2023 Real Estate Observations (Boston: richest, teacher, nurse)

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by redplum33

Sounds like you need to adjust your expectations.

Originally Posted by ca1337

Sticking to my guns and keeping a cool head has provided me with great success in life. Not going to change that.

I hear what you're saying, but haven't you been looking for several years? The prices and interest rates have gone up.

A lot of people are looking for what you're looking for. Many of them will have more money than you, and many of them will have less patience than you. Do you really see that changing in the near future?

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by ca1337

Sticking to my guns and keeping a cool head has provided me with great success in life. Not going to change that.

Sticking to your guns and adjusting your expectations aren’t mutually exclusive.

It seems pretty clear that you’re not good at estimating market prices. Even if you never ever change or exceed your internal pricing model, understanding what the prices actually are will help you.

[msRB311]

This is the same poster who said people who complain about real estate prices haven't kept up everyone else here. Yet here he is complaining away. Seems to be a very similar personality to matrix

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by ca1337

Sticking to my guns and keeping a cool head has provided me with great success in life. Not going to change that.

Serious question, how are you calculating fair value of a house?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by msRB311

too much money if you're offering 500k over asking

Again . . . who cares how much a house sells for above the asking price? Asking price is just a marketing tool. A number crafted to create an enticing value proposition which drives traffic in the door.

I ask again, if I put a price of $1 on a house worth $1M and it sells for $1,025,000 so $1,024,999 over asking . . . is that impressive?

Originally Posted by msRB311

Um, it's more than different strokes. There are some folks who can't afford much of anything around here. I know that bothers no one on this forum lol.

It's very true that most suburbs especially the most sought after ones don't have as wide a spectrum of home prices as you might find in some other highly sought after locations in other parts of the country. It is unfortunate that anyone who wants to live in say Weston can't live in Weston because 98% of the population can't afford the home prices.

This being said, I'd love to eat A5 Wagyu ribeyes every day for dinner but I can't afford that. We all have to make choices in life about what we spend our money on and some people make more while others make less. I do find it quite sad that the distribution of wealth in this country has become QUITE lopsided and that the middle class has virtually disappeared. While I'm not a supporter of becoming a socialist or communist country I would love to see a return of the middle class.

Originally Posted by ca1337

The Winchester house is in a dream location for a family with kids. Walking distance to ALL schools and the train station. This is one of the best locations I've ever seen. The neighborhood is amazing but the good houses up the hill are not going on the market any time soon. And when they do, way above my means probably. 3 years ago I would have been able to, looking at price history. Too bad I wasn't even in the region back then. Unfortunately, the house was tiny (I confirmed the sq ft from plans and it was WAY below advertised- big joke). And as you noted, no garage so that was also a big bummer.

Serious question . . . how did you "confirm the square footage from the plans"? I ask because as a real estate professional I find 99% of people in the public have absolutely NO idea how square footage is calculated and typically they end up doing it wrong and falling way short of the numbers quoted in listings which typically come from the assessor's office or from an architectural plan. So, basically the square footage in the listing comes from someone who actually knows how to calculate living area and then when someone who doesn't know how to do it seeks to verify it they come out with a different number.

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

I like that the views are of lush greenery out the windows versus looking into your neighbor's windows as we've seen with some other examples recently on here. That is crazy.....40 bids. Hope they plan to keep it awhile b/c if redfin estimate is anywhere near accurate, they've already lost ~$250K in value!

It never fails to amaze me how people on here get fixated on meaningless things. As I've said a million times . . . automated value estimates are worth the paper they're printed on. They're all incredibly inaccurate and typically there's a statement on each website to that effect.

Originally Posted by ca1337

Sticking to my guns and keeping a cool head has provided me with great success in life. Not going to change that.

Yeah. I've had a lot of clients say that especially over the last few years. If you want to secure a house in this market where values are still rising faster than comps can indicate you do need to adjust expectations and get a little crazy. At least, it seems what you're offering is crazy based on the comps but when all the sales close around you that are on the market at that time you'll end up being right in line with everyone else.

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

Serious question, how are you calculating fair value of a house?

Good question. I've come across a lot of people over the years who do that in an less than accurate manner. They do silly things like look at Redfin/Zillow/Realtor.com automated estimates or they try to apply price per square foot or I could go on and on but the only accurate way to value a home is to compare it to similar homes that have recently sold and then you make appropriate adjustments for differences in size, condition, amenities, and location.

