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What is the housing market like by you?


mommyoffive
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Demand exceeds supply, but it's been like that for years. Last summer, we had 3 big, expensive homes right by each other in our neighborhood up for sale and they didn't sell and went off the market. Two of them sold this winter without coming back on the market (buyers tracked down the owners and made offers). The third just went up for sale again and sold within a couple of weeks. $485k home. Anything approaching a "starter" price sells immediately. And starter is more like $300k. Just not enough supply--we get realtors asking us if we want to sell all the time.

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My son bought a rehab house last August, finished it in May, and put it on the market beginning of June.  Had 17 showings the first day.  By the next day he had two all cash offers on it.  Sold for $12,000 over asking price, and they were willing to go another $20,000 to beat any other offer.  It was insane what he got for a 775 square foot house, but it was in a very up and coming neighborhood.  I have heard houses around me only stay on the market for a day or two with multiple offers.  Definitely a sellers market.

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Houses seem to be selling really fast for the most part.  The ones that aren't are the ones on the super high end or fixer uppers that are overpriced.  Prices seem high to me, but it has been going this way for a couple years.  Houses in my neighborhood seem to sell within a few day to a week of being listed.

I was expecting things to cool down a bit with the pandemic, but so far that is not what I am seeing.  My parents keep talking about putting their house on the market, and I am hoping that they do it soon.  I think it would likely sell well as it is what a lot of people are looking for (3 bed/2 bath single story).

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Sounds like the same across the country.

We are refinancing and it's slow go because all the new purchases have priority due to the escrow deadlines. Evidently one of the hottest markets ever. Probably due to the historically low finance rates.

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21 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

Very hot. Many houses selling before they can even host an open house.

..often in hours.  Esp if it is a starter home.   House prices though are crazy high.

Same here. Hours. It's crazy. I could cry for how much the house we sold two years ago went up in price and sold again. The owners added a fence and painted kitchen cupboards and tore up the yard (animals) and landscaping. They got around $25,000 more for it than we did two years prior. We had the house for 14 years, remodeled a bathroom, put in piers in the crawl space, encapsulated the crawlspace, and did a ton of other things that made the house able to be lived in, and we didn't even get that money back. It was way cheaper than renting, but we got nothin'. And we paid insane closing costs for them. They are nice people, so I don't feel quite as bad, but it's so frustrating. 

One of the most annoying things about the market is that fixes that make a home usable aren't valued (new roof, new furnace, etc.), but things like putting in crappy but new kitchen cupboards and some new flooring will bump up the price considerably. I feel like there is no rhyme or reason. 

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15 minutes ago, AmandaVT said:

It's very high and houses are flying off the market. We're putting ours up next week. It's a starter home and our realtor has been telling us to be ready to move basically. I'm seeing most houses off of the market in a day ot so.

 

Good luck and I hope it sells FAST for $$$$$!

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3 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

Sounds like the same across the country.

We are refinancing and it's slow go because all the new purchases have priority due to the escrow deadlines. Evidently one of the hottest markets ever. Probably due to the historically low finance rates.

We got calls from the bank to refinance. If we refinanced, I think we'd want to go with a 15 or 20 year loan since we ended up with a 30 year loan on our new house (we bought one that needed some work, so we didn't sell our old one before we moved in). We could go with a flat fee (next to nothing, not nearly as much paperwork), or a conventional refinance, but it would take FOREVER. Since my husband's company did stupid things to lose their contracts, he's out of a job in December, and refinancing for a smaller term would up our payments about the same time his job goes away. 

Our current rates aren't bad, so I'm trying not to be disappointed.

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20 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

 

Good luck and I hope it sells FAST for $$$$$!

Thank you!! I'm super nervous about finding a new place. There aren't many houses that are in our price range and aren't total crap coming on the market and the ones that do are gone in hours. I would love to rent a house for a year or so until things settle down, but there are even less rentals on the market. My mom has offered her upstairs to us if we're in a bind, but we'd rather not go that route. I guess we could always sleep in the counseling office. 😂

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Pretty insane here. We’ve had a very slow market for ages, with houses sitting a year+. Values were low, too. The 5 bedroom colonial a few houses down went for something like $150k just a few years back.

