Been housing shop this summer and WOW has the market changed (In Michigan)!!!

Iceman · Sep 2, 2006

Bought my 1st house 2 years ago and moved GF in a year later. Since the move-in we decided it was too crowded and have looked for a bigger home, so basically I have been house hunting off and on for 3 years or so.

In those 3 years alot has changed, what you can get for 250k-300k has changed dramatically. There are so many homes for sale that the competition (in Michigan) is driving the prices way down and a large percentage of the homes are dropping their prices ALOT . I have seen it firsthand and wonder if it is like this in alot of regions across the U.S? It is amazing as house I have walked thru 2 months ago and thought about making offers on, are dropping prices 25k overnight.

Alot more SUPPLY than DEMAND. Not sure to strike now when the iron is hot or wait it out another 6 months or so and watch frustrated sellers jump on first offers.

What is the old saying: You make your money not when you sell but when you buy.

WorldNumberOne · Sep 2, 2006

the rate if increase was so great for about 4 years that even if houses are dropping their prices now , they are still overpriced.

down here in my area , which is a beach town , the housing market is dead.

so many sellers and nobody buying.

LEYKIS101 · Sep 2, 2006

World Number One said:
the rate if increase was so great for about 4 years that even if houses are dropping their prices now , they are still overpriced.

down here in my area , which is a beach town , the housing market is dead.

so many sellers and nobody buying.

Agree with what youre saying. I think housing is basically dead across the U.S. right now. Sellers believe their house is worth more than it is and buyers are willing to wait, thinking prices are moving South(probably a good idea). If not buying for just shelter I think I'd wait a couple of years to buy, but thats just me.

:drink:

HAT · Sep 2, 2006

2008 is going to be a great year to have alot of cash on hand.

I sell building materials in the South Bay and most of my Spec. builders are waitng longer & longer and taking less & less to move their properties.

Demand for tear-down lots still seems to be moving forward however.

FairWarning · Sep 2, 2006

Iceman, might be a good idea to rent right now. Where you are at there will be more houses for sale with the shakedown at GM. There will be some deals your way. Along Lake Michigan here, housing is on fire.

LEYKIS101 · Sep 2, 2006

HAT said:
2008 is going to be a great year to have alot of cash on hand.

I sell building materials in the South Bay and most of my Spec. builders are waitng longer & longer and taking less & less to move their properties.

Demand for tear-down lots still seems to be moving forward however.

What city you in Hat? South Bay's a great place to live.

I see a bunch of condo and townhome projects still going up in Torrance and Long Beach, I think they timed it a lil late.

aceduecetrey · Sep 2, 2006

Housing market here in SW Florida is starting to bounce back finally.

ClipJoint · Sep 2, 2006

Finally slowing down here in CA. But for those prices you mentioned, you still can't get a house worth living in here.

FairWarning · Sep 2, 2006

Clip Joint said:
Finally slowing down here in CA. But for those prices you mentioned, you still can't get a house worth living in here.

A friend of mine (who is a Clipper Season-ticket holder) was visiting last week and he was telling me about the housing market in OC. Wow.

brijames · Sep 2, 2006

Have lived here in SW MI, Grand Rapids area, for most of my life and have never seen the housing market and the economy in general this bad. This has always been a very strong area as as far as housing but with the huge loss of manufacturing jobs this area has really gone in the crapper.

Granted housing was overvalued here but this is a big time correction taking place.

ClipJoint · Sep 2, 2006

FairWarning said:
A friend of mine (who is a Clipper Season-ticket holder) was visiting last week and he was telling me about the housing market in OC. Wow.

Had my house appraised last week and was shocked...the prices here are ridiculous.

Iceman · Sep 2, 2006

Clip Joint said:
Had my house appraised last week and was shocked...the prices here are ridiculous.

good bad or ugly?

ClipJoint · Sep 2, 2006

Iceman said:
good bad or ugly?

Very good. Close to a million and it is nothing special.

sean1 · Sep 2, 2006

I think we've got another year or so for the market to crash. Stuff in Miami has dropped 20 or 30%. They are still asking what they were last year, but sale prices are way down. I plan to try to pick up a few units in about a year...

-Sean

ClipJoint · Sep 2, 2006

What do you guys think about going after foreclosure properties? A lot of people tied into ARM loans a few years back and are now in over their heads.

Is it a good market to go after now or should I wait while values continue to drop?

HAT · Sep 2, 2006

LEYKIS101 said:
What city you in Hat? South Bay's a great place to live.

I see a bunch of condo and townhome projects still going up in Torrance and Long Beach, I think they timed it a lil late.

Prof,
Live in OC, but work the beach cities...RB, HB, MB.

Not sure if they've timed it late or not. Lots of Spec. stuff taking longer to sell for sure. But that's not stopping anyone from scraping lots left and right.

:smoking:

ClipJoint · Sep 2, 2006

HAT said:
Prof,
Live in OC, but work the beach cities...RB, HB, MB.

Not sure if they've timed it late or not. Lots of Spec. stuff taking longer to sell for sure. But that's not stopping anyone from scraping lots left and right.

:smoking:

Until they learn how to build more beaches, property on the coast will always sell.

Fishhead · Sep 2, 2006

Wait 7-24 months to buy..........WAY overpriced.

HAT · Sep 2, 2006

Clip Joint said:
Until they learn how to build more beaches, property on the coast will always sell.

Exactly Clip. Most of my work comes from people tearing down an old 1400 SF ranch house and depending on what city it's in, either:

Buiding Townhomes (2 on a lot). Torrance, Lawndale, North Redondo....

or

Building a huge Mediteranian on every single SF of lot that is allowed. (Manhattan, Hermosa, etc.)

I just sold a job where the original house was torn down in the mid-eighties and someone built their 'dream home'. Well, apparently it was only their dream as that lot was just scraped again so the new owner could build their dream home.

The dirt is worth way more than any house that can be built on it. Especially in 90266 (MB).

Here's to job security! :toast:

harrington · Sep 2, 2006

The Buffalo area has dropped a bit. I paid $250,000 in 2001. That pretty much gets you an awesome house in this area. Mine has gone up in value but is now starting to level off.