Thoughts on real estate??

[sweetana3]

Even in Indy, house prices are rising and bidding wars are happening for desirable areas. Reasons: lack of robust supply and very low interest rates. People who want out of apartments are hoping to find an affordable house and sales are hard to find. This allows others who sell to push into higher cost areas to get their next homes. It really feels to me that we have less than half the inventory of homes for sale than at most other times. Our historic areas were 200,000 awhile ago, pushed to 300,000 and up. Then they were bought by investors, renovated and pushed to over $1 million. One young couple I knew sold their house end of last year for double what they paid for it. Bought a smaller house and paid off student debt.

[jp1]

Supposedly rent in San Francisco has fallen by 10% from what it was a year ago. Looking at ads on craigslist that seems like an accurate figure. Our landlord did not increase our rent this year.

[pinkytoe]

We sold our 2-1 house in TX for $435K four years ago. It just sold again for $600K. Nuts...

[catherine]

We sold our 2-1 house in TX for $435K four years ago. It just sold again for $600K. Nuts...

Oh, man. I'm so sorry! As for our situation, NYC suburb real estate is expanding, and my son is planning on renting our Central Jersey home for the second year, but even HE said, let's just slap a ridiculous price on it and see if anyone takes it. But I am SO reluctant to do that. If someone offers $500k do I kick my son and grandkids out?? Do I risk that that resale value will stick?? Would I rather sell the house to DS/DIL next year, factoring in any devaluation that may occur post-COVID??

"Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens."

[SteveinMN]

even HE said, let's just slap a ridiculous price on it and see if anyone takes it.

If DS knows that a sale puts him in the rental market and he still thinks you should put a ridiculous price on it, then go for it. You know the stakes; you might win big; you might find the ridiculous price is too much even for this market. What's that they say? You've got to play to win?

Would I rather sell the house to DS/DIL next year, factoring in any devaluation that may occur post-COVID??

I don't think anyone can say what will happen to housing prices post-COVID-19. I suspect we'll know more in a couple of months as the extra $600 and the eviction/foreclosure moratoriums expire (though they could be extended or reinstated).

For all the noise in the news about people fleeing cities for suburbs and points further out, for many/most people it's not as easy as just packing up and moving. Most people would have to sell their current home to buy another one (a big contingency) and they'll be buying the new place in pretty much the same seller's market unless they go to the outskirts (assuming there are outskirts where they live). Given the number of people who were furloughed or unemployed and the number who just don't have the money to move, I believe any exodus won't be as rapid as many think. It may be more visible in places like San Francisco, Seattle, and New York City, where people might cash out and have money left over after moving, but I don't think it's going to happen widely in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, or Fort Worth.

[Rogar]

Our local paper had an article, home sales and prices hit a record across the state in July. I've wondered if there hasn't been a back log of potential buyers and sellers who were out of the picture during the lock downs. But at the same time there was another article saying one in 20 mortgages were behind in May, so go figure. I've speculated that most of those who can afford a mid-priced house payment have been less likely to have been affected relative to those in many in the service industries. Low interest rates help.

It's all sort of crazy, though. The stock market has basically recovered and home prices are up, but unemployment is bad as is GDP growth. I think there could be some bubbles developing.

[razz]

Cath, if you get a ridiculous price for the house, you can help your son with cash in hand if you and he still feel the need for you to do so. There are so many ways to approach this with cash on hand.

[Tybee]

could son buy house now for fair, non crazy price--just go ahead and buy and know it is probably under what you could sell to a stranger, but house would still be in family?

[jp1]

Apparently in the bay area we're far from unique. Supposedly there's an abundant supply of houses on the market in the city and houses in the suburbs are getting snapped up like hotcakes. We offered $27,000 over asking and were not the highest bid but got accepted because our offer had the easiest terms. And the unit had just gone on the market this weekend.

[pinkytoe]

We are at the point of giving up on moving until next spring. When the places you are looking only have a handful of listings every week with twenty people standing in line, it feels like too hard of a struggle. Will try to enjoy another winter in Colorado and hope we don't have any more trees blow down