Real Estate Novelists

[Richard Moore]

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/12005 ... 7494_zpid/

"Stunning Mediterranean Villa"? I'd say that was a stretch even for a real estate novelist.

[hausdok]

Originally posted by Richard Moore

Thread drift...

"Stunning Mediterranean Villa"? I'd say that was a stretch even for a real estate novelist.

I think they could have gotten away with Carribean style villa, because some houses that I've looked at for sale in the V.I. look very much like that, but the last time I looked we were a long way from there so it is indeed a stretch.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Terence McCann]

That house would be 180-ish here tops (OK, it's still the rust belt but we're tryin' - at least I think we're tryin').

[hausdok]

Originally posted by Terence McCann

That house would be 180-ish here tops (OK, it's still the rust belt but we're tryin' - at least I think we're tryin').

Believe me when I tell you that you'd probably not like anything that you could get around here for $180K.

For instance, if you found this in the city of Seattle proper in far worse condition - practically a tear down - the bidding would start at about $250K.

[Tim H]

Originally posted by Terence McCann

That house would be 180-ish here tops (OK, it's still the rust belt but we're tryin' - at least I think we're tryin').

I was thinking the same thing. I could get 4 of those for 800K, on lots that are three times larger, and we have a steadily growing population and a solid economy. I don't know how folks on the west coast manage to buy homes (they don't make 4 times the income that they could make here for comparable jobs).

[Les]

I could put you in 50-60 of those houses (minus the view) for $150,000ea

[hausdok]

Hi Les,

LOL. When I was talking to the franchise people out here in 1995 I knew next to nothing about Seattle; other than what everyone thinks they know about Seattle - that it allegedly rains 365 days of the year. At that time, in Colorado Springs a soldier could purchase a brand new 3-bedroom 2-1/2 bath home with no money down, using a VA loan, for around $80K to $90K. I didn't know at the time that here a 2 bedroom 1 bath bungalow that was 90 years old would cost between $110K and $160K; it was quite a shock to the system when I'd finished unpacking our stuff at the apartment I'd rented on a month-to-month basis and then began shopping around for a house; I kind of felt like I'd been hoodwinked into moving here. That's when I began using the term "obscene" to describe the price of real estate in Seattle.

A year ago, those same bungalows were selling between $550K and $650K - today, with the economy the way it is, they're probably in the $450K to $550K range.

Some of my customers work in Seattle but endure a 1-1/2 to 2-1/2hour rush-hour(s) commute each way every day to homes they've purchased 40 miles north in Arlington, Marysville or Snohomish, because that was the only place where they could find a home with the features they wanted in the price range they could afford. Sure, they could have purchased in the city, but what they'd purchased would have been pretty sorry compared to what they're living in for the same money where they are. It's kind of sad when folks making really decent money compared to some parts of the country are scratching to get by and you look at the inner city neighborhoods and wonder how some of the low-wage earners even manage to put food on the table.

As bad as it is, though, I've heard that the bay area is far worse.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike