Sellers or buyers market? (Mobile, Huntsville: real estate, housing, rent)

[sunshine girl]

We are confused. Spent several days in Huntsville area last week. Have been to the area before, and it is on our short list of cities to nest in for retirement. This time we chose a realtor with the not so scientific method of eenie meenie miney moe, we pick you. Well, she lead us to believe that it is a seller's market what with BRAC and the desirability of Huntsville for jobs, cost of living, etc, etc. So she printed off sheets on several homes for us to drive by based on our list of criteria. It was a bit disappointing to say the least. They were all nothing like what we are interested in, and several we could not find due to incomplete directions on the printout sheets. Then after the air was let out of our Huntsville hunting balloon, we went to eat at a fast food joint in which two housing construction workers were lamenting to each other about how their builders (two different companies) were not selling as they had planned, and had to eat $40,000 worth of upgrades just to sell one that had been sitting for 8 months. And that they had many more units sitting for months. Which story is the real deal?

[HsvMike]

I don't know what Realtor you used and probably don't want to know, but it is definitely a buyers market here. Now we aren't hurting like a lot of other states but there is a lot of new construction which is slowing down the existing home market. There are so many choices for buyers which gives them the upper hand.

Especially since you aren't from around here your Realtor should have taken you around and shown you those homes, and to get a feel for the area as well.

Now Hsv is set for a lot of growth but for right now we are just waiting for it. It is still a couple of years away before the big influx of people come in. Now when that does happen I do see our market shifting, but not til then. We are only seeing a trickle of people coming in from BRAC right now.

I hope this helps, just let me know if you have any other questions.

[sunshine girl]

Thank you. We felt that we indeed had chosen the wrong realtor for us, also. She made us feel like we were a bit of a bother since we were not buying right now. After we left the office, and started looking at the houses, we felt like she had purposely chosen those listings for us so we would be discouraged. And it worked. We did however, get a great map of the city, and drove around ALOT and saw several really, really nice neighborhoods. And quite a few for sale signs. We have another trip slotted for mid July, and are also kind of looking at Mobile, which kind of took us by surprise, because we assumed we would not like it, but we did. So we will also poke around there for a day or so also during that trip.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by HsvMike

It is still a couple of years away before the big influx of people come in.

To add, I think I read in the Huntsville Times, people in the DC area are having a harder time selling their homes which, if true, would affect the sell-buy dynamics on the move to Huntsville. But as mentioned, the bulk of the transition appears to be two or three years away.

[NicoleC]

I am sorry you didn't connect with the right kinds of homes for sale, but as your found out, Huntsville has some great neighborhoods. I doubt if it was on purpose. If you tell us what you are looking for and your price range, the local folks here might be able to chime in with some ideas. You'll also find a lot of info on a search of this forum, since this comes up often.

The local MLS is online at ValleyMLS.com. The search tools you can access are not great, but a realtor can build you a very customized search if that's what you want.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by NicoleC

The local MLS is online at ValleyMLS.com. The search tools you can access are not great, but a realtor can build you a very customized search if that's what you want.

Valleymls is a great tool (lots of features and options for search, for example you can find all homes for sale zoned for a particular elementary, middle, or high school.) Oddly the valleymls results do not display square footage even though you can search with a square footage filter.

Valleymls doesn't provide addresses in most cases (sometimes the address is written on some of the photos, but that is rare).

If you find something you like and want to know exactly where it is try searching for it parametrically using Trulia, Zillow, Yahoo, or Google real estate tools - they often have the address.
Also, valleymls lists the subdivision (for example Clifts Cove), so try typing the MLS number and "Clifts" into a google search, sometimes you can find the address that way. I have.

Finally, you can glean a lot more information (like how much the owner paid, info on neighbors) on a particular property if you query the Madison County Tax Assesor databases:

Madison County Alabama Assessor

[NicoleC]

Charles, if you sign up to get automatic emails, the emails have the addresses on them.

[zenjenn]

Honestly, I think it depends on the house. Really good homes with all the things buyers are looking for, sell rather quickly.

But, since there is a lot to choose from, houses that have a little of this or that which people might not like - a funky floorplan, a sloped backyard, in need of reno, sit on the market for a while.

If you are a buyer that wants a turnkey home with granite countertops, etc, but still want to live in, say, in the middle of Jones Valley or something, if a house like that comes on the market you better act quick and present a good offer, because I did not see those houses last more than a couple weeks on the market. If you are willing to get a house that needs some reno, or willing to live a little further out from the center of town, esp where new developments are, you have plenty of options and can take your time. But it's still not like the California market for example (still haven't sold my house there) - out of curiosity I tracked a lot of the houses I looked at, and with the exception of houses that had a glaring problem, each one sold within a couple months.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by NicoleC

Charles, if you sign up to get automatic emails, the emails have the addresses on them.

I know, but I'd like to avoid giving out my email if possible at this time.

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by Charles

I know, but I'd like to avoid giving out my email if possible at this time.

Make a yahoo or hotmail account solely for that purpose. That way your inbox won't be clogged with that stuff from now until eternity.