Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My family and I are are looking to move into the Fort Collins Loveland area.
We have visited FC and found it to be a development community. Really looking for that old style neighborhood type community but you get what you get. Have to look at Loveland and see how much different it is.
But thats not really my question. We looked at homes just over a year ago when the market was just beginning to take that down turn. I had a broker but dropped her when she couldn't give me a straight answer about the drop in housing prices n the FC Loveland area a few weeks ago. I too have had to drop my home price here in NJ to hopefully sell my house so I wanted to see what is happening on the other side of our planned move, the buying side in the transaction. Example if I drop my house 25K and bought a home for 25K less than last years price then my loss is offset somewhat. So this is the reason for my question.
So to all you people who have seen the price changes in your area this question is for you.
If you had homes selling for lets say $400k in your area over a year ago what are the homes being priced at now $375K, $380K. I'm looking for a realistic evaluation of your area.
Please no brokers need spew out facts and figures I already have those. Looking for home owners who can honestly say what has happened in their area and how far have prices fallen.
I can't speak for "homeowners" in the area, just one. We just purchased (closed in early November) a house that the seller purchased in October 2006. We paid them $4K less than they had paid and they had put another $40K+/- into upgrades, updates and finishing the downstairs.
I saw a lot of "PRICE REDUCED again" riders attached to the Realtor's FOR SALE signs.
We know we'll get less for our old house (in TX) than a year ago, but we weren't able to do anything a year ago. We also looked at it as a "lifestyle" choice as opposed to just a price thing.
BTW, I would normally NOT purchase a new house unless my old one was sold, but we're retired and had no mortgage on either end so it's not like the kids won't eat if we don't sell the old one soon.
Unlike many states, in Colorado, there is a really easy way to find out what has been happening. Colorado is a "public disclosure" state. Real estate sales prices in Colorado are public record. The recorded deeds are available for review at the local County Clerk's office. The County Assessor's office is required to keep track of all real estate sales for which there is consideration. Many Colorado county clerk and assessor's offices have public websites containing this information.
By the way, a cute trick many property sellers use to "hide" the sale price on a deed is to say "$10 and other good and valuable considerations." Well, the documentary fee ("doc fee") charged by the County Clerk's office for recording a deed transferring property is based on the sales price ($0.01 per $100 of sales price)--it is a crime for the recorder of the document to lie to the Clerk about the sales price. So, for example, a $200,000 sale will show a "doc fee" of $20.00--even if the deed itself say the "$10 and, etc., etc." stuff.
Also, foreclosure notices are public record and are posted at the Public Trustee's office (usually contained within the County Treasurer's office in Colorado). In my trips around the state recently, there is plenty of that "wallpaper" growing in those offices these days.
So, a trip to the county courthouse or the county website can get you a wealth of information.
Please no brokers need spew out facts and figures I already have those. Looking for home owners who can honestly say what has happened in their area and how far have prices fallen.
Jazzlover, have you ever used the denver gov website for this? You could look up Most Requested under Real Property Records. Could save you a trip.
I've used virtually every county government website available in Colorado for this type of research at one time or another. Routt County's is one of my favorites.
Looking at records is all well and good if you have a more detailed Idea of your needs, but records don't tell the whole story. I guess if I was looking to move into a trailer park the differences would be less and I can follow trailer park trends. Plus you are already looking at homes which have closed "past tense" not homes which are currently on the market now. I guess if I was a buying property in vast numbers as a speculator it would help.
I have a better Broker whom I will discuss the issue with. But lets get back to the original question. I will give you an example so there is no confusion on your part.
Billy Joe Bob looks at homes in Northern Co November 2006. His price range $400k. He sees lots of homes some with nice kitchens and master suites. Some seem way over priced, others in areas near horse farms (cant wait for the wind to change direction). Well Billy Joe Bob starts selling his own home, the price or location of this home is unimportant. But Billy wants to move on so he drops his home price down to attract buyers for a quick sale.
But Billy Joe Bob is smart he knows there is a 9 month inventory in the area of Colorado he was looking at. Much more than the 90 days he originally saw in 2006. So being a smart buyer he inquires into the current pricing on the same size and type of house he looked at in 2006. He figures those same size and style homes are now selling for less. But how much less?
He does not have an specific area he has settled on as a buyer and everything is open. So he asks his broker: "well what are those homes we looked at in 2006 selling for now" and gets some babble about the market and individual home owners being stubborn about prices. All Billy Joe is looking for is the pricing drop across the board in the area. He's not an idiot and knows some people will hold out for however long it takes.
OK back to my original question: You live in a particular development what are the homes listed for today and how far down have they gone in a year? I don't care if all the homes were $150k last year I am looking for that % in the price drop. You provide the numbers I can figure out the price drop. So the answer would be well those houses were listed for about $150K last year now people are listing homes at $135k. Bingo an answer.
People who are in the process of selling, usually know the selling prices of all the homes in their area and how far prices have fallen. Any help answering this really simple question would be helpful.
