Housing Changes (Billings, Bozeman, Laurel: for sale, foreclosure, to rent) - Montana (MT) - City-Data Forum

georgiainwyo · 10-05-2008, 09:14 PM

We moved from MT to WY about 2 months ago. I'd like opinions of those in MT about what's going on with housing there these past couple of months. When we first put our house in Laurel on the market we had almost no one looking at it. Now, all of a sudden, there have been quite a few "lookers". Do you think people were waiting for the market to change & are now feeling that things have settled down a bit? Or do you think people are just thinking about winter being right around the corner so if they're going to buy they should do it now or else wait til spring? I'm stumped. Our house is a very cute, recently remodeled home in what we feel is a good price range ($140K's) so we thought it would sell sooner. I know what our realtor is telling us, but I'd like some personal opinions, especially from those around the Billings area! Thanks, all.

bigtrees · 10-05-2008, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GEORGIAINMT

Our house is a very cute, recently remodeled home in what we feel is a good price range ($140K's) so we thought it would sell sooner.

It really makes me laugh when I see home prices back in eastern Montana. 140k is cheap! I live in Seattle where the average price is around $500k and that's for a sorta dumpy 1980's ramber. You have to spend $600k - $800k out here to get a decent house.

But of course, I can always Bozeman and Western Montana and remember that Billings prices aren't found everywhere in the state.

BitterrootBob · 10-07-2008, 02:12 PM

Getting a loan for a house in that range is becoming more difficult by the hour. It is in a great price bracket to sell but without 20% down a loan may be impossible.

Best of luck.

jimj · 10-08-2008, 07:06 AM

What you're seeing is what's been going on for the last 8 months or so. $0 to $200k are moving almost normally, $200 to $300k somewhat slower, $300 to $800k dead in the water and $800 to $$$$$ moving but at a slower pace than a couple of years ago.
We just pulled ours off and we heard over and over "we'd buy yours when ours sells" and theirs never does so ours never did.

TangoInUniform · 10-11-2008, 12:27 AM

I live in Billings. It has been a very tough market lately. See this city-data graph:

//pics4.city-data.com/ctrends/ctr12106.png

Sales are down quite a bit, and supply is high. There are complex factors going into both of these, but the end result is that the OFHEO reported that house prices were down slightly in the second quarter of 2008 (3Q figures come out in November).

Many people have pulled out of the market waiting for it to come back. In my opinion, it's not going to come back anytime soon. Credit is tightening, and the economy will likely worsen even here in Montana. Housing seems due for a correction.

Very interesting that you've seen increased activity lately. Maybe sales are picking back up. Lookers aren't worth too much, though-- have you seen any offers? If not, you'll need to lower your price in order to compete with the 750+ houses for sale in Billings and Laurel.

bigtrees: That's nice, and we hear that a lot ("Your houses are so cheap!"), but look at our wages.. very low compared to major cities. Housing was always cheap here, and it's actually quite high now compared to 10 years ago.

georgiainwyo · 10-11-2008, 11:11 AM

Yes, we've lowered our price. We started at $150K, then to $147K, now down to $144,900. We can't go down much further just to break even as we've only had the house 2 years. Another house just went on the market on our street for $149K. It's a bit bigger but doesn't have a garage (ours is big) or the remodeling ours does. These are the only two homes in Laurel that are close to the same price range. PLEASE..........pray that someone comes along & wants our home soon!!!!!

TangoInUniform · 10-11-2008, 01:32 PM

Georgia,

Hmm.. So how bad do you want to have a long-distance house? Your options now:

1. Hold onto it and wait/hope for a better market. This may or may not happen in the next few years. You can attempt to rent it during that time to recover some of your expenses.

2. Unload it at current market price. Keep dropping until you find that price. This may mean a loss, but again, the question: What are you willing to do to get out of a long-distance house?

Looking at the price of a similar house for sale is one thing, but what houses are actually moving, and for what prices? Any good recent comps from your Realtor? I'm not sure what your Realtor has been saying about the market, but house prices have dropped slightly in Billings. It's hard to say where they will go from here. See the graphs here:

Billings Housing Market: As anticipated...

That's what your situation looks like to me, but only you can decide what you need to do. Good luck!

Rickers · 10-11-2008, 07:19 PM

I have a place that I haven't even bothered to list with a realtor yet. I put an ad on CL and got four sniffers right off the bat. I showed it to one yesterday. The "swoop and scoopers" are sniffing and flexing their wings.

Timberwolf232 · 10-12-2008, 12:14 AM

Here it comes.... This is going to be an interesting winter. Fuel is coming down a bit, but remember they are trying to find the maximum price that people can afford and still be able to work, the idea is to find that perfect price to make sure most people can't get ahead, but also that most people don't need welfare.

But hey, they can make sure that the same people that can't get ahead can still afford to bail the bankers out... God forbid they have to sell that 2'nd or 3'rd luxury home.

Dynastar · 10-14-2008, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GEORGIAINMT

We moved from MT to WY about 2 months ago. I'd like opinions of those in MT about what's going on with housing there these past couple of months. When we first put our house in Laurel on the market we had almost no one looking at it. Now, all of a sudden, there have been quite a few "lookers". Do you think people were waiting for the market to change & are now feeling that things have settled down a bit? Or do you think people are just thinking about winter being right around the corner so if they're going to buy they should do it now or else wait til spring? I'm stumped. Our house is a very cute, recently remodeled home in what we feel is a good price range ($140K's) so we thought it would sell sooner. I know what our realtor is telling us, but I'd like some personal opinions, especially from those around the Billings area! Thanks, all.

That's a tough spot to be in, Georgia. No one has a crystal ball, but I think prices are heading down in the Billings area for the next year or two. Our prices may be "cheap", but our incomes are also low. A recent report in the Gazette said that in Yellowstone County home prices are up by 80% since '98 while incomes are up by only 22%. That's a big gap. With the carnage in out of state markets, especially California, there aren't as many house-rich out of staters looking to snap up some "cheap" Montana property.

If prices are heading down it would be better to cut your asking price aggressively (maybe 2.5k a week?) and sell at a smaller loss rather then wait and sell down the road at a larger loss. The longer your house sits on the market the more mortgage and utility payments you'll have to make too. If it's just not possible for you to sell at a loss foreclosure or a short sale is always an option too, but I think you'd want to talk to a lawyer first before you go down that road.

For myself, my family is going to be moving to Billings in early '09. I've been tracking a dozen or so homes in the Billings area that I like and asking prices are steadily being cut, 5k here 5k there. It seems like a very soft market. We might try making a low-ball offer on one house that we particularly like, but if that doesn't pan out we'll be renting for the first year to give prices some time to drift down.