List It or Sell It.

[OhMari]

I love this show.
And I like how the decision is made if they are in a great neighborhood or location.
Me and my dh want to downsize. I want to go back to a one story home.

Here is a picture of my house.

Houses in our neighborhood used to sell for $150,000 but after the housing slump, some homes have dropped to $80,000. We will be lucky if we can top out at $120,000. Plus, no one wants these old homes. Young couples want the new smaller homes. I will admit these homes need constant upgrades. They are money pits.

We live in Wisconsin. If we lived in Milwaukee we may get maybe an extra $25,000 for the house. It just amazes me when I watch these kind of shows, like List It or Sell It. They are purchasing homes for $500,000 and putting another $35,000 into the home for improvements.

1. What are their mortgages and
2. What do these people do for jobs?
Are they really paid that much more out East than what we earn in the Midwest?

 

[klmall]

If you're talking about the Love It or List It show, I believe that most of the homes on that show are located in Canada which did not feel the housing recession as much of the US did. One clue is the "en suite" term used to describe a master bath connected to the master bedroom.

And you're right about the home values in that show with a few notable exceptions. I would never pay $750,000 for a smaller home in the city with so much work to be done before they even start remodeling some of it.

And the east suffered too! Our home lost almost $200,000 in value back in 2008 due to the recession and I wanted to strangle our Realtor while we were trying to sell it in 2008 when she kept saying "But homes values had to go down. They were so over-inflated."

I love this show.
And I like how the decision is made if they are in a great neighborhood or location.
Me and my dh want to downsize. I want to go back to a one story home.

Here is a picture of my house.

Houses in our neighborhood used to sell for $150,000 but after the housing slump, some homes have dropped to $80,000. We will be lucky if we can top out at $120,000. Plus, no one wants these old homes. Young couples want the new smaller homes. I will admit these homes need constant upgrades. They are money pits.

We live in Wisconsin. If we lived in Milwaukee we may get maybe an extra $25,000 for the house. It just amazes me when I watch these kind of shows, like List It or Sell It. They are purchasing homes for $500,000 and putting another $35,000 into the home for improvements.

1. What are their mortgages and
2. What do these people do for jobs?
Are they really paid that much more out East than what we earn in the Midwest?

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Wow...I live in the Vancouver area, and house prices are insane. I just looked out of curiosity, and the cheapest property for sale in my community is a studio apartment in an old building, not updated, for $219,000. We're a forty-minute commute to downtown.

We were lucky to have bought just before the last big rise in the market, and our house is worth about 80% more than what we paid for it 9 years ago. While the market hasn't ever dropped, house prices haven't increased all that much in the last four years...most of the gain was in the first couple of years.

I don't understand, though, how your house prices could be so low. Wouldn't it cost more than $120,000 to actually build it, between supplies and labour???

 

[OhMari]

Wow...I live in the Vancouver area, and house prices are insane. I just looked out of curiosity, and the cheapest property for sale in my community is a studio apartment in an old building, not updated, for $219,000. We're a forty-minute commute to downtown.

We were lucky to have bought just before the last big rise in the market, and our house is worth about 80% more than what we paid for it 9 years ago. While the market hasn't ever dropped, house prices haven't increased all that much in the last four years...most of the gain was in the first couple of years.

I don't understand, though, how your house prices could be so low. Wouldn't it cost more than $120,000 to actually build it, between supplies and labour???

Building supplies are very high. We were told it would cost us $110 a square foot. I actually want to take down the house, since we have land behind the house and south of the garage. Our house and garage actually sits on 3 lots.

 

[tvguy]

I don't understand, though, how your house prices could be so low. Wouldn't it cost more than $120,000 to actually build it, between supplies and labour???

There are still places in the U.S. where the cost of building a home is more than the completed house will be worth. But people have to have a place to live. We kind of gotten used to the idea that houses are an appreciating asset, they aren't always. Yet many folks will lay out $40,000 for a car, and not blink that it loses 25% of it's value the minute you drive it off the lot.

 

[tvguy]

Building supplies are very high. We were told it would cost us $110 a square foot. I actually want to take down the house, since we have land behind the house and south of the garage. Our house and garage actually sits on 3 lots.

$110 is pretty low. But we have some odd fees here in California, anything below $200 a square foot is pretty good.

 

[tvguy]

If you're talking about the Love It or List It show, I believe that most of the homes on that show are located in Canada which did not feel the housing recession as much of the US did. One clue is the "en suite" term used to describe a master bath connected to the master bedroom.

And you're right about the home values in that show with a few notable exceptions. I would never pay $750,000 for a smaller home in the city with so much work to be done before they even start remodeling some of it.

And the east suffered too! Our home lost almost $200,000 in value back in 2008 due to the recession and I wanted to strangle our Realtor while we were trying to sell it in 2008 when she kept saying "But homes values had to go down. They were so over-inflated."