Today, inventory is 1/3 of the usual and everything’s going right away, mostly above asking. I’m trying to finish projects and get listed, but it’s nerve wracking thinking about competing to buy.

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56 minutes ago, AmandaVT said:

It's very high and houses are flying off the market. We're putting ours up next week. It's a starter home and our realtor has been telling us to be ready to move basically. I'm seeing most houses off of the market in a day ot so.

Do you have another home to move into?

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Supposed to be very hot, we are 1.5 hrs outside NYC, but what does it matter:  We are not taking advantage of anything because we have to live somewhere and this house has been perfect for quarantine. Huge garden, fruit trees and berry patches and Chickens and a creek my daughter spent quarantine in. Had my son’s friend from NyC for weeks. So I’m staying put a while.  

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It is a seller's market here & has been for several years. I heard a news story recently where they interviewed someone from the state realtors association and that person said that the numbers of showings have decreased but purchases have remained at the same level as before the pandemic. Their organization is attributing that to a decrease in the number of "casual" house hunters. The people who really need or really want to move are still buying/selling. Resales here typically sell in 24-48 hours.

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1 hour ago, kdsuomi said:

We have very few houses on the market in our town, and they're all in the "less desirable" part of town. (It's not less safe just down the freeway from downtown so you can't walk anywhere except the beach.) However,  "starter" homes here are like 950k+.

DS15 is looking at the current wildfire evacuation maps and now eliminated one of his choices of Scotts Valley. My husband eliminated Mountain House. 

ETA:

I’m in Silicon Valley and housing prices hasn’t drop since the Great Recession ended. We are looking to buy a larger home but not looking to sell our current home.

Edited by Arcadia
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Evidently, we live in a pocket where things aren't moving. Houses are sitting on the market and prices are low. We are in a depressed area with lots of job losses and no new job growth in the foreseeable future. Our neighbor's house listed around $160k and sold for $135k.  Another house on the block initially listed around $250k and sold for $215k.  We would like to take advantage and buy property but we plan on leaving the area in the next 5 years.

People are taking advantage of the low interest rates and are refinancing. We know a number of people who have decided to refi to 15 year mortgages instead of the standard 30 year. There are also a number of homes with home improvement projects. Our contractor has more business than he can handle and the waiting lists for services is months long. My DD called in July to have a mudjacker come out to raise her porch steps. The earliest appt time for an estimate is Sept 8. That's just the estimate; we're hoping the job can be done quickly. Companies are picking and choosing jobs due to demand and we're holding our breath that the company will take the job; other companies wouldn't even schedule an estimate.

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Where I am looking at buying soon is a bit weird because sellers seem to be trying to capitalize on a tight market by pricing high, but those houses are definitely sitting until they go lower.

On the other hand, stuff in a more reasonable range goes pending sale within 24 hrs.

So it's definitely a seller's market, but not inflating prices too much just yet it seems.

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4 hours ago, Selkie said:

It's crazy here. Between Covid and urban unrest, people are leaving the city in droves and moving out to our rural area. Dh and I have some vacant lots and we've sold four of them in recent weeks.

 

I wondered about this the other day. Do you all think that CV19 has shown more people that some work can indeed be done from home and people don't feel like they have to be at the center of the hubub in order to have a job? Do you think telecommuting will be a much bigger thing even after CV19  than pre CV19?

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23 minutes ago, Liz CA said:

 

I wondered about this the other day. Do you all think that CV19 has shown more people that some work can indeed be done from home and people don't feel like they have to be at the center of the hubub in order to have a job? Do you think telecommuting will be a much bigger thing even after CV19  than pre CV19?

I am curious how businesses will handle that when covid is under control.   Will they want everyone back in the office saying that is more efficient or will they go for cost savings of having smaller offices?

