Hot Housing Market

[patience0830]

Housing is incredibly hot right now. The boom is a mix of city folks fleeing to the burbs in light of covid and civil unrest. Also the school systems. The city schools are often underfunded and lack the needs to help the students excel. The other part is the low rates. Lowest in history for lending. People are getting qualified left and right. Good credit, halfway decent down payment and passable work history and youre in there. Another factor is cash surplus and stimulus. People have been sitting on cash and saving and havent done anything with it. Home builders have done interviews indicating the hike in price of materials and how its beginning to affect their bottom line. Lumber is at an all time high. Supplies are thinning out. Labor is stretched thin. Home builders like Olthof, Poulte and others have been securing lots and selling them the same day they get zoned. They raise the price and people still pay.

Couple things to look at here.
1) if you have a mortgage and your rate is above 3%, go for a refinance. Get your rate lower. Get your monthly lower.
2) you may want to do a "cash out" refinance. If you owe 20k on your house, refinance for $50k and go buy yourself a new car. Or do some home improvements. Or buy that McMillan 50cal . Pay off other debts you may have. You get the picture right..
3) If you've thought about selling, make the move. Plan ahead and secure youre new place. Like others in this thread have said, people are overpaying for houses right now. Just like with stock trading. Don't hesitate on your execution, you might miss your moment.

Why would you increase the length of time you're indebted and add to the risk of losing your home to buy a car. I mean, I can understand the .50 cal, but I'd go with the Barrett.

Seriously, borrow less money or better yet, no money. You'll get to keep what you're giving away to the bank and might actually own something when your through.

Like timing the stock market, you might get lucky, and you might get screwed. Get more for your house than it's worth and not be able to find another for the same money.

 

[hoosierdoc]

mortgage rate of 2.375% at IMCU for 15yr loan. may as well push the prices up.

I am tempted to sell but then where can you go? too expensive to build now and the house you'll buy is jacked up

 

[04FXSTS]

Indiana is great! Illinois sucks! We got out of Illinois just in time, our house there was very nice but the state and neighborhood were going down hill fast, almost as fast as the price of lumber has been going up. Our Illinois home was on the market about nine months with several price cuts to where it was well below what we think it was worth. We did a "bridge loan" where you only pay interest until the old house sells, can't remember the rate but pretty high compared to regular loan.
Built a deck for the new house and about a month later went back for a couple more pieces of 2x8, cant remember the size but it went from $16 to $25 for the same size. So build prices have to be going way up, if you can get it. Waited at least a month for the treated decking to come in. If you are going to move looks like this is the time to do it. Jim.

 

[rob63]

My wife and I are selling our house, in fact, I just replaced the sump pump yesterday as a result of the home inspection.

We listed our house on a Tuesday, at noon, with the stipulation that best and final offers had to be submitted by 7:00pm on Friday. We had our first showing at 4:30pm that same day. We had had 13 showings by the end of the day on Wednesday, my wife and I had decided to move into a hotel while the house was on the market which turned out to be a wise decision.

We listed the house at $255,000. We had 4 offers, the lowest of which was $265,000. One of the offers included waiving the home inspection, something I never would have imagined. It sold for $275,000 and it appraised for that, so we are really getting $20,000 over asking price. We had to spend slightly under $700 on maintenance issues that the home inspection found.

The downside to all of this is that we are leaving Indiana; moving to Pennsylvania, near Gettysburg. My wife's family lives out there and I have always told her we could move after the kids are out of school and that day has arrived. We started construction on a new place at the same time as Covid first hit, so we really got lucky on both ends of it. We got the pre-nutty market price on the build, post-nutty market price on the sell of the old home.

 

[churchmouse]

Time is certainly one of the moving parts in this machine.

In the past, most of my moves have consisted of some crew coming over and packing up all my stuff at government expense, storing it at government expense, then delivering it at government expense wherever and whenever I asked them to. I just had to drive to my new location, locate suitable housing, and my stuff arrived when I asked for it.

When I got stationed in Indiana, I bought a small house for the first time in my life. It was a throwaway house, easy to buy and easy to sell, but for the first time in my life, it was my house. That felt good. I thought it would be a 3 year tour, buy and sell in 3 years, go somewhere else. But it ended up being extended to 6 years, which got me to retirement, and then some. Along the way, my wife and I fell in love with Indiana, and bought another house, where we live now. It's a nice house, with a fantastic back yard that took a lot of work to get it where it is.

Now, it's time to move again. We won't move out of Indiana, that's for sure, but we want to move somewhere more... or, somewhere less... something. We don't know what. We'll know it when we see it though. Yes, I'm going to do my part in surrendering the city, even though I live so far out of the city that I'm not even really in it, but I can't save the city on my own, and I'll be damned if I'm the last one left here to try to do so.

