| Author | Message | ||
     wbg69 Citizen Username: Wbg69 Post Number: 56 Registered: 6-2002 |
Anyone have any opinions on what the housing market is like this year in Maplewood? Are there still bidding wars going on? Are houses going within days, and/or for more than asking price? Any current, personal stories? I would love to hear them. We made the deal on our Maplewood house this time last year; it was the sixth house we bid on, and we kind of gave up caring deeply about "market value" in favor of caring about actually WINNING a bidding war. We did, paying well over asking price, and now, of course, I worry that housing demand will go down. Anyone out there with news on this front? | ||
| lseltzer Citizen Username: Lseltzer Post Number: 1385 Registered: 5-2001 |
Still seems red hot to me. The house across the street from me (corner Parker and Burroughs Way) went on the market a week ago at 389K, 70K more than the owners paid 2 years ago. They had 6 offers as of yesterday. I gotta tell you, that reval is going to kill this town. Eventually the market has to go down I suppose, but I can't see it dropping to, for example, 1995 levels. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 2740 Registered: 5-2001 |
Leseltzer, what is the assessment on the house? | ||
| #9Dream Citizen Username: 9dream Post Number: 185 Registered: 12-2002  |
We bought our house 4 years ago for $189k. It was reassessed at $245k, and houses just like it on our street are going in the $375-$400 range. That's double what we paid and then some. We'd be all over it to get out of these taxes if it weren't for the fact that everything else is way up too, making it difficult to find a good buy anywhere decent. | ||
| lseltzer Citizen Username: Lseltzer Post Number: 1386 Registered: 5-2001 |
The reval assessment was 283,100. | ||
| wbg69 Citizen Username: Wbg69 Post Number: 57 Registered: 6-2002 |
lseltzer - thanks for the personal info - maybe you'll be able to find out how much they get for it! our house listed at $389k last year, but we ended up paying $100k over asking, after being told indirectly, while we were at the $430k mark, that other offers were better. still a good investment, though, if this pattern continues (or at least does not reverse). | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 2743 Registered: 5-2001 |
That is pretty much in line with what I see from following sales. Houses seem to be going for around $100,000 over the assessment on average. The problem is that this seems to hold whether a house is assessed at $250,000 or $500,000, again on average. I am slowly, very slowly, working my way through the sales figures one of the local RE brokers included in his news letter. It is a slow process. | ||
| barleyrooty Citizen Username: Barleyrooty Post Number: 547 Registered: 5-2001  |
About 6 months ago there seemed to be a lot of For Sale signs around. They were right after the first tax bills arrived and the first economic slowdown - we're in the second now, if you hadn't noticed. I think several were "opportunistic". i.e. I'll sell if I can get THAT much. I know of a few properties that traded below asking price, and some that backed off from selling when they realized they couldn't get top $. Very many fewer signs now, and I'm starting to hear about bidding wars again, but not as bad as a year ago. | ||
| househunting Citizen Username: Househunting Post Number: 10 Registered: 2-2003 |
We bid on that house on Burroughs- offered the asking price and had to up it the next day. Ended up being blown out of the water by someone who came in with a very high bid (my agent wasn't sure what it was but thinks it was WAY over the asking price). I am really steamed about this because my high limit it $400K and I am annoyed that people with more money are coming in and overbidding on houses in MY price range and artificially inflating the market. My husband and I were previously looking in Nyack, NY, where I found the opposite problem- houses priced way too high that just sit on the market for several months until finally the price drops. We started looking here because it seemed you could get more for your money, but I am beginning to think that the listing prices are deceptive if they are really going for 10% more. In Nyack you can actually bid less than the asking price and have it accepted, so essentially the house prices are the same. I am beginning to think about looking in Nyack again, although my husband is down on it because of the bad commute. Needless to say, I am pretty depressed about the whole thing. | ||
| DBrown Citizen Username: Dbrown Post Number: 185 Registered: 11-2002 |
