Comments on: Bear Market Bites Builder

By: move2westlinn » Blog Archive » Time For A Little Wheelin’ and Dealin’?

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:03:11 +0000

[...] am a little ambivalent about this effort, based on the recent auction in the Portland area. While other West Linn builders like Arbor, Legend, and Renaissance have offered incentives, [...]

By: Michelle Berry

Michelle Berry — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:22:31 +0000

Thank you for the link, Ron. I’ll be udating as more information becomes available. There was chit chat around my office that The Oregonian published the letter sent by BV to current BV homeowners, so hopefully folks will understand who/what they are dealing with before they attend the auction.

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:22:58 +0000

Update:

Michelle Berry has dug in a little deeper (as many of you have, too. Here’s her report.

By: Wasichu

Wasichu — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:16:09 +0000

BTW Ron, here’s an item for you. Looked inside one of the Ts & Cs and found they are willing to compensate brokers 2%. You’ll want to check it out further, but here’s a piece…

“We invite broker and agent participation. A two percent (2%) commission, based on the winning bid amount, will be paid by Auctioneer to brokers or agents who have properly registered as a “Registered Broker” on-line at http://www.AuctionToday.com prior to the Auction day, and whose client(s) successfully purchase the Property and close the transaction.”

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:55:48 +0000

Just so you can see it. Here is part of the terms and conditions for these auctions. There is an unpublished reserve price that the auctioner can place an opening bid on for the seller and continue to bid on for the seller until the minimum reserve price is met. They will do this by pointing out into the croud as if soemone has placed a bid when in actuality it is them.

The Auction Company,
Real Estate Disposition Corp. , specifically states
in the Terms and Conditions that the auctioneer
is allowed to bid for the Bank or Seller.
Section 3 of Terms and Conditions states:

3. BIDDING AND BUYING AT THE AUCTION

Reserve Price. All Properties have a Reserve Price, meaning the Seller of each Property has established an unpublished, minimum selling price. The starting bid is not the Reserve Price. In order to become the Winning Bidder for a Property, a Bidder must meet or exceed the Reserve Price and have the highest bid. The Auctioneer may open bidding on any Property by placing a bid on behalf of the Seller. The Auctioneer may further bid on behalf of the Seller, up to the amount of the Reserve Price, by placing successive or consecutive bids for a Property, or by placing bids in response to other bidders. If no bidders meet the Reserve Price, the Seller is under no obligation to sell the Property. The Seller may withdraw a Property at any time prior to the announcement of the completion of the sale by the Auctioneer. Auctioneer is not acting as an agent for any Bidder in any capacity, and is acting exclusively as the Seller’s agent.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:39:23 +0000

If you read about REDC, the company doing the auction for Buena Vista, you’ll find that at most of these auctions there is a “reserve” price they don’t tell you about. If the house doesn’t reach the reserve price it will not be sold. Roger Pollack isn’t going to lose 100K per home in an auction. I read an article from someone who worked for a public auction company that said in the 10 or so REDC auctions he went to he saw fake bidders driving the price up to the minumum. There could still be some good deals but I don’t think you should be lured into thinking you are going to get a home at 40%-60% off. Do you homework, look through the homes and go to the auction with your maximum price in mind. Make sure you qualify and can close in 21 days, I read a few horror stories where people lost their money when they couln’t close in time. I hear the contrcat is very “seller” oriented.

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:21:31 +0000

We’re talking about finished homes, here. Dividing McMansions into duplexes and triplexes is unlikely due to zoning limitations and cost to remedy. They weren’t engineered for multifamily layouts or utility service.

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:44:57 +0000

Some of these larger houses (the ones too big to rent) could end up being divided into duplexes (or maybe even divided more) and then those units could be rented or perhaps sold as townhomes. I never understood this whole “McManstion” thing - who really needs a 3500 sq ft. house? OK, maybe someone with a bunch of kids (like 4 or more), but generally they wouldn’t be able to afford that kind of morgage (kids are expensive) and I suspect mos tpeople who live in McMansions don’t have kids.

By: Ron

Ron — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:48:34 +0000

Leigh,

If I had meant to censor comments, I would have deleted my replies to you as well.

You are always welcome to comment here as long as long as things don’t get abusive.

Going through today’s junk pingbacks and comments, I may have marked yours (and others’) comments for moderation–which are now gone. That’s why I reposted them when Chris asked where they were. (If you’ll notice the stats at the bottom of the page, I’ve moderated over 40,000 comment spams, and I don’t bother to read them.)

As for my conflict of interest, I’ll let the readers make their own judgment as to my intent and transparency.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:05:15 +0000

Ron, your Fluff has been exposed. Spam filters do not remover posts once you have cleared them. Therefore you deleted my post! I ended up on your Spam filter because you put me there. You want to closely monitor your blog so not to give the impression that it is NOT a good time to buy at this moment. I hope readers/potential buys are looking at housing blogs other than those of realtors and mortgage brokers (who have a conflict of interest).

bearlee