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For those of you seeking different areas to move to, here are the latest median home prices in Raleigh and surrounding areas (from Zillow.com). Don't know how accurate they really are but I thought this might be helpful.
For months, I have been watching the real estate listings for Chapel Hill and just as often thank our lucky stars that we found our bargain fixer-upper!
Are the prices actually that much higher in Chapel Hill for the same type of house? Or is it that there are more expensive homes that there used to be dragging the median up?
What do people think of the accuracy of Zillow? I have "zillowed" my own house , comparing it to the county and city estimates (which are evaluated every year) and the price it actually sold for, and it was always way off. Zillow can only use square footage from county websites, which is usually different from the values computed by realtors.
Are the prices actually that much higher in Chapel Hill for the same type of house? Or is it that there are more expensive homes that there used to be dragging the median up?
The prices really are that much higher....
It is a very desirable community, highest rated schools in the states,(with litte to no reassignment) well educated population in a university town.
Add to that mix, ALMOST NO new development. People WANT to live there and unlike Cary and Wake Co. there aren't new subdivisions going in every 5 minutes.
We couldn't have afforded to buy our house back for what it sold 3 years after we bought it.....we then bought a brand new house with 800 more square feet on a lot 4 times bigger and pocketed a significant amount of equity....
First of all...I disagree with Zillow on about 99% of my listings and the homes that I sell. They basically get their information from the county website, which often has the incorrect square footage.
Vicki is correct. Zillow is not a reliable method of tracking home prices at all. Not only are their alleged selling prices inaccurate, but their information is not up to date.
The only accurate way of knowing selling prices, or "comps" as we call them, is to speak with a professional Realtor who can give you a list of closed sales and the dates that the properties were conveyed. Sale prices vary tremendously within each neighborhood based on the amenities that each home has, or doesn't have. That is what the banks, the Realtors, and private appraisers use to set value.
Vicki is correct. Zillow is not a reliable method of tracking home prices at all. Not only are their alleged selling prices inaccurate, but their information is not up to date.
The only accurate way of knowing selling prices, or "comps" as we call them, is to speak with a professional Realtor who can give you a list of closed sales and the dates that the properties were conveyed. Sale prices vary tremendously within each neighborhood based on the amenities that each home has, or doesn't have. That is what the banks, the Realtors, and private appraisers use to set value.
I cant believe all the press this zillow site gets! It is SO inaccurate that people should not waste their time even visiting. That being said just check what houses are selling for and what they actually sell for. This is time consuming but easy, or use a realtor (best to do both).
Realtor.com seems to have comps on it but not sure how they obtain their information.
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zillow.....bad
