Newton Home Inspection & Negotiations (Natick, Needham: fit in, sale, credit)
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Sawbuck and you will see-I think the OP has decided that Newton is their preferred place to live as is their choice-their question was about "inspections and negotiations" -houses will only sell for what someone is willing to pay for them-if they are "inflated" as you feel then they won't sell-but homes are selling in newton -in quite a few areas in the metrowest it is not a buyers market-but a balanced market-good homes in good areas priced accordingly are selling quickly-each town offers its own amenities-and that is what makes those valuable to some people and not so much to others. Personally I couldn't care less who our school was named after-I would just want it to be a good school...
I'm talking about a house for 550 with 12 acres of land which is 18 miles south of Boston instead of 10 miles west. You can walk to the train station and arrive at PO square within 35 minutes. Newton does not have amenities and a wonderful plan. You can not live a car free live, there.
Which location 18 miles south of Boston are you referring to? I didn't know there were car-free lifestyles that far out, unless you count coastal towns that are either expensive or have poor schools.
Which location 18 miles south of Boston are you referring to? I didn't know there were car-free lifestyles that far out, unless you count coastal towns that are either expensive or have poor schools.
According to his profile, he lives in Abington. I don't know much about Abington, but here's some stats about single family home sales I pulled from MLS to compare the Abington real estate market vs Newton's real estate market. In the last 12 months . . .
Abington:
Average days on market - 132
Average sale price - $282,748
Total number of sales - 116
Newton:
Average days on market - 84
Average sale price - $878,393
Total number of sales - 558
So, in Newton houses go under contract much faster and sell for much more. I think that says a lot about the town. Newton real estate on the whole has maintained a lot of its value. I can't really speak of how Abington has fared over the last few years.
Personally, I think Newton has a lot to offer. Great schools, lots of public transportation options, super easy drive into Boston, lots of great shops & restaurants, etc, etc, etc. Does it cost a lot to live in Newton? Absolutely! Can everyone afford it? No. Apparently though, enough of the population wants to live there and can afford to live there which keeps the prices where they are. If everyone suddenly decided they didn't want to live there the prices would plummet. Personally, when I buy real estate location is my #1 concern. When things go the wrong way in the real estate market having bought in the most "desirable" you can afford will safeguard your investment better than buying a nicer house in a less expensive town.
In the end though, you are buying a home. You should live where you'll be happiest.
Ah, Abington. A quick look at greatschools.org shows the Abington schools range from 3 to 6 out of 10. I'm not a test scores fanatic, but no, it doesn't sound like a comparable town to Newton.
Thanks for the input, support and advice, folks. Lots of it is helpful. I just want to be clear that my agent is very experienced, whipsmart and goes well above and beyond for us. She came to us highly recommend by friends we trust. Our inspector is certainly no executioner, either! He's a champ about our endless questions and when something isn't a big deal, he makes sure we understand that, no matter how it looks on the report. So that's that.
@ Cato the Elder - It doesn't help that MA real estate differs so much from CA real estate, does it? I guess we're just looking for a home that's been well-cared for. It doesn't need to be the prettiest or the biggest, just tended to. If these sellers had gone to the lengths you did to prove the roof worthy, we'd be delighted!
@ tikaram - That's actually a brilliant thought, wish we'd had it sooner. Seems easier to pull records on houses we're seriously considering making an offer on BEFORE handing over that $1K check and scheduling an inspection - thanks! Grilling the seller's agents just isn't working.
@ MikePRU - Our inspector shows us the problem, and 99% of the time it's a problem you can see with your own two eyes. We actually asked the seller's agent about bringing in a specialist to assess the electrical and chimney/fireplace issues, stressing that we were still very enthusiastic about the house but wanted to get a better understanding of the scope of the problems, and they killed the deal on the spot. It was basically a "Thanks but no thanks, go *********rselves." We were shocked! PS. We did pull records and they revealed some permits pulled, and only one of those was with a licensed professionals. Yikes.
@tikaram, part 2 - We pulled lots of comps and came in with a strong offer, esp. considering the house has been on the market for 2+ years. (The open house saw a lot of traffic and we didn't want to compete with other offers - also we want to be fair and genuinely hate haggling). To my knowledge you can't really extract that specific of detail from comps, right? How would you do that? Inspection reports aren't public and you can't necessarily document the particulars of a negotiation from A to Z for others to reference, right?
@ odinboy - Re: roof, leaking evident, obsolete flashing resulting in water penetration, tiles and other materials not installed properly, actual sagging, sunlight streaming in through holes visible from attic crawl space, etc. A corroded and actively leaking water heater. And so on. Unacceptable stuff. Re: chimney/fireplaces - we were told it was just the lining before we made an offer, and we were 100% willing to eat that cost, but as I said they turned out to be 100% inoperable. Steel boxes completely rotted out. No dampers. No lining. They'd need to be rebuilt, which is a totally different story than "Oh, just the liners need to be replaced." It's pricy, and like I said, they wouldn't even discuss it. That seemed extreme to us.
