Real Estate Market. Thoughts?

[Aloha_Shooter]

So, perhaps this is a decent place to put this question, perhaps not, but forgive me if it's the latter I'm looking to become a first-time homeowner. I'm 30, single, and make a decent living. At the moment, seeing how low interest rates are, I'd like to get a house. Well, reading what you all are saying, plus seeing the places on the market, I'm not sure whether it's better to buy or build (or wait). Frankly, I don't like moving, so while it's conceivable I'd end up moving if I get married, say, ideally I'd like to have a place I'd be reasonably comfortable in over the course of the mortgage.

I can almost assure you that you will move at some point, particularly if you get married. Look at your residence as an investment but be smart and patient with it. Find a buyer's broker you can trust and lay out your desire for a residence that will appreciate over time. For any place you consider, think about it from the standpoint of a potential future buyer: why would they want to buy it (or not)? How is the local school district (may not matter to you or me as singles but it will likely matter to any prospective buyer so in the end it DOES matter to us)? How long have nearby comps spent on the market over the past 3-4 years? How stable is the local economy? What are rents for comps going for in case you want to move out but rent it out?

Tastes evolve over time so I wouldn't bother building your dream retirement home now. Plan on moving into something more comfortable as you can afford it and as your lifestyle changes (but not too often). Realize closing costs are just that -- costs -- and don't let the fact you can roll some or all of them into your loan fool you. At the end of things, you will buy for X and sell for Y. Anything that adds to X is eventually a cost you bear. If your agent/broker starts talking about thinking about it in terms of monthly payments, think real hard about leaving.

Try to make sure you have at least 3 months worth of payments socked away in cash in case something interrupts your employment. If you don't, think about what you have to do to be there.

There's nothing inherently wrong with apartments, condos, or townhouses but in addition to thinking about how happy you'd be living in the place, think about how easy it would be to sell when you make more money, meet the perfect spouse, and inevitably have to move to something better. If you think you'd have problems selling or renting it out then perhaps you shouldn't be buying it.

[Firehaus]

This is important for anyone trying to get into rental properties. Don't try to buy stuff off the MLS. You need to network with people who know stuff is going to be put up for sale so you can buy it before it gets listed.

Most definitely.


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[Madeinhb]

Pretty much anything SE of 225/Iliff is decent. Not Rapsheet Field's aurora. Blue collar, etc. I think South of Hampden is CC schools, and Mission Viejo is the best entry level neighborhood there. My first house was at Yale/Chambers and never had a problem.

There is a neighborhood SE of Quincy and buckley with smaller homes, no basements, but much lower prices.

Yea I like the mission Viejo area. Reminds me of back home in commiefornia

[th3w01f]

Any other thoughts and suggestions for a first-time buyer would be welcome too! Thanks in advance!

I agree with the advice about finding a good buyers agent that you can trust, someone that knows the area you're interested in can be very helpful. If you find someone that has worked the area for a while they'll be able to provide a lot of advice that someone from outside the area can't. We've been working with the same brokers in Highlands Ranch for 13 years now and they know the area backwards and forwards.

Also watch out for common mistakes like a house that backs or sides to a road (just make sure you pay accordingly if you get one). You may think the fact you have no neighbors and a beautiful creek behind your house will be a selling point but many, many buyers will only notice the road that's 1/4 mile away, even if you can't hear it.

Google any neighborhood you're looking at as well, for example - http://www.vsss.com/template.php?id=47

What I like to do when looking for a house is use a combination of tools to research the area before having the broker pull comps. Zillow can give some good info on current homes listed and previous sales (nice because you can use the satellite view to research an area), the listing data on Zillow is also cool. Another tool I use is the county assessor site (should be able to find one for just about any area), you can see when the house last sold, how much it sold for and what the neighbors have paid. Many times you can also get an idea what's going on with the sale, you see a lot of houses purchased by a couple and then quit claimed from the husband to the wife before going up for sale.

Lastly, once you have a good idea what you want, have your broker set up a search for you. We're currently getting emails of every 4+ bedroom home with over 5 acres and a private well that hits the market in Douglas and Elbert counties.

[Aloha_Shooter]

By the way, Zillow is your friend. It's kind of scary how they can compile information.

[Firehaus]

Any updates on the real estate market?


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[Dave_L]

I'm on hold with my rental due to the lease. It expires in March of '16 and I'll make a choice then based on the market but things are still going up so I hope it holds.

At that point, we may look at selling our primary home too if we find a home that we just have to have. Until then, we just put new counters in the kitchen and will continue to upgrade what we can before sell time. Houses in my neighborhood are regularly going for $70-100k more than we paid so we hope that holds also.

Everything I read/hear says CO will continue to grow at a steady rate. But who knows for sure.

[Firehaus]

I've been hearing/ reading mostly the same thing.

Commercial real-estate vacancy was 2%, rentals 4%ish, unemployment in Douglas county 3.5%.

People who foreclosed a previous home were returning to the market slowly, but financing is still an issue. Especially for non-qm type people like myself who are independent.

What are you seeing Monkey?


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[DFBrews]

Still moving quick under 300k most homes going for more than asking with no buyer concessions list on Thursdays contract by Monday

[Sawin]

I refinanced my town home in February. The appraisal came in at 232K, which is very cheap for Broomfield. Now, 2.5 months later, several of my neighbors are selling in the 250's and 60's. I sure hope they get it...