But housing values WERE over-inflated.

 

[bdcp]

I love this show.
And I like how the decision is made if they are in a great neighborhood or location.
Me and my dh want to downsize. I want to go back to a one story home.

Here is a picture of my house.

Houses in our neighborhood used to sell for $150,000 but after the housing slump, some homes have dropped to $80,000. We will be lucky if we can top out at $120,000. Plus, no one wants these old homes. Young couples want the new smaller homes. I will admit these homes need constant upgrades. They are money pits.

We live in Wisconsin. If we lived in Milwaukee we may get maybe an extra $25,000 for the house. It just amazes me when I watch these kind of shows, like List It or Sell It. They are purchasing homes for $500,000 and putting another $35,000 into the home for improvements.

1. What are their mortgages and
2. What do these people do for jobs?
Are they really paid that much more out East than what we earn in the Midwest?

1. mortgages depend on down payment
2. a variety of things
3. Yes. Where I live you can't even buy a condo for $120,000. Median household income in my county is over 100K.

Our salaries are higher, but it's commensurate with the cost of living. An avg home here in our county in No VA is over 400K, probably closer to 450 (includes condos, townhouses and single family homes avg). I know it's hard for you to see how we can spend that much, but we find it hard to believe you can actually buy a house in the US for under 200K. We're in an above average size house (5500 sq ft)/lot (2/3 acre) with a 3 car garage that's 10 years old that we had built new in a subdivision and you can't touch a house in my neighborhood for under $720,000 and that's one with an unfinished basement. Finished basements add another 30-50K to the price. The house we moved from 10 years ago is about 2700 sq feet (including finished basement) on 1/4 acre lot and that's a pretty average house here is currently worth about $475,000. Our current home was worth about 200K before the "adjustment" which we knew was coming and have since recovered to where they should be, not where they were at the height of the market. My favorite was all the people I knew that waited til the market peaked so they could get more for their house. I tried to tell them that meant they were also buying at the peak and would not see any increase in value for a long time. They got mad, but the really had no one but themselves to blame. Anyone who thought that bubble would last was living in a fantasy.

 

[indygirl99]

1. mortgages depend on down payment
2. a variety of things
3. Yes. Where I live you can't even buy a condo for $120,000. Median household income in my county is over 100K.

Our salaries are higher, but it's commensurate with the cost of living. An avg home here in our county in No VA is over 400K, probably closer to 450 (includes condos, townhouses and single family homes avg). I know it's hard for you to see how we can spend that much, but we find it hard to believe you can actually buy a house in the US for under 200K. We're in an above average size house (5500 sq ft)/lot (2/3 acre) with a 3 car garage that's 10 years old that we had built new in a subdivision and you can't touch a house in my neighborhood for under $720,000 and that's one with an unfinished basement. Finished basements add another 30-50K to the price. The house we moved from 10 years ago is about 2700 sq feet (including finished basement) on 1/4 acre lot and that's a pretty average house here is currently worth about $475,000. Our current home was worth about 200K before the "adjustment" which we knew was coming and have since recovered to where they should be, not where they were at the height of the market. My favorite was all the people I knew that waited til the market peaked so they could get more for their house. I tried to tell them that meant they were also buying at the peak and would not see any increase in value for a long time. They got mad, but the really had no one but themselves to blame. Anyone who thought that bubble would last was living in a fantasy.

And I live on the other side of the country in the Pacific Northwest. Our home is 1300 sq ft and was $175, 000 before the bubble burst. The house next door sold for $80,000 last year and a realtor just called me and told me he could sell my house for $135,000 if I would let him.

Not interested in selling at this time and I know he is desperate for business but had to laugh at him. The other 2 houses on our block that recently sold were for less than $100,000 and they are all pretty much alike so not sure how he is so sure he can get that much more.

I dream of relocating to California when we both retire but having nightmares thinking about housing.

 

[kirstenb1]

I like your house!! Very classic American!!

I watch Love it or List it all the time.

1. It's set in Canada, and appears to film mostly in Toronto which is $$$.
2. Almost everyone has to have a tenant in their basement to help cover the mortgage.

We live in Central Va. I'd guess the average Richmond suburban home is somewhere around 250.


Mari does your home have a downstairs bedroom, or a room you could convert to a MBR? That way you could be on one floor, without all the hassles and $$$ of moving/selling.

 

[sonnyjane]

I dream of relocating to California when we both retire but having nightmares thinking about housing.

And I dream of moving from California so we can actually buy a home lol. We rent an 1,100 sq. ft., 2 bedroom/1.5 bath town home in San Diego. We rent for $1800 but there are identical models in our neighborhood up for sale for $395,000. A free-standing house that I would actually feel comfortable living in would be $500,000 and up.

We plan to retire to WA where you can currently buy AMAZING homes with ocean views for $280,000. Sigh.....

