Monday, November 07, 2005


Bubblespeak At Craigslist

My fellow bubble blogger David over at Bubble Meter spotted a very interesting bubble popper post on Craigslist today. It's posted in its entirety over at Bubble Meter.

David's clever discovery started me down a similar path where I found other indications of how Craigslist might just be a good barometer for what's happening to the real estate market. Check out this post:
4 bedroom, 3 full bathroom, 2331 Sq. Ft. house in Downey California. House is appraised at $946,000.00. I am looking for someone to take over payments of approx. $4,000.00 a month, and i will give them the house. Amount of loan is $855,000.00. No money down or anything from your pocket. I have to downsize. If you are looking for your own house, and/or have credit issues, this is as good as it gets. This is no joke, email me for more details.
Of course, anyone responding to this advertisement should use the same caution you would in replying to any online ad for goods or services, particularly those that sound too good to be true. If you need advice on how to protect yourself when shopping online, visit the Federal Trade Commission's special website designed specifically for that purpose. However, that said, it just might be that this person really did get in over their head and is in bubble panic mode.

I don't want to trash Downey, and so I'm just going to accentuate the positive: It's part of Southern California. It has easy access to freeways. The movie "Spiderman" was filmed there.

You might also find a few tidbits at the Housing Forum at Craigslist. Lots of bubble talk in there.

— The Boy in the Big Housing Bubble