Looking at records is all well and good if you have a more detailed Idea of your needs, but records don't tell the whole story. I guess if I was looking to move into a trailer park the differences would be less and I can follow trailer park trends. Plus you are already looking at homes which have closed "past tense" not homes which are currently on the market now. I guess if I was a buying property in vast numbers as a speculator it would help.
I have a better Broker whom I will discuss the issue with. But lets get back to the original question. I will give you an example so there is no confusion on your part.
Billy Joe Bob looks at homes in Northern Co November 2006. His price range $400k. He sees lots of homes some with nice kitchens and master suites. Some seem way over priced, others in areas near horse farms (cant wait for the wind to change direction). Well Billy Joe Bob starts selling his own home, the price or location of this home is unimportant. But Billy wants to move on so he drops his home price down to attract buyers for a quick sale.
But Billy Joe Bob is smart he knows there is a 9 month inventory in the area of Colorado he was looking at. Much more than the 90 days he originally saw in 2006. So being a smart buyer he inquires into the current pricing on the same size and type of house he looked at in 2006. He figures those same size and style homes are now selling for less. But how much less?
He does not have an specific area he has settled on as a buyer and everything is open. So he asks his broker: "well what are those homes we looked at in 2006 selling for now" and gets some babble about the market and individual home owners being stubborn about prices. All Billy Joe is looking for is the pricing drop across the board in the area. He's not an idiot and knows some people will hold out for however long it takes.
OK back to my original question: You live in a particular development what are the homes listed for today and how far down have they gone in a year? I don't care if all the homes were $150k last year I am looking for that % in the price drop. You provide the numbers I can figure out the price drop. So the answer would be well those houses were listed for about $150K last year now people are listing homes at $135k. Bingo an answer.
People who are in the process of selling, usually know the selling prices of all the homes in their area and how far prices have fallen. Any help answering this really simple question would be helpful.
"Talk is cheap, and beer costs money." If you want to know what is happening in a particular area or market, the BEST indication is what has actually sold. Asking prices are just that--asking prices. If everybody selling in a neighborhood is asking $250K for their property, does that make property worth $250K? I go look for recent sales to substantiate that kind of value. I also look at sales volume over time. If 50 properties were selling in a year in a particular neighborhood, and now it's 10--or none, I'm going to find out why. Usually, the first sign of a souring real estate market is decreasing sales volume--the few successful sellers may even still get their asking price or close to it for awhile, but the number of sales craters. Again, the courthouse records will show that. That is where a lot of Colorado real estate markets are right now. The next step is a reduction of sales prices--asking prices may stay inflated, but actual sales prices are dropping. Finally, asking prices start to drop as it becomes readily apparent to all that time-on-market is way up, sales volume is way down, and sales price drops become apparent to all. You can find markets in all of those stages in Colorado right now.
Finally, quite often, people in a particular area often do NOT know what the actual sales prices are around them because they never bother to check. They accept the word-of-mouth from a neighbor, a real estate salesman, or the local gossip. Imagine this--quite often what they are told isn't the actual recorded sale price! I'll take actual fact in black-and-white over "talking over the fence BS" anyday.
If you really want to know, contact a reputable real estate appraiser--they are usually carefully following sales trends.
Seems like a straight forward question: what is happening in your Northern Colorado neighborhood with home pricing. I don't want beer quotes, documents searches, or moronic to do lists, just average people who know something about their area to speak up.
[ mod cut ]
Last edited by Mike from back east; 12-24-2007 at 11:31 AM..
Reason: Personal attacks not allowed by TOS.
Although I'm not in the Fort Collins region, the OP inspired me to take a closer look at my own street in Castle Rock (Douglas County), and I'm so glad I did. I had a general idea that all was not well around here, but my research really brought the problem into focus. I realize that this information will probably not help the OP, but it may be of interest to others.
I live in a recently constructed Richmond-built home. The houses originally sold for between $225k and $300k in 2005. There are two housing styles on my street: 2-4 bedroom patio-style houses with no basements and nicer 3-4 bedroom houses with basements. Currently, there are no houses on my street for sale. One has recently been removed from the market after four months with no bites.
Here are my findings:
* Seven of 32 properties changed hands in 2007.
* Three properties sold at a profit, ranging from +3.3% to +5.7% from their 2005 purchase, the highest from a sale in February.
* Four properties sold at a loss, ranging from -9% to -17%.
* All of the larger houses with basements sold at a profit, while all of the houses lacking basements sold at a loss.
* The last two sales, both in October, were short sales to investors, one of which then flipped the property for a tidy $25k profit (still -$20k from 2005). The other house became a rental.
* The largest loss was an REO.
* There have been three completed foreclosures in 2007. None are pending, although a couple of owners are behind on their property taxes.
* There are currently three rental houses on my street. All are occupied.
Last edited by formercalifornian; 12-24-2007 at 01:50 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
