Real Estate...Don't Be A Sucker!

[le roi]

Originally Posted by PotterGeek

Rubberfactory, What area are you looking to buy a home? Your location says NC, so I'm curious...

Wilmington, a mid-sized city on the coast of North Carolina.

We are basically a resort market, where transplants & retirees set the prices with their out-of-state equity. Also, investors from Charlotte and Raleigh were crazy about Wilmington for a long time, and tons of cash was dumped into housing here, not just during the bubble but in the mid-1990's as well.

Per city-data, the 2007 median household income was $40,108, and the median home value was $234,800. I think that's a steep premium to pay for any city in the Carolinas; it is actually a higher premium than Charleston, which I think is just completely nuts.

From the Wilmington regional MLS:
(year-end) (volume) (avg sale) (avg change)
1998 3,960 $154,427
1999 4,027 $165,375 7.09%
2000 3,597 $172,216 4.14%
2001 3,947 $176,222 2.33%
2002 4,897 $179,104 1.64%
2003 6,020 $185,361 3.49%
2004 7,978 $210,173 13.39%
2005 9,347 $252,646 20.21%
2006 7,832 $264,834 4.82%
2007 6,488 $272,784 3.00%
2008 (YTD) $257,434 -5.63%

We still have "flippers" asking huge markups, we still have people who ask for 10% annual appreciation, things like that. However, out of the 13 or 14 homes I've been shown so far, only 1 of them was occupied.

I have trouble putting this data in perspective; a 33% increase in two years raises red flags to me, especially since so many realtors here are inexperienced, and act like 2003 was the beginning of time.

[58robbo]

Originally Posted by Autumn31

Why aren't some sellers lowing their prices! What is really funny is the fact that these home prices were phantom prices....these homes were never worth the price to begin with. If you are out there purchasing a home now....especially with sellers who are not dropping their prices you must be an idiot. Pardon me...don't mean to be rude but I crack up when I look on NJ Tax Records Search or www.Propertyshark.com or www.NJ.com/new/bythenumbers (http://www.NJ.com/new/bythenumbers - broken link) and type in the home sellers address and realize that these homes went out of control. Now I know I am no real estate expert but home values are supposted to rise with job raises about 3% to 6% every year. A home depending on what has been updated should raise $100,000 to $150,000 every 10 years. People bought in 1998 for $220,000 and expect to get $520,000....ha ha ha. Thats a $300,000 phantom overprice. So if this is the case within 10 years us new home buyers with be able to get $820,000+! Be for real. No one has that kind of money around here anymore....especially with inflation and the greed in this area. These sellers are not moving...expecting to make all this money and leave us new home owners with a problem. Oh and as far as making an offer after getting comparibles in the neighborhood....those are also phantom comparisons...those prices were over inflated also. Low ball whatever you do to make sure you get a price that will not depreciate any time soon.
Please whatever you do...... do your research and don't get taken advantage of.

i understand your frustration. the reality is that people who don't need to sell can ask what they want for their place. if they can find an agent who will list it or they're prepared to incur the expense themselves then good luck to them.

then there is a whole different category namely BUYERS WHO HAVE TO SELL! this is where things get a little tricky and a bit unfair. if you are unfortunate enough to be desperate for cash for whatever reason then you have to sell for whatever anyone will offer you. if you are a bank however, overflowing with empty, unsold inventory, and you are desperate for cash you just go to the govt and they'll hand you all the money you need to make sure you can hold onto these overpriced, empty homes for as long as you like.

imo at some point this will have to end and prices will come crashing down a little further. if i were you i'd wait it out

[LCMT]

CNBC news real estate report this morning at 8am is predicting that real estate prices will drop to 2000 levels. Approx another 20% over the next 2 years....the first post just might be correct. I guess time will tell.
New Jersey Real Estate Report

[LCMT]

Listen up

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=957685796

[Humanoid]

People were saying 2000 prices years ago..... Incomes haven't increased much since then and that was the last time where prices were fairly attached to incomes. 2000~2001 at least, all the way down to 1998~1997 if things get bad.

[HappyTexan]

Well you have to think..did salaries rise at the same rate as RE ? (we all know that is a "no" )
So how much does RE have to deflate to get back within the norm for income ?

People are going to lose money in this but such is life..you win some, you lose some.
You pick up the pieces and move on.

[LCMT]

www.njrereport.com

[Huckleberry3911948]

bek the market is fear driven. zillion dollar bail out means no chicken licken.
hey watch car prices fall no bailout. lots of blue light specials on SUV pig cars comin up.