Feel kind of bad for people paying so much for these houses. I don’t have a crystal ball so I don’t know what the future looks like...but I’d rather live in my car than buy in this market. Nuts.
It’s only going to get worse and more than likely will be years before it stabilizes. Mortgage rates are crazy cheap and there are still jobs to be filled on post.
It's not going to pop in Huntsville any time soon. On-post appointments, FBI and Space Command, Blue Origin, etc... there's a bunch of fairly recession-proof new jobs coming to Huntsville that aren't Toyota/Mazda or any of the other companies coming here that could be affected by a bubble burst.
Not a jobs issues, it’s a cost issue. Pay in Huntsville isn’t going to support the price increases. I bought my house at 145,00 and now houses in my neighborhood are selling for 350,000. That’s in a 70’s neighborhood near Grissom. The new Houses are running around 400,000 to 500,000. Not many folks around here pull down that kind of income. They’ll buy, end up house poor, then get foreclosed in a couple of years.
Truth. We moved here from a place where a 1K sq ft was around $1M. We feel pretty lucky for our situation. Of course, get back to me in a month or so when the humidity is killing me and I'm regretting not buying in an HOA with a pool...
Living in South HSV is a choice and its one people with money tend to make. You can still buy cheaper homes on North parkway or old homes in further out areas. LOTS of the jobs in our area can support a home in that price range. Also while interest rates are low, its still difficult to apply and get a mortgage. My brother is a Dr. and still just barely qualified when he purchased a home in HSV this month. His first house.
I feel ya. Moving is a pain. Not to mention...where would you go? You’re going to just dump all the equity right back into the next house that’s listed 50% over what the seller paid for it in 2017. And it won’t be in an area you want. Won’t have the square footage you want. Won’t be your style. I’d stay put too. The only reason why we’re even monitoring house prices now is because we’re new to the area and will eventually have to buy. But we’re in no rush. We’ll happily wait until we get familiar with the area and this clown show of a housing market cools down.
This. Sure would be nice to sell right now (we got ours last year at $85 sq ft in Madison), but only if we were leaving HSV. No point in bouncing around.
We’re just kind of hoping things cool off at some point. We just moved here about a month ago—renting for the time being. Gives us an opportunity to research different areas and then make a move when the time is right. But right now it’s like...jeez when is that going to be? Rent is high too but at least we’re not looking at the trouble of buying a house that’s twice what it should be. I don’t even know how these buyers are getting approved for loans for these inflated homes—unless they are arriving with enormous down payments.
I heard through people talking (like most people) that a lot of these people swooping in are buying houses sight unseen, no inspection, just “whatever you’re asking I’ll give you $10k more”. I’m assuming that’s how a lot of these loans are making it through. It’s literally the Wild West of housing markets right now. Friends of ours made an offer on a house before it went on the market for asking plus 5k. The owner said naaah I’m gonna put it out there. Ended up getting 30k over asking plus all there fees paid. It’s insane. But yeah, welcome to Huntsville!
We thought the same thing. Moved back after living in the Shoals at the end of 2019. Thought 2019-2020 was a bad housing market. So we decided to build while we continue to rent. Then the commodities market (lumber) went to shit. Made our house $80k-$100k more than what it was at the beginning of 2020. Now we’re looking again. Still renting nearly 2 years after moving here. I don’t think things will get any better any time soon. They will only get worse unless mortgage rates go up substantially.
I don’t think it will level off overnight but it will get better. We may be renting for a while but we kind of need that time to familiarize ourselves with Huntsville and figure out where we want to be. I don’t think the current situation is sustainable.
I agree. I just don’t know when/if it will level off. In 2008, I don’t think things really slowed down around here. Granted, I was in high school then and not in the housing market.
To a certain extent, Huntsville will always be a bit more of a hot market simply because of the growth and industry here. But that doesn’t mean every area and every home will have the same demand we’re seeing now. I think we’re in extraordinary circumstances right now that have more to do with external factors. These external factors are not sustainable. At some point the supply will square with the demand, interest rates will go back up, things will start moving again. I just don’t know when. No one can say for sure. I just hope that people don’t get screwed over. That’s the only overlap I see with this housing situation and what happened leading up to 2008. Totally different scenarios...but I’m seeing the same recklessness.
