Bottom Fishing--Lowest priced homes. (Fairfax: bank owned, sales, real estate)

[DavidS827]

You need more accurate information. That home was withdrawn from the market today. It is a short sale, so it's anyone's guess as to why the realtor lowered the price 74k the same day they took it off the market...

I did some more research on that home and it looks like something fishy was going on there. The original realtor had it listed for 279 as short sale. It didn't sell, the house went into foreclosure and a new realtor has it listed (PW6617931) at 245. The funny thing is that the old realtor never took it out of the system (a big no-no) and then dropped the price right before it was marked as withdrawn.....hmmmm

[EricD]

I know it's not technically Northern VA, but I live in Ladysmith Village (In Ladysmith, Caroline) and there's a new construction home down the street from me which is going for $239k. It's a month or two away from being finished, and it's on a corner lot, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a 2 car garage.

Even though we're not that far north, a lot of people commute from here to NoVa or even DC. It's about 1 mile from I-95, with only 1 traffic light in the middle. Exit 110, so you can do the math on the commute. But at least traffic is usually fine until you pass Quantico, and by then there's HOV lanes.

[DavidS827]

Originally Posted by El General

And there is a SFR in Gainesville for 280K. No matter how you spin it; it's still PW County.

You're right...there is one...WOW!!!! There are homes in Fairfax and Loudoun for 280 or less too...so what's your point?
...and when you search for homes...don't waste your time with realtor.com...it's outdated and virtually useless..IMO.

[El General]

I used ziprealty. You made my points for me; 1) you can't trust others to steer you in the direction of lower priced homes, 2) home prices have fallen a lot more than people are willing to admit--especially in the outer suburbs (ie. Gainesville, aka West Woodbridge). As far as your allegations that a realtor is involved in some fishy tactics with the MLS, I just can't imagine someone from such an ethical group; doing something unscrupulous.

[HEATHER72]

Originally Posted by El General

(ie. Gainesville, aka West Woodbridge)

*shakes head*

[DavidS827]

The only thing I proved was that your information was inaccurate and that, as usual, your comments lack merit.

[ShannonMilligan]

Originally Posted by El General

Twinmma, I hate to spoil your equity, but my findings for Ashburn are quite a bit different than yours. In 20147, there is a nice condo for 154,900--that's 115K less than you stated. There is a sporty TH for 239,900, 3 br 3.5 bth--that's 135K less than you stated. A nice SFR will run you 389K--that's 90K less than you stated.

I think we may have different definitions of nice...I have not seen a SFH in Ashburn for under $475K or so...and at that price they are pretty small and need some work. For me, nice is (and this is ME...not saying you don't like "nice" just saying different) 4bed, 2.5 or more baths, formal living room, dining room, family room, kitchen with at least corian counters, at least 2300sqft, a finished basement, a fireplace, a spacious master bath with upgrades, and a yard that is at least .15.

edit to say: and a home that is not a 55 community and one that is not a short sale and one that is not in one of the older, run down neighborhoods in Ashburn (and yes, those do exist. )

[normie]

Well, I hope your findings are true... and that you are taking advantage of your bottom fishing. If you are truly finding homes for those prices, you should be pulling out the checkbook. You have found some bargains that are rare indeed.

[claude henry smoot]

The folks that run this site http://novabubblefallout.blogspot.com/ keep a running tab on the top discounts in the area. Top discounts across the board are around 40-50% off. I assume most of those big discounts are foreclosures. Wait until those foreclosure prices start to eat away at other homes for sale in the same neighborhood...

According to the various mortgage reset schedules floating around the web, we've just started this ride! Google Image Search "mortgage resets". The green/yellow Credit Suisse chart is the most recent. There are billions of dollars in Alt-A and Option ARM products that will be hitting their first resets from 2009 until 2011. Many of these loans were made at the height of the bubble in 2005-2006. Lots of those folks are going to be upside down in their mortgages as home values decline. Who knows how many of them will be able to afford the increase in mortgage payments. Point being, we haven't even begun to see the effects of this deflating bubble yet. The bulk of subprime mortgages haven't even seen their first reset yet - we're really only 4-6 months into the subprime situation and we're already seeing 50% off homes popping up here and there. The chart shows us emerging from the subprime waste in late 2008, just in time to start dealing with Alt-A and Option ARMs. I think it's going to be a long ride.

There's an audio link on the front page of Bloomberg right now - the analyst being interviewed (Alex Barron, I believe) is expecting "a number" of homebuilders to file for bankruptcy in 2008, and (surprisingly) expects prices to bottom out when they return to 2002 levels. That's the furthest decline I've seen predicted to this point. I'd be surprised to see things get that bad here in Fairfax (I'm still thinking 2003-04 seems like a "fair" landing zone), but you never know I guess - lots of unknowns in this mess. Btw, DC Metro is actually mentioned in the interview as having a long way to go.

[ariadel]

I recently saw a 4br 2.5 bath for 180k in Herndon 20170, but it's gone now. I'm not sure how to tell if something was removed from the market or sold, the MLS ID was FX6595602, I think.

Also, if realtor.com is unreliable, can anyone recommend me other good sites to skim for houses?