Quote:
Originally Posted by suedonym
are you in the area or looking from outside?
with a good agent, and the right house and seller, i imagine you can get a good deal on something. However, a lot of sellers still have the mentality of what THEY think their house is worth as opposed to what the market (ie: buyers) think their house is worth.
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This might be a large part of our problem. And THAT is what is what prompted my first post. We made an offer on a house in a great neighborhood (loved the neighborhood, the house was just okay, no flood plain though so DH was happier). The comps, furnished by the selling agent, were $289K in the neighborhood, $305K foreclosure 1/2 mile outside the neighborhood, and $330K (that house had an in ground pool) 2 miles away.
So after negoiating a bit our top offer was $305K. They declined, they wanted $325K. We just didn't like the house enough. The selling agent went on to say in an email to our agent that back in January 2010 houses were going for $400K. Of course our first and only response to that was well unfortuantely we are in March 2011 and even your best comp doesn't get anywhere near that.
Background, DH has a job which we moved here for a year ago. Seems stable although as you know in today's world anything could happen. I also have a job but am "under employed". I work part-time and want to work full-time. So we are both working. Living in an apartment surrounded by college kids which amazingly enough hasn't been bad at all but after a year we are ready for a house again.
We would like to stay in Wilmington (DH works close to downtown) as we want to minimize the commute for DH as much as possible. We have almost ruled out Leland entirely because of the having to drive over the bridge. DH spent 10 years working in Atlanta with an 1 1/2 hour commute each way into downtown so he is really enjoying being able to get to work in 10-15 minutes and be home by 5:30 pm when his day allows for it.
Our budget is 300K. It seems low for this area I have to admit but we don't want to go any higher. We have looked everywhere from Carolina Beach (our agent keeps telling us stuff in Carolina Beach is priced right and selling right now) to Odgen. We don't like the Odgen area as much but of course if we found the right house then we deal with Market street traffic. School for our daughter is taken care at least for the time being.
DH is an engineer so flood plain, drainage issues, site design, etc is right up his alley. He knows what he wants in house and I think our agent is somewhat frustrated with us in that we are being so particular. He and I have done lots of "projects" and aren't afraid to rip up floors and lay down hardwood, tile, paint, etc.
We love Wilmington and are very happy to be here. It is a great city with alot to offer and we have throughly enjoyed exploring the area this last year and cannot wait to venture out some more this summer. We have yet to make up to the Outer Banks and I am chomping at the bit for a couple of trips up there to explore.
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