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5/4/2007 5:45:23 PM

Man I know I haven't posted in this thread before, but I am really nervous about my house. I live in Washington, and the houses are so overpriced compared to back east. For those of you who aren't familiar with the market.... I have a 3 BR, 2.5 bath, 2 story house with a large bonus room, decent size kitchen, dining room, and living room... a total of about 1600 square feet and a very small yard. I bought it for $274k. That is a metric asston where I come from, especially seeing as how I grew up in West Virginia where prices are much lower.

Anyway, all I ever hear about is this "bubble" the housing market is on and boy is that scary. Supposedly the area where I bought is still doing well, but there is still that haunting feeling of losing thousands of dollars whenever I decide to sell. I have put quite a few upgrades in it already (really nice landscaping, granite countertops, lotsa painting). Are there any more tips anyone has to attract potential buyers and/or make your house more appealing compared to the next guy?

5/4/2007 6:24:19 PM

I'm no expert on this stuff by any means, but I think one of the biggest keys to getting good resale value on your home (based on things you can control!) is to not "price" yourself out of the neighborhood in either direction.

A lot of people are turned off by having the nicest home in the neighborhood. If they can afford the nicest house, then they'll often choose to live in a more prestigious neighborhood instead.

And obviously you don't want to be the worst maintained house in the neighborhood.


If you think you might be putting your house on the market in the near future then id probably chill on the renovations for now if your area truly is a "bubble" zone. If you're planning on being there for 10+ years I wouldnt worry too much about it either way...

5/4/2007 6:45:03 PM

Yeah I'm in the military so I will be moving.... either in 1 year or 3, depending on whether or not my next duty station is here.

5/4/2007 6:52:10 PM

Kitchen upgrades ftw.

5/5/2007 1:16:37 AM

inheritance.........

5/5/2007 2:28:45 AM

^^^^ yea a friend of mine who is pretty big time in real estate gave me some advice that is basically what you said... He said always get the average house in the neighborhood, the nicest or the shittiest you won't make any money off of.

5/5/2007 12:18:15 PM

Does anyone have links to real estate data in coastal areas (Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle, OBX, etc.) similar to what Wake County puts online? I know it is a stretch and we are lucky to have that type of info so easily available here.

It will be great when this type of access is available everywhere. I'm interested in finding out more about how some of these areas are doing.

5/11/2007 3:33:16 PM

Where Home Prices Are Hot Now

http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/103016/where-home-prices-are-hot-now

"Portland, Ore., Boise, Idaho, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Houston, Austin, and Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., are among the cities bucking the national trend. Homes' appreciation there between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2006 far exceeded the national average of 5.9%, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight."

5/14/2007 8:14:00 AM

i just finished my pre-construction meeting today...i'm excited about my house being finished in august or september!

5/14/2007 10:46:58 AM

Cool, I have my final walkthrough in a month.

5/14/2007 11:38:17 AM

Can anyone suggest a good provider for homeowner's insurance?

I'm using allstate for all my insurance right now.

5/14/2007 3:44:36 PM

i went with ERIE insurance. they have an excellent jd power ratings, plus i currently live in Erie, so that's kinda neat my parents have used liberty mutual all their lives and the couple times they've needed to use it (hurricane fran, a couple hot water heater explosions in the attic) they've had excellent service. this despite the very low jd power rating. so who knows

[Edited on May 14, 2007 at 4:57 PM. Reason : http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/charts/2006232a.gif]

5/14/2007 4:56:37 PM

i went with amica...my dad has had good experience with them and my car insurance is with them as well so i get discount for that.

i have my final walk through on wednesday and closing friday at 10am...

5/14/2007 5:13:47 PM

^^ No Geico?

5/14/2007 9:42:44 PM

yeah i noticed that too -shrug-

5/14/2007 10:34:21 PM

^^^ I was going to mention that my homeowners insurance is with the same agency as my car insurance which gives me a nice discount as well.

5/15/2007 1:38:33 AM

I've got Allstate. I had Nationwide, but my agent's office was full of idiots. I really like my Allstate agent and I'll be glad to refer him to anyone via PM. I've only met him in person once, but he actually knows who I am when I call and he has really been helpful in finding and getting me ALL applicable discounts.