You are tucked away from the main madness where you are located. Nice place from what I saw.
Spouse and I had the same plans as you to re-locate when the time was right.
Life has a way of altering plans.

 

[boogieman]

We put our place on the market about 6 weeks ago and within 4 days we had multiple offers. We had started the process of building another about the same time and were told it will be 7-8 months to complete. We signed a 6 month lease in an apartment complex. Even finding available apartments is getting hard to do. And apartments have gotten very expensive also.

The amount of homes being built has crews thin and also getting the materials has things backed up. The base price of the house we are building has gone up 3 times since we signed contract 2 months ago. Each time it was an increase of $2000. The subdivision we are building in only has 51 home sites, they started selling in March of this year and expect to be completely sold out around January. There are only 12 sites left now.

 

[KJQ6945]

Question for you and others who are in the "sell now" mindset.

Do you have a new place picked out, or are you just taking advantage of the high market in your area and planning to take up temporary housing until you find your next house?

Despite my age, I don't have a lot of experience with these types of moves. 22 year Army career doesn't lend itself to a lot of home purchases. A lot of moves, yes, but not a lot of home sales or purchases.

I retired one month ago today. This move has been in the planning stage for a couple years.

Mine is pretty complicated, as we are moving to Texas. Bought a new camper the week I retired, then took it down to Texas. It’s set up in a campground, and ready to go. The house is being packed up into Pods, that will go into storage, until we buy our new house. 2020 has been a pretty wild year.

 

[gregkl]

A lot of moving just right here on this forum.

I thought the house I am in now was going to be my forever home, but my daughter and wife have different plans. They want us to move to/near Evansville where my daughter lives.

I'm not thrilled about it, but happy wife/daughter/grandkids, happy life I guess. My wife is open to me being farther out in a more rural/country setting though.

I have made the stipulation that I will only move if we can be mortgage free and the reno is not near as extensive as the one I did on this house.

I think if I sold my house right now, i would walk away with close to $300K. That should get me an acceptable place down around E'ville. I might look in Haubstadt or similar areas to keep me farther away from E'ville proper.

But, who knows what the market will be like when I am ready to sell which is going to be at least until my mother passes(my brother and I moved her here to assisted living and I said at 92+ years old, I won't move her or move away from her), and I either find another job or retire.

Lot's of variables to do what CM said about "life having a way of altering plans".

 

[gregkl]

I retired one month ago today. This move has been in the planning stage for a couple years.

Mine is pretty complicated, as we are moving to Texas. Bought a new camper the week I retired, then took it down to Texas. It’s set up in a campground, and ready to go. The house is being packed up into Pods, that will go into storage, until we buy our new house. 2020 has been a pretty wild year.

Congrats on your retirement!

 

[KJQ6945]

Congrats on your retirement!

Thank you sir.

 

[Indy317]

The downside to all of this is that we are leaving Indiana; moving to Pennsylvania, near Gettysburg. My wife's family lives out there and I have always told her we could move after the kids are out of school and that day has arrived. We started construction on a new place at the same time as Covid first hit, so we really got lucky on both ends of it. We got the pre-nutty market price on the build, post-nutty market price on the sell of the old home.

The market is up all over the country. I sometimes think if the wife and I should relocate. We both now dislike cold weather, but we do like cooler winters and changing seasons. I've been a big fan of the mountains and she is a fan of the beach. All the places under consideration have been seeing a steady rise in housing costs though they really haven't seen much growth in industry and such. One good thing about the Indy area is that it is growing in some aspects, so that helps stabilize values and such. I've never been to Gettysburg but my wife has. I just looked it up on the map. Never realized how close it was to the DC/Baltimore area. Still a safe enough distance away from all the high crime and such. Good luck with the new place.

 

[sparky32]

mortgage rate of 2.375% at IMCU for 15yr loan. may as well push the prices up.

I am tempted to sell but then where can you go? too expensive to build now and the house you'll buy is jacked up

THIS. People are paying way more for homes that are not worth what they are listed for a bubble that im afraid may burst soon. We did just refi for 2.3% from 4.45% through Huntington. Payment went down 325$.

 

[Indy317]

A lot of moving just right here on this forum.

I thought the house I am in now was going to be my forever home, but my daughter and wife have different plans. They want us to move to/near Evansville where my daughter lives.

I'm not thrilled about it, but happy wife/daughter/grandkids, happy life I guess. My wife is open to me being farther out in a more rural/country setting though.

I think if I sold my house right now, i would walk away with close to $300K. That should get me an acceptable place down around E'ville. I might look in Haubstadt or similar areas to keep me farther away from E'ville proper.

