Home Values........

[cougjunkie]

In December of 2009 I did about 4 loans in my neighborhood and all of the appraisals came in between 240k-275k.

I just went to refinance two of my neighbors and the last 3 sales in our neighborhood were all short sales under $190,000.

There are several listings for 240-250k that are not short sales but who would pay that when you can save $50,000.

Sucks.

[WashingtonCoug]

I hear you. You know my story.

[TripletDaddy]

I am sympathetic to the plight and know a good many solid folks that have been affected by this downturn. I will say that one mans loss can often be another mans gain, though. We are looking right now and there are mad deals to be had. Everyone is upside down, not just private home owners. Builders have so much inventory they are almost doing fire sales to dump it. We have seen some builds with full upgrades throughout that builder has discounted almost 50%. Incredible.

[jay santos]

In December of 2009 I did about 4 loans in my neighborhood and all of the appraisals came in between 240k-275k.

I just went to refinance two of my neighbors and the last 3 sales in our neighborhood were all short sales under $190,000.

There are several listings for 240-250k that are not short sales but who would pay that when you can save $50,000.

Sucks.

I'm looking for deals but everyone seems to want to hang on to high prices, even the ones that are advertised as short sales seem overpriced.

[Indy Coug]

Is the number of home rentals skyrocketing as people are looking to get out, but can't sell their house without incurring a huge loss?

[cougjunkie]

I am sympathetic to the plight and know a good many solid folks that have been affected by this downturn. I will say that one mans loss can often be another mans gain, though. We are looking right now and there are mad deals to be had. Everyone is upside down, not just private home owners. Builders have so much inventory they are almost doing fire sales to dump it. We have seen some builds with full upgrades throughout that builder has discounted almost 50%. Incredible.

Now is an unbelievable time to buy. In fact when we bought our house we paid about $75 per square foot which at the time was unbelievable. In our neighborhood things went as high as $140-150 per square foot.

Now if you look in the right places you can find houses as low as $40-50 per square foot.

One place I would look is www.homepath.com.

These are Fannie Mae owned houses all bank owned repossessions. Fannie Mae offers special programs on them, no monthly mortgage insurance even if you put as little as 5% down, no appraisal required, and the rates are in the high 3s and low 4s. Fannie will also give 6% for concessions as well pay for new appliances throughout.

Not to mention these houses are even below current market value.

[cougjunkie]

Is the number of home rentals skyrocketing as people are looking to get out, but can't sell their house without incurring a huge loss?

Yes houses in my neighborhood which were renting for about $1200 per month are easily fetching $1500-1600 right now.

[statman]

There are several listings for 240-250k that are not short sales but who would pay that when you can save $50,000.

chuckle...

I know who. A coworker of mine would...

He's not actually going to pay $50K, but he's going to pay close to $35K extra. A combination of good fortune, bad timing, and a very pregnant wife resulted in his willingness to pay about $35K over what short sales are going for.

He and his wife ae expecting child #4 in the next 6 weeks. They have a small home in Bountiful, and wanted to move to Draper into a larger home and to be closer to family. They anticipated moving next year sometime.

for kick and grins, they put their house on KSL.com and put a FISO sign in the front yard. They had a full-price cash offer within three days. A wealthy couple from Bountiful were paying cash for their newly married daughter's starter home.

The buyers want to close by the end of October (this all happened about 2 weeks ago).

The problem is finding a fairly priced house in Draper that's not a short sale. They are few and far between, since most of the homes in Draper were built either during the boom or in the year or two leading up to the boom. the few houses listed that aren't short sales are not in great shape.

There is one house in the neighborhood they want to be in that is not a short sale - but it's about $35K over priced from where the market would indicate it should be. Of 15 or 20 houses they initially considered, this is really the only one that could offer a quick sale - even with the short sales that had approved prices, they've been told that they can't count on the bank turning around a confirmation of the price in less than 6 - 8 weeks minimum. And if their is no confirmed price, it will take 6 - 12 months.

So, couple the fact that they're selling their house next week, with the fact that they're making a fair amount on the sale (bought it 10 or 11 years ago), with the fact that his wife is having a baby within the next six weeks, and he's kind of accepted that he's going to be paying about $35K too much. It's the house his wife wants in the location his wife wants at the time his wife wants. At this point, he's not got much say in the matter

(He's paying right about $400K. He thinks he could get a short for $365K if he had time to let things play out)...

[Shaka]

I am actually looking to buy in the next couple of months in north UC or south SLC. I've just started looking at what's going on in Lehi, SS, and Herriman. Looks like there's some real bargains out there. Being a single dude I'm not looking for anything huge (3-4 bedrooms and hopefully 2500 sqft or larger) and will probably try to keep things under 200k. Hopefully I'll be able to find something that fits.

[statman]

I am actually looking to buy in the next couple of months in north UC or south SLC. I've just started looking at what's going on in Lehi, SS, and Herriman. Looks like there's some real bargains out there. Being a single dude I'm not looking for anything huge (3-4 bedrooms and hopefully 2500 sqft or larger) and will probably try to keep things under 200k. Hopefully I'll be able to find something that fits.

I you want to buy in a couple months, you probably ought to start making offers now. Where there are bargains, there are short-sales. And they take a LONG time to buy...

[BigPiney]

Thank heavens for dropping prices. I am finally able to buy a house that some what fits my family. These prices have been so overinflated it is scary.

[Babs]

Thank heavens for dropping prices. I am finally able to buy a house that some what fits my family. These prices have been so overinflated it is scary.

yeah, if it hadn't been for the downturn, we never would have been able to buy in Austin. Or at least not in the neighborhood we wanted. As it is we got such an awesome deal that we might just stay put.

[Solon]

yeah, if it hadn't been for the downturn, we never would have been able to buy in Austin. Or at least not in the neighborhood we wanted. As it is we got such an awesome deal that we might just stay put.

Same. We're way out of our league in our new neighborhood.

From what I understand, certain price segments are still pretty competitive. Lots of people in my area, for instance, are trying to "trade down" their $350K mega-homes for something in the 180-205K range. Homes like that have gone like hotcakes since these trade-downers are competing with people who are coming into the market for the first time. I have a friend who just finished a spec. house that listed at $195. It sold in about 12 hours. Meanwhile, there are literally dozens of $250K-350K homes sitting empty all around.

[Shaka]

I you want to buy in a couple months, you probably ought to start making offers now. Where there are bargains, there are short-sales. And they take a LONG time to buy...

I have to wait to sell off a couple of investments and finish the qualifying process. It will take a month or two.