Thursday, September 28, 2006

New Series: "Florida Bubble P.O.S. of The Week"!

The easiest way to determine whether or not your town/state/region is in a housing bubble is to look at the prices of the P.O.S. (piece of s...) properties.

Ergo, our new series, "Florida Bubble P.O.S. of The Week"!

Each week, I will be posting a "canary in the coalmine" property from around the Sunshine State, one that is clearly not worth anything close to the asking price. A simple and elegant symbol of the mass psychosis that has gripped the greedy denizens of the realty trade here in Florida.

And here now, our first contestant! Features of this charming house:
  • 1215 sq. feet of living space.
  • 1-car garage.
  • Sits on a microscopic .09 acre lot.
  • Located in a failing school zone.
  • Originally sold for $50K in 1990.
  • Last sold for $135K in 2005.
  • A virtual steal at the current asking price of $200K!

Won't you please buy it and keep the bubble afloat?

Tampa - P.O.S #1

Any other Florida Bubble P.O.S.'s out there? Please post and give us all a good guffaw!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know if I should be outraged at realtor and owner for the truly-mind-boggling price, or laugh myself silly at such a sight.

Amateurs, amateurs, amateurs. What a waste.

That house shouldn't sell for a penny more than $80K.

Anonymous said...

Check this wack-place in Jax:

Assessed at $59K, asking $145K.

And it has an ABOVE GROUND POOL! Sweeeeeet!

Wacko in Jacko

Anonymous said...

Hey, that pool might be a mighty nice way to impress the ladies...!

Anonymous said...

Let's see...priced at 80K more than the tax assessor says?

Sounds like a great deal! Where do I sign up?

Anonymous said...

Try this for size - 1030 square feet of comfy and a no-car garage (okay, that's a lie - there IS NO garage!). And so close to the freeway, you can listen to it alllll night long!

West Palm Beauty

Anonymous said...

Love your blog. Have been reading Ben Jones for a while and found you through that site. I have been looking at NE FL RE since 2003. Selling in NYC (in contract today!) and will rent until the bottom drops out. Keep up the good work and yes, if I see any POS flipper stuff, its in the mail to you ASAP. gordo nyc

FL - Paradise Lost said...

Gordo,
I've seen your posts on Ben's site - great stuff! And congrats on your sale, you are definitely in a "good place" for the foreseeable future.

Rose & Beach Wreck,
Those are some real nice properties in WPB - can't believe there aren't sellers outbidding each other to get a piece of that "action".

I'll post a link soon with quick tips on posting links and what-not. Heck, I'm just getting started myself!

Cheers!
- Jerry

FL - Paradise Lost said...

Gordo,
I've seen your posts on Ben's site - great stuff! And congrats on your sale, you are definitely in a "good place" for the foreseeable future.

Rose & Beach Wreck,
Those are some real nice properties in WPB - can't believe there aren't buyers outbidding each other to get a piece of that "action".

I'll post a link soon with quick tips on posting links and what-not. Heck, I'm just getting started myself!

Cheers!
- Jerry

FL - Paradise Lost said...

See what I mean? I posted the first message with "sellers" when I meant "buyers" - but apparently there is no way for me to remove double posts. Or is there?

Anonymous said...


Sweet 2 bed / 1 bath
this home would look FAB with a Cat-Dozer snuggled up to it. It is also on s Dirt road in between two trailer parks.


Lovely Bungalow
too bad they forgot to mention that this home has gaping holes in the roof (you can see outside from inside) the second bath is rotting off the house, termites have treated themselves to various window sills, floor joists and rafters... I could not see inside the walls, I am sure they are bad too)...OH the best part of all is, it is adjacent to a central Florida juvenile detention center for young girls (my young daughter of 7 learned a few new words while we inspected this home)


Artsy! Check out the RE Agency link! This house was purchased in 1999 for roughly $35k and I HIGHLY doubt that there has been more than 50 cents of real improvements! UGH, the house needs a total rehab, especially the dysfunctional kitchen and bath!

What ARE these people thinking! PLEASE! hahahaha

Anonymous said...

This one isn't exactly a POS but sure as hell is overpriced.

The owners purchased this house in 1996 for $204,000.

This house is located in Orlando where the median income is around $35,000.

http://orlando.craigslist.org/rfs/214054189.html

(You must take the property tour, enjoy the music!)

Anonymous said...

Did I read that right? $1.2 mil for a house that cost $204K 10 years ago?

Good luck to the losers who own the place and extra good luck to the extra-large losers who buy it.

Anonymous said...

Anon,
Your first link is by FAR the best "Florida POS" I've ever seen! Hilarious - a "handyman's special" if I've ever seen one.

Anonymous said...

Ok, it's not Florida but hell, with a POS this good I just had to share.
This is still the good old USA.


http://www.realestateshows.com/show.php?mls=basic&id=46757

Anonymous said...

At first I thought that was a joke listing (what with the piano playing and showing ceiling panels falling out), but then the "aha!" moment hit. Waterfront, waterfront, waterfront. Double-wide, but waterfront. Ahhhh...the splendor.

Anonymous said...

This is a nice one. No appliances, no A/C, no water heater, possible mold, roof has less than 2 years of life, lead-based paint, 3br/1ba (but no fixtures remain). Only $140/sf ! Buy now!

http://hud1.towerauction.net/cgi-bin/e9_select_property.cgi?id=094404222&office=e9&state=FL

Property Appraiser record:
http://www.ocpafl.org/pls/webappI/get_parcel_master?pid=302227042602110&query_data=1111111A&tax_year=2006

Anonymous said...

Looks like an excellent candidtate for "flip this house"!

C'mon - isn't there any dim-bulb out there who wants to make some quick money?