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My husband is a contract worker for NASA at KSC, and a lot of those workers are having their contract end with no renewal in sight. He may be hired on in Raleigh for a different project, and so I went looking on Homes.com and Craigslist for the Triangle area in terms of real estate....I almost choked on my soda!!! I was hoping to find about 2+ acres that I could keep a horse or two on that had a home or a doublewide on it and a small shed or barn.
I just about had a heart-attack when I saw the prices of the real estate there! Hasn't anyone living in Raleigh noticed there is a recession going on in this country?? How can people up that way afford houses that are 350k and have enough to live on??! What am I missing????
Another possibility was moving to southern TN or northern AL, so when I looked at their real estate for the same criteria, the average for what I was hoping to get was 125k.
I'd appreciate any info or insight thsi board can offer as to why housing up there is so expensive??!
Thanks!
I don't own a $350K house but there are plenty of people in Raleigh who can and do afford such homes. As others have pointed out this is a highly desireable area with more and more people moving here every year so I would not expect to find cheap land in prime locations. You can still buy land furhter out from things if it is a necessity.
I had the same experience when I moved here from Upstate SC. We paid almost twice as much for our house in Durham and got a teensy bit more property and the same size house. But, we got a steal compared to some of the other homes in our neighborhood. It is definitely a case of perspective - housing in SC is cheaper than housing in NC, which is cheaper than housing in the Northeast. But, salaries generally reflect this, too - expect to be paid more in the Northeast than in NC, and expect to be paid more in NC than in SC (not much more, though).
To the OP, I would scale back on the property size and look outside of Raleigh, as others have suggested. There are some great areas with larger lots out in the country. And if you're looking for a few acres, then I'm sure a "country feel" is what you're looking for, anyway. Good luck with your search!
IMHO, the Triangle had a bubble that has yet to correct itself. It has begun its deflation, but still has a good way to go before we hit a bottom. If I were the OP, I would rent for a year or so and then buy.
If I were the OP, I would rent for a year or so and then buy.
I've been on this forum since 2006. I can't count the number of times somebody has advocated waiting a year before buying in anticipation of a "bottom". If I did that I would no longer be able to afford to purchase in my neighborhood.
Remember, the OP is looking for property in the $125K range. Not in the $500K-$750K range. If I was looking in those higher ranges I might wait a while as it is true they aren't moving well. But I doubt you will see any lowering of property values in that lower range of the OP. I know I certainly have not seen it over the past three years I've been looking.
I've been on this forum since 2006. I can't count the number of times somebody has advocated waiting a year before buying in anticipation of a "bottom". If I did that I would no longer be able to afford to purchase in my neighborhood.
Remember, the OP is looking for property in the $125K range. Not in the $500K-$750K range. If I was looking in those higher ranges I might wait a while as it is true they aren't moving well. But I doubt you will see any lowering of property values in that lower range of the OP. I know I certainly have not seen it over the past three years I've been looking.
Yup how many times have we heard that in here and yet we now have people talking about rising prices starting to kick in.
Home prices rise in most major cities in August - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091027/ap_on_bi_ge/us_home_prices - broken link)
NEW YORK – Home prices rose for the third straight month in August, data Tuesday showed, a key sign for a broad and sustained housing recovery.NEW YORK – Home prices rose for the third straight month in August, data Tuesday showed, a key sign for a broad and sustained housing recovery.
Wonder where Raleigh was in the index
For someone coming from outside the area, the advice to rent for a year still seems like a reasonable suggestion. It allows the person to become familiar with the Triangle and to figure out which area best suits them before committing to a house purchase.
Not only do I have clients who are in sticker shock, I also have clients who firmly believe that they can offer 100k less on a house than it is listed for, we are talking houses that are not in foreclosure. Some homes are taking a hit off of the top, but those are the homes that are in the 1 million dollar range.........
I got mine for 100k less than *orginal* asking price. It was vacant and on the market for almost a year. Didn't even counter offer and was not in foreclosure.
I remember looking at a 330k house one week and the next week the builder dropped it to 299k. So 100k was just awesome luck, I certainly couldn't pass it up.
<>I was hoping to find about 2+ acres that I could keep a horse or two on that had a home or a doublewide on it and a small shed or barn.
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Hasn't anyone living in Raleigh noticed there is a recession going on in this country??
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You will have to be a bit out of the way to find that. Don't expect to get help from a realtor, however. You'll have to do some driving and exploring. Google maps will be your friend. Try Fuquay-Varina and south. Also south of Durham.
We have decided to not participate in the recession; a recent appraisal for a re-fi showed our home has increased in value 1% in three years.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 10-27-2009 at 10:00 AM..
Reason: Um, what "recession-proof business" might that be?
For someone coming from outside the area, the advice to rent for a year still seems like a reasonable suggestion. It allows the person to become familiar with the Triangle and to figure out which area best suits them before committing to a house purchase.
Absolutely. I agree renting a year to get the lay of the land is a great suggestion. However, dealying to wait for the "bottom" of the $125K market might turn into quite a long wait!
All depends where you are looking. I'm on over 2 acres for under $200k with a large house. Next door our neighbor has 10 acres, 2 horses and a huge house for under $300k.
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