Home prices in Vancouver FYI (Salmon Creek, Camas: hardwood floors, real estate, to rent)

[KristinRN1234]

If you're thinking about moving to the Vancouver, WA area, you should know it is less expensive than Portland, but just minutes away. As for cost, an older, smaller ranch (3b, 1-2ba) might sell for around $250k in an 'okay' area. In an average mid- to upper-middle class neighborhood, a 4b, 2-3ba could be anywhere from $250-500k depending on age and condition of the house and size of the yard. For instance, we have a 5b, 3ba, 2660 sq ft with a 9500 sq ft lot in Salmon Creek - forced air, gas appliances, hardwood floors - that was built in 2002 that we are getting ready to sell in a month or so that will likely be up for $375k. Many of the homes this size are on smaller lots. Inventory is low right now but slowly increasing as we get closer to spring/summer. I haven't seen many 4-5 bedrooms. There are some new homes being built but they are asking $450k and/or are on smaller lots.

[siliconimplant]

Which elementary schools in Vancouver, in your opinion, are good? I have looked at greatschools, but I'd like the opinion of an actual person who knows more than test scores.

We are looking to move this summer and will be in the area in April. If your house is listed by then, maybe we'll take a look!

[KristinRN1234]

I'm not familiar with the schools as my kids are college age. Sorry!

[Jane917]

We recently bought a home in Ridgefield. We looked all over Clark County in WA, Clackamas and Washington Counties in OR. We have kids living in Portland and wanted to be close but not too close. We found Clark County to be cheaper and more of what we were looking for in a single level home. We will be moving into our Ridgefield home soon and are very excited. Our kids are grown, but Ridgefield has great schools. I don't think I would like to move there if I were commuting to Portland daily(we are retired), but I am sure it will meet our desire for a small friendly safe community. Since we put an offer on home in February, we have noticed homes are selling quite quickly.

[backdrifter]

As an addendum to what OP posted... For anyone who is looking in the lower end of the market (<$215k), there is immense competition. It's a seller's market at the moment and the 'good' homes are taking multiple offers very quickly and selling for well over asking. I heard of one buyer in the past month who put an offer on an attractive home for $25k over list price and her offer was not accepted. There are a lot of investors active in the Portland/Vancouver area and they are competing in this price range with traditional buyers and pushing up the prices. Things may be different higher up on the price ladder, but the lower end of the market is definitely squeezed right now. There was a home that was listed today in the downtown area, a beautiful craftsman bungalow in the low $200's and it was listed as pending only a few hours later. So it's tough out there. I am in the closing process on a home now and my offer was one of five in 48 hours. It's a bit crazy, but I was lucky that I still paid a fair price.

[silibran]

In the $300,000-$350,000 range the situation is much the same. A home in our subdivision was bought almost the day it was listed.

This is different from the market of 3 years ago.

I hate to think that so many homes are being bought by investors. But I suppose that is the way the wind is blowing.

[Mizeriqua]

I am in the process of buying in Vancouver, WA right now. Luckily, the seller accepted my offer over several others because I am coming from out of state and allowing seller to rent back the property. Anyways, my realtor, a very experienced and fabulous agent, who has been selling in Vancouver for 15+ years, told me she was so glad that I made this choice becuase the market in the area is HOT and homes are selling same day, inmany cases, and homes are going for over asking price. I was looking in Portland and I was told to expect to pay at least $20k over asking and that I would be competing with a dozen offers everytime, many of them cash offers. Luckily for me, my office will be in Vancouver. I am so excited to get there!

[siliconimplant]

We just spend last week house hunting in Vancouver. We did find several options, but coming from the silicon valley it was hard to know how to handle our offers. Houses seem reasonable by comparison, but I don't want to be the idiot from CA over-paying for houses and driving up home values artificially.

One was priced far above comps for the area and we ended up just not messing with it. It had been sitting for a while because it was priced too high for the area/square footage, but apparently the seller was unwilling to reduce the price, so it was just going to sit for a while. In the meantime, a house showed up Saturday morning priced at the low end of the comps for the square footage. We asked to see it that day, made an offer that day, and it was accepted today.

Also, be warned: twice I found houses I liked that listed the incorrect schools. CHECK THE SCHOOLS with the county records--do NOT believe the listings!

Based on the sold homes my realtor showed me to help guide our offer, I'd say homes are selling at or below asking price still. Perhaps, though, that is more an indication that people don't always know how to price their homes, and maybe they are getting better at it? This is a hot time of year for real estate anywhere.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by siliconimplant

Based on the sold homes my realtor showed me to help guide our offer, I'd say homes are selling at or below asking price still. Perhaps, though, that is more an indication that people don't always know how to price their homes, and maybe they are getting better at it? This is a hot time of year for real estate anywhere.

Might also be a function of where in the city you're looking. I haven't priced purchases in Vancouver in a few months, but Vancouver is a pretty broad swath of turf with lots of different micro-climates.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Cascade Park/Mill Plain (or Camas) was scorching hot and Barberton or Hazel Dell were tepid, for example.

[hml1976]

Homes in our neighborhood in Camas 400-550k are pending in a day or two. I believe 5 in the last two or three weeks.