Why Houses Still So Overpriced?

[Who Dat Pat]

Also wanted to add that almost every foreclosed bank property, HUD homes, are all sold through realtors and usually each bank has an agent they solely let list them. In other words, they wont look much different than a regular listing and will be priced to current market value. They will say it in the remarks section that it is a repo so look for it there, but just ask your agent to find best deal. Hands down the best deal will be something outdated or in disrepair, it just depends how much work you are willing to do and how much you have to spend, which purchase with extra renovation money type loans are readily available.

Bottom line, not using an agent, you might only find out about 50% of the properties listed. The really good deal in current markets will sell within a day or two of listing and only other agents get to see those the second they are listed.

[Who Dat Pat]

All about location, as it has always been in real estate.

What is sqft of that? I haven't seen anything lower than maybe $85-$95 per foot and that is builder grade everything but that house looks like 2k to 3k sqft and was built for $129! Wow! Only other thing in that ballpark is the 9th to 7th ward have been getting houses that are prefab offsite and brought and place on site. The look similiar in finish to that one and are in the $70 per foot range.

[Ja Rhule]

I have a Realtor. He's been awesome. I just don't feel the houses I see.

[Ja Rhule]

I'm not sure why Union county houses still so high tho. Union county high school used to be good, now it's pretty bad. Anyway, there is one house for sale for $175k. Its been for sale for about a year or so. Should I offer $160k?

[pstall]

Arsen think of it like a biz man.Union County knows that MANY are leaving Char for better schools are better taxes. So, it's in their best interest to keep those values where they are or even a tad higher, because the demand to move is there. If say Union was known for poor schools or real bad crime or some nuke plant etc, guess what? The values would go down.

It's the little phrase I toss out from time to time here. Price Pain Point. Everyone of us has them with a myriad of things we are willing to buy.

[Ja Rhule]

Their schools are good except for high school. High school went to poo as of lately. I'm gonna buy a house in that area no matter what. I live in Mint Hill and the only reason I want to move out is due lower tax opportunity.

[Who Dat Pat]

I'm not sure why Union county houses still so high tho. Union county high school used to be good, now it's pretty bad. Anyway, there is one house for sale for $175k. Its been for sale for about a year or so. Should I offer $160k?

I can't comment on the area but if you aren't happy with what your realtor is giving you, ask him to send you an email from the mls system of every house for sale in the area you a looking in. It just takes a few clicks and you can get the list in a listing view with just a small pic and basic details to full listing on each. Maybe your realtor is trying to hard to find the perfect house and eliminating something you might like? Just an idea.

As for offering $160k, I would want from my realtor to give me the listing of everything that SOLD ( not selling) in the immediate area in like conditions and look at the sp/pf which is the sold price per square foot. Then plug that price into the sq footage of the house you like to get the value. The offer price is not something standard either. For example, I like to price my properties within 5% of comp prices because I don't like the back and forth game. On the other hand I do commercial properties and most residential agents will go higher on price to leave room to negotiate.

I would just go by the value you get form comps as your top point and start 5% - 10% back from there. A lot of people think they need to start really low, but many sellers get insulted by lowball offers and are slightly less willing to negotiate in long run, so don't go with an unrealistic offer that you believe is a starting point. On the other hand, $160k first offer on $175k is good offer. I would just advise you to guide your offer from what the comps average price per sq ft come up with regardless of what the asking price is.

[Niner National]

What is sqft of that? I haven't seen anything lower than maybe $85-$95 per foot and that is builder grade everything but that house looks like 2k to 3k sqft and was built for $129! Wow! Only other thing in that ballpark is the 9th to 7th ward have been getting houses that are prefab offsite and brought and place on site. The look similiar in finish to that one and are in the $70 per foot range.

I'm actually not sure. I think he said around 2,000 square feet.

He has a few pictures up on facebook. Looks to have granite counter tops, stainless everything (which i doubt was included in the price of the home) and tile floor in the living room. I can't speak to the rest of the house because I haven't yet seen it in person.

He got a steal on the land because it is a part of the Belmont redevelopment program. Being in a transitional neighborhood qualified him for a $7500 grant from the program.

I too bought in the Belmont community (except a bought a townhome in a mixed-income community). The city gave me a $7500 loan that I do not have to pay back so long as I stay here for 10 years. I paid the equivalent of $96/sq. foot ($133,300 for 1380 sq feet) and I can walk to the Trade/Tryon intersection in 15-20 minutes or Plaza-Midwood in 12-15.

[Niner National]

Arsen think of it like a biz man.Union County knows that MANY are leaving Char for better schools are better taxes. So, it's in their best interest to keep those values where they are or even a tad higher, because the demand to move is there. If say Union was known for poor schools or real bad crime or some nuke plant etc, guess what? The values would go down.

Except that is not accurate at all.

Charlotte is growing faster than Union County.

See map: http://www2.journalnow.com/mgmedia/image/0/354/183955/census-mamp/

I'm not saying UC is not in demand, the map clearly shows that it is, but to say people are fleeing Charlotte is completely inaccurate.

[Niner National]

Their schools are good except for high school. High school went to poo as of lately. I'm gonna buy a house in that area no matter what. I live in Mint Hill and the only reason I want to move out is due lower tax opportunity.

One thing to remember with UC is they have poorly planned their growth. UC has a lot of debt that was used to fund the building of so many schools and infrastructure projects. UC did a very poor job expanding its corporate tax base, so it had to fund a lot on the backs of the homeowners there.

Eventually that debt is going to have to be paid and that will mean significant tax increases. If you really want to live in the suburbs, you should not limit yourself to UC. There are plenty of nice suburbs in North Charlotte.

