I’m feeling defeated and thinking it’s time to move

[StormyDay]

I live in NOVA, and anyone around here knows the housing market went insane last summer.
Well, my landlord informed me last summer that they would be selling the house I had been living in for 3 years. No big deal I thought; I had already been planning on buying soon and had a down payment ready.
I put in offers on 4 different places. All were rejected because someone else offered more than asking and waived their inspection.
This last one was kind of the final straw. I offered considerably over asking only to find out there were 32 OTHER offers, including one for almost 2x asking.
I’m just burnt out. I’m moving into a tiny temp rental that I’m paying way too much money for, because rentals are way too scarce right now. I thought the market would cool down by now, but it hasn’t.

I love Virginia, but it’s almost a year at this point of looking and I’m so frustrated.

Did anyone else’s real estate market go crazy? I heard LA did.

[mommy_peanut]

It’s like that just about everywhere. Best of luck.

[shiloh]

A buyer’s market it is not. I’ve seen some awful little chickensh*t dumps in my area (central Coast CA) going for 600 - 700 thousand. More than twice what they are worth. I keep hearing the market is going to crash but I’m not seeing it. I wish you luck OP.

[StormyDay]

There are places that the market hasn’t done this but sadly they are all places I can’t live.
Homes that were 500k a year and a half ago are 800-900k now. It is insane. And I can’t imagine the values will hold; I certainly don’t want to end up buying and having it loose all its value.
I’m considering buying raw property to build now. I wanted to go look at a piece of land near me and before I could even schedule to go and see it someone had already put an offer down. Just insane here.

[Interstellar]

Yep it’s all over now and just seems to keep going up. We are staying in our current starter home, saving down payment money, and waiting until whenever the market goes down.

[joiedevie99]

Same here. Suburbs of NYC are booming. You can’t rent anything here under $5k/month, and there is basically nothing for sale regardless of size/condition under $1.5m.

[anon81364900]

Given how COVID made corporations realize that remote working works and actually saves them money in office rent, now is a good time to push for a 100% remote job. And go live somewhere affordable.
For $650k you could have this cute house on 19 acres, which is already approved for subdivision so you could sell some of it. It’s situated in the fastest-growing town in IA, so owning land there is a very good bet. It’s about 20 min drive to a nice college town with culture (for example, big Broadway shows like Hamilton often come here first, when they take their show on the road), restaurants, international population. And our real estate market, while expensive compared to the rest of Iowa, is inherently stable due to Iowa City being home to a Big10 university, 3 major hospitals, and a steady manufacturing base for giant corporations like Proctor & Gambel, Quaker Oats, ADM, etc. Easy 3h drive to Chicago when you need a Big City fix.

Yeah, there will be 6, maybe 8 weeks of winter that you’ll hate, but other than that it’s a very livable place.

[anon81364900]

PS Aside from being able to get a lot of land for the money, you east coasters will die when you hear what property taxes are out here. On 35 acres we pay less than $4000 a year in taxes. And contractors, etc are all cheaper too. For example, we’ve had 15-20 trees taken down for about $1800. This month we decided to convert our above-ground electric service coming in from the road to underground. Just got the quote from our electric company for removing two utility poles, trenching about 200ft and laying new cable: $950. I’m in the middle of putting up a 30x32 outbuilding and all-in cost is about $18k.
PPS I don’t have any connection at all to that property, just putting it up there as an example of horse property that’s available.

[rockonxox]

The market is crazy right now and has been and I honestly don’t see it getting better any time soon. Eventually, yes things will change… but it is tough out. I am so thankful I sold my foreclosure I fixed up when I did as it gave me a little extra spending $ for the next house. I was selling to downsize and have a lower mortgage, but the market was very hot even 1.5 years ago when the market first started getting intense. I couldn’t find a place before I had to move out and hand over the keys in mine so I packed my 2 dogs and cat into my friends 10x10 spare bedroom without a closet (thank goodness for friends). I put in 8 offers and was outbid on everything. I started putting in a good chunk over asking with no closing costs to the seller and still getting rejected because I was competing against 20+ other people. I think my saving grace for getting the house I have now is that the owner was still at home when I came to see it (rushing on her way out, but took a moment to talk to me). I think she took a little pity and wasn’t in need for a huge pay day and just wanted to downsize herself, and have a quick sale that wasn’t contingent, so even though there was a higher offer than mine she went with my offer. I really like the house, but I did settle. It is a town home with no yard, just a cement porch, and needs some updating - but I’m not in a 10x10 living with my friend’s crazy family and the neighborhood is great. My plan when I first bought was sure I’ll stay for the 2-3 years and then sell and move into something with a yard. Nope, that probably won’t happen because there is NO WAY I’d be able to afford it as the houses that 1.5 years ago that were in my budget are now twice as much. 2 bed 1 bath 700sq ft homes selling for the upper 200-300 (yikes for my area - maybe doesn’t sound like a lot if you are used to coastal prices, but these places will never sell without a ton of money put into them in a not hot market - you’re straight up losing money the second you pay for the home imo). Renting is out of the question as my mortgage is cheaper than pretty much any apartment in the area and I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t have a friend or family member who will take them in during the interim between selling and buying again.

