Current Advice from Real Estate Agents

[Big Matt]

I'm still trying to buy a place in FL, we wanted to downsize in MI, but after 38 failed bids and with only 5 years left till I retire, we have decided to stay where we are at. In the last year I have bid on 43 properties in FL and all have gone so far over asking price that I can not stomach paying $75K to $100K over asking. I really hope things start to slow down just a bit...

The prices that houses sell at is the market value. You need to change your expectations. When there is low supply (like everywhere now) people will pay more than list, but it eventually raises the value of other homes in the area and will increase listing prices too. Don't get left out if you really want a house. Unless we have a housing bubble, prices are going to rise and then plateau.

 

[rapmarks]

I'm still trying to buy a place in FL, we wanted to downsize in MI, but after 38 failed bids and with only 5 years left till I retire, we have decided to stay where we are at. In the last year I have bid on 43 properties in FL and all have gone so far over asking price that I can not stomach paying $75K to $100K over asking. I really hope things start to slow down just a bit...

Friend in my subdivision in Florida just put her 1200 square foot with one car garage up for sale. Had 100 lookers in a day and a half, got nine bids, and sold for 100 thousand over asking price

 

[joestein]

I'm still trying to buy a place in FL, we wanted to downsize in MI, but after 38 failed bids and with only 5 years left till I retire, we have decided to stay where we are at. In the last year I have bid on 43 properties in FL and all have gone so far over asking price that I can not stomach paying $75K to $100K over asking. I really hope things start to slow down just a bit...

Keep looking. Don't bid over what you think is the right price for you. You have a home you are in now and you have no pressure. In this market, you can turn around and sell your home immediately.

 

[Patri]

Friend in my subdivision in Florida just put her 1200 square foot with one car garage up for sale. Had 100 lookers in a day and a half, got nine bids, and sold for 100 thousand over asking price

Around here the frenzy is over. Houses are sitting much longer. They are still listed quite high though. It will be interesting to see what the spring brings.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

If the stock market continues down (like in the recent week) then at some point it will likely cause a pause in increasing Real Estate prices. Matter of fact, it may cause buyers to pause and sales prices may go down.

Real Estate prices may also stabilize or dip as mortgage rates increase.


.

 

[JudyH]

My DH is taxed with settling his late cousin’s estate including selling her house north of Orlando. A 30 yr old 2 bed duplex house, never had any improvements except a new AC system. She was a major hoarder, the dog wasn’t house-broken, it had not been cleaned in years. We found a good realtor, a person to strip the carpeting and clean out the house, put it on the market for 3 days, had 25 offers, and we took the highest cash only offer, no inspection, as is condition, $210,000. A flipper bought it and can fix it up himself.

 

[dmharris]

For four decades I was in the field of Market Research and now I'm a full-time Realtor. Combining my knowledge in both arenas and listening and observing actual buyers in the market place, I have come to the conclusion that the sellers market is going to stay strong for awhile. In my market reserch work I dig deep into the why behind the consumer's behavior. I've done the same in Real Estate.

So why is this such a strong and potentially long sellers market? One thing I've observed is the demographics of the marketplace have a deep effect on the sellers market. Based on four years of working with buyers and sellers I can safely say that what we have is a collision of the two largest population pools in the marketplace. The Baby Boomers, who many have not bought or sold in 30 years are now in the market for the similar property as the Millennials, who are now the largest demographic age-wise and have come of age where they are now buying real estate. Both generations are often looking for the same property, i.e. homes in the Pittsburgh area between $200K to $400K.

Also the low interest rate is a definite motivator for buying. Until we get more inventory, either through new builds or established homes, it will continue to be a sellers market. Covid did us no favors on many fronts. Also, many buyers are moving out of the city and want to disperse from others, and working from home has created the need for a bigger home with a home office and the price of materials and slow supply has caused delays and price escalations.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

My DH is taxed with settling his late cousin’s estate including selling her house north of Orlando. A 30 yr old 2 bed duplex house, never had any improvements except a new AC system. She was a major hoarder, the dog wasn’t house-broken, it had not been cleaned in years. We found a good realtor, a person to strip the carpeting and clean out the house, put it on the market for 3 days, had 25 offers, and we took the highest cash only offer, no inspection, as is condition, $210,000. A flipper bought it and can fix it up himself.