With my last agent I had to call them and ask why I wasn't getting a discount over and over again. Every fucking time they would agree that I should be getting it, add it to my policy, but offer no recourse for the fact that I had been paying too much for a long time. Bunch of fucking losers.

My Allstate agent knocked hundreds per year off my car insurance alone (three cars) and another $100 off my home insurance compared to my Nationwide policy.

You get a sizeable discount for having an alarm in your home as well, especially if it is monitored. For anyone considering getting an alarm, I think you can come out pretty well if you do one of those packages where they give you a nice alarm package for free in exchange for a 2 year contract at $35/month monitoring fee or whatever. Having an alarm knocked a couple hundred bucks per year off my homeowner's policy iirc which would come close to paying the $35/month rmonitoring. It's worth running the numbers on at least.

[Edited on May 15, 2007 at 2:34 AM. Reason : l]

5/15/2007 2:28:39 AM

^pm sent

5/15/2007 2:36:50 AM

I have allstate now. I really like the guy but they don't seem that competitive.

5/15/2007 6:31:36 AM

I have mine through Traveler's via Geico.

Haven't had any problems, but haven't had to use it either.

5/15/2007 8:17:29 AM

Turns out the allstate guy quoted me at a $500 deductable and the others quoted me at a $1000 deductable hence the difference in price. I was thinking about going with $1000 deductable. What do you guys use?

5/15/2007 8:17:29 AM

My wife and I are about to start talking to banks about loans:

She(800+) has much better credit than I(650) do.

I have 28K in savings that can be either a down payment or just to loan against.

Were looking to get a loan for about 155-160, or 130-135 if I use the savings. Does it matter if we get the loan in my name with her as a cosigner, or vice-versa, or are there any other combinations that might help us get a better loan with a better rate? I don't really know shit about mortgages, obviously.

5/15/2007 8:43:54 AM

^ If you're married, both of your names have to be on the loans by law.


^^I have the highest possible deductible. Off the top of my head I can't remember -- something like $2500 or $5000.

HOI is something you just don't use unless it's catastrophic. They are pretty much unregulated and can drop your policy at any time, for any reason. They assess their potential insurees using a number called your CLUE score, which is based on how much you've invoked your policy or made inquiries on your coverage. It's a fucked up business, but it is what it is. There are hundreds of articles about people who made small (couple of thousand dollar) claims which were then paid by the insurance company. Then their coverage was dropped, and couldn't find anyone who would insure them for a long time, and eventually had to pay several times what they were paying before to get coverage. This happened to my dad about 10 years ago as well when he used HOI to cover damages caused by a break-in where all of our cars were broken into and robbed.



[Edited on May 15, 2007 at 8:49 AM. Reason : ae]

5/15/2007 8:47:56 AM

It also depends on who you're insurer is. Some are ethical, some aren't.

I'd recommend Farm Bureau.

[Edited on May 15, 2007 at 9:11 AM. Reason : ?]

5/15/2007 9:11:03 AM

^^ are you sure about the married = both names by law thing? I just went through the loan process and only used my name on the loan. both are going on the deed

5/15/2007 9:13:43 AM

Fucking credit scoring is the biggest scam in this goddamn country. I just spent 6 straight weeks getting my credit back where it should be (over 140 pt raise). Sprint decided to F me in the ass with a collection for a bill that wasn't mine.

That being said - those of you with bad credit ratings - it is definitely worth every scrap of free time you have to do whatever it takes to get your score up.

PS. Those of you buying in Raleigh are lucky as hell. Try Hoboken or Jersey City......holy shit.

5/15/2007 9:47:42 AM

^^

well, only as sure as what ING told me when I re-financed. So they could have been wrong on that.

5/15/2007 10:12:18 AM

U.S. Median Home Price Tumbles to 2-Year Low in Slump

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=home&sid=acTRbno5hjVA

"The nation's most expensive single-family home market was the San Jose and Santa Clara areas of California, where the median house price was $788,000. The metropolitan area of San Francisco was second, at $748,100."

5/15/2007 3:31:33 PM

if you requested the loan as an individual and they required your spouse to be a co-borrower they violated reg b

i'm about 100% sure you would qualify on your own, so it sounds like they made her sign just because you're married, which is in violation of the act

i also don't think that putting a bunch of student loans with little to no income on your application helps you get a better mortgage rate so requiring her to be on there could have been equivalent to requiring you to take a higher interest rate

[Edited on May 16, 2007 at 2:12 PM. Reason : ffgf]

5/16/2007 2:08:31 PM

hmm... good to know for future reference.

