It's A Great Time to Buy Charleston Real Estate!!! (Isle of Palms: foreclosed, rent)

[Luvsdabeach]

Originally Posted by pokrplr

I'm comin to your house Tom! We can pop Ziritec and chase it w/ moonshine

While you two are playing poker. lol

[OleTomCat]

Damn straight, pun intended, you can come too luvs, I can put some cinamon sticks and vanilla in your mason jar.

[Luvsdabeach]

Originally Posted by OleTomCat

Damn straight, pun intended, you can come too luvs, I can put some cinamon sticks and vanilla in your mason jar.

Haha! I could do without the Zyrtec though. Fortunately the pollen doesn't bother me. Could I have strawberries instead? Like a moonshine daiquiri.

[jesposito]

just to give some perspective from the homebuilding side of things...the houses that we used to sell for 210k are now priced at 175/180k. we are literally building them for sport right now, there is virtually no profit and most companies are doing just this to weather the storm and once the opportunity presents itself slowly push margins back up they will do so. i know data in our business is always 30-60 days behind but i can tell you there has been a dramatic increase in traffic and sales over the last 60 days or so. November and December were brutal but jan and february have been quite surprising. alot of the people that would have been in the market over the last year and were not due to fear are actually out sniffing around again. the rent vs own ratio has finally ''checked'' itself somewhat and things are alot more reasonable than what most people would think right now. you can actually buy a pretty nice 4 br home for say 175k and w/rates hovering around 5% that puts p&i close to 925 a month...that gets you what? a 2 br apt in a decent area? what would most people rather have...a home or 20 somethings all around with loud music and 3 flights of stairs? i dont want to take either side on this thread but even the doomsayers on here have admitted its worth taking a look right now. as for new constuction...there's no more room to cut. builders have pulled prices well in line with where they need to be and the ''wiggle'' that was there before has been long gone. i will agree that there are some established areas that may still need to take a drop and some resellers may need to get a little more realistic and forget what joe sold his house for 2 years ago down the street but all in all its definitely a good time to have a gander at whats out there.

[FallingKnife]

Originally Posted by jesposito

just to give some perspective from the homebuilding side of things...the houses that we used to sell for 210k are now priced at 175/180k. we are literally building them for sport right now, there is virtually no profit and most companies are doing just this to weather the storm and once the opportunity presents itself slowly push margins back up they will do so. i know data in our business is always 30-60 days behind but i can tell you there has been a dramatic increase in traffic and sales over the last 60 days or so. November and December were brutal but jan and february have been quite surprising. alot of the people that would have been in the market over the last year and were not due to fear are actually out sniffing around again. the rent vs own ratio has finally ''checked'' itself somewhat and things are alot more reasonable than what most people would think right now. you can actually buy a pretty nice 4 br home for say 175k and w/rates hovering around 5% that puts p&i close to 925 a month...that gets you what? a 2 br apt in a decent area? what would most people rather have...a home or 20 somethings all around with loud music and 3 flights of stairs? i dont want to take either side on this thread but even the doomsayers on here have admitted its worth taking a look right now. as for new constuction...there's no more room to cut. builders have pulled prices well in line with where they need to be and the ''wiggle'' that was there before has been long gone. i will agree that there are some established areas that may still need to take a drop and some resellers may need to get a little more realistic and forget what joe sold his house for 2 years ago down the street but all in all its definitely a good time to have a gander at whats out there.

I have no doubt your post is correct as it relates to the lower end of the market. However, when you look at the upper end of the market (particularly MP), you do not see such a rosy picture. Lots and lots of downside from here.

fk

[FallingKnife]

Originally Posted by ackgirl

Fallingknife......don't even get me started on you......you and CMR are two peas in a pod!!!!! Negative, Negative. The name Fallingknife in itself is a bit negative!!!! I am sure that the CMR has saved people money......but not everyone buying real estate right now can or wants to wait for prices to come down. If you make an offer you are comfortable with....there is nobody holding a gun to your head. Make the decision and live with it. Not everyone wants to rent.....not EVERY house out there is overpriced and if it is don't buy it or make a really low offer, whatever you do make it an informed and educated decision. Real estate should not be purchased to make money....that is the problem out there, people thinking that they can buy something today and resell it for a profit tomorrow.

