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Old 06-26-2012, 10:16 AM
 
19,198 posts, read 31,533,418 times
Reputation: 4014

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There is simply no such thing as a "real" or "true" value to a home. And if we were being honest about it, we'd have to admit that even within tract-developments where one stamped-out version of the same house is stacked up right next to all the others, the whole notion of "comparable" breaks down at some level and crumbles away. What people call the real estate market is made by what one particular buyer and one particular seller can agree upon with respect to one particular home. Then the process is started from scratch by some other buyer, some other seller, and some other home halfway across town. There is a night-and-day difference between commodities markets and real estate markets. You are not buying orange juice or porkbellies here. There is no uniformity, there are no set standards, there are no actual rules.
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Old 06-26-2012, 11:57 AM
 
1,344 posts, read 4,774,976 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by saganista View Post
There is simply no such thing as a "real" or "true" value to a home. And if we were being honest about it, we'd have to admit that even within tract-developments where one stamped-out version of the same house is stacked up right next to all the others, the whole notion of "comparable" breaks down at some level and crumbles away. What people call the real estate market is made by what one particular buyer and one particular seller can agree upon with respect to one particular home.
Amen...
I know its their business and can be astrong indicator of value, but most agents treats comps as the gold standard. 5-10 years ago, it seemed like a lot of new agents were getting into the business and didn't really understand how much a house was really worth, contributing, I feel, a bit to the housing bubble. One agent sets the price based on an inflated comp, another agent comes in, see's inflated comp and advises buyer to put in bid because area comps are that high. Access to easy money was a huge part of it, but not the only thing. New agents and buyers with a big blank check... horrible combination...
And I didn't even mention comps of 20-30 year old houses with questionable work done. I've seen some awful, awful (DIY?) remodels done with the house being priced up there with properly done remodels. "Granite counter top? check. SS appliances? check. Okay, $500,000"
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Old 06-26-2012, 06:24 PM
 
Location: My beloved Bluegrass
20,135 posts, read 16,242,226 times
Reputation: 28390
Quote:
Originally Posted by smarterguy View Post
And I didn't even mention comps of 20-30 year old houses with questionable work done. I've seen some awful, awful (DIY?) remodels done with the house being priced up there with properly done remodels. "Granite counter top? check. SS appliances? check. Okay, $500,000"
I have seen some horrendous DIY projects. But they aren't the worst; there is no way I would ever buy a flipped house. Things may look okay cosmetically but no consideration is given to quality, let alone long term durability, which at least most DIY people who had to live in the house want to achieve.
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Old 06-28-2012, 04:36 PM
 
979 posts, read 1,781,027 times
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Originally Posted by Oldhag1 View Post
I have seen some horrendous DIY projects. But they aren't the worst; there is no way I would ever buy a flipped house. Things may look okay cosmetically but no consideration is given to quality, let alone long term durability, which at least most DIY people who had to live in the house want to achieve.
We bought a flip. We did, of course, have an inspection, and checked out a LOT of things ourselves (we were not first time homebuyers), and it's working out very well for us so far. It's nice to have those granite countertops and SS appliances without having to deal with the shopping, buying, installing, etc., ourselves, especially since we are not the DIY types, so every project we "do" has to have labor factored in as well.
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Old 07-01-2012, 11:07 PM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,782 posts, read 15,839,357 times
Reputation: 10894
Quote:
Originally Posted by 5150traveler View Post
The real bargan is the current mortgage rates - buy now and boast to your kids later.
Ha ha. When rates are high, we can boast about the great CD rates we got. My dad still talks about his 15% CDs from the early 80's.
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Old 10-10-2012, 07:16 PM
 
Location: Old Town Alexandria
14,492 posts, read 26,644,335 times
Reputation: 8971
Question ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldhag1 View Post
I have seen some horrendous DIY projects. But they aren't the worst; there is no way I would ever buy a flipped house. Things may look okay cosmetically but no consideration is given to quality, let alone long term durability, which at least most DIY people who had to live in the house want to achieve.
well since you claim to live in NoVa and work there, do you own a house? Give an example for posters to compare.
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Old 10-10-2012, 07:42 PM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,330,425 times
Reputation: 6922
Sell at list, buy at 10% below.
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Old 10-11-2012, 12:09 PM
 
Location: My beloved Bluegrass
20,135 posts, read 16,242,226 times
Reputation: 28390
Quote:
Originally Posted by dreamofmonterey View Post
well since you claim to live in NoVa and work there, do you own a house? Give an example for posters to compare.
I just recently moved here and yes, we bought a house. I really don't know what exactly you are asking for. While we were house hunting we saw some scary "upgrades". Things like tiling jobs with the edges not tiled, paint jobs that looked like a 12 year old was given it as a chore, a bathroom remodel that resulted in a grown man being unable to comfortably be able to sit without his knees touching cabinets, and all kinds of crap jobs. I'm just saying that I would never buy a flipped house - to each their own. I don't get the hostile tone my friend, I looked back at my post and nothing I said should have elicited it.
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