $2 million,’ on its satire website, poking fun at progressive Greenwich residents who do nothing to affect change. Another made-up town resident, according to the piece, has two signs in front of her Greenwich home that read ‘In this house, Black Lives Matter, no human is illegal, and love is love’ and ‘This neighborhood is closely monitored by Connecticut Police.’”
The Palm Beach Post. “A survey of 1,000 Florida homeowners last month found that most of them complained about the influx of new out-of-state homebuyers, to the point where they were considering moving to another part of Florida or out of state. The only new wrinkle is that the latest batch of arrivals have brought extra attention upon themselves by being such big spenders that they’ve spiked the demand for homes, causing many Floridians who are already here to feel priced out of the housing market and resentful.”
“I feel compelled to offer my advice to you newcomers to help you quickly get assimilated here in Florida. That sun and low taxes you came here for are delivered with a hefty side order of pre-existing conditions sometimes known as ‘Florida Man.’ Get yourself some cargo shorts and Crocs. T-shirts with giant eagles (talons out) are always in fashion. For women, tank tops and spandex pants that say ‘Juicy’ on the rear end work. If you’re a retiree, track suits. Gold chains inside the zipper. No Yankees caps.”
From Candy’s Dirt. “‘The use of the term ‘bubble’ is wrong, in my opinion,’ said Dr. Jim Gaines, a research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M, regarding a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. ‘Generally, when you have a price bubble, you have price increases that don’t make sense.’ Considering how loaded the term is, it’s no wonder that the report has gained steam as it traveled through the media mix. However, using ‘bubble’ is rather clickbait-y for shellshocked real estate professionals.”
From MEAWW. “According to the show’s press release, Kim Wolfe will be using her expertise to help homeowners spruce up their space. ‘Former CBS Survivor winner Kim Wolfe knows a thing or two about thriving in the wild—and now she’ll bring that tough tenacity and smart ingenuity to rescue homeowners with major buyer’s remorse in her San Antonio hometown. In the new seven-episode series Why the Heck Did I Buy This House?’ the designer, home renovator, and busy mom of three will use her expert skills to help clients who snapped up their home at first sight but are now stuck in lifeless spaces with dysfunctional layouts, outdated style and overlooked potential.”
From BuzzFeed. “Recently, we asked homeowners of the BuzzFeed Community who regretted purchasing their homes to tell us why, and as it turns out, ‘regret’ can look really different from person to person. These are just some of their responses. ‘Back in 2016, I wanted a ‘charming, older house’ because of everything I’d seen and heard on home improvement shows. I looked for months before I finally found an affordable home in a cute neighborhood that had been ‘lovingly updated.’ The money-pit I eventually purchased had actually been cheaply (and very poorly) flipped by the realtor, who bought it off a dying old guy whose kids wanted to unload it. I knew I’d made a huge mistake less than a week after moving in when we found out that the central AC was basically just for decoration — none of it had even been installed…’”
“‘That was just the start of it, too. Almost $100K in repairs and three years later, I sold it in much better shape than when I moved in…but there was ZERO return on my investment. So much regret.‘”
From CTV News in Canada. “A Saskatoon real estate company controlling hundreds of properties has ceased operations and left millions of dollars from dozens of investors unaccounted for. Epic Alliance Real Estate Inc., which according to its own promotional material, controlled 504 properties in Saskatoon and North Battleford – valued at $126 million total, shut down operations in January. Saskatchewan’s Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) issued a temporary cease-trade order in October.”
“The company’s two co-founders, Rochelle Laflamme and Alisa Thompson, informed investors of the company’s demise in a 16-minute Zoom call on Jan. 19. ‘We just couldn’t come back from the cease-trade order. The FCAA f***ed us, so that’s it,’ a transcription of the call said.”
“The shutdown left investors — mainly from British Columbia and Ontario scrambling to find out what happened to their money. ‘It’s a s–t sandwich and we know you guys are invested with us and we know we had a lot of people rallying around for the success,’ they said, informing investors they were now landlords for their properties.”
From Liverpool News in the UK. “A businessman linked to failed property schemes that left angry investors owed £40m has posed for a selfie photograph in a luxury car. Peter McInnes,53, promoted companies PHD1 and North Point Global (NPG) in 2015. NPG was the parent company behind four major property schemes worth hundreds of millions of pounds. PHD1 Construction Ltd entered liquidation in 2019 and owes creditors £7.893m.”
“A spokesman for Baltic house buyers said: ‘There are over 200 investors who lost over £10m in Baltic House. Many of these investors have experienced life changing losses and associated stress. We are troubled by this photograph which shows Mr McInnes in what appears to be a Bentley. Our message to him is very simple; where is the money.’”
From News Talk New Zealand. “Auckland house prices have fallen for the first time in almost two years, with one inner city suburb dropping by more than $150,000. Mt Roskill homes in Auckland’s inner south suffered the biggest falls. The suburb’s average house value fell 11.6 per cent or $166,000 in this quarter compared with the last three months of 2021 to hit a new $1.28m average price.”
“Steve Hay, branch manager for Barfoot & Thompson Mt Roskill, said a lot of properties had been selling in the $1.4m to $1.8m range in 2021 because they had sections that could be developed, but ‘there’s not a heap of developers falling over themselves to buy the larger sections now.’”
“He said another cause for the slowdown in his suburb is that some sellers are trying to sell homes for prices that buyers aren’t willing to pay. Part of this was a belief the market was still running hot and partly due to Auckland Council recently releasing its new council valuations in which the value of some properties were estimated to be 30 or 40 per cent higher than the last CV valuation in 2017.”
“‘I’m getting offers at $1.05m and [vendors are telling me their] CV has gone up to $1.4m. They assume that’s what their house is worth and it’s ‘um, no,’ Hay said.”
From News.com.au. “Scott Morrison has insisted his controversial remarks about struggling renters were taken out of context after he suggested people would be better off buying a house. The Prime Minister hit back on Thursday after wave of criticism following an interview on Nine’s Today show in which he said the best way the government could support renters was to help them purchase a home. Mr Morrison’s comments garnered widespread criticism, including from vocal former Australian of the Year Grace Tame who tweeted: ‘If you can’t afford to rent a car, buy a luxury yacht.’”