It is a fallacy to frame the discussion in terms of "positive" and "negative". There is no such thing. There is only the truth (and untruths). We can argue about the current state of the market all day long, but the proof is in the pudding babe. And guess what? It's blood pudding. Or maybe black pudding. Bottom line is it doesn't taste or look so good at present. February numbers were abysmal, inventories are still at historically high levels and nothing in the upper end of the market is moving. The punch is still perfectly blended for more price depreciation. Buy at your own risk.

fk

[mrpeatie]

From my experience Jesposito hit the nail on the head. What no one is mentioning is that the commercial real estate market is also saturated.

And I'll add that I think a lot of people are getting caught in a generational shift in what is desirable to home owners. The lure of cheaper house never changes but a lot of people who own what were considered luxury houses in the eighties and early nineties are having problems adjusting to their white elephant status. I won't even go into the lower end tract homes whose primary selling point is going to be cost/location/schools. A lot of people are in for a shock when it comes time to get serious about selling.

[1lisat]

Here's an article some of you may find of interest.
[SIZE=3]http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/07/housing-cities-realestate-forbeslife-cx_do_0107realestatestrong_slide_16.html?partner=e mail[/SIZE][SIZE=3] In Depth: America's 25 Strongest Housing Markets[/SIZE][SIZE=3]
Even in the country's most resilient areas, 2009 prices are expected to fall flat.[/SIZE][SIZE=3]
By Deborah Orr[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]lt[/SIZE]

[le roi]

Originally Posted by jesposito

just to give some perspective from the homebuilding side of things...the houses that we used to sell for 210k are now priced at 175/180k. we are literally building them for sport right now, there is virtually no profit and most companies are doing just this to weather the storm and once the opportunity presents itself slowly push margins back up they will do so. i know data in our business is always 30-60 days behind but i can tell you there has been a dramatic increase in traffic and sales over the last 60 days or so. November and December were brutal but jan and february have been quite surprising. alot of the people that would have been in the market over the last year and were not due to fear are actually out sniffing around again. the rent vs own ratio has finally ''checked'' itself somewhat and things are alot more reasonable than what most people would think right now. you can actually buy a pretty nice 4 br home for say 175k and w/rates hovering around 5% that puts p&i close to 925 a month...that gets you what? a 2 br apt in a decent area? what would most people rather have...a home or 20 somethings all around with loud music and 3 flights of stairs? i dont want to take either side on this thread but even the doomsayers on here have admitted its worth taking a look right now. as for new constuction...there's no more room to cut. builders have pulled prices well in line with where they need to be and the ''wiggle'' that was there before has been long gone. i will agree that there are some established areas that may still need to take a drop and some resellers may need to get a little more realistic and forget what joe sold his house for 2 years ago down the street but all in all its definitely a good time to have a gander at whats out there.

Your "PI" left off the "TI", plus repair costs. So that is what, $200, 300/month? So bump that $925 up to more like $1100-$1300. Also, factor in the glut of rental units and the downward pressure on rental prices that this creates, you can rent an awful lot more than a 2br apartment in a 'decent area'.

I'm also left wondering what has happened to building costs since all those homes were built. I suspect that high unemployment means labor will be cheaper. Deflation means commodities are down, so materials will be cheaper. Interest rates are down so financing should be cheaper. Right?

[jesposito]

Originally Posted by rubber_factory

Your "PI" left off the "TI", plus repair costs. So that is what, $200, 300/month? So bump that $925 up to more like $1100-$1300. Also, factor in the glut of rental units and the downward pressure on rental prices that this creates, you can rent an awful lot more than a 2br apartment in a 'decent area'.

I'm also left wondering what has happened to building costs since all those homes were built. I suspect that high unemployment means labor will be cheaper. Deflation means commodities are down, so materials will be cheaper. Interest rates are down so financing should be cheaper. Right?

it actually should cost about 60-75 bucks for insurance and 80-100 for taxes with the new tax rates that are out, so on a 180k home 1075 is about right. as far as repairs go with a new home you shouldnt have any. again my argument was to simply point out that the ratio has dramatically come down on the lower price point and it is at a point where MOST people after looking at the options of rent vs own would probably make the jump. the interest and tax write offs on a primary residence also help pull the ratio down even more which i forgot to add in. i dont disagree that there are areas that still may need to take a drop but the 140k-300k market has hit the floor and is just starting to move again. there was a glut of buyers that had been sitting on the sidelines that are back in the market again and after doing the proper research are pulling the trigger...at least that's what we're seeing