CNN Headline for today:
Housing: Best time to buy in four years
Well sure, technically this is a correct statement. It is the best time to buy in the past 4 years. LAst year at this time they were saying now is the best time to buy in the past 3 years.
Next year will be the best time to buy in 5 years. And 2 years from now will be the best time to buy in 6 years.
But it's the MSM so I don't expect providing context to go along with their NAR press releases to be part of their job description.
And also remember this very same MSM was saying that a housing bubble is not happening. They were telling us in 2005 that housing is the greatest investment since the sliced break machine. The MSM doesn't provide news on housing, it provides a vehicle for the NAR to deliver its propaganda. The NAR always says now is a good time to buy. They are salesmen. Of course a salesman will tell you now is a good time to buy. Doesn't matter if it's houses, cars, computers or whatever. If a car salesman said now is the best time to buy a car you'd laugh in his face. If a house salesman on the other hand says now is the best time to buy a house, you get out your checkbook. Quite silly when you think about it.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
MSM Stupidity of the day
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3 comments:
Hi Ed,
Just read that deal and threw up.
Taking 5 to goof off at work. Hopefully I am being monitored and will be subsequently canned.
In 4 more years they will be saying the same thing, "Now is a good time to buy."
Met a Muni broker last night and he even said that dumb shit too. When I questioned the lost property tax revenue in the high rent districts and the potential risk for default he kind of changed the subject about pitching munis to institutional investors.
I guess he forgot the Orange County, CA did go bankrupt in the 1990s (1995 I believe).
Be cool man.
S
This morning here in DC there was an ad on the radio encouraging people to buy foreclosed upon properties. In the ad, two women were exultant over the fact that the bank had foreclosed on so many properties, they could scoop up a house now, and get a mortgage with "$0 or no money down, and pay less than my current rent."
The ad described the housing situation here and basically said that one man's pain can be someone else's pleasure. Then the ad threw out the figure $20,000- you could possibly be as lucky as to pick up one of these properties for as low as $20,000.
I was chuckling to myself and just waiting to hear your response to this ad. On the one hand, Scooping up a property for $20k is a real deal. However, buying a foreclosed upon property is not necessarily a deal if it keeps tanking in value, right?
$20K in Georgetown and I'm all over it. At some point there will be rock bottom deals to be had and it will be a good time to buy. Now is not that time.
Remember back to the 2000-2002 period with tech stocks. In late 2000 the same rhetoric was out there. Stocks are down 20%, now is the right time to buy. Then in 2001 it was stocks are dowm 50% it has never been a better time to buy and if you miss out you will regret it. In 2002 when stocks were down 70%, the mood in general was, I will never buy another stock again as long as I live.
That was the time to buy. And the same with housing I believe. In a year or two or five or whenever, we will hit a point where I'll go a whole day without seeing any mortgage ads, NAR ads or reading any article dealing with real estate.
When that day comes, I am going shopping for houses.
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