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They'll also laughably downplay their budget when coming to these boards.
"We're looking for a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath home is a nice community, commutable to NYC."
"What's your budget?"
"Oh not much...just $800K"
keep in mind a 1br in nyc is around 600k-800k, so i dont think it's that ridiculous. It's the same as if nnjer went to the middle of kansas and said oh not much, budget is $500k...
And if you are interpreting the taxes on houses you love as being insane, then quite honestly you are looking outside your price range. If you look in your financial comfort zone instead of your esthetic comfort zone, you will be able to buy a house without getting killed by taxes. Older homes cost less to buy and less in taxes, so look for a well maintained smaller and older home.
It's counterproductive and discouraging to even look at homes that are not totally within your financial comfort wheelhouse. All that will do is cause you to never buy anything because homes you can afford don't measure up to ones you can't. I've seen that many times.
This really depends on the town, since property taxes vary town-to-town. You can buy a 300K house in one town and a 600K house in a different town and have the same tax bill. In that case, the taxes on the 300K house truly are insane, right?
Not sure that I understand the relevance of the house being paid off to the price she is asking, if it is priced right then the market will support it and if not, then it will sit unsold until the price is lowered. Knowing the market well, I can tell you that 429k is on the low end in Cranford so it should see at least some buying activity regardless of how outdated the decor is.
Precisely my point! The house is not priced right, hence, it has been on the market for six months or more. As far as the fact of the house being paid off is concerned, I just wanted to reinforce the OP's primary points. In other words, not only people who bought overpriced homes are selling their homes on the high end today, but also those who bought decades ago.
I've been on the market for a house for a good while now. And all I have heard ad nauseum is that it is a buyer's market. Well, someone didn't get this message over to the sellers. I don't think it is a buyer's market but rather I think there exists a stalemate between buyers and sellers. I think there are two main categories of people:
1) People who refuse to accept the realities of the economic climate/real estate market. I think these people bought their homes when prices were low (80s, 90s) and didn't put much into their homes. While perhaps their homes are clean and well maintained, stepping foot inside is like stepping foot inside a 1985 model home. Now the home is outdated, older, and a bit more worn. However, they cling onto the thought that they can "make a ton" when selling their home and that Jane down the street, who sold her house 6 years ago, doubled her money, so why shouldn't they? They paid $200 K and now want $400 K for a home they put nothing into because others got that 5,6,7 years ago.
2) People that overpaid for their homes or bought their homes during the prime of the real estate boom and as a result, they have a severely overpriced listing price. They might have paid $500K for their home in 2005 and are now looking to begrudingingly sell for $460K, not realizing a fair market value in today's market might suggest a listing of $380K.
Thoughts?
Right on, don't buy unless you can get 40% off 2005 peak prices. That is what I did, but then again I live in newark and its not easy finding 40% percent off homes in nice areas
Definitely a buyers market in the urban centers. Newark has nearly 20 months of inventory right now for single family homes. Oddly, prices have not dropped in the last year in Newark, even with all the excess inventory. However, prices cannot remain stable with so many homes on the market. A drop is likely soon.
Westfield though, another story. Seriously different. Right now there is only 5 months of inventory, and the median home price in Westfield was $631,000 last year and $660,000 for the past 12 months. So, if anyone is waiting for price decreases and better buying conditions in Westfield for the Spring market, you can forget about it. It's quite strong.
Cranford? Only 4.8 months of inventory, but values have been stable. The median home price in Cranford last year was $417,300. For the last 12 months it has been $420,000. So basically unchanged. However, the same buying advice holds true. There will be no decreases in Cranford for the Spring market, and possible light increases.
Interesting data given all the doom and gloom.
Thing is in newark location means more than anything, past bergen st is no mans land and they can drop the prices all they want, only desperate people would live there. In nice areas like society hill prices are holding up strong except for the 1 unit condos that are getting foreclosed
Me and my wife have also been actively looking for the past 12 months in Middlesex/Somerset and Mercer (along NEC). There have been NUMEROUS houses that we saw last summer (August) that were priced extremely high, which then disappeared, only to reappear in the last month with the same asking prices. One thing to realize that in the past 6 months or so, interest rates have gone from 4.3% to over 5%.
Another thing that we are seriously worried about is TAXES. We are seeing 1800-2200 sq ft houses from 300k to 400k with tax bills ranging from 8-11k. With all of the budget deficits going on in this state, and the only way they know how to fix them is buy sticking it to the taxpayers and raising there taxes. Its funny, on various sites like trulia zillow, etc, they list the property taxes by year, and EVERY YEAR bam, you see a few hundred dollar increase. Usually looks like this...
2007: 8000
2008: 8400
2009: 8900
2010: 9300
We dont even have kids yet. And they are going to bump the taxes EVERY year. Pretty soon, every town is going to be like West Orange. Raise taxes, house value goes down proportionately. I'm seriously down about housing in general. Every house we LOVE ends up having an insane tax bill. Its very frustrating. Wish I could rent forever.
another reason why i moved to society hill in newark, i have no kids yet and our taxes are low and abated
And if you are interpreting the taxes on houses you love as being insane, then quite honestly you are looking outside your price range. If you look in your financial comfort zone instead of your esthetic comfort zone, you will be able to buy a house without getting killed by taxes. Older homes cost less to buy and less in taxes, so look for a well maintained smaller and older home.
It's counterproductive and discouraging to even look at homes that are not totally within your financial comfort wheelhouse. All that will do is cause you to never buy anything because homes you can afford don't measure up to ones you can't. I've seen that many times.
This is indeed a very good advice. However, the current income levels do not support the asking prices of these homes. My wife and I have never believed in living above our means. But we are at a time where we are forced to live below our means.
This really depends on the town, since property taxes vary town-to-town. You can buy a 300K house in one town and a 600K house in a different town and have the same tax bill. In that case, the taxes on the 300K house truly are insane, right?
depends on what you get for those taxes doesn't it?
This is indeed a very good advice. However, the current income levels do not support the asking prices of these homes. My wife and I have never believed in living above our means. But we are at a time where we are forced to live below our means.
do you truly believe that? whose current income levels? sure, the economy got bad, more homes went up for sale, but they are being purchased, and inventory times are decreasing in many towns. so someone's income level is hitting it isn't it?
depends on what you get for those taxes doesn't it?
For sure. Which is why a lot of people are bolting out of NJ as soon as their kids are not in school anymore etc.
My point was that property taxes are highly regressive, so just saying people should stay within their means is an oversimplification.
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