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7 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I am curious how businesses will handle that when covid is under control.   Will they want everyone back in the office saying that is more efficient or will they go for cost savings of having smaller offices?

 

Much may depend on the management style of companies or departments. In some departments of our agency, people were already called back to work - possibly a control / micromanagement style issue? 😉

In some other departments, people are still happily working from home and seem to be very productive doing so.

Interesting point you bring up. Will large companies have one fairly small headquarter / hub for conferences, etc. while people are otherwise working from home? How will the workforce-from-home be classified in terms of taxes? Hopefully people will be able to deduct office supplies unless they submit for reimbursement. When part of my work was done from home, I was able to claim a home office.

Some people may miss the office interaction component while others will consider themselves blessed in the words of one very happy "homeworker" "Living my best life."  :)

I wish our department would allow us to work from home.

 

 

Edited by Liz CA
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Entry level homes start at $450k here. Anything below $650k is selling very quickly. My friend’s house was under offer in 24hrs. Anything above $650k is going slower. Two major employers are laying off people currently and that is causing people to hold their breath a bit. The high end market is as it always is—nothing is causing the ultra-wealthy concern.

In my neighborhood a house that last sold 3 years ago just sold again for $80k more than it did previously.

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It is insane.  Houses sell in hours as long as they aren't complete fixer uppers and if they are priced appropriately.   

WE are taking advantage of the low rates by refinancing.  Current rate is 4.75% which we got feb 2019 the height of recent rates.  New rate will be 2.875% without buying points.

On the selling house front...  Dh and I are currently helping my brother get his house on the market by mid september.  It will sell within days I'm sure of it.  Then once that house is under contract we are getting my parents' house ready for the market.  I really want it on the market before the holidays but January is most likely.  I'm just hoping the housing market doesn't crash by then.  We'll see.

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1 hour ago, Liz CA said:

Interesting point you bring up. Will large companies have one fairly small headquarter / hub for conferences, etc. while people are otherwise working from home? How will the workforce-from-home be classified in terms of taxes? Hopefully people will be able to deduct office supplies unless they submit for reimbursement. When part of my work was done from home, I was able to claim a home office.

Some people may miss the office interaction component while others will consider themselves blessed in the words of one very happy "homeworker" "Living my best life."  🙂

I wish our department would allow us to work from home.

 

 

I think the irs/Congress is going to really lower the bar on claiming the home office deduction in the next year or so. As it stands, you have to have dedicated space in your home for work, but so many people just don’t have the space to dedicate work-only areas, yet were expected to work from home for extended periods of time. I’m watching this with interest. 

Edited by SamanthaCarter
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2 hours ago, Liz CA said:

 

I wondered about this the other day. Do you all think that CV19 has shown more people that some work can indeed be done from home and people don't feel like they have to be at the center of the hubub in order to have a job? Do you think telecommuting will be a much bigger thing even after CV19  than pre CV19?

I think the actual need for H1b visa is less because there is no need to relocate someone to US when they can work from Asia. I think people who has kids at home might still want to be able to go back to office when they need the quiet work space. People with more bedrooms than humans in a family are finding it easier to work from home. It’s actually easier to lay-off people because there is no longer the awkwardness of face to face telling the employees.

My husband does have lab work to do and it would be harder to replicate a quality control lab at home. So we are still looking to buy near his office. Besides, I rather be smack urban with lots of freeways and major roads to evacuate if necessary (my area is a very low risk fire or flood area, higher risk of earthquake).

1 hour ago, Liz CA said:

 Hopefully people will be able to deduct office supplies unless they submit for reimbursement. When part of my work was done from home, I was able to claim a home office.

My husband’s employer finally decide to reimburse home internet fees and office furniture expenses with cap/maximum. For stationary, people can just go back office and get. 

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2 hours ago, Liz CA said:

 

Much may depend on the management style of companies or departments. In some departments of our agency, people were already called back to work - possibly a control / micromanagement style issue? 😉

In some other departments, people are still happily working from home and seem to be very productive doing so.

