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My boyfriend and I don't live together, but we are pretty serious and talk about the kind of house we'd want to live in. We often drive around on the weekends looking at housing developments and checking out open houses all over Wake County.
He like country living and I want to live in the RBC tower in downtown - LOL! He's shown me some neighborhoods ITB that are amazing to me, because you feel like you're in a suburb outside of town, yet you're very near the downtown area! Of course, the prices of some of those houses are sort of shocking. An 1800 sq foot 1950s ranch house going for $400k + still seems sort of crazy to me.
Anyway, there is one for sale and having an open house this weekend and I'm excited about looking at it because although the house is small and rooms are small, it seems very nicely upgraded and has an amazing, big, landscaped, fenced-in back yard.
I probably shouldn't look at it because I'll get all excited and then feel sad because I know we aren't going to buy it - we're not married and I ain't living with another man unless he marries me, dag-nabbit. LOL
All this rambling and now I'm finally getting to the point. I understand that a big (I suppose the biggest) reason this old little house in a not-so-upscale-in-general-looking-neighborhood is going for over $400k is because of it's location. You can walk to Cameron Village and my boyfriend's office, and Fred Fletcher Park, and it's only a short distance away from Glenwood Ave South.
But I'm curious about something, my real-estate friends: If the house sold in 2005 for $292,000 and we are now in a very down RE market, how in the world could it be worth anything near $425,000? They did some nice upgrades inside, and the backyard is lush and green, but is that worth $133k? The house has been on the market I think since about March, and they were initially asking a lot more.
Don't bother to flame me about wanting to be an ITB girl. I'll just ignore you :-)
But I'm curious about something, my real-estate friends: If the house sold in 2005 for $292,000 and we are now in a very down RE market, how in the world could it be worth anything near $425,000?
How? Location, location, location!
It sounds like they don't "have to" sell.. so they can ask what they think the house is worth, and wait around for someone to agree (or they will lower the price again). Just because real estate is down on average, has no bearing on individual neighborhoods, especially in desirable areas.
But is this particular location $133k better than this same location was four years ago? I didn't live here four years ago, but I'm pretty sure that Cameron Village, the park, Glenwood South and all of that was there four years ago!
$425,000 is just what the sellers are asking, that's not necessarily what it is worth.
True.
But, a house up the block from me just sold for 27% more than it was purchased for in 2004 ($250K vs. $197,500). And my neighborhood is not nearly as desirable as "ITB." It happens even in a down market - just have to have the right house, in the right condition, and the right buyers.
Beautiful 1-story home in Cameron Village; updates since 2005 include new windows, electrical, flooring, bathroom fixtures, interior/exterior paint, landscaping, patio, porch, & more; new kitchen w/ new appliances; open & light floorplan, great for entertaining; 190 sf finished basement (not included in living sf); walk to Cameron Village, Glenwood South, & Fletcher Park; MUST SEE!
It sounds like it may have been a real fixer back in 2005..
On the flipside, the listing company is used by a lot of FSBO, so it could very well be overpriced.
Don't use what it sold for in the past as a reason to not get a nice property.
Look at what surrounding properties have sold for very recently, even though sometimes it is hard to comp older homes as well as we would like. Then look at the house and see if you want it at any price.
The price reduction from $435000 to $424500 is not mammoth. It was just minor bumps to freshen the listing.
"...new windows, electrical, flooring, bathroom fixtures, interior/exterior paint, landscaping, patio, porch, & more; new kitchen w/ new appliances..."
If all required permits were pulled for all the systems work and thorough quality work was done... Well, under $300,000 in Cameron Village area is "fixer-upper" pricing, and it sounds like a lot of fixing was done.
If they did quality stuff to the house, and pulled all permits, I would say that Cameron Village would hold value better than many other places around.
My advice would be to stop trying to figure out what its "worth".
The only way to know that is to make an offer. If you and the seller agree to terms then (and only then) have you established what the property is worth. And that's only accurate for that moment in time.
I understand that nobody wants to overpay for a house but nobody can also say what the future holds. The real question is - "What is this house worth to you" ? Sure do your research, look at comps. But the question is still "What is it worth to you"?
Oh, and on the marriage thing - you could let your boyfriend buy it and you could visit when you want to :-)
Personally I would look at a lot of houses and get a real sense as to what the value is of any of them. This is not the time to pay up for any home. Just because someone wants to hit the jackpot does not mean you need to pay their price. If you pay up for a home that you love (and overpay in todays market) it will be difficult to find someone else to do the same thing when you are on the way out. There is no reason to give away your upside today. There are tons of homes all over the triangle that are way over priced right now. Many Sellers just do not believe what has happened. On the other hand there are tons of homes that are reasonably priced as well.
If you over pay it may be a long long while before you dig out of the hole. When the market is bubbling it is easy to make that money back, but it may be a while before we see a go go real estate market again. (It is in everyone's interest for you to overpay, The Sellers, The realtor, the town, and even in some cases the Bank! But it is not in your interest!!!)
PS I have been happily engaged since Valentines Day 1999! Whats the rush!
We have friends who bought a house in 5 points for $150K in 2003. It was a cool old house that required a total gutting. They put 150K into it, and now the valuation is over $450K (with no increase in square footage). In line with the rest of the neighborhood. As alot of the houses in these areas are 70-90 years old, you'll find alot of previous sales of fixer uppers at alot lower than current values.
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LOL
