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I'm looking to buy a house in Chapel Hill, and I don't know specific neighborhoods.
There are some nice houses in the $600s to $700s, which are exceptional values to the homes I owned in DC, NY and Miami. However, Zillow's estimate for those houses' zip codes is between $300,000 to $400,000. That concerns me because I don't want to buy a house that doesn't fit with the neighborhood. I made that expensive mistake when I moved to NJ.
I plan to rent in Chapel Hill for at least six months to better learn the area, but it would be great to get some advice before moving.
You can't really shop by zip code in Chapel Hill. The town is too small, and areas covered by zip codes too large. It's totally normal for a single zip code to include everything from $75,000 condos to $1,000,000 houses. You'd be better off looking at house in the same neighborhood or within a few blocks on Zillow or Trulia.
I'm looking to buy a house in Chapel Hill, and I don't know specific neighborhoods.
There are some nice houses in the $600s to $700s, which are exceptional values to the homes I owned in DC, NY and Miami. However, Zillow's estimate for those houses' zip codes is between $300,000 to $400,000. That concerns me because I don't want to buy a house that doesn't fit with the neighborhood. I made that expensive mistake when I moved to NJ.
I plan to rent in Chapel Hill for at least six months to better learn the area, but it would be great to get some advice before moving.
You need a realtor to pull comps. You can't go by Zillow.
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You need a realtor to pull comps. You can't go by Zillow.
You're right that Zillow list prices are not as up to date as MLS, but I wouldn't trust a realtor to provide a good est of a home's relative value. Most realtors are very biased. They will tell you that every home they show you is attractively.
I'm looking to buy a house in Chapel Hill, and I don't know specific neighborhoods.
There are some nice houses in the $600s to $700s, which are exceptional values to the homes I owned in DC, NY and Miami. However, Zillow's estimate for those houses' zip codes is between $300,000 to $400,000. That concerns me because I don't want to buy a house that doesn't fit with the neighborhood. I made that expensive mistake when I moved to NJ.
I plan to rent in Chapel Hill for at least six months to better learn the area, but it would be great to get some advice before moving.
You can't go by zip codes anywhere in the Triangle to be honest.....you also can't go by zillow anywhere. Real estate in this area is not like the places you've lived. Find a realtor you trust (which can be hard) and learn the area.
I'd look on a Chapel Hill realtor's site. We are not allowed to recommend realtor sites, but there are many to choose from and they will all have the MLS and most will list the neighborhoods. When you have the neighborhoods come back here and ask more specifics.
Definitely can't go by zipcode.
What interests you in Chapel Hill? You seem like you're not that familiar with the area. All the towns of the Triangle have pretty different flavors and what attracts one person to a town may turn another person off entirely.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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I don't know that one zip code in CH is better than others. I'm not even sure of all the zip codes to be honest. There are lower-income neighborhoods spread throughout. There is a run-down (REALLY run down) mobile home park on the corner of 54 and Smith Level Road which is within a mile or two from $500K to 1 million dollar neighborhoods. There is student housing that looks run down off Franklin Street that isn't far from the big homes in the Historic District off Franklin. There are other low-income apartment developments off 54. Those are ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I'm not an expert on the area, having lived here only two years, but my conclusion of the area is that the south is different than the north. There are not segregated areas here (income wise, although race wise, too). The poor sections abut the rich sections. Up north because many places are set up as townships, certain towns were known to be rich while others were poor. Here it is much more mixed up.
You're right that Zillow list prices are not as up to date as MLS, but I wouldn't trust a realtor to provide a good est of a home's relative value. Most realtors are very biased. They will tell you that every home they show you is attractively.
I disagree. Unless you are speaking to the listing agent, of course.
Do you have a buyer's agent? You need to know what similar homes have sold for.
Zillow can be very off because they don't find comps, just trends. Works great where all the housing is similar. Is way off when you have wider variety.
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When in doubt, check it out: FAQ
The Zestimates are total and complete crap (in fact I started a thread in the real estate forum wondering/worrying how important it is, because Zillow keeps lowering the value of my house). I can't answer your question about Chapel Hill - maybe you could try to find out where John Edwards lived - but I would say definitely don't walk from a home because of Zillow. They really get it wrong.
You're right that Zillow list prices are not as up to date as MLS, but I wouldn't trust a realtor to provide a good est of a home's relative value. Most realtors are very biased. They will tell you that every home they show you is attractively.
A buyer's agent works for YOU. There would be no reason that Agent would be biased unless it was the listing agent.
You are going to have a difficult time buying a home if you don't find an Agent that you can trust. Knock the chip off your shoulder. You are going to need help. Lots of help.
If you don't trust an agent to give you their opinion of market value, pay an appraiser $350 to do it for you. However, that appraisal is only good for THAT DAY. The second another comps sells, the price of the subject home changes.
And if you don't trust an Agent, who is going to show you the property, write up the offer, help you get the inspections done, find the closing attorney, etc., etc.?
I don't think anyone needs an Agent to tell them if the home is attractive or not. That is a perception. A home that is attractive to you may not be attractive to the Agent. You should be looking at other things besides how attractive the home is. Yup. You are going to need lots of help.
Vicki
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