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Old 10-08-2009, 10:36 AM
 
26 posts, read 99,248 times
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I wanted to get some opinions on the housing market, mainly Gwinnett County. I have read that sales are up. I think this might possibly be a result of all of the first time homebuyers taking advantage of the tax credit.

Do you think now is a good time to buy? or will prices continue to decline?

Thanks
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Old 10-08-2009, 10:49 AM
 
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Personally I don't think prices will fall much further but don't think they will increase much either. The key will be how the market reacts next spring and summer without the tax credit. I think now through 2010 is an excellent time to buy. Home affordability is at a high we haven't seen in a long time.
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Old 10-08-2009, 11:48 AM
 
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Most people that are buying right now are investors. Most people are jumping up and down to purchase homes over $300K. So a lot of the cheaper inventory is going pretty quickly. It just doesn't get any cheaper than what is out there right now. Doubt home prices will increase between now and next year.

I'm sure there will be another tax credit incentive but you will also see another waive of foreclosures as rates are set to re-set some time next year.
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Old 10-09-2009, 11:28 AM
 
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The economy is in such bad shape that I think it would be very difficult for prices to go up anytime soon.
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Old 10-09-2009, 01:00 PM
 
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I have been following about 28 homes in Gwinnett County for 2 months now, and I have seen a few of them drop in prices in the last couple of weeks.
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Old 10-09-2009, 01:09 PM
 
Location: Atlanta, GA
1,262 posts, read 2,974,017 times
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There is now only one house within a mile of my house in foreclosure that's listed for sale, and one short sale. That has really helped in the listing price shock that we encountered through much of last year. Some houses were going for ridiculously cheap prices. In my area at least, I think things have kind of leveled out. Sustaining that is the real question.
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Old 10-09-2009, 03:55 PM
 
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What I don't get is how come some of these people didn't pay off their homes years ago? It is not like it cost $500K+?
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Old 10-09-2009, 04:24 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bayarea-girl View Post
What I don't get is how come some of these people didn't pay off their homes years ago? It is not like it cost $500K+?
B/c increasing real estate values turned people into thinking their houses were ATM machines. House you had a 15 yr note on at 150k house w/ 50k of equity on turns in a 200k house w/ 100k of equity b/c of all the hype in home buying. Now if you were needing a new car or maybe some remodeling, there were HELOC's at basically 0% real interest b/c all your neighboring houses sold for 200k. Virtually every refinance turned into a cash out refi w/ people banking on continued appreciation. Next thing you know people are back down to 50k of "equity" on a 30yr variable loan they think they can afford.

Drop prices back to long term equilibrium and these people have zeroed out on houses they've had for decades. Some people were so greedy and confident they managed massive negative equity on homes they've had forever. Roll this all in w/ fervor created by HGTV, Flip this House, Flipping Out, etc and everyone thinks they're going to be a millionaire by chasing renovations and leveraging their homes.

I bought this year and I have no expectations of growth for at least 4-5 years. Only reason I did it was I'm in fairly big need of some tax breaks and homes were cheap.
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Old 10-09-2009, 07:40 PM
 
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I've seen beautiful homes for less than $100K even $50K in GA at this moment and I'm wondering if these people are still taking out loans?

There are people I know personally who bought in GA homes years ago for like $50K, their mortgage payments were dreams for me to have as a renter. But now most of them have foreclosed. I know what happened but I just don't get it?
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Old 10-09-2009, 08:27 PM
 
1,114 posts, read 2,349,235 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bayarea-girl View Post
I've seen beautiful homes for less than $100K even $50K in GA at this moment and I'm wondering if these people are still taking out loans?

There are people I know personally who bought in GA homes years ago for like $50K, their mortgage payments were dreams for me to have as a renter. But now most of them have foreclosed. I know what happened but I just don't get it?
Greed? Did they buy a whole bunch of homes at 50k or just one? If it's just one, they likely have very terrible work situations or were just out of their minds in other debt.

My g/f is a flight attendant and some of her coworkers have been buying homes down south of the airport for next to nothing. One got a 4bdr townhouse for $36k and another got a SFH for under 50k. Probably not great neighborhoods and the homes need work but as a % of income those homes are dirt cheap and I'm sure they could get a loan for them. They're even renting them out to other flight attendants for cheap housing. Of course the schools don't work and there's crime but it's cheaper than renting in roughly the same area and they're building credit and maybe even some equity.

My brother was considering buying up a few really cheap homes as rentals down on the southside but becoming a slumlord just didn't seem that appealing.
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