A lot of homes like these are now considered "tear downs" and people buy them for just the building lot and will do a new build. Not sure if that is the case here but it is happening all over the Country these days (especially in valuable, leafy neighborhoods).



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[joestein]

I also don't see housing prices going down anytime soon. I think that the market was down and flat for many years and it has been catching up - though getting a little too hot recently. Plus with interest at the current rate - the 80% mortgage on the house I sold for over 2X what I paid for it has a lower payment than what I had in 2001 at the prevalent rates. Not to mention inflation, reduction in value of the USD and the huge increase in the market.

By me, the market is SUPER HOT. As many of you know I sold my home and bought a new one this past spring. I paid $865K for my new home - I did get a bit of a steal in this market. Within 2 months of my closing - 2 houses in my development closed - for $950K and $970K. Recently within the last 4 weeks - 2 more houses in my development closed - for $1,070,000 and $1,120,000. During the slow winter months, no less.

Based upon these sales - my house has appreciated approximately 35% in 8 months. That is just obscene. Not that it makes any difference to me - I am not selling for many years.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

IMHO - a major factor in many areas is growth boundaries that have been imposed in many urban. Population continues to grow, but the amount of land available fur urban and suburban development. The natural result is increasing prices as increases in demand are not met with commensurate increases in supply.

The effect is particularly pronounced with land. Our house is pushing toward $1.4 million. 3400 sf on two levels, 4 bedrooms, 3 bath, full family room, full rec room, and 2 bonus rooms that could easily be converted to bedrooms (we use them as offices). Built in 1972. The lot is a little over 1.4 acre, with partial view of Lake Washington.

Virtually all of the value of the house is the real estate, not the house, Whomever buys our house is going to tear it down and build a new house. The price they offer is based entirely on the land. In fact, if we were to tear down the house ourselves and list the property, we would probably increase the value of the property. Go figure.

 

[Snazzylass]

Around here the frenzy is over. Houses are sitting much longer. They are still listed quite high though. It will be interesting to see what the spring brings.

Where are you? Where is "around here?"

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Keep looking. Don't bid over what you think is the right price for you. You have a home you are in now and you have no pressure. In this market, you can turn around and sell your home immediately.

That is what we are doing, we are continuing to look and we will find something, and since I'm close to retirement, I'm going to find something that is the right price for me...Thanks so much for the encouragement.

 

[Brett]

Friend in my subdivision in Florida just put her 1200 square foot with one car garage up for sale. Had 100 lookers in a day and a half, got nine bids, and sold for 100 thousand over asking price

on Florida's west coast house prices are crazy high

Florida’s West Coast Cities Top WSJ/Realtor.com’s Housing Index

https://www.wsj.com/articles/florid...op-wsj-realtor-coms-housing-index-11643106606

Naples, Fla., was the top ranked market for the quarter, followed by North Port, Fla.; Kahului, Hawaii; San Luis Obispo, Calif.; and San Jose, Calif. Three other Florida markets—Cape Coral, Punta Gorda and Sebastian, a city on the state’s east coast—also made the top 20. U.S. home sales rose to a 15-year high in 2021 as homebuyer demand surged because of low mortgage-interest rates. As more employees opted to work remotely, they were willing to move farther from their jobs in search of a lower cost of living or different lifestyle. Florida has been a major beneficiary of this migration, and economists expect homebuying demand in the state t

 

[Sugarcubesea]

Around here the frenzy is over. Houses are sitting much longer. They are still listed quite high though. It will be interesting to see what the spring brings.

In my neighborhood in MI, the 3 homes that went on the market in the last 5 months have been on the market for 52 Avg. Days on Market (according to the report I just got for my neighborhood). Back in early 2021, the homes were going in one day and all over asking price...The average list price and average sold price are now the same. All of the homes have been priced at least $75K higher then what the previous house sold for in our neighborhood but they are sitting on the market longer...

