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Only one thing I saw that was iffy........was the brown lawn.
Obviously that photo is fall/winter - around here most grass is always brown in the fall/winter.
Never ask full offer in this market. It looks like a nice house, great area. I always gauge my offer on how long it's been on the market (is the seller eager by now), is the house empty (the seller possibly has 2 mortgages, lets sell it, FAST).
Go in low, what's the worst that can happen, they counter back.
But like it's been said, there are a ton of them out there, so don't get your heart sunk into any home in a market like this. Don't just buy a house with your heart, always keep in mind the investment side of things. What will it sell for in 10 years? People aren't living in the same house for as long as they used to.
Not paying attention? I have had my nose to the market in Henry County for 18 months. Lots of people taking baths there. People can't sell for what they bought the homes new for 5-7 years ago.
Can't say I know much about Cobb county as it was way overpriced to begin with.
Henry and Clayton may be a different story than the northern suburbs, and in Clayton's case for good reason. The place is a dump run by clowns. Still, all in all, the market in the Atlanta metro as a whole is not as bad as you portray it to be. The statistics do not support your anecdotal assertions.
As far as Cobb being "overpriced"....well that would be a subjective and relative opinion. You're entitled to yours but I would disagree. We moved here from the Boston area...and we think Cobb is a realative bargain. Compared to New England, there are newer, larger houses here for half the money, with great schools and responsible government to go along....it's a bargain for us.
Location: Halfway between Number 4 Privet Drive and Forks, WA
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We're not talking about Clayton. I will agree with you that place is a dump. But Henry and Fayette counties in the south suburbs are good.
Here's a link that may give you an idea of the price decline per county, it is from a more local source, the Atlanta Journal. Can't wait to see the decline for 2008.
Location: Halfway between Number 4 Privet Drive and Forks, WA
1,516 posts, read 4,590,259 times
Reputation: 677
Quote:
As far as Cobb being "overpriced"....well that would be a subjective and relative opinion. You're entitled to yours but I would disagree. We moved here from the Boston area...and we think Cobb is a realative bargain. Compared to New England, there are newer, larger houses here for half the money, with great schools and responsible government to go along....it's a bargain for us.
Glad you think so. Hopefully in 2-3 years you'll feel the same way.
We're not talking about Clayton. I will agree with you that place is a dump. But Henry and Fayette counties in the south suburbs are good.
Here's a link that may give you an idea of the price decline per county, it is from a more local source, the Atlanta Journal. Can't wait to see the decline for 2008.
The data you linked to is a bit older, but even so, one of the important things to define is what is meant by a "decline".
If I buy a house for $200,000 and do nothing for 5 years and then sell it for $240,000, then I have made a 20% profit...my house appreciated 20% in those 5 years. It doesn't matter if at the 3 year mark, someone told me I could sell for $300,000. That appraisal is meaningless, and I didn't lose $60K.
I can only work with what I know, and that's that official statistics are what they are, and also that my house cost me $380K in Sept., and there are 2 others in my subdivision with essentially the same floorplan listed at $385K and $389K today. Similar other homes in the area are priced in the same range. Now maybe they will close at a lower price eventually, but the realtors who priced them believe that's where the market is today. I think the south side of Atlanta has always been a lower priced market and the number of foreclosures in that area is also much greater and may be dragging down prices compared to other areas.
EDIT: If you look at the same source you cited (AJC) and at my zip code, you'll see that a slight appreciation (1 - 2%) is still the case for Cobb based on their reporting for 2006 - 2007, and my zip shows very slight depreciation in the 1 - 3% range. The MSA used by the feds in the report I linked to includes Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Marietta but I'm not sure if the southern suburbs are included. It could be a difference in statistical definitions.
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