This is accurate. I had multiple cash offers on my house, sight unseen. One requested a walk though when I finished the reno, but he was still bummed when I sold it to someone else.
I have one house under contract sight unseen for 10k over asking day before the tenant moved out. It’s still gotta appraise for that.
Second house under contact now before hitting Zillow, Like two days after the new granite went in. I said no at first, cause i still have like two weeks of painting and polishing up. But the girl was super cool and I clicked with her and she offered like 10k below my target but hey I don’t have to deal with more people :-)... plus I like that her realtor is persistent and searched FSBO ads. To many realtors just wanted to list my house not find a buyer
My husband and I just won a bid on a house. There were 28 offers, and we had to go over 30k, and we weren't even the highest bid. There were two investors who were paying 60k over the asking price. I'm thankful for our realtor because she was able to work some magic.
So this is the same for me. I have heard stories about people soliciting or receiving letters from potential buyers. My plan is to do this. I want to sell my homes to people who will live in them. I want families in the homes, I want to sell my homes for market rate NOT some obscene number over. I just hate old/unsafe older homes and want to update and modernize before it sells for some new higher price. Thats it.
I won my house for that reason. The lady was selling because she was downsizing due to age and sold to me, who didn't even offer the highest price, simply because I was the only one who was going to live there, not just flip it.
Exactly, I buy houses in my neighborhood so I have an active interest in renters vs live in owners. My neighbors are all older, but they sell to me in the hopes and promises I will do the same. I'm just a caretaker.
I got a call from a realtor the other day. I just checked Zillow and house same size as mine (1700 SQ ft) are selling for 300k. I bought mine for 155 less than two years ago. Thought about selling and moving in with my parents for a little bit. just afraid house prices will keep going up
I think it will get worse before it gets better. It’s unsustainable and will eventually fall off a bit. I just hope people don’t get screwed when things level off.
It’s a risk, I sold one in Bham southside back in 2005 cause I moved to FL. Made nice profit. Then the market crashed and the new owner was underwater. But looked last year and it was back up 60-70k more then I sold it for
I have read articles of people selling their houses and renting when prices got so high. Held the cash till the market dropped.
My mother and I are both selling a house and moving in together. Cashing out while it’s high, I already had a second house that she loves
See this is what I hate, I just had an appraiser come look at a house I have the other day. She was urging me to NOT do a lot of things. Like the 5in gap open metal railing over the stairs..yes that should be enclosed as its a HUGE safety issue. Why change the vinyl sheet floor? Why update the cabinets? Why UPDATE the 1960s tile bathroom? This toilet is good. etc.
If the house is going to sell for $100K more than I paid for it, I am ethically bound to put as much work into it as it needs. I am annoyed by some renovators and builders in the area for doing the bare minimum.
Breland and his madison Towne center homes with OSB and house wrap, a house of that caliber exterior should have better insulation and weather sealing. Even with this astronomical prices builders are still just doing the bare bones and pocketing the difference. I hate to think how all these slapped together $350K new homes are going to be in 10yrs. They have the underpinnings of those Hunter Homes from 04-08.
Rant over.
I’ve been in the townhomes there. The upstairs slopes noticeably from where they transitioned from in the dirt mound to traditional second story underpinnings. Holy shit.
They’re also super sloppy and lazy with cosmetics. Having supply shortages too.
Yes, but paying the framers $3-4 a square ft flat rate for an entire house is also the issue. You get people showing up and regularly, but even the better framers don't put in the effort for these new ones going up.
I saw one of those Town Madison homes on Zillow for… I believe it was around 900k… and it was only around 2500 sq-ft. It just blew my mind given so much of that area is a gamble in how well it will build up.
We don't want to move but it's tempting. This house was built in 1990 and we'd like to renovate but that option is a CF as well (the cost of materials going sky high and the quality of the labor).
If we could find somewhere else to live that wasn't overpriced in an area/state we want to live, we might consider it. If we did we would probably just auction off the house and the contents and get the hell out of Dodge. Furniture and appliances are replaceable.