But, who knows what the market will be like when I am ready to sell which is going to be at least until my mother passes(my brother and I moved her here to assisted living and I said at 92+ years old, I won't move her or move away from her), and I either find another job or retire.

Moving was always such a foreign concept to me. I'm fourth gen Indy area resident and only two people have moved from two different generations and never returned. A few in my generation moved, but they all came back. Indy being a growing area helps in terms of jobs and from what I've seen researching other cities I'm open to relocating to, very affordable on the housing front (though I think the cost-of-living isn't as good as it used to be in the pre-2000 decades). If you are in Bloomington that is a nice area. Being that I loved outdoor recreation, most of Indiana is flat and boring so I enjoy trips to S. Indiana for a change of topography. My wife and I are open to moving but I'll definitely wait till my nephews and nieces are older. They are fun to hang around and watch grow up. Then they hit 12 or so they start wanting to not hang around the old people so much. We'll likely stay around for at least another decade. We should have enough saved that housing costs shouldn't be an issue no matter where we end up. Our short list is Knoxville, TN, Greenville, SC, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Las Vegas, NV. I'm mostly want to escape areas where winter can be very cold and come with decent to lots of amounts of snow, want outdoor recreation nearby (especially closer to mountains/elevation change), and still have seasons of cooler weather.

I get what you say about leaving your mom. My folks just turned 70 and age is starting to set in (one walks a lot slower, but still moves, the other has lost a lot of hearing). I sometimes feel that moving away would be abandoning them, but my siblings will likely be around. Plus, my folks thankfully haven't guilt tripped any of us in terms of "don't put me in a home" and have actually made comments about us living life away from them if the time comes they are wasting away in a nursing home. That makes it somewhat easier to move on in life if my wife and I decide to relocate.

My wife and I took a short vacation to the Evansville area last year. Part of my family is from the Evansville/SW Ind. area so I've always wanted to check out that area. I really enjoyed Evansville and the surrounding area. There was a lot more to offer than I thought there would be. I enjoy big river cities and that entire region has taken advantage of being on the Ohio River. Nice riverfront walks and parks to just hangout and take in the sights. I've got a list of places I'd like to checkout back down in that area.

 

[lovemachine]

Wife and I have 2 small boy, 2.5 and the other almost 4. And we’re living in our first house, which is small. 1,000 square feet, 2 bedroom house. But the garage is huge and awesome, having its own bathroom

Soon, we’ll need a larger house. I want a place with some land. But because of this craziness, I hate to be in an even worse situation. I know what I can get out of this place, and we have a lot of equity. But, there’s no place to go. Can’t find anything we’re looking for. And anything that comes close, goes fast.

Our family has some farm land that we can build on. But prices to build are up as well. And materials are hard to find.

I hate to move to another place, and be under water if the market takes a turn. And you also have Biden’s cronies talking about a 4-6 week shutdown. I hate to imagine what that will do to my small business.

I’m thinking we may wait this out. See what happens later down the road.

 

[gregkl]

Moving was always such a foreign concept to me. I'm fourth gen Indy area resident and only two people have moved from two different generations and never returned. A few in my generation moved, but they all came back. Indy being a growing area helps in terms of jobs and from what I've seen researching other cities I'm open to relocating to, very affordable on the housing front (though I think the cost-of-living isn't as good as it used to be in the pre-2000 decades). If you are in Bloomington that is a nice area. Being that I loved outdoor recreation, most of Indiana is flat and boring so I enjoy trips to S. Indiana for a change of topography. My wife and I are open to moving but I'll definitely wait till my nephews and nieces are older. They are fun to hang around and watch grow up. Then they hit 12 or so they start wanting to not hang around the old people so much. We'll likely stay around for at least another decade. We should have enough saved that housing costs shouldn't be an issue no matter where we end up. Our short list is Knoxville, TN, Greenville, SC, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Las Vegas, NV. I'm mostly want to escape areas where winter can be very cold and come with decent to lots of amounts of snow, want outdoor recreation nearby (especially closer to mountains/elevation change), and still have seasons of cooler weather.

I get what you say about leaving your mom. My folks just turned 70 and age is starting to set in (one walks a lot slower, but still moves, the other has lost a lot of hearing). I sometimes feel that moving away would be abandoning them, but my siblings will likely be around. Plus, my folks thankfully haven't guilt tripped any of us in terms of "don't put me in a home" and have actually made comments about us living life away from them if the time comes they are wasting away in a nursing home. That makes it somewhat easier to move on in life if my wife and I decide to relocate.

