Buy this neighborhood for a dollar
Some folks consider reality to be just another option.
Take my neighbor for example. This afternoon I look out my window and see a couplde of women attaching big, pretty balloons to the For Sale sign that has been stamped into her lawn for at least the past three months. At first I think she’s having another one of her parties, and I get a cold chill. But then my wife informs me that no, those two ladies are the real estate agents who are there helping to prettify things for the big Open House. As in the kind of Open House where you expect folks to come by and look at your house and, you know, maybe decide to buy it.
And normally? This would be a perfectly normal sort of event. Nothing at all to pay much attention to. Just another day in the life of a neighborhood. Except that my neighbor is asking $200,000 for her house.
So here’s the thing about that. This is Detroit, right? Where property values have dropped so far so fast it’s like riding a roller coaster that only goes down. Just to give you an idea, there’s ths really nice house across the street at the end of the block that sold several years ago for about $200,000. Woman lost the house not long after she bought it. So now another woman lives there who happens to be a friend of ours. She bought the house for $30,000.
No. You heard me right the first time.
So now I have to ask; what in the Great Almighty Fuck makes this woman next door think she has even a shred of a prayer of walking away with $200,000, when anybody who wants to buy a house in Detroit today can damned near buy a mansion for less than half of what she’s asking in an even better neighborhood? I mean she’s got a group home full of Bay Bay’s kids right next door to her on the other side. And there’s another group home across the street. So who in their right mind is gonna spend nearly a quarter-million dollars to live next to a ghetto group home?
Reality. It’s not just an option anymore.
SHAMELESS PLUG: Read my wife’s blog @ The “D” Spot Redeux
The "D" Spot 
Just because you ask a high price doesn’t mean you’ll get it. However, asking too low means you’re leaving money on the table.
Dick,
You’re definitely right in normal, or even semi-normal times. But in times such as these I can’t even believe the real estate agent is going along with this, let alone if she’s the one suggested it. Is it impossible she’ll sell at that price? I don’t suppose anything is impossible. Obama’s president. Is the house worth it? Probably worth more. But is there much of a chance she’ll get it? Virtually none.
Naybe she is hoping for a bounce back by the economy…….maybe she is just nuts.
Hey Mike.
I’ve lived next door to this crew for nearly seven years. Nuts doesn’t begin to tell the story.