Richmond real estate agent gives us "the facts"

Diligent readers of this blog know what the real estate situation is like in Richmond right now... it's abysmal.

The latest monthly update from real estate agent James Wong leaves no doubt: a real estate downturn is in motion and that values are going to keep dropping. Dropping dramatically for that matter, to the point where owning a home makes fiscal sense again.

And that's one hell of a drop.

Richmond detached home sales have all but evaporated and most homes are selling below assessed value, some as much as 25% below assessed value... with no end in sight to plunging prices.

Buyers, it seems, are staying away in droves; afraid of catching a falling knife.

But have no fear, says another Richmond agent. Meet Owen Bigland.

Bigland wants to encourage to you to buy in Richmond. He wants you to learn from Warren Buffet and "be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy".

(mind you... I'm not aware of Buffet buying in Richmond right now so I say do EXACTLY what Buffet is doing in Richmond, but I digress)

Bigland, you see, has been very busy these past six weeks, so busy he hasn't had time to get a haircut...  yes, he tells us this (no offense Owen, we don't care).

Bigland informs us up front; October 2012 has been part of one of the slowest summer's on record for real estate sales.

(actually bloggers will tell you October has been a little busier than expected, but hey - this is Owen's story and he hasn't sold squat this month.  Perspective, I guess)

Bigland's brokerage, MacDonald Realty Westnar (which Owen claims is one of the biggest in the Lower Mainland with 175 agents), has had the slowest summer in over a decade.

Bigland has a number of listings he's getting little or no phone calls on, others that are getting a lot of viewings on, but buyers are

"hesitant and scared and... there's just so much news out there right now... there's just no urgency right now.  They (buyers) just figure, lets wait and see, I think prices are still going to be coming down a bit... and we'll play accordingly."

Gee Owen... sounds like buyers are playing it quite smart to me.  Do you disagree?

Of course he does (no commissions coming in, I guess).  Owen wants to share his insights but presumably he doesn't want to come right out and say "buy now you cheap bastards", so Bigland tells us he:

"won't sugarcoat it, won't put my spin on it, I just tell the facts" 

Oh?... another James Wong in the making? Ok Owen... tell us the facts:

"Ok... here's one more where I'm just going to tell the facts. And I tell ya what I had happen in September and the sales that I did. I know I'm going to get some flack, people are going to make some comments on my youtube page here, telling me you sound like a typical realtor, you sound like what they teach you in real estate school, it's always a good time to buy, and it's always a good time to sell. There's a lot of negative people out there, for sure. I've got news for you, I don't really care. I'm not really interested in doing business with negative people, I've got plenty of clients that trust me, uhhh, they know I'm going to do a good job for them, they know I take my job seriously. So here we go with it."

Blink! Blink!

Ok... fact #1. Sales suck right now and Owen just spent two minutes telling us he is, in fact, your typical realtor.

Do go on:

"In September I had two substantial sales, these were million dollar plus sales, one approaching close to two million dollars. Now these buyers, these two buyers, have a lot of things in common. And I thought I'd share it with you because maybe we can learn something from this."

Err... that there are still idiots out there with more credit than brains which puts commissions in your pocket?

Incredibly all this self-absorbed blathering takes up the first half of Bigland's 5 minute video clip. Bigland then tells you a tale where two older rich guys, who were hesitant to buy, pulled the trigger and bought. They bought because... wait for it... it's always a good time to buy and if they waited they might have lost the opportunity.

(Surprise! I think we call that 'buy now or be priced out forever')

Ummm... thanks Owen. Glad we got the 'facts' straight.

Not that I want to appear negative, but these aren't 'facts' and despite your update - I have a feeling you'll have lots of time for that haircut now.

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