I don't think they were trying to trick me into a higher interest rate in this case since that was negotiated before the spousal issue came up.

5/16/2007 2:20:31 PM

just a conspiracy theory

then they just did it to give themselves a warm fuzzy feeling that everybody is on the loan

and it looks like the area around clayton is blowing up, i'm looking at a $20 million A&D deal for a development there and it's not the only one going in by a long shot

5/17/2007 5:14:36 PM

A&D?

5/17/2007 6:18:25 PM

acquisition and development

5/17/2007 6:53:17 PM

Does anyone have any opinions on some of the condos they are building downtown (712 tucker, etc)?

5/19/2007 6:05:51 PM

overpriced and risky imo. the value of those condos is tied to the deveopment of downtown raleigh which is too much of a gamble for me as a first time homebuyer. there is obviously potential for significant gains, but it's a coin flip to me. i would get tired of downtown living eventually but the condos are gorgeous.

5/19/2007 6:14:15 PM

I am on the waitlist for 712 Tucker. I think it will be a good investment, since the starting prices are much lower than the other developments around. I don't see newer developments being built with a lower price anytime soon either. The biggest reason I want to buy one is because I have my whole life to life in a suburban house, but right now is the best time to live in a downtown condo.

5/19/2007 6:27:13 PM

HOMEOWNERS DUES SUCK

5/19/2007 8:18:35 PM

i was going to get a place at 712 tucker, but 1 bedrooms don't hold value like 2 bedrooms and the 2-br condos ended up being over $70k more than what they initially stated in all of their information/packets/website etc.

5/19/2007 9:10:44 PM

Anyone know a good buyers agent who can find me a foreclosed home in cary or morrisville or n. Raleigh.

Im interested in something in the 140-220k range, but want to get a good deal.

Do any real estate agents stay on top of these, or is it more of something that investors aggressively buy up?

I was under the impression that individual home buyers looking to live in the home had first dibs on foreclosures.

5/21/2007 8:54:57 AM

I've heard several times that the best investments in this area get snapped up before they are on MLS long enough to show up on your realtor's website. If you're a realtor and a real steal comes in you'd be a fool not to buy it or send it to someone who will reward you for the tip.

The best bet is to find them before they go up for sale and do a FSBO to save broker fees. If you get the word out, eventually someone will know somebody with a property that they need to move quickly and easily.

[Edited on May 21, 2007 at 11:09 AM. Reason : s]

5/21/2007 11:08:53 AM

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070524/economy.html?.v=18

Sales of new homes surged in April by the biggest amount in 14 years, but the median price of a new home dropped by the largest amount on record. The mixed signals left no clear picture of whether the worst of the nation's housing slump is over.

5/24/2007 10:20:51 AM

people are still snapping up land...

i guess thats a good thing for me


I'm gonna go to that "land auction" thing and see what kinda BS those people are talking about, and I suppose I'll bring a pocketfull of business cards so they can deal with a company that sells land that isn't shady

5/24/2007 10:29:40 AM

good idea for finding clients.


I would like to invest in some land in wake county, but I would probably have to do it with a group of people, unless there is a good way to invest in land for individuals out there... any tips??

5/24/2007 10:33:16 AM

wake county is too high to do that already IMO


I'd search around places that are growing and still affordable such as Fayetteville, Greenville, parts of johnston county that aren't really high yet, etc

anything near a major road thats within 30 minutes of here is too expensive to buy for investment IMO

[Edited on May 24, 2007 at 10:44 AM. Reason : PM me for my company website]

5/24/2007 10:43:48 AM

closed on our first house this morning

5/29/2007 10:58:54 PM

CONGRATS!!!!

5/29/2007 11:08:25 PM

congrats - go buy stock in home depot

5/29/2007 11:09:35 PM

Hopefully I won't be far behind. Hard to make the leap in the areas I am looking - even with a 80/10/10

5/29/2007 11:12:19 PM

I just went under contract yesterday.

Anyone else in the Southern Durham - Penrith Village area?

6/7/2007 12:45:33 PM