PS I’m in Kansas. It isn’t just the east coast or the west coast. Everywhere is experiencing this. I feel for you, it’s an expensive and emotionally draining situation in the housing market right now.

[twostinkydogs]

I wouldn’t assume being shut out of the market is a bad thing. 32 offers including double the price sounds like a frothy market to me. We had a major shock to the economy that is still playing out.

[StormyDay]

I’m not opposed to looking at other places. Weirdly enough my money seems to go further in New Jersey and New York right now… though I’ve heard taxes are bad there. There is a house with an indoor there that I’m drooling over.

[cutter99]

I am in Tennessee, and yes, the market here has gone crazy. I live in the middle of no where, and prices have as much doubled in the 7 years we have been here, mainly in the last 2 years.

This is a bubble that is bound to burst. Can you find a place that is reasonable to rent until you can decide where you want to be and for prices to drop?

[clanter]

@StormyDay

Did anyone else’s real estate market go crazy? I heard LA did.

in my direct neighborhood people are paying well over the asking price for houses on acreage, then bulldozing the house out of the way to build their new thing… one home had just before being listed had been completely updated at the cost of between one hundred and two hundred thousand dollars…it was bulldozed after being stripped of everything that had recently been installed

While we calmly watch the value of our property go out of sight currently the only direct affect is the cost of homeowners insurance as the policy’s face value is being increasing each year reflecting the costs to replace.

[awaywego]

I started a “buyers commiseration thread” in Off Topic about this. Same deal. We are consistently losing to cash buyers who have zero contingencies. Our last offer was about 5% over asking with nearly 10% of the purchase price in earnest money deposit, and appraisal contingency which stated that we would make up a difference in the appraisal up to 25k. So even what feels like a bonkers offer still isn’t enough to compete!

While DH and I are both lucky enough to be able to work from anywhere, we still need to be in general our location due to family reasons so we can’t take advantage of it really.

This morning I decided it’s time to reconsider the strategy to send out letters to homeowners in our targeted neighborhood. It feels weird to me, but our realtor says she’s had luck with that strategy recently. Also going to reconsider a house that is not on the market but I know the seller would like to sell to the “right” person. Even with building costs at record highs, I think we may actually come out ahead that way rather than getting into these ridiculous bidding wars.

[anon81364900]

Yes NJ taxes are insane. My friend has a house in downtown Montclair, just a regular 3-BR home on a postage-stamp lot, and they pay over 20k a year in taxes.
Oooh oooh what about this place ( I love shopping for horse properties for other people). It’s in Ulster County NY, and right across the street from a riding stable with a huge indoor. Maybe you could get arena privileges? ETA: I do a lot of my work in/around Ulster County, it’s a very pretty area. New Paltz is a cute town.

Gardiner, Ulster County, NY House for sale Property ID: 409654414 | LandWatch

[Arelle]

The ranchette we bought in 2016 recently appraised for 3x what we bought it for just five years ago.

As much as I would love to take advantage of that and sell in this market in DFW; I also have nine horses and don’t want to figure out living situations for them while also trying to find something “reasonable”.

It’s a bubble, much like 2008 - and it will pop. The question is just when. But it’s bad all over the place; not to mention the costs of basic materials are significantly up as well so even building your own is way more expensive than it previously was.

I’m sure you could find something with less of a bidding war the more rural you went, but not sure that’s what you’re looking for. Anything within an hour or two of a decent population center is going to be nuts.

[joiedevie99]

@StormyDay

I’m not opposed to looking at other places. Weirdly enough my money seems to go further in New Jersey and New York right now… though I’ve heard taxes are bad there. There is a house with an indoor there that I’m drooling over.

If you are willing to look outside what is generally considered “commutable” to NYC, there are definitely deals to be had!

[StormyDay]

@joiedevie99

@StormyDay

I’m not opposed to looking at other places. Weirdly enough my money seems to go further in New Jersey and New York right now… though I’ve heard taxes are bad there. There is a house with an indoor there that I’m drooling over.

If you are willing to look outside what is generally considered “commutable” to NYC, there are definitely deals to be had!

This is exactly what I’m looking at… but I’ve never been to upstate NY so I think I’ll have to go explore the area.
What is the horse show scene like? I know if saugerties but that’s about it

[skip99]

In NJ here, the market is definitely hot especially on farms. But if you’re willing to considered options west of 287 the prices get more reasonable the further west you go.

If you look at NJ the property tax rates varies by municipality, you can usually find these online. We are fortunate to have property taxes under 15k with a plenty big enough house and under 8 acres. We purchased 2.5 years ago and my realtor would probably list us for 30% higher than what we purchased for if we were to want to sell.

[joiedevie99]

It’s a big place, and a really mixed bag. There are some lovely small cities, some fun college towns, and some very poor depressed areas. Besides Saugerties and most of Dutchess County on the other side of the river, there is a bunch of horse activity up near Saratoga. There are dressage shows at the Stockade Polo Club. There’s also lots of equine activity around some of the SUNY colleges that have equine studies/vet tech/etc. programs - Cobleskill, Morrisville, Cornell. I’m sure there is more out west, but I don’t know that area at all.