Housing Bubble? Your thoughts, predictions (wood floors, house, school)

[mollysmiles]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I do not see it going down anytime soon.

If you want cheap land, go outside of the populated areas.

With land selling for $350/acre, and riverfrontage selling for under $1k/acre, how much do you really expect to see prices drop?

I just do not see that happening anytime soon.

what? that's not what I said.....

I said I don't see the reflection of any nationwide "bubble" where I am....and expect to see things go UP....

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

what? that's not what I said.....

I said I don't see the reflection of any nationwide "bubble" where I am....and expect to see things go UP....

I agree.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by ALToons

Hello again:

My question is this. If I was going to buy a house, and based on housing trends, when would YOU buy a house? Some say Spring 2008, some say Summer 2008, others predict 2009-2010. When will the prices of housing become at least 20-30% lower than we already see?

Thanks, and appreciate your input.

Never when.............Always where? Location Location Location

My basic rule of thumb is it doesn't really matter when. of course you can try and time the market but if you were ever in a jam you might lose big. Just plan on keeping whatever it is you buy for 12 years and you will almost always make money.

For location's I look at employment, growth trends, transportation, and proximity.

If your just trying to time this poor market then its really hard to say. Even though overall prices may have not fallen much......in a tight market like this there are still deals to be had. So I would really focus on location...and then making a deal of a lifetime.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The ordinary 3 bedroom ranch in town is flat or declining in value in most markets today. The homes in demand are secialty homes. The hottest market other than waterfront is the country house with backup wood heat, passive solar, 5 acres or more and in a town with a good school system. Those home are increasing in value and I believe will experience a small boom in value in the next couple of years.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by flycessna

Never when.............Always where? Location Location Location

My basic rule of thumb is it doesn't really matter when. of course you can try and time the market but if you were ever in a jam you might lose big. Just plan on keeping whatever it is you buy for 12 years and you will almost always make money.

For location's I look at employment, growth trends, transportation, and proximity.

If your just trying to time this poor market then its really hard to say. Even though overall prices may have not fallen much......in a tight market like this there are still deals to be had. So I would really focus on location...and then making a deal of a lifetime.

I'll second that.

There are good deals to be had already. Sure there might be some that will drop more but a lot depends on what you really want. I think ME is a little more insulated from fluctuations than some of the more urbanized states.

The house I am buying now, I am paying about half of what it appraised for two years ago (and what the current owner owes for it). I can't see it dropping much more, it had already been on the market for 5 months with no offers. Even if the market continues to be lousy for a couple of more years I don't think that I'll lose any money on the deal. I'm not planning on selling it anyway...at least not for a long while. It's what we want and we think it's worth the price.

That's what you have to decide- is it what you want, and is it worth (to you) the price you pay for it. If you're just looking for a "deal" with the intention of flipping it relatively soon and maximizing your profit...well, that would be very difficult to predict.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

I have two calls and two emails in to her and she's yet to confirm or deny her availability on the 20th for our open house, which is only 10 days away. I've sent DH after her this morning - he can talk with people calmly and rationally when I'm at the point of gritted teeth and venom - which I am. He will be calling from his job so she may not avoid the call using her handy dandy caller ID.

I am a woman of action and I just don't tolerate people well who are content to sit around waiting for something to happen on its own, which is what she seems to be doing. I want print ads, an open house, a sign in the yard and active searching for a buyer. I don't think that's too much to ask of a realtor who is charging me SIX thousand dollars for their services. After 3 weeks tomorrow, we still have no ads in print from her office. That's just unacceptable.

I don't think everything can be blamed on the slump in the housing market or even the season of year.

Do you know what the average time in the market for houses like yours is in your area? This is a statistic that should be available from the broker.

If your house is not listed NOW in the Multiple Listing Service, then it is time to fire your broker.

Your broker WORKS FOR YOU. They MUST respond to your telephone calls immediately, and there are NO excuses.

If your house has been on the market for less than a month, I think it is premature to panic, but watch closely: if the house across the street is being shown and it is comparable to yours, then yours should be being shown, too.

Do not hesitate to fire the broker. It may be time to start to talk with other brokers anyway.

Open Houses are a waste of time. All that open houses accomplish is for the broker to get additional leads for other houses that they may want to show, so says my ex-broker wife. I believe it and I wouldn't allow anyone in to my house until they were pronounced qualified buyers by the broker.

[ALToons]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I do not see it going down anytime soon.

If you want cheap land, go outside of the populated areas.

With land selling for $350/acre, and riverfrontage selling for under $1k/acre, how much do you really expect to see prices drop?

I just do not see that happening anytime soon.

Umm... in Kennebec County its about 3.5k per acre in the outskirts (10+ miles from a mall and large parcel [175k for 50 acres for example]) and about ridiculous for anything in the Belgrade area. (25k for <2 acres subdivided)

Then of course there are the get rich quick peeps:
$599,000
3.4 Acres
or, if you are counting...
$176,176.47+ per acre!
MLS ID# 869536

Yes, I laughed too...

[forest beekeeper]

Well yeah, the higher the population density the higher the land prices and taxes.

[blazen]

Folks, we had a housing mania and the bubble has popped. If you want to sell, mark your house down to the lowest comparable. Most houses have doubled or tripled in 5 years. You're still going to make a lot of money. Don't be greedy.

[maine4.us]

The real information about the Maine housing bubble was a report released this morning about foreclosures. In Maine only 1 home out of 1601 is in foreclosure. In Florida 1 home in 92 is in foreclosure. California and Nevada are even worse than Florida. That should statistically prove that Maine housing is fairly insulated from the "bubble." Maine real estate prices have reflected their real value.

There was a great explanation of how the "bubble" will correct itself on the radio today. With prices dropping and interest rising, housing costs will eventually balance. Most non-cash buyers don't look that closely at rates and prices, just monthly payments. So if interest is up 2% and housing costs are down 10% the monthly payment remains the same. Speculation with low cost money and poor credit is a thing of the past. The lower valued dollar may also help to revive the housing market. With plenty of Euros and CDN$ in peoples pockets, US real estate is a real bargain, especially with the depressed prices.

The house I purchased was reduced for one reason, it didn't sell during the summer, and the owner didn't want to hold on to it all winter.