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Hard to tell from the info they give you, but my guess is you probably don't need 200K to make it immediately livable. But you would need to put some good money in up front, like cleaning gutters, possibly new roof, definitely sand and finish or carpet floors and paint the entire inside. You might need to update the electrical in some way. Chances are if the gutters are as described, the owners hasn't been doing much to care for the outside, so tree work is the big ticket item. And general yard work if you don't want to be the trashy neighbor on the block. All in 50k? More?
Then depending on how long you can live with it, you have kitchen and 1 Bath, 3 half baths to do - maybe 75 - 100k if you keep things simple...
It's articles like this that make me feel so much better about having been a renter this past decade and missing out on the housing boom.
Since median income in Scarsdale is $190k or so, median house should go for $570K or so. Prices are still in a bubble territory and should go down considerably. Rates might be low but property taxes, commuting costs, after-school fees, etc are all sky high. 500K should buy you a modest house in the town without the need of further improvements. Wait it out as re is depreciating in the region.
Then depending on how long you can live with it, you have kitchen and 1 Bath, 3 half baths to do - maybe 75 - 100k if you keep things simple...
That's what I thought. And if they had to remodel the kitchen and update the bathrooms, that might cost another $75K which brings it back to the $700K listing.
"Since median income in Scarsdale is $190k or so, median house should go for $570K or so"
How so? Median income includes those who chose to buy and those who chose to rent. If you want to tie median house price to median income, you need to look at the median income of homebuyers, not the median income period.
"Since median income in Scarsdale is $190k or so, median house should go for $570K or so"
How so? Median income includes those who chose to buy and those who chose to rent. If you want to tie median house price to median income, you need to look at the median income of homebuyers, not the median income period.
This is so: people who replace the ones in these areas have the same income unless you can make the case that a higher income class of people is moving in. Unfortunately, incomes remain stagnant, and if anything there are more areas around and in the city where people with higher incomes can go.
This is the definition of bubble. People with similar income bought with higher prices and/or assumed higher mortgages and/or bought lesser houses, thinking that they are being priced out and/or real estate will always go up.
Proof: prices are going down as the article reports.
Hmmm, as someone who recently bought a house in Mamaroneck and is about to list a house for sale in Scarsdale, I have to tell you that you are living in a dream land. The market in these 2 towns is on fire, with houses getting snapped up in days and going for near or over the ask in bidding wars. We are expecting to get a fair bit more for our house than we paid for it 3 years ago (based on comps in the area), and I can tell you that the prices people are paying for houses I wouldn't dream of living in (okay, call me a snob...) are astronomical, and frankly ridiculous. And yet they are getting bought.
Now, I'm talking about the market in the 1.5-3 million range, so maybe the market at the lower end is not doing as well. I can't say for sure. But I do know that you need to stop trying to make sense of the numbers and pay attention to what is actually happening out there.
I'm sure I will come across as a snob, too, but we saw homes in the $750K-$1M range in Scarsdale that literally resembled crack dens. Or shoeboxes. I cannot imagine what a $500K house would look like! We got in under our top number but even then we still had a fair amount of cosmetic work to do.
At best, you are looking at a tiny house on a very busy street that has never had one bit of work done to it since the original owners (that likely died in the den) bought it in 1925. I hope you are handy.
As for the sky is falling argument, it's still wrong, but frankly not worth arguing anymore. I'll agree to disagree.
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