$229 Avg. listing price per sq.ft.​	|​	$229 Avg. sold price per sq.ft.​

 

[Sugarcubesea]

on Florida's west coast house prices are crazy high

Florida’s West Coast Cities Top WSJ/Realtor.com’s Housing Index

https://www.wsj.com/articles/florid...op-wsj-realtor-coms-housing-index-11643106606

Naples, Fla., was the top ranked market for the quarter, followed by North Port, Fla.; Kahului, Hawaii; San Luis Obispo, Calif.; and San Jose, Calif. Three other Florida markets—Cape Coral, Punta Gorda and Sebastian, a city on the state’s east coast—also made the top 20. U.S. home sales rose to a 15-year high in 2021 as homebuyer demand surged because of low mortgage-interest rates. As more employees opted to work remotely, they were willing to move farther from their jobs in search of a lower cost of living or different lifestyle. Florida has been a major beneficiary of this migration, and economists expect homebuying demand in the state t

@Brett --- Naples, North Port, Bonita Springs and Punta Gorda, FL are all the areas we are trying to buy a condo at, we will keep making offers in FL and hope that one of them will stick...

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Around here the frenzy is over. Houses are sitting much longer. They are still listed quite high though. It will be interesting to see what the spring brings.

Around hear (Puget Sound) the breathtaking situation continues. Though it's not a frenzy; prices are being driven up by collision of increasing population, rapid growth of tech sector with lots of high-paying jobs, and urban growth boundaries that constrain the amount of land that can be developed. On a more local scale, our city is becoming an escape for people who are fed up with City of Seattle politics and policies, but don't want to leave the area.

I can't call it a frenzy because there are sound reasons why things are going the way that they are.

 

[joestein]

Houses are still flying off the shelves around here. I was chatting with the real estate agent we used this spring, and she said the market has not slowed down at all around here. I also noticed a lot of postings on Facebook and nextdoor with stories that go something like - 'We sold our home and have been looking for a home for over a year. We are living with my in-laws. If anybody knows somebody who wants to sell their house, please let us know. We are looking for a ........'.

 

[DaveNV]

Here in this small desert community an hour north of Las Vegas, the market is insane. New home construction is all over town, and there are many new-builds still happening in our Sun City development. They aren't building anything on spec - it's all pre-sold homes, with lot prices absolutely through the roof. There is no shortage of people who want to move to this little town. (Yes, I know, it's all my fault for moving here first - I'm jokingly told that I'm responsible for starting this rush to build new homes here. The same thing happened in the town we moved from. Apparently I have great power, or at least a good eye of where to live. ) I have a real estate friend here who sold more than 50 houses last year. That's closing escrow on a sale at a rate of nearly one a week. He's doing really, really well.

The amazing thing is the resale market in this development. I've been watching homes and home prices here for a number of years. The developer started with a dozen floor plans back about 2007, one of which is the benchmark I've watched most. It's the floor plan we liked best, and the one we ended up buying in July 2020. Resale prices for this plan historically have been between about $275K and $325K. When we bought, the market was just ramping up, and we paid closer to $350K. Yesterday a home of this floor plan came on the resale market. It is the same age as our home, finished in much the same way as ours, and with similar landscaping. It's located about two blocks from my house. A good comparable to use. It is listed for $495K. That's an increase of $150K in about 18 months. Resale homes here are mostly selling within a few days, at list price, or slightly over, and most are closing escrow at those prices. They're listing homes at increasingly higher and higher prices. And this is in a 55+ retirement development, with a very specific target demographic. This place is much in demand, with many new-builds still under construction, and a local market that is hotter than hell in sales and resales.

Maybe I need to get my real estate agent's license?

Dave

 

[PigsDad]

@Brett --- Naples, North Port, Bonita Springs and Punta Gorda, FL are all the areas we are trying to buy a condo at, we will keep making offers in FL and hope that one of them will stick...

We have seen that area just explode in the past year. We bought a home in Bonita Springs exactly one year ago: detached 4BR, 3BA, pool, in a planned development (not a 55+, but definitely geared toward that) for $525K. It is very easy to get comparables for this house, since the developer only built a few different models in the development, and the same company developed at least three other subdivisions that are almost exactly the same, so we can easily track and compare when when a house that is the same floor model goes up for sale in the Naples area.

Looking at recent sales at the time that we bought (one year ago), we paid about $50-75K more that what those houses were selling for about a year earlier. Now it is just nuts. All of the recent listings for our house model are now in the $775-850K range. So in just a year, the value of our house has gone up ~$300K, or over 55%. We were very lucky we got in when we did!

