Help::What is the Housing market trend in Highlands/Cherokee Triangle?? (Louisville: credit, houses)

[tanz1904]

Hi.. thanks to all the advice we received at this forum, we have identified a nice home in Cherokee Triangle.

But the problem is that the house we have selected has been listed at a 20% appreciation in 2 years, which does not go with the current market trends nationwide or in Louisville. I know appreciation is higher in bardstown, but still.... i can see many houses being sold much much less than what they r worth in the cherokee area.
I needed advice if this much appreciation in current market is normal, or has it been listed at a higher price. I need this advice to decide on the offer price.

Thanks!

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by tanz1904

Hi.. thanks to all the advice we received at this forum, we have identified a nice home in Cherokee Triangle.

But the problem is that the house we have selected has been listed at a 20% appreciation in 2 years, which does not go with the current market trends nationwide or in Louisville. I know appreciation is higher in bardstown, but still.... i can see many houses being sold much much less than what they r worth in the cherokee area.
I needed advice if this much appreciation in current market is normal, or has it been listed at a higher price. I need this advice to decide on the offer price.

Thanks!

Hmm. Cherokee Triangle is such a HOT and beautiful area that it is largely immune from any housing trends. If you love the house, and it is renovated nicely, remember location location location. Finding a renovated Victorian beauty in Cherokee Triangle can be hard...there are certain homes that people eye for years and many people own homes in that area for decades. The largest flip comes from physicians moving in and out of the area for jobss. Also, remember the Louisville housing market is down, but no where near as down as the national market or most major cities for that matter. The economy in Louisville is probably the best it has been in decades; the county now has its highest number of employment and unemployment rates are dropping. So, to make a long story short, if you love the home and location, buy it at ANY reasonable cost. You will always make money and be happy with such a primo location.

[larryreaves]

Appreciation in the Louisville market is generally 3-5% per year. That slipped slightly this last year but the Cherokee Triangle will beat the general market.

20% is pretty high unless the home has had fairly majkor renovations such as updated kitchen or baths, bedroom or bathroom additions, new mechanicals, replacement windows, new ladscaping, finished basement, etc...

Make sure the offer takes these into account.

[Off Topic]

That does seem like a lot of appreciation in such a short time under current market conditions. Our market isn't as crazy as other markets - our highs are not as high and our lows aren't as low. So barring major improvements to the house, I have to wonder about this as well.

I agree that if you love the house, there is nothing inherently wrong with over-paying for it a little. Especially if you are going to be there a long time. Just be aware you might not be building up any equity for a while.

Sometimes you just get a seller who overvalues their property for some reason, sentimental or greedy or otherwise. After a house sits for 4 months, they get a little more reasonable. The problem is that you don't want to wait until they come to their senses.

I'd ask the reason for the appreciation at the very least. It's a great area, but there's always another house coming on the market in the near future.

Frankly, in today's atmosphere, I do wonder about paying full asking price for almost any house. (Just a general statement - there are certainly exceptions and this may be one of them.)

Any link to the house so we can look at it?

[tanz1904]

Originally Posted by Off Topic

That does seem like a lot of appreciation in such a short time under current market conditions. Our market isn't as crazy as other markets - our highs are not as high and our lows aren't as low. So barring major improvements to the house, I have to wonder about this as well.

I agree that if you love the house, there is nothing inherently wrong with over-paying for it a little. Especially if you are going to be there a long time. Just be aware you might not be building up any equity for a while.

Sometimes you just get a seller who overvalues their property for some reason, sentimental or greedy or otherwise. After a house sits for 4 months, they get a little more reasonable. The problem is that you don't want to wait until they come to their senses.

I'd ask the reason for the appreciation at the very least. It's a great area, but there's always another house coming on the market in the near future.

Frankly, in today's atmosphere, I do wonder about paying full asking price for almost any house. (Just a general statement - there are certainly exceptions and this may be one of them.)

Any link to the house so we can look at it?

Thanks for the reply. There were no improvements done by this seller to the house. Whatever was done, was done by the previous seller. So this seller has nothing to his credit.
I think the problem is that realtors are not ready to accept that housing market is down. We are having heated arguements with our realtor over the offer prcie. He keeps telling us that why r we looking at the past few months data... instead we should be looking at the last couple of years data... This does not make sense to us specially bec we r in the market to take advantage of the low housing market. So we r very confused and exhausted as we have to first convince our realtor for the reason of low offer...

[cobolt]

You may want to interview another realtor. You need not stay with a realtor if you don't feel they are working with you or that they are giving you some bum info. You may want to call around....20% seems out of whack and the answers you're getting don't seem to line up.

[tanz1904]

Originally Posted by cobolt

You may want to interview another realtor. You need not stay with a realtor if you don't feel they are working with you or that they are giving you some bum info. You may want to call around....20% seems out of whack and the answers you're getting don't seem to line up.

Can we use another realtor for the same house?

[censusdata]

In general, the older area of Louisville have had much less appreciation that suburban areas, especially those in surrounding counties. Downtown, Old Louisville, and the West End have actually continued to see gains in housing prices

[Off Topic]

Originally Posted by tanz1904

We are having heated arguments with our realtor over the offer price.

With your realtor? You mean the one who works for you? Man, no wonder you are upset!

At the risk of annoying every realtor on this forum, I've always wondered about a system where your own realtor benefits if you overpay. I understand all the counter arguments, but name me another system where your own representative gets paid more for doing a poor job of getting his own client the best price.

Anyway, stop being so nice! Don't ask your realtor - tell your realtor. A 10% appreciation (5% per year) is in no way an insulting offer in today's market, and in fact, is more than fair. What's the worst that happens? They turn down your offer? You have to able to live with that result when you are buying.

Even in a hot area, this is a buyer's market. Don't give up your bargaining position.

I don't think you can use another realtor so long as you are under contract with this one. But you can sure tell him you want out of the contract if he keeps arguing.

[nik]

We closed on a house in the Cherokee Triangle in December and paid about 10% under asking (which had been reduced -- it was a little over 15% original asking). I think you should determine what YOU think the house is worth based on comps, etc. and make a good argument to the sellers. That's what we did.