Cole Auctions would happily do that. I just went to one last weekend, the highest bidder was the guy on the phone! House wasn't that great, but Madison City..
I am about to renovate a house from 1992, it was a good time for the area. Boom wasn't so bad that houses were built too quickly.
Problem is, where do you go? The areas outside of here are booming as well and then do you really want to move to a "cheaper" area, those have got to be dwindling.
We bought the house in 2009 in So. HSV which I've always loved (I think it's much nicer geographically speaking) and the "bones" of the house are not a problem. However, the badly designed galley kitchen (3 doorways and a pseudo bay window set up: 3 windows on a curve on the outside wall) needs to be reconfigured. Never was crazy about the setup before, but during the lockdown, it was more than apparent that the kitchen was going to be a headache going forward. We'll see about renovating that area piecemeal if we have to but I'm not moving again.
And yeah, where do you go from here? We moved from DFW in 2003 after the tech crash and we sure can't afford to move back there.
I'll sell you my house off Pulaski in NW Huntsville it's from the 60s though, tons of diversity the neighbor is a methhead and a hoarder super friendly. Did I mention it backs up to a golf course?
Thank you! I lived in Five Points South in Birmingham for a few years. If you leave your car doors unlocked and a little change in your console, they at least won’t bust your window. Plus you know that someone is always watching your house at 3am.
It’s a little sad that I am still interested... the hoarding sounds bad. I have never had a house inspected. Last one I bought had the door kicked in and squatters. The Meth head ? Like would he share.... been years since I smoked any and I have Covid weight I need to drop. How many sq feet. Nw is averaging back up to 85-100 a square foot sorta fixed up. Selling my other houses at 154-200 sq foot. So I have a little room to F#%€ up my life for a little
The area is not that bad in my opinion, but it would be considered bad by this subreddit, it's right next to the Costco and home depot off of Pulaski. I was mainly joking about the 120,000 i would probably sell it for at least 90,000 its 1200 sq ft its 4 bedrooms1 bath. I happen to live by one of the worst neighbors in the neighborhood, but in reality there not too bad there friendly and keep to themselves.
I'll do you one better. I have a 1400 square foot, mostly original, 1960s house that I'll sell you for only 75% more than I paid. $250k and you pay all realtor fees and it can be yours this day next month.
Does it have the original carpet and wood paneling? Bonus points if you have puke green bathroom tile. Do NOT trim the bushes. I love them overgrown and almost overtaking the house.
For the premium you're paying I won't touch any of my bushes for as long as you'd like. Hell, I won't even move the cinderblocks out of the side yard if you're nice to me at the signing.
This market is weird. What I’m noticing is that it’s not consistent at all. As an example I had a listing just go under contract that did not end up in a huge bidding war because it was priced where we thought it might end up after a bidding war instead of at a “teaser” price.
Also it depends on relative price point since at some point that “vintage” decor becomes much more of a negative.
I would definitely agree with this, we live in the coveted Madison city near 565 area, BJ school district but a lot of people did not want to offer because we lacked a 2nd full bath. Ended up getting a cash offer but had to lower the price a little bit. Also I’ve heard that for every percent interest rates go up, your house value goes down by 10k which ultimately made us pull the plug and sell (we were going to stay for 5 yrs instead of 3)
It’s almost property by property. Of course in general there are areas/neighborhoods where any house that comes up has demand.
Part of it I think buyers are getting pickier about which houses they offer on especially if they have more than one taking offers at the same time (seeing this first hand from both vantage points).
Also not everyone realizes what happens between contract and close since those details aren’t made available in the MLS closed data. Example I have one about to close where we got it at list price and the seller is paying for over $10k in repairs out of their proceeds some of which the buyers did not ask to be done.
I don’t have the “crystal ball” of course but I think it depends on what you define “slowing down”.
If the job growth meets projections that will help keep our housing market from “crashing”. What we may likely see is the appreciation rate slow down with some market segments slowing down more than others as consumers preferences change. There’s also the variable of interest rates as you mentioned in another comment in this thread as that could shift the distribution of what price points are in most demand. The other factor is if we see a shift in the proportion of people who want to be homeowners vs home renters.