 

[indygirl99]

And I dream of moving from California so we can actually buy a home lol. We rent an 1,100 sq. ft., 2 bedroom/1.5 bath town home in San Diego. We rent for $1800 but there are identical models in our neighborhood up for sale for $395,000. A free-standing house that I would actually feel comfortable living in would be $500,000 and up.

We plan to retire to WA where you can currently buy AMAZING homes with ocean views for $280,000. Sigh.....

Maybe you could bring some of that sunny California weather to us in Washington and we could be happy neighbors.

I get tired of the no sun about 4-6 weeks before the sun decides to come visit.

 

[tvguy]

And I dream of moving from California so we can actually buy a home lol. We rent an 1,100 sq. ft., 2 bedroom/1.5 bath town home in San Diego. We rent for $1800 but there are identical models in our neighborhood up for sale for $395,000. A free-standing house that I would actually feel comfortable living in would be $500,000 and up.

We plan to retire to WA where you can currently buy AMAZING homes with ocean views for $280,000. Sigh.....

I know people have reasons for not buying, but after the tax deductions you could cut $400 a month off your payment by buying that town home with current interest rates.

 

[sonnyjane]

I know people have reasons for not buying, but after the tax deductions you could cut $400 a month off your payment by buying that town home with current interest rates.

Property taxes alone on a $395K house are $411 per month here. Plus there's insurance...HOA fees... Sewer and water which we don't pay while renting....

 

[bdcp]

And I live on the other side of the country in the Pacific Northwest. Our home is 1300 sq ft and was $175, 000 before the bubble burst. The house next door sold for $80,000 last year and a realtor just called me and told me he could sell my house for $135,000 if I would let him.

Not interested in selling at this time and I know he is desperate for business but had to laugh at him. The other 2 houses on our block that recently sold were for less than $100,000 and they are all pretty much alike so not sure how he is so sure he can get that much more.

I dream of relocating to California when we both retire but having nightmares thinking about housing.

Geez, I read my post 3 times, but missed a typo. Our home was worth 200K more, not 200K before the adjustment. The homes in our neighborhood were going for about 850-900K before the bubble burst.

It is funny that people in CA want to relocate to WA and those in WA want to relocate to CA. CA is definitely more expensive, but extremely dreamt about for the weather.

 

[sonnyjane]

It is funny that people in CA want to relocate to WA and those in WA want to relocate to CA. CA is definitely more expensive, but extremely dreamt about for the weather.

Ha. The weather in WA is a drawback. When I lived there before, I had to go to a tanning booth once a week or else my psyche would be affected haha. Nothing compares to living near the water and seeing killer whales, bald eagles, and otters in your backyard though. Plus no state income tax, dramatically cheaper housing...

 

[Tozzie]

Here in NYC and the surrounding suburbs you either pay a forturne for the house or less for the house but pay through the nose in taxes. I bought my house in 2006 I was very fortunate in that I received a substantial inheritence from my dad which enabled me to buy my housewith enough of a downpayment that I can live comfortably. I am also fortunate in that the area I live in is very sought after and my house didn't lose value when the market burst, houses that are put up for sale are usually sold within 2 weeks.

 

[woodkins]

I don't think I have seen a house in my area for under $250k in at least ten years, and these are 1200 sq ft homes on 100x100ft lots, taxes $10-15k per year. I don't know if here on Long Island we make lot more, but we definitely do pay a lot more!

 

[OhMari]

I like your house!! Very classic American!!

I watch Love it or List it all the time.

1. It's set in Canada, and appears to film mostly in Toronto which is $$$.
2. Almost everyone has to have a tenant in their basement to help cover the mortgage.

We live in Central Va. I'd guess the average Richmond suburban home is somewhere around 250.


Mari does your home have a downstairs bedroom, or a room you could convert to a MBR? That way you could be on one floor, without all the hassles and $$$ of moving/selling.

No, no where to convert. Our house is 1650 sq. feet. It looks bigger than it looks. We converted a bedroom to a bathroom 25 years ago. There used to be a tiny bedroom downstairs, with a tiny bathroom which is my 1/2 bathroom, laundry room now. The bedroom used to be my kids playroom, until we knocked out the walls and I have a bigger living room, dining room now.

 

[yoopermom]

OP I knew you were in WI the minute I saw the picture of your house!

I live in a very rural, poor, part of the upper Midwest, I would guess median income to be in the 40K range. However, you can easily purchase an older/starter home for less than a year's salary. One of DS's good friends who is going to tech school and working f/t bought an older farm house on 2 acres last week for 20K, with a 30 year mortgage. Yes, it will take some "fix up" work over time, but rentals are fairly hard to find, and think of the equity he's building!

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of homes worth over 200K in our county. The majority (that don't have major acreage attached) are had for less than 100K.

Much of rural America would be the same, I would think...

Terri