Interesting point you bring up. Will large companies have one fairly small headquarter / hub for conferences, etc. while people are otherwise working from home? How will the workforce-from-home be classified in terms of taxes? Hopefully people will be able to deduct office supplies unless they submit for reimbursement. When part of my work was done from home, I was able to claim a home office.

Some people may miss the office interaction component while others will consider themselves blessed in the words of one very happy "homeworker" "Living my best life."  🙂

I wish our department would allow us to work from home.

 

 

Oh good point about people working from home and how they would be classified for taxes.  Dh is all at home since March.   He had a job a few years ago were he only went in once a week.  He was not a contractor at that time 

Were you an employee or contractor when you deducted your office?  Can you do that at all being an employee?

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It’s hot in our neighborhood. It’s been easy to sell houses here for several years, but this summer they’re selling within days and at a much higher price than a year ago.  We’ve had 7 houses sell in our neighborhood since June 1.  There usually aren’t that many for sale here in a whole year. Our neighborhood is desirable and doesn’t have a lot of turnover.  But the prices are crazy, and this can’t last- and I’m not looking forward to the property tax increase that we’ll see with these rising values. 

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5 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh good point about people working from home and how they would be classified for taxes.  Dh is all at home since March.   He had a job a few years ago were he only went in once a week.  He was not a contractor at that time 

Were you an employee or contractor when you deducted your office?  Can you do that at all being an employee?

 

I was an employee but it was understood that reports were done from home. 

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Even expensive homes are selling within a month, cheaper homes immediately.  There are requests all the time on NextDoor for homes in my area, people saying there are no homes listed and would anyone be willing to sell because they are looking.

 

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13 hours ago, Farrar said:

I think another bubble is coming. 😞  I was thinking that before and this thread reinforced it.

That’s my gut feeling, and I have a spouse who’s having second thoughts about selling now. Which makes me fear being stuck here again. My anxiety is not pleased.

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16 hours ago, hjffkj said:

It is insane.  Houses sell in hours as long as they aren't complete fixer uppers and if they are priced appropriately.   

WE are taking advantage of the low rates by refinancing.  Current rate is 4.75% which we got feb 2019 the height of recent rates.  New rate will be 2.875% without buying points.

On the selling house front...  Dh and I are currently helping my brother get his house on the market by mid september.  It will sell within days I'm sure of it.  Then once that house is under contract we are getting my parents' house ready for the market.  I really want it on the market before the holidays but January is most likely.  I'm just hoping the housing market doesn't crash by then.  We'll see.

We are toying with the idea of selling.   Does it normally take that long to get your house ready?  I have thought of the things we would want to do before selling. 

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1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

We are toying with the idea of selling.   Does it normally take that long to get your house ready?  I have thought of the things we would want to do before selling. 

No it doesn't.  My brother who is putting his house on the market in a few week( he needs to paint and get part of his roof fixed first) is currently living in my parents' house with his wife and 6 kids.  So, we can't easily do what needs to get done and show the house with all of them.  So, we're doing a room at a time, mostly just painting.  Once they are under contract with the house they're selling and the house they are buying(which they already have found the house) we'll finish my parents house faster in hopes of getting it listed a week or two from the time they move out.

There are a lot of moving parts in this process.  Basically, my parents held onto their house so two of my siblings could move in, sell their house, and find a house.  We did the same thing as my siblings but we just did it while my parents were still living at their house. But once we found our new house we bought it for room with my parents. So, they moved in with us and left their house empty for my siblings to use until everyone was done the selling/buying house process.  Now they are almost done so we have to hustle to beat a housing market crash that I have a hard time believing won't happen.

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It's crazy hot around here. I live in a LCOL area which doesn't see a lot of new people moving to town. It seems people are first time buyers or upgrading. Move in ready home with a good price tend to sell within the week, really great ones within a day. 

I know apartment complexes are having harder times. Our complex usually gets a fair share of college students, but some did not move back. There are several empty units in a complex that's not extremely large. 

 

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