Please help - Advice "The Heights" (Bowie, Howe: for sale, real estate market)

[Spudinsky438]

We are relocating and not familiar with S.A. Found a house we like in The Heights on Inwood Heights Road. Very nice but I am concerned that the house has been on the market for 200 plus days and there are 4 houses for sale in the immediate neighborhood.

Are people fleeing this area for some reason? It seems like a nice established neighborhood, gated, great location, etc.

What am I missing?

[scuba steve]

Not to my knowledge... I moved here and bought in a different area within the last couple of weeks, and was told by multiple sources that the real estate market in the area seems to be divided into 3 pieces. Under about $200-225K which seems to be doing quite well, over $225K which is much slower, and the very high end which hasn't slowed at all. If I had to guess, I'd bet that the place you're looking at falls into the second group I described.

The house I bought was on the market a year. The reason it didn't sell was because the landscaping was overgrown, it was originally overpriced (back when the bushes and trees probably didn't obscure the house), and needed to be remodeled and cleaned. It was also empty. Is the house you're interested in like that? Honestly I think houses on the market a long time have the potential to be a great deal because the sellers may be more worn down by being on the market so long, keeping everything nice for showings if they still live there, or have moved on.

[Lauren0319]

I don't know!!! I live next door in Inwood.... we looked at a a home in the Heights... it just didn't fit the bill for us. The location is excellent- couldn't be better in my opinion. I think it's a lovely neighborhood. Great schools, nice and quiet. Well, for the most part. I will warn you that it is in line with airport traffic - like the airplanes. We do hear them. It doesn't bother me and you get used to it really quickly. However, if we're sitting outside, and a big plane comes over, we might have to stop our conversation for 10-15 seconds until it passes. Like I said, it doesn't bother us... I just wanted to give you the full picture Is the home you're looking in on the north or south side of Bitters? The south side will hear the plans more...

Anyway, I looked at over a hundred homes, seriously, and we are so pleased with our neighborhood and location. So, IMO, there is nothing wrong with the Heights.

GL! If you have any other questions, let me know!

[Bowie]

Inside 1604 is a good place to be in the North Central area. They may not be fleeing the neighborhood so much as they are fleeing their mortgage.

Homes in my North Central neighborhood used to sell in less than 10 days, on average. That number has crept up in the past 18 months, but I wouldn't say that my neighborhood is any less desirable.

There is one home here that was on the market for nearly a year. The owners left the state, so they should have been motivated sellers. They waited months to drop the price and it still took a few more months to sell. It takes some people longer than others to get motivated to drop their price.

[rd2007]

I had a coworker that made the mistake of buying a house that was under the flight path of SAT and he got killed when he sold.. I don't know the exact location, but that was about the price range he bought into. If I was a buyer, jetliners flying overhead would be an instant Nope!

[Lauren0319]

Originally Posted by rd2007

I had a coworker that made the mistake of buying a house that was under the flight path of SAT and he got killed when he sold.. I don't know the exact location, but that was about the price range he bought into. If I was a buyer, jetliners flying overhead would be an instant Nope!

Well, there are some neighborhoods that are worse than others. I wouldn't count out Inwood (any of them) because of that. And obviously most people don't as they are pretty desirable neighborhoods.
I just wanted the OP to be fully informed

[rd2007]

I could be just a little jaded from a past experience in Virginia Beach and living under the turn for NAS Oceana. That was back in the days of the A-6 Intruder and those things would rattle everything in the apartment and totally drown out all other noise.. yeah, that sucked

[Lauren0319]

Originally Posted by rd2007

I could be just a little jaded from a past experience in Virginia Beach and living under the turn for NAS Oceana. That was back in the days of the A-6 Intruder and those things would rattle everything in the apartment and totally drown out all other noise.. yeah, that sucked

LOL- no, no rattling!!! I can't hear them inside... and when we're outside, the only time it's noticeable is when a BIG plane flys over... and lucky for us, SAT doesn't get very many big planes.

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by Bowie

Inside 1604 is a good place to be in the North Central area. They may not be fleeing the neighborhood so much as they are fleeing their mortgage.

Homes in my North Central neighborhood used to sell in less than 10 days, on average. That number has crept up in the past 18 months, but I wouldn't say that my neighborhood is any less desirable.

There is one home here that was on the market for nearly a year. The owners left the state, so they should have been motivated sellers. They waited months to drop the price and it still took a few more months to sell. It takes some people longer than others to get motivated to drop their price.

What's the name of the neighborhood? What you said sounds just like what two neighbors I've talked to said about the area. It'd be a small world if we were in the same neighborhood and I bought the place you were talking about.

[Spudinsky438]

Thanks guys, this house is on North Inwood Drive.....listed at 459K but on the market for 200+ days. About 9 years old....but absolutely perfect condition. Is this house in the flight path?

One other thing...I pulled it up on the bexas county appraisal database and the the appraised value is 489,000 but with a HC cap reducing assessed value to 451,000. Question, what is the HC cap and does that transfer with house or is it based on the owner?