Its all a hype .. the more money people spend on buying , the more commission for the Realtor and the more interest for the Bank ..... its a hand in glove b/w realtors / media / banks ....... and who pays through the nose .... the proud owner ...... its easy to take credit but difficult to return it ...

The boomerang being ... when with so many people buying un necessarily and the economy gets hit ... Job losses , mortgage defaulters , bank losses ... the bubble bursts .... This could have been avoided if realtors and the system recommended conservative buying ..... but then there would have been less money for them as well as the banks ....

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fido.

So everybody else is responsible, Fido? Yes, it is the nature of the system, and evrybody is going to use the system to maximize their returns. If we do not like that, let us go back to Karl Marx.

Do we buy a Lexus when all we can afford is a Ford? Yes, at times, and that is a personal choice. Similarly where, when, what you one buys in a property is also a combined decision of risk and responsibility.

There will always be people who take advantage, as TK mentions, but he also says it was HIS weakness. That is what we have to control, right?

I hope this thread does not degenerate into realtor bashing.

There s a difference b/w guiding and misguiding . Show me one Realtor today who would advise his clients to buy after 6 months ... ' The right time is NOW ' is what they say knowing that prices are expected to fall in future ...

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fido.

See, I am not an agent, and I am not in the market for a property. I can tell you that there are some folks around me who are looking to upgrade or move from rental to ownership, and what is driving them is the low intereste rate. Historical lows, is what people say.

An agent has not really entered the picture for these folks ..yet.

These people are also planning budgets that in my opinion extend them beyond the conservative estimates discussed here, but what are we to say? If you want a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, or whatever, and your budget does not allow that, do you take a risk? You want to live in your home right, so people take that risk.

So when you go to a realtor with your specs, the realtor is going to facilitate your goal, or tell you, no, go get a one bedroom, one bath? What would you do. A lot of people would shop around for a realtor who fulfils their demands.

All I am trying to demonstrate is, there are many dimensions here.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Fido

There s a difference b/w guiding and misguiding . Show me one Realtor today who would advise his clients to buy after 6 months ... ' The right time is NOW ' is what they say knowing that prices are expected to fall in future ...

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Amit Kalia, Broker, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Real Estate Centre., Brokerage
independently owned & operated
100 City Centre Dr, Unit 1-702
Mississauga, ON L5B 2C9
Phone No.: 905-339-5111
Website: https://www.realestate-ontario.com/
Condo Blog: https://condopundit.com/blog/

I agree with Amit you can't generalize/stereotype Real estate agents (or any profession).
There are lot of good Realtor's but you just need to do hardwork and also pray to God that you find a good one.

"Pratick's and your criteria are much too conservative to go by. Most people wouldn't buy a home if they went by ur criteria.". I think pretty much same 30% criteria are mentioned by Amit.

Those people can wait and buy when RE is within 30% of their criteria. A big population is living paycheck to paycheck to keep home. If everything remains in same order for next 20 yrs then these people are okay. If anything (job, layoff, interest rate, living cost, taxes) changes then these people don’t have anything for support other than one more paycheck. Cheap interest rate will not be going to stay too long.

A lot of them bought at wrong time and bank are not going to refinance on cheaper rate when they own more than property value.

One of my colleagues bought on peak price with 315K (15k down) + closing cost. Today he is saying from his mouth that property is 265K. I would say serious offer will be 255K.

Property loss: 60K
Realtor’s commission for sale: 12K app.
Closing cost he paid: 8k app.

Total loss: 80K around.

Same property you can rent for $1400-$1600/month without paying any tax or condo fee ($300).When 315K price will come back at least not for next 10 yrs.