Kurt

 

[JudyH]

We have seen that area just explode in the past year. We bought a home in Bonita Springs exactly one year ago: detached 4BR, 3BA, pool, in a planned development (not a 55+, but definitely geared toward that) for $525K. It is very easy to get comparables for this house, since the developer only built a few different models in the development, and the same company developed at least three other subdivisions that are almost exactly the same, so we can easily track and compare when when a house that is the same floor model goes up for sale in the Naples area.

Looking at recent sales at the time that we bought (one year ago), we paid about $50-75K more that what those houses were selling for about a year earlier. Now it is just nuts. All of the recent listings for our house model are now in the $775-850K range. So in just a year, the value of our house has gone up ~$300K, or over 55%. We were very lucky we got in when we did!

Kurt

We were lucky too. Paid 230 for 2200 sq ft 4 bed 3 bath in a mixed age community in Venice. Now about 400+

 

[rapmarks]

We were lucky too. Paid 230 for 2200 sq ft 4 bed 3 bath in a mixed age community in Venice. Now about 400+

Add 100000$. That’s how much a home has gone up in a year. 1200 square foot home went for 375000, 1400 square feet got 400000

 

[Krteczech]

Crazy!!!! Even is small mountain town where we live now prices increased dramatically. In exact one year since we purchased our two bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 2070sqft house with big views, price increase about 120k or 22%.
Grateful that we walked by and noticed the sign the day it went on marker. Our “old”, totally remodeled house, just a half mile away also sold for $$$ we never expected, but surely appreciated.

 

[VacationForever]

Home prices have gone up everywhere around us, but one community which stands out is where our friends moved into. They bought their home, closed in January 2021, for $1.35 M. They can now sell their home for $2M easily. Homes in their community which are smaller, double storey and/or not updated are going for $2M and up.

 

[joestein]

Here in this small desert community an hour north of Las Vegas, the market is insane. New home construction is all over town, and there are many new-builds still happening in our Sun City development. They aren't building anything on spec - it's all pre-sold homes, with lot prices absolutely through the roof. There is no shortage of people who want to move to this little town. (Yes, I know, it's all my fault for moving here first - I'm jokingly told that I'm responsible for starting this rush to build new homes here. The same thing happened in the town we moved from. Apparently I have great power, or at least a good eye of where to live. ) I have a real estate friend here who sold more than 50 houses last year. That's closing escrow on a sale at a rate of nearly one a week. He's doing really, really well.

The amazing thing is the resale market in this development. I've been watching homes and home prices here for a number of years. The developer started with a dozen floor plans back about 2007, one of which is the benchmark I've watched most. It's the floor plan we liked best, and the one we ended up buying in July 2020. Resale prices for this plan historically have been between about $275K and $325K. When we bought, the market was just ramping up, and we paid closer to $350K. Yesterday a home of this floor plan came on the resale market. It is the same age as our home, finished in much the same way as ours, and with similar landscaping. It's located about two blocks from my house. A good comparable to use. It is listed for $495K. That's an increase of $150K in about 18 months. Resale homes here are mostly selling within a few days, at list price, or slightly over, and most are closing escrow at those prices. They're listing homes at increasingly higher and higher prices. And this is in a 55+ retirement development, with a very specific target demographic. This place is much in demand, with many new-builds still under construction, and a local market that is hotter than hell in sales and resales.

Maybe I need to get my real estate agent's license?

Dave

The question is what will it close at? If it gets listing that means the price of homes in your development has increased 43% in just 1.5 years. If they get 10% under or over listing that means a 28% or 58% increase. It is more likely that it will gov over than under these days. Let us know when it closes.

Of course, unless you want to take money out with a refi, it doesn't really mean much for you.

 

[DaveNV]

The question is what will it close at? If it gets listing that means the price of homes in your development has increased 43% in just 1.5 years. If they get 10% under or over listing that means a 28% or 58% increase. It is more likely that it will gov over than under these days. Let us know when it closes.

Of course, unless you want to take money out with a refi, it doesn't really mean much for you.

There isn't much inventory here, so there is little room for a low-ball offer. These homes are moving very quickly.

I agree the increase in value is really only useful if one wants to sell or pull equity. There is no advantage to selling in this market unless someone wants to leave town. There's a good chance they'd have nowhere to live until they happened to find another home. For me, it's helpful to have the higher value because I'm working on a refi after our improvements are done.

There are presently about 2000 homes in my development, and only 7 houses are Active listings for resale. It's a steadily increasing price point, proving this is a viable market for potential buyers and sellers.

Dave