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I am considering relocating to the Boise area for a job offer.
We're looking for an area that is small kid friendly. Of course, good schools are a priority. I was wondering if it's feasible to expect to find a 3 bed, 2 bath home with a fenced yard basically anywhere within commuting distance to Boise for under $250K? I was told to expect some sticker shock in the Boise market right now. I seen plenty of options on Realtor.com, but I don't know if those are bad neighborhoods or what?
Also, any burbs you recommend? My DH would LOVE to be able to have a chicken coup. Are they allowed in residential areas?
Possible, yes. Easy, not really. There are currently only 91 houses active in MLS for all of Ada and Canyon counties under $250k that have 3/2 and a fenced yard. That is not very many considering that is the largest population base in the state, and without any other criteria. Median days on market for those 91 is only 8 days. So the few that are out there are selling fast. **Note, if I remove the criteria for fenced yard, the total jumps to 211. So it would be worth considering having more options and installing your own fence after the fact.**
Depends on what you define as "commuting distance" though. We had someone once who moved to Boise and just wanted to live within 2 hours of work, thinking that would include at least all of Boise. Well 2 hours here is a lot further than 2 hours back East. You could live in Mountain Home or even further and still commute in under 2 hours. Used to be you could live in Twin Falls and get anywhere in Boise in 2 hours, but traffic is heavier now.
As for chicken coops, you'd have to check the current city codes and the individual subdivision CCRs. Boise has one rule, Meridian has another, not sure about Nampa, Caldwell, Kuna, Star, Eagle, Middleton, etc, but they probably each have their own rules. The unincorporated county areas probably don't care, but you'd have to check. But then many HOAs have rules that limit further. The most common I've seen is either a flat out NOT allowed at all, or sometimes that hens are allowed, but not roosters.
My advice is this: in that price range have a firm idea of what you want and what you can compromise on and if you find a house that hits the majority of items on the wish list, don't stop to think about it. Get that offer in immediately.
Good houses with lots going for them, priced right, will probably sell the first day listed. You don't get to take a week to decide and compare because it will sell to someone else before you make up your mind.
Note: while realtor is a good site to study and prepare, be aware that some agents do not take their listing down or mark it pending when the house sells. So studying realtor dot com might make you think there are more houses available than there actually are.
Thank you. I've been warned that the market is incredibly hot right now. Are there local sites I could check out that might be more accurate than Realtor.com?
I know we won't get everything we want in that price range, but I think we have a pretty good handle on what's most important to us. We bought our current house during a really hot seller's market and ended up with a shoddy flipped house that's needed a lot of repairs. So, I think most important is not doing that again. We need a wooden privacy fence because of our dogs. I can't compromise on that. So, if there isn't a fence, there needs to be room in the budget to add one.
My current commute would be walkable if I didn't have to do daycare dropoffs. Commuting 2 hours sounds absolutely insane to me. I don't think I could consistently do much more than 30 minutes/day. I'm not a Californian.
Ok, at 30/day or 15 minutes per direction, you'd have to be within Ada county if you were working in Boise, and even then, you could be more. So Ada County, there are 34 that match your basic criteria today, or 63 if you are willing to put a fence in yourself. That is basically none. Even that number is artificially inflated. I just looked through them, and one is an auction that isn't marked as such, one is a manufactured house that isn't marked as such, one is on a street scheduled for widening that is losing part of the yard imminently, one says right in the listing that the backyard is totally dead and needs redone, at least two say they've had a tenant and need TLC, 7 are in Kuna or Star, which is pushing past what you are wanting for commute if you work in Boise, so that is at least 12 of 34 that aren't really great options. You really need to find an agent to work with. If you don't, you'll be seeing what everyone else saw a few days ago and will get beat out on everything.
You need to be set up so you get emails on what is new every day, you need to check those emails every day right away, and you need to be ready to look at any properties you are interested in THAT DAY. We've gotten in the habit of calling the agent before each showing to make sure they haven't accepted an offer already and just haven't changed MLS yet, even for listings that are 1 day old.
Ok, at 30/day or 15 minutes per direction, you'd have to be within Ada county if you were working in Boise, and even then, you could be more. So Ada County, there are 34 that match your basic criteria today, or 63 if you are willing to put a fence in yourself. That is basically none. Even that number is artificially inflated. I just looked through them, and one is an auction that isn't marked as such, one is a manufactured house that isn't marked as such, one is on a street scheduled for widening that is losing part of the yard imminently, one says right in the listing that the backyard is totally dead and needs redone, at least two say they've had a tenant and need TLC, 7 are in Kuna or Star, which is pushing past what you are wanting for commute if you work in Boise, so that is at least 12 of 34 that aren't really great options. You really need to find an agent to work with. If you don't, you'll be seeing what everyone else saw a few days ago and will get beat out on everything.
You need to be set up so you get emails on what is new every day, you need to check those emails every day right away, and you need to be ready to look at any properties you are interested in THAT DAY. We've gotten in the habit of calling the agent before each showing to make sure they haven't accepted an offer already and just haven't changed MLS yet, even for listings that are 1 day old.
Thanks! I'll start working with a realtor asap. We have to sell our house and I'm guessing contingent offers aren't accepted in a market like this. We might just have to rent for a while. Sucks with the dogs. Makes it so hard to find something.
Thank you. I've been warned that the market is incredibly hot right now. Are there local sites I could check out that might be more accurate than Realtor.com?
I know we won't get everything we want in that price range, but I think we have a pretty good handle on what's most important to us. We bought our current house during a really hot seller's market and ended up with a shoddy flipped house that's needed a lot of repairs. So, I think most important is not doing that again. We need a wooden privacy fence because of our dogs. I can't compromise on that. So, if there isn't a fence, there needs to be room in the budget to add one.
My current commute would be walkable if I didn't have to do daycare dropoffs. Commuting 2 hours sounds absolutely insane to me. I don't think I could consistently do much more than 30 minutes/day. I'm not a Californian.
LOL that's exactly what happened to me. I thought I could improve it but it turns out I'm not very good at that type thing so I'm just stuck with a shoddy house.
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