How the Coronavirus will affect Bay Area Housing Market

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In Singapore, new construction is sold to the first in line, not the highest bidder. May be, the practice is here too.

This gives rise to practice of flipping. The first in line will sell to an higher bidder back in the line.

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That’s exactly what happen. At the peak of speculative fever, you can sell your queue for a small fortune :slight_smile: From my memory, I read about selling for as high as S$50k, about US$38k.

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Back in the day double escrow was the ultimate play. You would tie up a property in escrow with a long close, then peddle it off market to everyone you knew. Then close both deals in one day. I made $100k on a deal like that in the 80s. Needed no money just brass balls and good connections.

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Can this be called arbitrage in real estate? Arbitrage is buy product in one market, and selling it in another market at the same time to take advantage of the difference in selling price.

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The problem is government policies of no growth zoning, the EPA and using the construction industry as the whipping boy for social policies( like requiring affordable BMRs in all new development) environmental policies and green BS add ons like solar panels. The government all by itself has doubled the costs of new construction. Just allowing more logging could cut the cost of lumber by 80%. Imagine how much new growth has occurred in American forests since logging in most places was banned starting in the 70s.

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During the first quarter, Google parent Alphabet Inc. saved $268 million in expenses from company promotions, travel and entertainment, compared to same period a year earlier, “primarily as a result of COVID-19,” according to a company filing.
On an annualized basis, that would be more than $1 billion. Indeed, Alphabet said in its annual report earlier this year that advertising and promotional expenses dropped by $1.4 billion in 2020 as the company reduced spending, paused or rescheduled campaigns, and changed some events to digital-only formats due to the pandemic. Travel and entertainment expenses fell by $371 million.>

The savings offset many of the costs that came with hiring thousands more workers. And the pandemic prudence allowed the company to keep its marketing and administrative costs effectively flat for the first quarter, despite boosting revenue by 34%.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-28/google-is-saving-over-1-billion-a-year-by-working-from-home

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You hated Trump all along, and now complain about the policies that Trump wanted to discourage. Now with uncle Joe, no one cares what you have to say. He is giving California exception to set its emission rules back as if matters to a state that is on decline. And funny, that recall Newsom effort is now officially approved.

I am a conservative. Not a fan of Biden. But the the anti growth rules are pervasive on both sides. Many nimbyies are conservatives. As far as Trump… he cares about nothing but himself. He threw all his loyalists under the bus. He told all his crazies to storm the capital and he would join him. He doesn’t deserve any credit or praise. He told his followers he would pay their legal fees. He is a lying hypocritical narcissistic son of a bitch.

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Hear, hear. Couldn’t agree more.

You have a wrong opinion of who you are. (And do you not care about yourself? Or do you care more about me?). Remember, anything you say about others can be easily said about you. If you really are a great builder and growth creater. Then you need to respect NIMBY. There are so many empty places where you can settle cities and build townships. But, you do not want to do any of that. you just want to build where people are already living happy and you want to make the existing neighborhood miserable for your profits. That is the problem with all the NIMBY haters. My request to NIMBY haters. There are plenty of places to build. Just go and build as much as you like. What is so difficult to understand this.

I am retired. Not building anymore. But as long as population increases more buildings are needed. This not personal. Please don’t attack me personally. Public figures are fair game. I am not. Just pointing out reality

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You may retired and not working anymore. But, you hate NIMBY. You should promote positive ideas.

I don’t hate anyone. But more housing needs to be built. 3m shortfall in California. I am offering positive solutions…relax zoning and remove government regulations that causes the housing shortage.

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There are plenty of land to build houses. You do not need to destroy the current homes to make homes to settle 3 m people.

Yes, there is plenty of unused, commercial land that is lying wasted and un used in the Bay Area. Drive up and down 101 and see that wasteland. However Prop 13 prevents many of these from being developed because the owners are afraid to touch it because they are paying taxes from the 1980s. there is plenty of space that doesn’t include the precious NIMBY homes. however zoning needs to be changed so that unused land can be used.

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Government policies can be changed. But powerful nimby forces have had a stranglehold on BA zoning since the Save the Bay Movement in the 1960s. Without that movement the BA population would be 14m not 7m

Do not make a wild statement. Please tell me which plenty of wasteland along 101 are you referring to?

Is it not good that bay area is 7 million not 14 million. Do you want to make Bay area a slum for your profits?