Real Estate Market?

[Farnsworth]

We are just starting to look for our first house and anything semi-decent that is priced anywhere close to where it should be doesn't last more than a day or two on the market.

I'm just happy our landlord is cool with us renting month to month at no additional charge so we can take our sweet ole time.

 

[Cyclonesince78]

That's exactly what creates a bubble. What are you looking at? Does that home for $7 million scream bargain to you? Those houses are being flipped between Chinese people who have never even seen the house, nor do they care. The same thing was happening in the US around 2007-08. I've heard stories of people, lawyers, realtors, appraisers, all just sitting around a room and selling the same house more than once in a day and increasing the price each time.

In my town that house would probably be worth 30-40k if it is in as bad a shape as they imply.

Or maybe this chart? Yep, definitely appears to be nearing top of a bubble to me. There is no way that home is affordable to anyone that actually wants to live there.

Can you link where you got that chart? I'm calling BS. There is no way that the 2008 recession only caused a 1 year dip in Sales Price. We were down and/or flat for at least 3 years.

 

[cydline2cydline]

Getting ready to put our house on the market this week. Starter home in Des Moines area and agent suggested we start much higher (~$20k) than what I thought we would list it at. It will be interesting to see how much action we get on it.

Our neighbors home had an offer the first day their home came on the market, about 2 months ago, even though it fell through. They also had about 3-4 offers after and got it sold at what they were asking.

Just agreed to buy a home (where we love the location and is nice quality) that we could potentially add-on to the home in the future.

 

[kickout]

We are just starting to look for our first house and anything semi-decent that is priced anywhere close to where it should be doesn't last more than a day or two on the market.

I'm just happy our landlord is cool with us renting month to month at no additional charge so we can take our sweet ole time.

Farnsworth, you live in West O or midtown, or where abouts?

Whats your rent if you don't mind me asking (is it a house/apartment/townhome)?

 

[Farnsworth]

Farnsworth, you live in West O or midtown, or where abouts?

Whats your rent if you don't mind me asking (is it a house/apartment/townhome)?

I should update my profile. We are actually renting in Waukee right now at $1100 (apartment).


We have no specific area we are looking at currently. My fiance works downtown and I'm currently on a contract so unsure on where I will be working at the end of the year.

 

[PSYclone22]

I was thinking of doing the same as im now passing the 3 year mark on my 5 year ARM. Im at 2.25% and bought at a good price too so it would be a good time late this summer im thinking for me to gain some nice net proceeds off it. Tough decision either way though.

Don't get ARM loans. As someone who worked in mortgage servicing... so much of this ends with negative events.

 

[bringmagicback]

IDK why, but in my little town, we usually have about 30 houses for sale. Right now we have 5. 2 for around 280k, 2 for around 140k, and 1 for 90k. I need to sell my house in the next year, my house is a starter home but very nice (previous owners tore it to the studs, only original the frame). I paid 90k for mine (it would be around 130k if in des moines), and the other one on the market for 90k is 136 years old (but nice). I almost think I should put mine on the market for $110k and hope some idiot moves to town and buys it. i know we are hiring like 10 new teachers this summer. Only thing that f's me is i dont have a garage.

 

[ClonesFTW]

Don't get ARM loans. As someone who worked in mortgage servicing... so much of this ends with negative events.

This only applies to people who don't understand an ARM. There are tons of reasons why an ARM is a good option for some people.

 

[DeereClone]

This only applies to people who don't understand an ARM. There are tons of reasons why an ARM is a good option for some people.

Where are ARM rates at today? When we did our house it didn't seem like there was any pricing spread to go down to an ARM from a FTM product. 2.75% 15 year Fix here - I just don't see an ARM being low enough to justify having to re-price that in X number of years but I am all ears.

 

[ArgentCy]

A lot of ARM's are higher than fixed rates right now. Which makes them the best option for absolutely ZERO borrowers.

 

[StratCY]

Doesn't really apply but I am in the process of buying my first house in Austin. The market here is incredibly fast, and house prices are only going up. I just put in an offer about 5k over what the seller was asking and have yet to hear back. Houses are typically gone in less than week after showing up on the MLS. My biggest problem is I have no down payment to work with (VA Loan is giving me the ability to buy now instead of in 3 years).

 

[ClonesFTW]

Where are ARM rates at today? When we did our house it didn't seem like there was any pricing spread to go down to an ARM from a FTM product. 2.75% 15 year Fix here - I just don't see an ARM being low enough to justify having to re-price that in X number of years but I am all ears.