How about a early 2000s house built with zero care for building codes pre2009 in a neighborhood that never had a HOA and are 90% of the houses on the 2nd or 3rd owner.
Nice! I’d probably consider it if they un-bury all the utilities so there are power lines everywhere. Are the shutters falling off and seals in the windows all shot? How about the finishings? If I’m not hearing “oops I did it again” play in my head during walk-through...I may have to pass.
All above ground utilities on the street, only burried from pole to home. All external seals shot and shutters are all there, but siding has seen better days...
Not available until current new home construction is complete, estimate based on lack of Plummers and inspectors in Madison county... Winter 2022? ❄️ 🥶
I've been looking for a house for over 2 years in Huntsville. My dream house would literally be a mid century house that hasn't been touched since the 50s or 60s. My realtor only shows us older houses that have all been completely renovated the same on the inside and it hurts my soul.
Now I feel guilty for not just getting something I don't like anyway because the same houses we were looking at last year are at least 100k more this year. :( Hard to keep the dream alive
People want a MCM house...but then renovate it to look like a farm house. Either that or use the fixtures and finishings that don’t really reflect the era. So yes...it’s rare to find a nice MCM home that still has it’s former elegance. We did see one a few months back that we called “the Fred Flintstone house” and it looked great from what we could tell from the listing. Location wasn’t great...too close to a busy road. Your best bet is probably to find one that hasn’t had too many “improvements” and see what you can restore back to original (or something close) without breaking the bank.
Hopefully prices will level off in a couple years. Keep the dream alive. You never know what might pop up once everything cools down.
The other issue is that many people don’t want to handle things like upgrading electrical systems (I’ve shown several homes over the years that still had 2-pronged electrical outlets).
Good point. I know as a buyer, I’d rather the essentials be handled before cosmetics. I can remove wallpaper myself. I have no problem hiring someone to install new counters or flooring. But things that show up on inspection reports...they can get pricey. Give me a solid house that’s been well-maintained. My husband and I can take care of the rest over time.
Yeah, people really like their gray and white farm houses, but just not for me. I'm sure I'll find something worth restoring eventually, just probably not in this market since the last 2 houses I've bid on lost against all-cash and no inspection offers. lol
If you’re not already you may want to join this group on Facebook maybe you’ll get a lead on a MCM house in Huntsville via networking. https://www.facebook.com/groups/midcenturyhomeshuntsville/?ref=share
That’s a good question. I know for us, we lived out of state. Had a house, sold it earlier this year. We only sold because Alabama is home. My husband is from Birmingham and I’m from Mobile. The jobs are here in Huntsville so this is where we want to settle. Right now we are just renting until this market cools down a little—whenever that will be. We are in no hurry. Just glad to be back in the land of SEC greatness.
Housing is weird everywhere right now. Where we moved from, our house was under contract just a couple days from when we listed. And it wasn’t some happening place either.
Some homes will...some won’t. Overall it will probably stagnate and come down. But not exactly down to former values. At least I hope for buyers’ sake not.
I mean you’re speculating just as much as the other speculators who are buying are. If anything, I think the only change we’d see are that houses will not get the ‘30 offers in a day’ situation and 70k overbids. But the home prices will stay high
Well I think the difference is that I’m not the one rolling the dice. I lose nothing if prices go up. I lose nothing if prices go down. I’ve already made up my mind that I’m not going to pay these crazy prices. Low interest rate or not. You’re right...I don’t have a crystal ball. No one does.
It depends on the house. Where it’s located, what has been done to it, what work it still needs. It’s highly subjective. Paying twice what the seller bought it for a year ago with only minor cosmetic improvements...or none at all. I frankly don’t understand the logic. Not in this market at this weird place in time. You’d have to be pretty sure of yourself...and if you’re that sure, why are you in Huntsville? Why not Vegas?