My wife and I took a short vacation to the Evansville area last year. Part of my family is from the Evansville/SW Ind. area so I've always wanted to check out that area. I really enjoyed Evansville and the surrounding area. There was a lot more to offer than I thought there would be. I enjoy big river cities and that entire region has taken advantage of being on the Ohio River. Nice riverfront walks and parks to just hangout and take in the sights. I've got a list of places I'd like to checkout back down in that area.

When we decided to move here from Lafayette (job move), we were looking at it as our place of retirement. Our desires were:

Decent cost of living
Good medical care
Warmer weather than Lafayette
Farther south
Outdoor stuff to do
Place when kids and grandkids come to visit they will have stuff to do whether it's trail riding, hiking or visiting some quirky coffee shop

Bloomington checked all the boxes except when I said "farther south" I was thinking more like Tennessee.

Right now, I'm taking it day by day. I still have to replace my deck, rescreen the porch and do some landscaping and probably replace the driveway to truly make this house shine. So I figure I have some time.

 

[BE Mike]

Moving was always such a foreign concept to me. I'm fourth gen Indy area resident and only two people have moved from two different generations and never returned. A few in my generation moved, but they all came back. Indy being a growing area helps in terms of jobs and from what I've seen researching other cities I'm open to relocating to, very affordable on the housing front (though I think the cost-of-living isn't as good as it used to be in the pre-2000 decades). If you are in Bloomington that is a nice area. Being that I loved outdoor recreation, most of Indiana is flat and boring so I enjoy trips to S. Indiana for a change of topography. My wife and I are open to moving but I'll definitely wait till my nephews and nieces are older. They are fun to hang around and watch grow up. Then they hit 12 or so they start wanting to not hang around the old people so much. We'll likely stay around for at least another decade. We should have enough saved that housing costs shouldn't be an issue no matter where we end up. Our short list is Knoxville, TN, Greenville, SC, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Las Vegas, NV. I'm mostly want to escape areas where winter can be very cold and come with decent to lots of amounts of snow, want outdoor recreation nearby (especially closer to mountains/elevation change), and still have seasons of cooler weather.

I get what you say about leaving your mom. My folks just turned 70 and age is starting to set in (one walks a lot slower, but still moves, the other has lost a lot of hearing). I sometimes feel that moving away would be abandoning them, but my siblings will likely be around. Plus, my folks thankfully haven't guilt tripped any of us in terms of "don't put me in a home" and have actually made comments about us living life away from them if the time comes they are wasting away in a nursing home. That makes it somewhat easier to move on in life if my wife and I decide to relocate.

My wife and I took a short vacation to the Evansville area last year. Part of my family is from the Evansville/SW Ind. area so I've always wanted to check out that area. I really enjoyed Evansville and the surrounding area. There was a lot more to offer than I thought there would be. I enjoy big river cities and that entire region has taken advantage of being on the Ohio River. Nice riverfront walks and parks to just hangout and take in the sights. I've got a list of places I'd like to checkout back down in that area.

We have noticed how much milder the weather is in this part of Indiana compared to even Indy, which is not that far north. There was an announcement the other day, on the news, that they will finish the river front park area that extends and includes, Jeffersonville, Clarksville and New Albany. Although the wife and I are natives to this area, we lived many years away and moved back 20 years ago to take care of elderly parents. They have passed on and now we are the elderly parents. It's not a bad place to live, having access to the big city (Louisville) but not having the big city problems. My daughter bid the asking price for a nice house in a good neighborhood. The owner came back with, "If you offer another $5,000, I'll accept it. I have 5 showings lined up for this afternoon!" Looks like they will get the house they want and their house got an offer of $3,000 over the asking price the same day that they put it on the market. There are all kinds of new apartment buildings being built in this area, as well as, new homes. It is hard to find someone to do home improvements.

 

[terrehautian]

Every house in my neighborhood is on the market for less then a week normally if listed with a real estate agent. Most go pending 48 hours or less. The bottom end house is 150k in my subdivision (which is what my house would sell for now if not more with our upgrades, we paid 130k six years ago). Some of the homes on the back of my subdivision will be 200k plus when they were 150k six years ago because most have at least 3/4 an acre now if not more as most of the people bought land behind their home so no one would build on it. If we replace our roof, kitchen counters and redo out bathroom (doing bathroom next year), I bet we get 170k out of our house.

 

[hoosierdoc]

are costs of a steel building home much better right now?

 

[rosejm]

Everyone be ready for the property tax increases that will come along in 18 months, with higher valuations happening now.
You better believe that your Assessor's office is going to use the new market prices for re-assessment.

 

[sparky32]

Everyone be ready for the property tax increases that will come along in 18 months, with higher valuations happening now.
You better believe that your Assessor's office is going to use the new market prices for re-assessment.

Heck my tax valuation last year went up 20k with nothing new. I cant imagine this year.