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There are so many outright junky houses for sale in Wilmington, and very little else, when you look below $285,000 -- and what idiotic city/county officials allowed all the builders to rip out every single tree for the past 2 decades as they built swaths of houses to bake in the sun?
Completely sick of looking for a house in this town. If we were willing to commute half an hour or more out toward Ogden or Middle Sound Loop, from jobs near 17th st and Dawson, then sure, but any closer than that and our price range limits us to an old brick ranch, a tract house with no shade at all in the yard, or a house in a bad neighborhood where people park eight cars on their lawn.
There are so many outright junky houses for sale in Wilmington, and very little else, when you look below $285,000 -- and what idiotic city/county officials allowed all the builders to rip out every single tree for the past 2 decades as they built swaths of houses to bake in the sun?
Completely sick of looking for a house in this town. If we were willing to commute half an hour or more out toward Ogden or Middle Sound Loop, from jobs near 17th st and Dawson, then sure, but any closer than that and our price range limits us to an old brick ranch, a tract house with no shade at all in the yard, or a house in a bad neighborhood where people park eight cars on their lawn.
Just venting.
i agree. land is very expensive in this part of NC, and you get little house for your money.
as to the treeless plain of ogden -- i agree on that as well. Even in newer,high-end neighborhoods where they make an attempt to keep the trees, they don't keep very many of them. I can only assume there's a financial reason for that.
Historically speaking the county was run by developers and their interests. Therefore we are like the "wild west" in terms of quality housing and infrastructure. caveat emptor.
keep looking in the 17 /college rd intersection.
our neighbors are putting their house up for less
than 250 on an acre of land, very close to college though so
traffic noise is given.
trees abound in our neighborhood.
what about down off river road?
lots of good little neighborhoods down that way.
There are so many outright junky houses for sale in Wilmington, and very little else, when you look below $285,000 -- and what idiotic city/county officials allowed all the builders to rip out every single tree for the past 2 decades as they built swaths of houses to bake in the sun?
Completely sick of looking for a house in this town. If we were willing to commute half an hour or more out toward Ogden or Middle Sound Loop, from jobs near 17th st and Dawson, then sure, but any closer than that and our price range limits us to an old brick ranch, a tract house with no shade at all in the yard, or a house in a bad neighborhood where people park eight cars on their lawn.
Just venting.
LOL......tell me about it. The land there is $$$$$. The lots just by themself in one subdivision I have looked at have a tax value of $200k according to online tax records. Combine that with higher insurance premiums associated with beach-side realty and you get this......
We have been looking for a house here since last fall. Betteraway we are almost in the exact same boat, both our jobs are in the same part of town as well. The news media keeps telling us real estate is cheap, deals abound for great houses, etc etc etc. Well apparently they haven't been to Wilmington.......we are leaving in an hour to go house hunting again.......DH is beyond irritated over it all but apartment life after almost a year has got to go. Everybody keeps telling us to go to Leland but coming from Atlanta we are trying to keep the commute as easy as possible and driving over the bridge everyday is just out of the question.
We feel your pain so at least you know you are not alone in your situation!
I just went into the MLS and pulled up current listings for Wilmington for single family homes built in 1990 or newer, at least 1500 square feet and no more expensive than $285k and there are 299 homes listed for sale in more than 120 different subdivisions. Eliminate homes below 2000 square feet and there are still 130 listings.
If you or the OP don't have an agent you need to hire one (it's free) because you won't get exposed to most of the listings unless you have agent representation. If you do have an agent and you can't find a newer home inside Wilmington that costs less than 285K when there are 299 listed for sale then you might need to fire your current agent and find another.
it's hard to get over the numbers that people are expecting.
looking at a listing right now, asking $240k. past sales were $187k in 2005, and $116k in 2001.
here's another nearby asking $225k. past sale was $140k in 2002.
here's another asking $215k, last sold in 2002 for $105k.
they all say 'renovated' but even still, it is hard for me to justify paying $75,000 or $100,000 extra for somebody else's renovation.
There are still lots of people that have unrealistic expectations about what their home will bring in the current market and they pay the price by having their home sit on the market for months or years unsold. However there are some fantastic deals out there too and not just on foreclosures or short sales. Also, asking price doesn't mean much in an extreme buyers market which is what we are in right now. I've seen numerous homes sell for more than 10% below asking price.
There are still lots of people that have unrealistic expectations about what their home will bring in the current market and they pay the price by having their home sit on the market for months or years unsold. However there are some fantastic deals out there too and not just on foreclosures or short sales. Also, asking price doesn't mean much in an extreme buyers market which is what we are in right now. I've seen numerous homes sell for more than 10% below asking price.
Hi CA.......yes we are on our 2nd agent now. I have a great example for you. Yesterday we went to a house in Raintree priced at 349K. The house was awful, outdated kitchen, needed new flooring and alot of TLC.
The backyard was very nice though, screened from the neighbors, lots of trees/nice landscaping, pool, tiki bar, etc. So we were guessing that is what they are basing their asking price on.........but DH is still just shaking his head.......comps in the neighborhood that our agent pulled had recent sales in the 270-280K range. We could see 270-280K for that neighborhood but definitely not the for the house we looked at yesterday.
It is stuff like this we are running into alot.......
From someone not a realtor, who recently sold and bought a house. Yes, it is a very tough market even for buyers. Houses are worth less than they were in the past and it is hard for sellers to accept this. In some cases where the sellers are underwater they cannot accept the fair market value of their house and still pay off their mortgage. In others there are sellers who are not really serious about selling, have their house on the market just in case someone will buy. That being said there are people who do need to sell and there are some nice houses out there. To echo what others have said, you need a very good buyers agent. Be sure to get an inspection. Be patient. Also,as you have noted, there are some junky houses. Go for something you like and if it is the house you want maybe it is right to get it even if it is a little more than rock bottom price -- houses needing a lot of work are not really a bargain and a place you don't want to live is just a mistake. Good luck!
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Combine that with higher insurance premiums associated with beach-side realty and you get this......
Well apparently they haven't been to Wilmington.......we are leaving in an hour to go house hunting again.......DH is beyond irritated over it all but apartment life after almost a year has got to go. Everybody keeps telling us to go to Leland but coming from Atlanta we are trying to keep the commute as easy as possible and driving over the bridge everyday is just out of the question.