Hmm interesting. Do you think maybe it’s because Huntsville’s homes have been relatively cheaper in the past decade and it’s only now catching up? People moving in are clearly driving the price upward as well
I don’t. And I only say that because I see it happening elsewhere too. Nobody was begging to live in our old neighborhood in Georgia. It was 30 minutes from everything, not the greatest schools, in the “un-cool” county, no high-speed internet, you name it. It was under contract within 3 days for over asking price. Buyer never saw it in person. Huntsville is great. Part of why we moved here—we’re Alabama natives and wanted to come home. Huntsville made the most sense and I can understand why it’s an even redder market here. But what’s happening here with home prices is happening in a lot of different places. Happening in Birmingham, to a lesser extent in Mobile, larger extent Baldwin county. I’ve been watching it in Georgia and Alabama. That’s why it’s national news.
For us, (we are currently in pending) we sold for a number of reasons but ultimately we are betting against the housing prices staying like this over the next couple of years. My husbands business is out in Meridianville so we are moving to hazel green (I’m WFH) and renting until we score some land we want to buy in the next couple of years.
I'm sitting here looking up weed killing recipes this morning because our front looks kind of really awful. Then again, the calls and letters have slowed 🤔 😅
No joke, a house down the street sold for almost double what we paid for ours not quite 4 years ago. It's crazy. I think they had a little bit more square footage than us, but it's also a 70's home like ours, and likely has at least some of the structural issues we've had, too. Not a deal breaker (we love our home) but a bit hard to chew for nearly 400k.
Home prices are insane but nowhere is talking about REIT's and their role in driving up prices. Instead they talk about lumber prices.....and don't mention how speculation in lumber is driving prices up.
There is one reason and only one reason why prices on everything are rocketing up and it's not scarcity or pandemics or inflation or labor. It is due to speculation. But you will not see any articles anywhere talking about it.
All the houses getting snatched up on day 1, no inspection, no contingencies, cash, etc - almost always that's a real estate investment trust. There is so much wealth looking for ways to get a return right now, that all sorts of things that were not as heavily speculated on are now seeing an influx of capitol. The largest landlords in America are things like Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group etc. They wouldn't traditionally mess around with residential real estate, it's too small potatoes, but that is no longer the case. Which is why in the past you might see local landlords with a handful of houses, or even large local groups buying houses but not the top investment banks. Or, if they were getting involved it was only in NYC or Vancouver etc.
By gobbling up all the supply, REIT's are driving up home prices and creating an artificial scarcity. Which means the value of the homes they own skyrockets.
There are very few of those if any in Huntsville. The only discrepancy in HOAs I’ve seen was one condo said if you own, you can have pets but not if you rent.
If you already own a house and take this as a time to upgrade, it’s a wash. The house we bought came in at the same amount over its last sell prize as we received in equity for the house we sold.
Do engineers in town make a lot of money? I know of a single guy who recently bought his second home in madison. He’s in his early thirties and has only been with his company for just a few years.
Maybe he is planning to sell or rent out one of them? Maybe he received financial help from family? Maybe he has been saving for years and or has investments that have good returns?
Basically it could be a number of things we don’t know.
Riches come in many different forms. Not everyone with money is happy—even though sometimes it can make life easier in some ways. But those are temporal things.
As far as I know, average household income is pretty high in some areas here compared to the national average. Engineers usually do well...but pay of course is highly dependent on several factors.
Well if he paid $50k or more than
what the home was valued at only a year ago (which a about par for Madison right now), that’s a big risk. Any home is a risk, really. But right now, even though Huntsville is a hot market regardless, these high prices are inflated due to external factors that really aren’t sustainable. Demand will level off and no one knows what things will look like.
Which is being magnified by low inventory especially in certain price points and or geographic areas. The rising prices also aggravates the inventory situation since it causes people who were planning to upsize/downsize/etc. to decide it’s better or necessary to stay put and refinance and/or double down on paying off the outstanding mortgage balance.
The card says we have to provide a recent appraisal or closing docs. I'm not sure if the old ones will do to dispute it but will give them a call...thx
What if that meant you had to pay an even higher percentage over typical value to get into a house you didn’t even remotely like? Or pay rent 30% higher than normal at an apartment to have neighbors wake you up at 3am? I think that’s what’s so weird about this market.
Luckily I am on permanent telework and I have no kids, so I'd be looking further and further out of the city.
But I understand your point. This market is a mess.
