2024 Real Estate Observations (Amherst: power lines, buying a house, health)

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

The Westwood house’s size and aesthetic is worse than all the houses you listed.

Here’s one in the same area for the exact same selling price and closed today that is bigger and better looking and more in line with what I would’ve expected. https://redf.in/hnKi16

In your view it is worse. To the buyer, they found it just as appealing as other homes at the same price point.

[Iced_Coffee]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Beyond water access (or lack thereof) relative to the rest of town, if I had to point to something “wrong,” it’d be the 1.5 baths for 4 bedrooms. As a buyer, especially with a family, that would be a hang up for me. The second toilet is great, but if you have a family of 4 or 5 (and overnight guests) sharing a single shower, that’s not exactly ideal. I wonder if there’s something, beyond just the cost, preventing them from adding another bath? A family could possibly be convinced to buy a place like that if they knew I could add a bathroom later. But if they’re was stuck with the 1.5, it might be a deal breaker.

Good thinking. Ultimately, it seems like $699k is what I'd expect for a decent-but-not-perfect house in Duxbury (and that might actually be a bit on the low side). Maybe the spring market will help the house sell, but it was puzzling to me that they couldn't sell it at all last year despite people literally falling over themselves to buy houses in that town.

[msRB311]

Do people still think a cape house is a good investment? I am still shocked to see prices as high as they are. Someone I know bought a one level ranch that is dated, 1.5 miles from the beach and paid almost 800k for it recently. Is the expectation that the house will be worth 2M when they go to sell? It's just hard to imagine.

[Iced_Coffee]

I think the Cape is a tough one to gauge. Prices have skyrocketed the past 5-6 years (in some cases it seems more pronounced than in the Boston-area suburbs - but I don't have data at hand to verify). Anecdotally, I have family that bought around 2017 in the mid-300k range (a ranch, 1700 sq ft, 3br, 2ba, built in the 90s - pretty standard fare). They put probably 75k in renovations into it right away. The house is currently quite nice with a private yard, lots of trees, in a nice neighborhood. Similar houses in the neighborhood have gone for 800-850k the past year or so, which leads me to believe the family member's house is worth at least that right now. And this isn't even Chatham or Osterville I'm talking about.

But the Cape is facing some serious demographic issues (very old population), limited job prospects especially for younger folk, affordability issues galore, workforce challenges, and with the pandemic isolation behaviors being a thing of the past I've read several pieces noting that there's been a sizable decline in vacation rental bookings the last 2 years at least.

Personally, I think there will always be some appeal, but I don't know what the future looks like and I'm not sure I'd buy down there as an investment right now. To live or retire? Yeah, maybe, since you can still actually find houses in the 650-700k range that aren't total dumps.

[msRB311]

I guess I have a hard time understanding how or why someone would want to pay 800k for a dated, small 2nd home that they are really only in on the weekends in the summer....and not in at all during the winter. These are homes that are for the most part a cottage or clearly meant to be a 2nd home. Even paying 800k for a one floor ranch to live in full time on the cape is questionable. I just don't get the appeal

[Iced_Coffee]

At current prices, the Cape wouldn't be at the top of my list. There are probably some decent options for those that are gung-ho on the idea, but it's probably going to be in Yarmouth and not Chatham, Brewster, etc. That said, the Yarmouth Port area is way underrated IMO and is really nice - plus it's centrally located. Not a lot of listings on the Cape right now but here are some that I could see being a decent fit for a lot of people (didn't look too closely at them so take it with a grain of salt).


https://www.redfin.com/MA/Yarmouth-P.../home/77481711

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Harwich/29...home/133049940

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Yarmouth-P...home/135845786

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Yarmouth-P...home/135804458

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I guess I have a hard time understanding how or why someone would want to pay 800k for a dated, small 2nd home that they are really only in on the weekends in the summer....and not in at all during the winter. These are homes that are for the most part a cottage or clearly meant to be a 2nd home. Even paying 800k for a one floor ranch to live in full time on the cape is questionable. I just don't get the appeal

I would not buy a vacation home, but know that it is common for people to want to feel like they have the option to go whenever they want. They may figure that at worst they're out the cost of taxes and some maintenance but that they would've paid that amount to rent a house for several years and can get that money back when they sell at worst.

Of course, the calculation is more nuanced than that and rarely do people do the math correctly, but that is a common thought process.

[msRB311]

came acoss these as well:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...uJlI5gph-b-ucw

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...56778729_zpid/

seems like a LOT

I dont see how renting a week or so could end up being more than the cost to buy these days

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

came acoss these as well:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...uJlI5gph-b-ucw

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1...56778729_zpid/

seems like a LOT

I dont see how renting a week or so could end up being more than the cost to buy these days

The second one they paid about $50K over list back in '21....then sold it for about $85K over what they paid for it only ~2 years later. So after realtor fees, I guess they still made a small profit. Maybe it was a WFH person who moved to the cape then got called back to the office and had to sell in order to move closer to the city?

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

The second one they paid about $50K over list back in '21....then sold it for about $85K over what they paid for it only ~2 years later. So after realtor fees, I guess they still made a small profit. Maybe it was a WFH person who moved to the cape then got called back to the office and had to sell in order to move closer to the city?

I guess my question would be more for the most recent buyers...why. Lol