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Sorry to have gotten baited way off topic...the issues I see for LI home sales are pretty tangible:
1. While advertised mortgage rates are super-low, most articles state that lenders are not giving those rates. If you need a mortgage at all you probably can't get that lowest rate.
2. Lenders are not as loose about giving mtgs. to houses with permit or CO issues and many on LI have them. Buyers are looking for big concessions or shying away completely. Sellers are forced to make those concessions or spend months or years rectifying CO issues. It's a big drain on potential closings.
3. Even after a steep decline, LI housing stock is still overpriced based on age and condition of homes. Most need renovations upon purchase and are older stock. There is little "built in 2008" stock like in Florida, Nevada, Arizona and other hard hit regions.
On the reverse side of that, when prices even begin to "bottom" on LI, the speculators and contractors (flippers) will start buying up everything in sight and the prices will artificially go up again. Is it really "artificial" when this is a recurring cycle? There is little land for development (especially in Nassau) so when the investors start buying, that is a good sign. So far, that only seems to be happening with foreclosures and even then the really dilapidated ones that can be had for under $200k.
just my opinion.
If you like a place and can swing a deal with a good mortgage, it's a decent time to buy. Not perfect, but good. A heck of alot better than 2007!
All houses are different but in general if you have extra cash in the pocket for renovations it might save money to get a foreclosure instead of a flipped house? I'm sure the flipped house will be priced for more money than the cost of renovations + the original house cost and the quality of work will be in question.
Sorry to have gotten baited way off topic...the issues I see for LI home sales are pretty tangible:
1. While advertised mortgage rates are super-low, most articles state that lenders are not giving those rates. If you need a mortgage at all you probably can't get that lowest rate.
2. Lenders are not as loose about giving mtgs. to houses with permit or CO issues and many on LI have them. Buyers are looking for big concessions or shying away completely. Sellers are forced to make those concessions or spend months or years rectifying CO issues. It's a big drain on potential closings.
3. Even after a steep decline, LI housing stock is still overpriced based on age and condition of homes. Most need renovations upon purchase and are older stock. There is little "built in 2008" stock like in Florida, Nevada, Arizona and other hard hit regions.
On the reverse side of that, when prices even begin to "bottom" on LI, the speculators and contractors (flippers) will start buying up everything in sight and the prices will artificially go up again. Is it really "artificial" when this is a recurring cycle? There is little land for development (especially in Nassau) so when the investors start buying, that is a good sign. So far, that only seems to be happening with foreclosures and even then the really dilapidated ones that can be had for under $200k.
just my opinion.
If you like a place and can swing a deal with a good mortgage, it's a decent time to buy. Not perfect, but good. A heck of alot better than 2007!
Very true.
As for flippers, if you look at the pics on the real estate sites, you will see a lot of empty homes with no furniture, shiny wood floors and new appliances (all signs of flippers). I think these days a lot of flippers are "stuck" with their purchases, paying the property taxes and insurance while they wait for it to sell. If things "bottom" they might not be so keen to keep on buying more while they are still stuck with their former flip projects. Just a thought.
Rule #1 - Buy when YOU are in a good position to buy. Not when Joe Shmoe says it is.
Rates are at a all time low, another drop of 10%(40 k on average) is not that big of a difference. If your job is steady and your ready to buy then buy. Best move I ever did.
thank you everyone for all for their replies. i think i'm just going to buy a house 1st thing tomorrow morning.
i'm sick and tired of the place i'm renting...landlord has this untrained dog that barks 24/7 and no one cares to call the cops or tell the owner to do something to stop the barking.
i told the landlord that i'm annoyed of the barking and she tells me "it's a dog, what do you want me to do".
I am in the same boat. I ma in the process of buying a somewhat new home in Rockland County though. It was built in 2002 and I got it less than what the original owners paid for it. I still don;t know if it;s a good deal but I am willing to go ahead after waiting and looking at real estate for almost 2 1/2 yrs! But the positive outcome of my long wait, was that housing prces dropped drastically in the neighborhood I am looking at by at least $200,000 depending on the house. The problem is when I compare this house to the houses in other states like TX and FL, and then I note the price differences. Is it justified to pay so much to live in NY? Maybe, maybe not. I really can't tell you. I am tired of waiting ad the market will go down but I look to the bright side that it will rise again. Even afer a couple of yrs, inflation wil kick in and the amount we pay now, will be not as much then. I hope it helps....good luck..
Same story here. We went to see a house on Sat. The house has been on the market since July 7th. Now all of a sudden there are 3 competetive offers, and the listing agent says we won't even talk unless we come in at asking. The house sat for 2 months at the price it's at now - why the sudden increase in interest? It's not like they hosted an open house.
We put in an offer Sat night, but haven't heard back yet... We are walking if they counter our offer for asking price.
I wish the RE system was like eBay, so at least you can confirm that there is an offer/bid.
Got a response back on Monday after lunch. Another buyer also came in at asking price just like we did, but their "bid" was 100% cash to close in the 1st week of October. Oh well, I guess our search continues...
I'm thinking we lost to an investor or a contractor. We should see the house back on the market in 6mos with the price hike of $150k-$200k.
When I was looking I now see how shady the re agents are. I liked a house n put in an offer they told me there were two other offers and I was in the middle. I passed on increasing my offer but the house is still on the market and at a lower starting price. Looking back I feel the agents were tryin to cheat me hopin I would offer higher and increase their commission
When I was looking I now see how shady the re agents are. I liked a house n put in an offer they told me there were two other offers and I was in the middle. I passed on increasing my offer but the house is still on the market and at a lower starting price. Looking back I feel the agents were tryin to cheat me hopin I would offer higher and increase their commission
More likely they were trying to trick you to get the sale done because they knew that the owners wouldn't accept the offer. Either way, this lying is rampant.
By the way, now is a great time to LOOK for a house, because you will know by first smell who has problems with basements flooding after Irene.
If someone has a fresh dry basement now after all that rain, you are pretty good to go. My friends went back to look at a house a second time this weekend and the basement wreaked, where as a month ago it was fine.
When I was looking I now see how shady the re agents are. I liked a house n put in an offer they told me there were two other offers and I was in the middle. I passed on increasing my offer but the house is still on the market and at a lower starting price. Looking back I feel the agents were tryin to cheat me hopin I would offer higher and increase their commission
I'm almost 100% sure RE agents are not lying to you to increase their commission. 5% of 400,000 vs 5% of 390,000 is $500, and they personally don't see half of that. they'd much rather have a sure thing than a possiblity of an extra $100 in their pocket.
I'm sure that plenty of RE agents may bend the truth to get a higher number. Either in looking out for the client, or basically trying to get you higher to get a number the owner will accept.
The other thing is, having been through this as a seller, buyers show up and disappear. Some agents bring back people who LOVE the house, think its the best, tell my agent that we're going to see something in writing soon at X price, and then they find another house to fall in love with, or the wife's parents kill the deal, or the financing situation falls apart. I guess my point is, there are a lot of reasons why an "offer" doesn't go to contract, and why a contract doesn't go to close and in a lot of cases, its not lying.
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