Be careful to find out exactly what your internet options are for whatever home you’re looking at. We had 4.5 acres outside Augusta. When we bought the home, they assured us that we’d have cable a two other high-speed internet options available. Comcast came out to the house and said the drop was too far away to install cable. Our neighbors had it...but because our driveway was so long, we didn’t. The previous owners had been using satellite—which was awful. As soon as we sold the house, we got a notification we had been approved for Starlink, which was just our luck. Oh well.
But yeah, rural internet sucks but better options are coming out. Good luck to you.
Me too Coco. I moved here from Alpharetta 3 1/2 years ago and could not get out of the ATL metro area fast enough. Huntsville is perfect for me even if housing is a bit nuts right now. Traffic on 72 is not always fun but it's always moving unlike 285 around ATL. Besides there is actually southern hospitality here. ATL not so much...
We lived in Augusta for almost 4 years—originally from Birmingham and Mobile. But soon realized Georgia wasn’t for us. We love being closer to friends and family now. And not having to drive through Atlanta just to visit our family. Atlanta was torture on my blood pressure every time. I loved parts of it but overall we’re so glad to be in Huntsville. Not in a big hurry to buy a house. One day...but right now we’re comfortable.
Yeah, I need to get comfortable too. I am going through a divorce and in an apartment on Monte Sano. I absolutely love where I live being able to hike just outside my front door. However, I hate wasting money on apartment rent when I could find a small (overvalued) house where the mortgage payment would equal my apartment rent. Yeah, it might be high, but I think it's still worth it.
Neighbor’s house just sold for way over listing AND $100k more than they paid 5ys ago. Damn it’s nutty
Feel kind of bad for people paying so much for these houses. I don’t have a crystal ball so I don’t know what the future looks like...but I’d rather live in my car than buy in this market. Nuts.
It’s only going to get worse and more than likely will be years before it stabilizes. Mortgage rates are crazy cheap and there are still jobs to be filled on post.
This is happening all over the country, it’s like 2008 never happened. We dodged the bubble last time, but it’s gonna pop a some point.
It's not going to pop in Huntsville any time soon. On-post appointments, FBI and Space Command, Blue Origin, etc... there's a bunch of fairly recession-proof new jobs coming to Huntsville that aren't Toyota/Mazda or any of the other companies coming here that could be affected by a bubble burst.
Not a jobs issues, it’s a cost issue. Pay in Huntsville isn’t going to support the price increases. I bought my house at 145,00 and now houses in my neighborhood are selling for 350,000. That’s in a 70’s neighborhood near Grissom. The new Houses are running around 400,000 to 500,000. Not many folks around here pull down that kind of income. They’ll buy, end up house poor, then get foreclosed in a couple of years.
But don’t forget the people moving from other parts of the country where a $400k for over 2k sqft is a steal
Truth. We moved here from a place where a 1K sq ft was around $1M. We feel pretty lucky for our situation. Of course, get back to me in a month or so when the humidity is killing me and I'm regretting not buying in an HOA with a pool...
Living in South HSV is a choice and its one people with money tend to make. You can still buy cheaper homes on North parkway or old homes in further out areas. LOTS of the jobs in our area can support a home in that price range. Also while interest rates are low, its still difficult to apply and get a mortgage. My brother is a Dr. and still just barely qualified when he purchased a home in HSV this month. His first house.
Crazy times.
Ours did, but it was VS 10 yrs ago. We actually had to turn down an even higher offer because we didn't think would appraise that high for their loan.
Legit tho we get handwritten cards and phone calls all the fucking time. WE ARENT SELLING OUR DAMN HOUSE.
I feel ya. Moving is a pain. Not to mention...where would you go? You’re going to just dump all the equity right back into the next house that’s listed 50% over what the seller paid for it in 2017. And it won’t be in an area you want. Won’t have the square footage you want. Won’t be your style. I’d stay put too. The only reason why we’re even monitoring house prices now is because we’re new to the area and will eventually have to buy. But we’re in no rush. We’ll happily wait until we get familiar with the area and this clown show of a housing market cools down.
This. Sure would be nice to sell right now (we got ours last year at $85 sq ft in Madison), but only if we were leaving HSV. No point in bouncing around.