Perhaps the third time will be the charm! Maybe we can save ourselves further heartbreak by pulling those records sooner rather than later. Thanks again, everyone. I hear that being a seller can be hard, but being the buyer isn't always a walk in the park, either!
Ah, Abington. A quick look at greatschools.org shows the Abington schools range from 3 to 6 out of 10. I'm not a test scores fanatic, but no, it doesn't sound like a comparable town to Newton.
According to his profile, he lives in Abington. I don't know much about Abington, but here's some stats about single family home sales I pulled from MLS to compare the Abington real estate market vs Newton's real estate market. In the last 12 months . . .
Abington:
Average days on market - 132
Average sale price - $282,748
Total number of sales - 116
Newton:
Average days on market - 84
Average sale price - $878,393
Total number of sales - 558
So, in Newton houses go under contract much faster and sell for much more. I think that says a lot about the town. Newton real estate on the whole has maintained a lot of its value. I can't really speak of how Abington has fared over the last few years.
Personally, I think Newton has a lot to offer. Great schools, lots of public transportation options, super easy drive into Boston, lots of great shops & restaurants, etc, etc, etc. Does it cost a lot to live in Newton? Absolutely! Can everyone afford it? No. Apparently though, enough of the population wants to live there and can afford to live there which keeps the prices where they are. If everyone suddenly decided they didn't want to live there the prices would plummet. Personally, when I buy real estate location is my #1 concern. When things go the wrong way in the real estate market having bought in the most "desirable" you can afford will safeguard your investment better than buying a nicer house in a less expensive town.
In the end though, you are buying a home. You should live where you'll be happiest.
I did not say that Newton turned over slower. I said that my town town was slower. I said Needham turned faster.
Also those numbers are skewed. Short Sales do not close and return to the market with a new listing. Lots of people pull and relist to test the market. You do not have 90 day turn over in Newton. This is a dream.
Banks are not approving crazy valuations. When the offer falls through the house returns to the market with a new listing date. There are least 500 units which have been listed in Newton continously for over 300 days. Think about that one.
Lots of people pull and relist to test the market. You do not have 90 day turn over in Newton. This is a dream.
Sorry, but you're not reading the data correctly. This data is for sold properties only. It does not take into account homes that failed to sell. Typically, homes that fail to sell are over priced and would skew the price data. Homes that fail to sell say little about the market anyway. Homes that actually succeed in selling are far more telling. So, if a home is priced right in Newton you can expect a contract in about 90 days. It's more likely however that these homes did not start off at the same listing price they ended at. Had they started lower the market time would have been even less. Also, FYI a home has to be off the market for 90 days before the market timer resets on MLS. In my experience, people don't typically wait 3+ months to relist if they have any serious interest at all in selling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by n1ey
Banks are not approving crazy valuations. When the offer falls through the house returns to the market with a new listing date.
Banks are more stringent with their lending guidelines. However, I'm still not seeing too many homes come back on the market in this area because of an inability to get financing. Many people in this area have 20% or more to put down on a home which makes getting a loan much easier. If a listing does end up back on the market, the market timer picks up right where it left off. It does not start over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by n1ey
There are least 500 units which have been listed in Newton continously for over 300 days. Think about that one.
Not sure where your data is coming from, but according to the report I just pulled from MLS there are currently 236 single family homes on the market in Newton with an average market time of 89 days. I never ever pull data for condos, single families, multi-families, and land in the same report. They're each a seperate and distinct market to be read independent from each other.
Quote:
Originally Posted by n1ey
The 600k valuation is way too high for a house.
You say this based on what? I do not decide home values, you do not decide home values, banks do not decide values, and neither do appraisers for that matter. Who does? The market decides home values. Real estate is one of the most pure examples of the basic economic principal of supply and demand. If there is sufficient demand for this house, then it will sell for $600K despite the repairs needed.
Just a few weeks ago, someone brought up Abington as a great place to live and you posted:
Quote:
I recommend that most people stay away from South Shore towns. The Transit is difficult. The driving is tough. The schools do not rate very well. The House stock quality is poor in most.
Some things can work, but no one with a family would want to send their kids to the schools, which you had mentioned, either. I've seen the products of those schools and I know many who skip right past those schools during the selection process for their children.
To the OP: before putting an offer in on a house that's been on the market for a while, it might help to check Zillow to see when the sellers bought the house/what they paid. It also helps to know when any additions or major renovations were done. If you're dealing with an underwater seller, or even just someone who purchased the home between 2005 and 2009, they won't have the same negotiation room as someone who bought for $150k 40 years ago.
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People are buying quite alot in Newton-check
