2023 Real Estate Observations (science, cancer, connection)

[newenglandgal123]

Well this Washington state homeowner looking to buy herself a second home in Boston got put in her place rather quickly! Offering $16K over list isn't going to win you the house here.....welcome to MA! PS- She has a paid off home in Seattle valued at over $1M, I certainly don't feel bad that she is having trouble trying to acquire a second home in Boston! https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ho...homes-ddc60f64

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Well this Washington state homeowner looking to buy herself a second home in Boston got put in her place rather quickly! Offering $16K over list isn't going to win you the house here.....welcome to MA! PS- She has a paid off home in Seattle valued at over $1M, I certainly don't feel bad that she is having trouble trying to acquire a second home in Boston! https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ho...homes-ddc60f64

A 35-year old stay at home widow who home schools her children. I wonder where she is looking to buy in the ~$700K range?

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by gf2020

A 35-year old stay at home widow who home schools her children. I wonder where she is looking to buy in the ~$700K range?

You can still find nice homes for $700K in MA (not in a W town though!). If I was her I'd just be happy and thankful to have a paid off $1M+ valued home in Seattle at age 35 and rent a condo here instead!

[robr2]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

You can still find nice homes for $700K in MA (not in a W town though!). If I was her I'd just be happy and thankful to have a paid off $1M+ valued home in Seattle at age 35 and rent a condo here instead!

Just speculating - life insurance payout from her spouse's death paid off the house.

I think it would be difficult home schooling and living in a condo with 4 kids. YMMV.

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

Well this Washington state homeowner looking to buy herself a second home in Boston got put in her place rather quickly! Offering $16K over list isn't going to win you the house here.....welcome to MA! PS- She has a paid off home in Seattle valued at over $1M, I certainly don't feel bad that she is having trouble trying to acquire a second home in Boston! https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ho...homes-ddc60f64

LoL why are they making a sob story about someone with a paid off house! They should have done a story about first time homebuyers who keep getting outbid.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by robr2

Just speculating - life insurance payout from her spouse's death paid off the house.

I think it would be difficult home schooling and living in a condo with 4 kids. YMMV.

I had a similar thought. And according to the article she is a mother of five.

She could afford it easily by selling her home, but her stated reason for not wanting to sell is probably not the real reason.

“I don’t want to just cash out to a developer for $1.2 million. I would love to just rent my house for a reasonable price to a family who needs it,” Cantu said. What kind of tenant would she like to get? “Someone who is just priced out of here because it’s gone crazy the last four years,” she said.

[Saguarogirl507]

"We’re not going to see mortgage rates back down to 3% ever in our lifetimes — it’s simply not in the cards,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, told MarketWatch. “Unless something catastrophic happened again.”

Sobering.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Saguarogirl507

"We’re not going to see mortgage rates back down to 3% ever in our lifetimes — it’s simply not in the cards,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, told MarketWatch. “Unless something catastrophic happened again.”

Sobering.

It depends on whether the Fed decides to use quantitative easing to push down mortgage interest rates ever again. If the Federal government isn't manipulating mortgage interest rates by buying enormous amounts of mortgage backed securities, it's unlikely we would ever see rates on 30 years much below 5 1/2%.


There is too much demand and too little new construction for it to be likely but the bottom could drop out of the housing market and a housing-driven severe recession could drive the Fed to resume buying pretty much all mortgage backed securities.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I personally would be able to deal with the mosquitoes for a few months. Whoever buys that house will never have to worry about anyone building around them.

It's a nice house but with the mosquitoes and the high voltage power lines, you couldn't pay me to live there.

[fabfan84]

Originally Posted by Saguarogirl507

"We’re not going to see mortgage rates back down to 3% ever in our lifetimes — it’s simply not in the cards,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, told MarketWatch. “Unless something catastrophic happened again.”

Sobering.

Yep. A lot of realtors telling clients "just refinance when rates go down again." While it is possible we'll see rates at to 3% again, it is also possible this is a structural shift and we won't see rates that low again for decades.