If there's a bank offering a 2.75% on a 15 year fixed today there's pretty much no reason to do an ARM. The average time a home owner stays in their original mortgage is about 7 years, whether they move or refinance. That said, most borrowers default to a 30 year fixed on the mortgage because they assume that's the best product. The 7/1 ARM is becoming a much more popular product recently, especially in first time home buyers who know they may not be in the house that long.

 

[ArgentCy]

Can you link where you got that chart? I'm calling BS. There is no way that the 2008 recession only caused a 1 year dip in Sales Price. We were down and/or flat for at least 3 years.

That was for average sale price in Vancouver CA and in the same article as my first post. The fact that it powered right through what turned out to be a bubble in the US is pretty impressive.

 

[ClonesFTW]

Doesn't really apply but I am in the process of buying my first house in Austin. The market here is incredibly fast, and house prices are only going up. I just put in an offer about 5k over what the seller was asking and have yet to hear back. Houses are typically gone in less than week after showing up on the MLS. My biggest problem is I have no down payment to work with (VA Loan is giving me the ability to buy now instead of in 3 years).

I wouldn't call that a problem, the VA loan is arguably the best mortgage product out there. It is definitely a sellers market in lots of places right now as you're finding. Get the highest level of approval you can from the bank you're pre-approved with (get your income/asset documentation in for underwriting) and realtors will take your offer more seriously than the generic pre-qualification/pre-approval letters some lenders send. That will definitely help when a listing agent looks at a pile of 10 offers.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

I'll be that guy and point out that there is a real estate forum that this thread would fit perfectly into.

 

[Farnsworth]

I'll be that guy and point out that there is a real estate forum that this thread would fit perfectly into.

Would that be the CharterHouseIowa.com Real Estate Forum?

 

[SoapyCy]

I wouldn't call that a problem, the VA loan is arguably the best mortgage product out there. It is definitely a sellers market in lots of places right now as you're finding. Get the highest level of approval you can from the bank you're pre-approved with (get your income/asset documentation in for underwriting) and realtors will take your offer more seriously than the generic pre-qualification/pre-approval letters some lenders send. That will definitely help when a listing agent looks at a pile of 10 offers.

devil's advocate here but does/should any military service qualify you for an endless amount of programs? people lash out at programs but there seems to be an endless supply for VA-type programs out there. no-down payment for a house? that's just setting people up to fail.

on another note - the way you all talk is exactly how people talked when i graduated college and people were buying houses. then it all crashed a year later. not saying it will - but it was the exact same conversation. exactly the same.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

Would that be the CharterHouseIowa.com Real Estate Forum?

The Mark Charter CharterHouseIowa.com real estate forum presented by Mark Charter.

 

[StratCY]

devil's advocate here but does/should any military service qualify you for an endless amount of programs? people lash out at programs but there seems to be an endless supply for VA-type programs out there. no-down payment for a house? that's just setting people up to fail.

on another note - the way you all talk is exactly how people talked when i graduated college and people were buying houses. then it all crashed a year later. not saying it will - but it was the exact same conversation. exactly the same.

To qualify for a VA loan you do have to meet minimum service requirements, its not an automatic for everyone who was or is in the service. And you actually need a higher credit score to qualify for a VA loan (620) as apposed to say a FHA loan where you need only a 580 or something. The mortgage company treats it like any other other loan, the difference is just 0 down payment, and a lower interest rate (usually about a half percent below market). You still need to qualify financially, and your DTI still needs to be within limits, just like any other mortgage. I wouldn't say at all it's setting me up to fail. Actually, most of the homes I'm looking at, even after taxes and insurance, will be around the same amount im paying for rent right now. It makes sense to build equity rather than throw my money away (my opinion, not the same situation as everyone, I understand sometimes it is smarter to rent).

 

[StratCY]

I wouldn't call that a problem, the VA loan is arguably the best mortgage product out there. It is definitely a sellers market in lots of places right now as you're finding. Get the highest level of approval you can from the bank you're pre-approved with (get your income/asset documentation in for underwriting) and realtors will take your offer more seriously than the generic pre-qualification/pre-approval letters some lenders send. That will definitely help when a listing agent looks at a pile of 10 offers.

Well, the only issue is sometimes the home doesn't appraise for the asking price, so I could only get a loan for whatever it appraises for. If I had a substantial down payment, I wouldnt necessarily need to worry about that.