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Have we hit bottom??? Buyer's Market has come to the NECK!!
The reasons I am saying this is because:
1. The hotsheet indicated a house listed at $425k sold for $300k. Three weeks ago a very nice rambler in the high rent area of Kilmarnock, with a great lot, deep water, great views, a lot of frontage was listed for $565 and sold for $400k. A lot listed for $299k just sold for $200k. A house listed for $499 sold for $375
2. Real estate sales dropped of dramatically after Katrina hit the gulf coast and gas prices exploded. As a result, there is a lot of property that has been on the market for a protracted period of time.
3. The endless discussions regarding the housing bubble and rising interest rates has caused anxiety in the market.
4.There is no denying that the inventory of property is high. But, in the months of January and February 2008, there has been a significant amount of activity, relatively speaking, for waterfront homes in the $400k range. No much activity for those properties in the above $500 range. My gut tells me that there was a lot of interest in properties in that $400 price range and when they started to sell then buyers started writing contracts at an accelerated rate. There are still deals but they are diminishing in number.
Bottom line
If I were looking at buying property today, I would be getting a feel for the market now and be prepared to make an offer that I, as opposed to the seller, felt comfortble with!!! I would be using the down turn in the housing market to my advantage! The sellers are hearing the same gloom and doom things you are hearing. Why not take action? I would if I had not carved out my niche here already. Frankly, there are just too many boomers out there looking to retire to a place like the Neck for things not to take off again.
We bought our first cottage for $87k in 1991 and we sold it four years later during a down market for $97k (the place is worth $325k or more now). We could have waited for another year until the market turned around; but, we started our permanent house that year and was able to move here sooner than planned.(see footnote for lesson_1/)
If you want detailed information on what there is in the Neck that you cannot get on realtor.com, call me at 1-877-crowh2o (276-9426) or e-mail me at LonRCrow@yahoo.com or just hit the "contact me" on the website.
_1/You cannot place a price on the memories of the friends and enjoyment we have experienced here in the "Neck". When it comes time to leave this earth, it is the memories of this place we will recall ....NOT.... darn..I wish I had waited for the market to turn around before we sold our first "Neck" cottage!!!!!!!!!!!.
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