All parts of UC aren't cheap. For example, Waxhaw costs $1.0377 per $100 evaluation. Cornelius costs $1.06 per $100 evaulation. Charlotte is $1.25 while Monroe is $1.22.

Monroe, Waxhaw, Stallings, Lake Park, Wingate, Marshville, Mint Hill (some of it is in UC) and even Indian Trail are all fairly high. Marvin, Weddington, and Wesley Chapel are all very cheap, but you're not going to find a lot of houses there for $160,000.

Your savings over living in Charlotte with a house worth $160,000 per year would be minimal in some areas. I don't know where you work, but if you move to UC to save $100 dollars on your tax bill and end up spending hundreds more per year due to increased gas costs if you work in Charlotte, you didn't save money, you lost money. My parents live in Union County. They drive 50 miles round trip to work (each) and spend nearly $800 a month on gas combined. If they lived where I do, they'd drive 19 miles round trip to work and would save about $450/mo on gas.

[Ja Rhule]

One thing to remember with UC is they have poorly planned their growth. UC has a lot of debt that was used to fund the building of so many schools and infrastructure projects. UC did a very poor job expanding its corporate tax base, so it had to fund a lot on the backs of the homeowners there.

Eventually that debt is going to have to be paid and that will mean significant tax increases. If you really want to live in the suburbs, you should not limit yourself to UC. There are plenty of nice suburbs in North Charlotte.

All parts of UC aren't cheap. For example, Waxhaw costs $1.0377 per $100 evaluation. Cornelius costs $1.06 per $100 evaulation. Charlotte is $1.25 while Monroe is $1.22.

Monroe, Waxhaw, Stallings, Lake Park, Wingate, Marshville, Mint Hill (some of it is in UC) and even Indian Trail are all fairly high. Marvin, Weddington, and Wesley Chapel are all very cheap, but you're not going to find a lot of houses there for $160,000.

Your savings over living in Charlotte with a house worth $160,000 per year would be minimal in some areas. I don't know where you work, but if you move to UC to save $100 dollars on your tax bill and end up spending hundreds more per year due to increased gas costs if you work in Charlotte, you didn't save money, you lost money. My parents live in Union County. They drive 50 miles round trip to work (each) and spend nearly $800 a month on gas combined. If they lived where I do, they'd drive 19 miles round trip to work and would save about $450/mo on gas.

That's another reason. I work in Concord so commute will be shorter. My wife to be works in Monroe. So it's win/win for both of us.

[thefuzz]

I'm gonna buy a house this year anyway. I have no choice. What's the best buy? Bids? Foreclosures? or just regular way? I already got preapproved for a loan so that is out of the way.

How much cash do you have on hand after you go through the purchase of the home?

That will determine what you should be looking at. If you don't have some extra $$$ make sure that you can get a loan to help with the costs of fixing up the house to livable condition.

Your price point is really tough, most of the foreclosures are at a much higher price point, at least the ones that are perceived to be the "deals". Think 350-550K.

Either adjust price point, or expectation.

I buy and flip homes here as well as work for a builder. My partners think that we can go out there on a whim and find these bad ass deals, but they just aren't out there. At least not where you want to buy/live.

Nobody is picking up 350 value homes in the 180's regardless of what you hear in the media.

[Wanderlai]

The market is getting better and deals are getting snapped up. I bought my house a year and a half ago on the outskirts of Greensboro. I have a friend who is an agent so he hooked me up with listingbook. I also watched homepath, Fannie Mae, and homesteps, Freddie Mac, for foreclosures. I searched for about 7 months. Lost out on a Freddie mac home, because I drug my feet, when it went to a highest best offer between me and another buyer. I found out I offered more total money by 3000 but the other buyer was putting 70K down. I made 3 trips to that house over 3 weeks, then the day my agent goes ahead and submits my offer that other one comes in. In other words don't procrastinate. I was so bummed about losing that house.

I kept on watching and I found another great foreclosure deal and let my agent know about it. House was built new in 2005, 6000sf, hardwoods, 2 car garage, 2 story open living room with a wall of windows, creek behind the house, 6 minutes to a nice park, about 10 min to 40/85. The house was built for $380. The listing agent had to wait 2 weeks before taking offers...I was freaking out thinking about bidding against someone again. Offer day came and I submitted my offer, $230K, which was declined but countered at $260K by the bank. My 2nd offer was $240K with the bank paying $7K toward closing costs. It was accepted!

Since buying my house 3 other houses were foreclosed on around my neighborhood since the job market sucks. They all 3 sold recently for around $250K but aren't as nice as mine and all are in the 2000-2400 sf range. In other words better find something you'll enjoy living in because even small deals are getting snapped up at a fast pace now.

[Who Dat Pat]

How much cash do you have on hand after you go through the purchase of the home?

That will determine what you should be looking at. If you don't have some extra $$$ make sure that you can get a loan to help with the costs of fixing up the house to livable condition.

Your price point is really tough, most of the foreclosures are at a much higher price point, at least the ones that are perceived to be the "deals". Think 350-550K.

Either adjust price point, or expectation.

I buy and flip homes here as well as work for a builder. My partners think that we can go out there on a whim and find these bad ass deals, but they just aren't out there. At least not where you want to buy/live.

Nobody is picking up 350 value homes in the 180's regardless of what you hear in the media.

You mean those commercials on TV where the people buy $180k houses for $200 aren't real? Lol.

Everytime a friend of mine comes to me for help buying their first house, they think their is this huge list of tax seized or foreclosed properties selling for pennies on the dollar. Although there are a few properties available for a huge discount, they are usually in a terrible neighborhood, usually missing part of the roof, maybe some exterior walls, possibly populated by crack users, etc. I'm sure you probably get a lot of that too!