Affordable house prices are the best economic stimulus. Housing costs make up the largest proportion of a households monthly budget (besides taxes). If this amount were smaller, if it made up a smaller portion of a household’s monthly budget, then they would have more money to spend on other goods and services and stimulate the local economy. It isn’t rocket science; it’s just common sense. However, greed and shortsightedness cause many to desire house prices that increase in price rapidly and attain levels of affordability that price most out of the market. Eventually such extremes lead to a crash, but [Read More...]

I have written a few times about flopping: realtors who sell REO for under-market prices to favored buyers. (see Flopping: unscrupulous realtors deceive lender clients and profit from fraud, Floppers: realtors who profit by ripping off their lender clients, and most recently realtor flop in San Juan Capistrano.) A flopper doesn’t get the highest and best price for the property. The practice of flopping is unethical because the agent shirks their fiduciary responsibility to the seller to favor a buyer, most often for a kickback or promise of a future commission on the flip. Flop sales exasperate buyers who miss [Read More...]