Househounting, is that house on Buroughs and Parker in excellent condition? Were the bedrooms big? I'm just wondering what people are getting for their money these days? | ||
| househunting Citizen Username: Househunting Post Number: 11 Registered: 2-2003 |
It was in good condition, probably one of the best we've seen, but I would not say it was in "total move-in condition," as it was advertised. The bathrooms were vintage (I'd prefer new), the kitchen was on the newer side (maybe 10 years old), but certainly not state of the art. The floors could use refinishing. The upstairs had wall-to-wall carpeting which was clean and in excellent condition. The basement was finished, but needed some sprucing up- it had old dark wood panelling and the lighting was pretty dark. The bedrooms were large and very nice. The yard was a little small. It was a very nice house and we felt it would have been perfect for us despite a few drawbacks (one of which being not really walk to town which is very important to me). My agent, who seemed to think it went for somewhere around $450K, thought it was not worth more than $425K (which we wouldn't have been able to afford anyway). We saw another house last week which was being offered at $390,900K and just dropped to $375K, which was totally renovated and truly in beautiful move-in condition, but was in a not-so great location (just off Springfield Ave). Another house, which is asking $379K, is nice and large but needs some work (new roof and we saw water in the basement). Both of these houses seem to be sitting on the market, as is another house which we didn't see that my agent says is nice but is right on Parker (a busy street), just two blocks from the Burroughs one. I told my husband that we are probably going to have to settle for a bad location or a house needing work if we want to find anything TRULY in our price range, and I would be happy in either of those houses. He is not so sure at this point, so I guess we will keep looking. | ||
| lseltzer Citizen Username: Lseltzer Post Number: 1390 Registered: 5-2001 |
I just ran into the realtor for the Burroughs Way house tonight and he said they took an offer from someone and it was amazingly high. He wouldn't give the exact number, but $450K is astonishing. I live across the street, my house is bigger and nicer (my opinion) and the idea that they got that much blows me away. It would be a $130K jump in 2-2.5 years. BTW, the kitchen is 3 years old. | ||
| wbg69 Citizen Username: Wbg69 Post Number: 58 Registered: 6-2002 |
househunting - I know EXACTLY how you feel, although admittedly my price range was slightly different. Here's a horror story for you: before looking in Maplewood, we saw, and bid on, a house in Montclair. Asking price was $539, it was in very nice condition, nice enough kitchen but not fabulous, fully finished (beautiful) basement, but only 1 bath on the 2nd floor, and then 1 full bath on the third floor, where there is another bedroom. At this price range, you are apparently supposed to share the main bathroom! Mind-blowing! Also 1/2 bath on the main floor, and then either a half or full bath in the basement. We bid I think $572k, and were told we were 9th out of 12 bids! We watched and waited for it to close, and would you believe it sold for $751k?? I was in disbelief. Why should I waste my time and effort looking at (letting alone bid on) houses out of my price range? we began to learn our lesson in Maplewood, and looked at houses in the low $400s. The nice ones ended up going for $500k. For example, we bid on 45 North Terrace (by the high school) - it was so frustrating to be told we were 2nd out of however many bids (second! doh!), bidding $492 on this totally remodeled house. We watched, and it went for $509k. Meanwhile, the house LITERALLY NEXT DOOR also listed for $439 shortly thereafter, we went to look at it but it needed to be totally redone (we thought). I saw the listings just come out for Maplewood and want to say it went for $429. And, it didn't sit on the market too long, although I do see some houses sitting now. The bidding wars are infuriating and disheartening, but I think that is just the case we have in an area with great demand but lower supply of move-in-ready houses. Good luck in your search. many posters on this board would tell you "just off Springfield" isn't so bad, is walking distance to the village and the pool, and it's only a few blocks from where I bought my house! | ||
| househunting Citizen Username: Househunting Post Number: 12 Registered: 2-2003 |
