Spotlight on Flippers in Trouble

The Sacramento Bee's Bob Shallit takes a look at the Sacramento Area Flippers in Trouble blog:

Web site needles our realty bubble

If you doubt there's a frosty trend in the local real estate market, look no further than a five-month-old local Web site. At Sacramento Area Flippers in Trouble (flippersintrouble. blogspot.com), more than 470 Sacramento area homes are listed for sale at prices below -- sometimes way below -- what their owners originally paid.
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One example: A Folsom home purchased a year ago for $518,500 that's now on the market for $360,000. Another: A Sacramento home purchased for $371,500 in fall 2005 now offered for sale at $249,000
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Similar sites have popped up in other cities. The local site was launched last July "to counter the positive spin (from Realtors and others) about how great real estate is in tems of appreciation," says its founder, a state worker who identifies himself only as "Max." He claims "Flippers in Trouble" has had 71,000 hits in its first five months in operation.

Why won't he reveal his last name? "A lot of people (in the industry) aren't very happy about what I'm doing," he says.

Several local real estate experts say the site's information is an accurate reflection of how far the market has declined in certain areas. "It's a very real situation," says Mike Toste, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent in Antelope. "I'm seeing sellers take those kinds of losses."

Congrats on the coverage Max!