I’ve kept an eye on the local market with the thought of getting out from under my mortgage and more mobile when the time is right.
The absolute bottom here in my observation actually was 2011. There were decent, maintained older brick ranches with basement and garage on an acre, 3/2, about 1800 sq ft, going for $110,000, in OK locations. Best school district never got that cheap, more like twice that for similar if you could find it, bad school district or crime problem areas were cheaper still, in the eighties.
Unemployment is still not good locally, pushing 9%, so something else is moving houses. It wasn’t unusual to see quite a few houses with a sheriff’s notice posted on the door and the yard gone to seed, now there aren’t many or they’re not so obvious if there are.
Some poor sap inherited a thirties brick two story cottage near me, then went on a remodeling spree to transform it into a craftsman, adding porches, stuccoed the exterior, new top of the line roof, top of the line windows and doors, the works. Don’t like the color myself, but it’s nice, what is finished is nice at least. An architect clearly had a hand in it. The detail and proportion are right.
He went bust, lost his job, lost his savings, apparently financed the remodel with a renovation/perm note. Foreclosed, unfinished interior, much landscaping needs to be done. $65,000 and it’s yours, might be less than that by now, haven’t checked in a while. If I were unencumbered and certain of my financial future, I’d seriously consider taking it on.
It’s the cheap interest rates that have pulled prices off rock bottom. They’re still nowhere near 2007 highs. I don’t trust it at all.
If anyone is interested, that incomplete remodel in foreclosure appears to have sold as of yesterday for $54,900.00. Needs climate control system, interior finishing, much landscaping work. Nice house though, if you only need two bedrooms and two baths.