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by msRB311

This is the same poster who said people who complain about real estate prices haven't kept up everyone else here. Yet here he is complaining away. Seems to be a very similar personality to matrix

Huh? I don't even follow homes over 1mil. Outside of my price range.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

Good question. I've come across a lot of people over the years who do that in an less than accurate manner. They do silly things like look at Redfin/Zillow/Realtor.com automated estimates or they try to apply price per square foot or I could go on and on but the only accurate way to value a home is to compare it to similar homes that have recently sold and then you make appropriate adjustments for differences in size, condition, amenities, and location.

Do those people eventually end up buying? Sitting out is perfectly reasonable if they can never justify the price, although I imagine it's a real pain to deal with them as their agent.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

Again . . . who cares how much a house sells for above the asking price? Asking price is just a marketing tool. A number crafted to create an enticing value proposition which drives traffic in the door.

I ask again, if I put a price of $1 on a house worth $1M and it sells for $1,025,000 so $1,024,999 over asking . . . is that impressive?



It's very true that most suburbs especially the most sought after ones don't have as wide a spectrum of home prices as you might find in some other highly sought after locations in other parts of the country. It is unfortunate that anyone who wants to live in say Weston can't live in Weston because 98% of the population can't afford the home prices.

This being said, I'd love to eat A5 Wagyu ribeyes every day for dinner but I can't afford that. We all have to make choices in life about what we spend our money on and some people make more while others make less. I do find it quite sad that the distribution of wealth in this country has become QUITE lopsided and that the middle class has virtually disappeared. While I'm not a supporter of becoming a socialist or communist country I would love to see a return of the middle class.



Serious question . . . how did you "confirm the square footage from the plans"? I ask because as a real estate professional I find 99% of people in the public have absolutely NO idea how square footage is calculated and typically they end up doing it wrong and falling way short of the numbers quoted in listings which typically come from the assessor's office or from an architectural plan. So, basically the square footage in the listing comes from someone who actually knows how to calculate living area and then when someone who doesn't know how to do it seeks to verify it they come out with a different number.



It never fails to amaze me how people on here get fixated on meaningless things. As I've said a million times . . . automated value estimates are worth the paper they're printed on. They're all incredibly inaccurate and typically there's a statement on each website to that effect.



Yeah. I've had a lot of clients say that especially over the last few years. If you want to secure a house in this market where values are still rising faster than comps can indicate you do need to adjust expectations and get a little crazy. At least, it seems what you're offering is crazy based on the comps but when all the sales close around you that are on the market at that time you'll end up being right in line with everyone else.



Good question. I've come across a lot of people over the years who do that in an less than accurate manner. They do silly things like look at Redfin/Zillow/Realtor.com automated estimates or they try to apply price per square foot or I could go on and on but the only accurate way to value a home is to compare it to similar homes that have recently sold and then you make appropriate adjustments for differences in size, condition, amenities, and location.

Not being able to eat a certain steak every night is a little different than not being able to afford a home in a state you're from because you decided to become a teacher, social worker, or maybe never fulfilled your career dreams. Too bad for these folks I guess. It's not just that they can't afford Wellesley...they can't afford places like Quincy or Dorchester (unless they're section 8). I think living in MA has forced people to make very different choices. Not about what they eat for dinner but in terms of where they live, raise kids, etc

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Not being able to eat a certain steak every night is a little different than not being able to afford a home in a state you're from because you decided to become a teacher, social worker, or maybe never fulfilled your career dreams. Too bad for these folks I guess. It's not just that they can't afford Wellesley...they can't afford places like Quincy or Dorchester (unless they're section 8). I think living in MA has forced people to make very different choices. Not about what they eat for dinner but in terms of where they live, raise kids, etc

I'm not equating eating steak to making choices about where to live but for some reason you've decided to focus on that. My point was merely that we can't always afford what we might want. I would think that anyone getting into a profession where the pay is low would realize how that will affect their lives.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I'm not equating eating steak to making choices about where to live but for some reason you've decided to focus on that. My point was merely that we can't always afford what we might want. I would think that anyone getting into a profession where the pay is low would realize how that will affect their lives.

People don't always have full control over their life circumstances. Many also get divorced and that affects their finances as well.

Prices have increased dramatically over the years, it's something to be addressed and gets old hearing welp this is the new normal, just how it is. It seems like people here don't want to hear it and just think others need to move.

I think many people also entered professions like teaching, social work, nursing etc in the 2000's knowing they wouldn't be rich but had it in their head they'd still be able to afford rent or a home.

I spend more on my mortgage than I ever thought I would.

Its easier to say, yeah i can't afford that LV bag or that brand new bathroom than it is to say, wow I can't afford to live in the state (let alone town/city) I'm from because so many wealthy people from all over the world are offering 200k over asking on basic homes. It's kind of scary.