|
Post by stefrrr on Sept 20, 2010 14:26:29 GMT -5
This may go political, but I figured it belongs here. My SO and I moved a few months ago to the sunny PNW. (It's sunny behind all of those clouds!) We've been looking at houses the last few months to keep our eye on the market, planning to buy in a year or so. We're seeing something really strange... some houses are priced at or slightly below the county assessor's value for 2009/10, which seems reasonable for the economy/market, but some are priced way over, at least $20-50k. Since this place is full of economic and financial geniuses, I figured this is a good place to hear some intelligent thoughts. I'm curious: - If this overpricing is something that people have seen elsewhere (We're near a military base so I'm not sure if people are just trying to rip off a transient population)
- If it seems to have any effect on actual market values
- If anyone's dealt with this type of overpricing and how one might make a (reasonable) offer on an overpriced home.
Thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by jeromeoneil on Sept 20, 2010 18:05:38 GMT -5
Housing, like the weather here, is very much localized. Here is an example. I live in an area that had the most overinflated appreciation in the state (Maple Valley.) Five miles away is an area that saw almost no appreciation at all, even during the boom (Kent East Hill.)
County assessors don't really provide market value, either. That's simply the assesed value for property tax purposes.
|
|
|
Post by will on Sept 20, 2010 19:30:58 GMT -5
As Jerome says, don't go by the assessor. If a house is overpriced, it will languish on the market for a while. If you find one you like, and it has been on the market for some time, then you could make a lowball offer. You may make them mad, you may get a counteroffer. If it is not overpriced, it won't take nearly as long to sell. In this economy, just about everything sits for a while since nobody has any sense of urgency about much of anything.
I seriously doubt anybody is trying to rip off the military population, since I don't think they have a huge amount of money to take in the first place. That said, a known housing allowance puts a floor on the value of property, since property owners already know what kind of money is available to purchase their properties. In addition, military bases, like universities, provide an endless stream of renters who will pay for housing in a dive without much question or complaint.
|
|