One infuriating thing about this whole saga is that the broker who brought in this extremely high bid was (as my broker disdainfully told me) is out of Montclair, not Maplewood. I assume the client was priced out of Montclair or losing bidding wars there, so the broker brought them here. My husband and I looked at Montclair but decided we liked Maplewood better- not because the prices are lower, but because we just like the town better. Now someone comes in from Montclair and pays Montclair prices for a Maplewood house and rips the rug out from under us. We are leaving New York because it has become a city of millionaires and we can't afford to live there and now it looks like we can't afford anyplace else. Well, maybe my husband will change his mind about the Springfield Ave. thing but at the time he said he didn't want to live anywhere near that street. I am surprised the kitchen is only 3 years old. It looked older. Definitely not one of the selling points of the house. I forgot to mention it had central air. That was a major selling point, although my broker thought it was a very old system. | ||
| wbg69 Citizen Username: Wbg69 Post Number: 59 Registered: 6-2002 |
househunting- do you have kids? because if you do not have to move on the school year schedule (this is what the spring time buying frenzy is all about), I think you could at least avoid the bidding wars in fall or winter (possibly even late summer). My personal experience was the school year is a major factor in the spring time crush, and this is definitely the worst time of year from a buyer's point of view (although when I go to sell, you can bet I will try to make that happen in spring!). good luck. don't give up. it's the beginning of spring selling season - give it time. Maplewood folks are quite regular (not millionairs, that I can tell), but offer the sophisitication of city-folk perspective. this is a great place and is worth a little extra effort. I am so glad I found a place in this community - I am sure there is an affordable place for you as well - your price range is NOTHING to sniff at! | ||
| househunting Citizen Username: Househunting Post Number: 13 Registered: 2-2003 |
Thanks, wbg69. Yes, I have one child, who'll be three in the fall. I was anxious about moving by then and starting him in a new preschool in September -I realize I'm already too late for most places in MW but I visited the Y and they register in first week of April and thought they'd have spots, so I was hoping to find a house by then. Anyway, I just told my husband I am not pulling him out of his present daycare/school (agreed to let them know by April 1), so I will be assured he has a place even if it means losing my $1750 (that's seventeen HUNDRED fifty dollar) deposit or commuting him in every day on the train if I do move before then and it is too late to get him in locally. The timeline of whole preschool thing was stressing me out, but thankfully, my husband agreed with me on this, so I feel less pressed for time now. | ||
| shoshannah Citizen Username: Shoshannah Post Number: 95 Registered: 7-2002 |
My two cents: Do not compromise on your location requirements. You can change anything about a house except its location. IMHO, better to get the best house you can in the neighborhood you want, knowing all the while that you can eventually expand, update, renovate, reconfigure -- whatever. Can't move the house, tho. | ||
| argon_smythe Citizen Username: Argon_smythe Post Number: 40 Registered: 5-2001 |
Ugh, househunting is such an emotional roller coaster... time consuming... all encompassing. You should be able to include therapist fees in the closing costs. My advice: Steel yourself. Don't let the realtors lull you into calling them "homes." They are houses until you buy one. Don't become attached to the ones you're courting. Let go of the ones you missed. Learn lessons but remain detached. There are no "interlopers" from other towns "artifically inflating" prices. The market is the market. What you want to pay or think a house is worth doesn't define the market. Money on the table defines the market. When you finally make the deal, you will be the interloper and you will have blown somebody else out of the water, somebody for whom that house is perfect, somebody who will think of it every time they drive by it for years to come. You will have artifically inflated the value of that house. And all your neighbors will be ecstatic at the shiny new comp you've provided them. | ||
| jeb Citizen Username: Jeb Post Number: 64 Registered: 9-2001 |
Househunting, Your whining is somewhat irritating. Why shouldn't owners get the best price possible? Do you feel for some reason that you deserve a break? | ||
| bemused Citizen Username: Bemused Post Number: 20 Registered: 1-2002 |
How much of this "bidding war" is being fueld by the real estate brokers? It is certainly to their benefit. |