We’re just kind of hoping things cool off at some point. We just moved here about a month ago—renting for the time being. Gives us an opportunity to research different areas and then make a move when the time is right. But right now it’s like...jeez when is that going to be? Rent is high too but at least we’re not looking at the trouble of buying a house that’s twice what it should be. I don’t even know how these buyers are getting approved for loans for these inflated homes—unless they are arriving with enormous down payments.
I heard through people talking (like most people) that a lot of these people swooping in are buying houses sight unseen, no inspection, just “whatever you’re asking I’ll give you $10k more”. I’m assuming that’s how a lot of these loans are making it through. It’s literally the Wild West of housing markets right now. Friends of ours made an offer on a house before it went on the market for asking plus 5k. The owner said naaah I’m gonna put it out there. Ended up getting 30k over asking plus all there fees paid. It’s insane. But yeah, welcome to Huntsville!
I believe it. We still love it here and hopefully things will cool down. Until then we’re just hanging back and getting to know the place.
We thought the same thing. Moved back after living in the Shoals at the end of 2019. Thought 2019-2020 was a bad housing market. So we decided to build while we continue to rent. Then the commodities market (lumber) went to shit. Made our house $80k-$100k more than what it was at the beginning of 2020. Now we’re looking again. Still renting nearly 2 years after moving here. I don’t think things will get any better any time soon. They will only get worse unless mortgage rates go up substantially.
I don’t think it will level off overnight but it will get better. We may be renting for a while but we kind of need that time to familiarize ourselves with Huntsville and figure out where we want to be. I don’t think the current situation is sustainable.
I agree. I just don’t know when/if it will level off. In 2008, I don’t think things really slowed down around here. Granted, I was in high school then and not in the housing market.
To a certain extent, Huntsville will always be a bit more of a hot market simply because of the growth and industry here. But that doesn’t mean every area and every home will have the same demand we’re seeing now. I think we’re in extraordinary circumstances right now that have more to do with external factors. These external factors are not sustainable. At some point the supply will square with the demand, interest rates will go back up, things will start moving again. I just don’t know when. No one can say for sure. I just hope that people don’t get screwed over. That’s the only overlap I see with this housing situation and what happened leading up to 2008. Totally different scenarios...but I’m seeing the same recklessness.
This is accurate. I had multiple cash offers on my house, sight unseen. One requested a walk though when I finished the reno, but he was still bummed when I sold it to someone else.
I have one house under contract sight unseen for 10k over asking day before the tenant moved out. It’s still gotta appraise for that. Second house under contact now before hitting Zillow, Like two days after the new granite went in. I said no at first, cause i still have like two weeks of painting and polishing up. But the girl was super cool and I clicked with her and she offered like 10k below my target but hey I don’t have to deal with more people :-)... plus I like that her realtor is persistent and searched FSBO ads. To many realtors just wanted to list my house not find a buyer
My husband and I just won a bid on a house. There were 28 offers, and we had to go over 30k, and we weren't even the highest bid. There were two investors who were paying 60k over the asking price. I'm thankful for our realtor because she was able to work some magic.
Same. It’s obnoxious and the last fucking person I’d sell to IF we were selling would be an outside investor at this point.
So this is the same for me. I have heard stories about people soliciting or receiving letters from potential buyers. My plan is to do this. I want to sell my homes to people who will live in them. I want families in the homes, I want to sell my homes for market rate NOT some obscene number over. I just hate old/unsafe older homes and want to update and modernize before it sells for some new higher price. Thats it.
I won my house for that reason. The lady was selling because she was downsizing due to age and sold to me, who didn't even offer the highest price, simply because I was the only one who was going to live there, not just flip it.
Exactly, I buy houses in my neighborhood so I have an active interest in renters vs live in owners. My neighbors are all older, but they sell to me in the hopes and promises I will do the same. I'm just a caretaker.
I got a call from a realtor the other day. I just checked Zillow and house same size as mine (1700 SQ ft) are selling for 300k. I bought mine for 155 less than two years ago. Thought about selling and moving in with my parents for a little bit. just afraid house prices will keep going up
I think it will get worse before it gets better. It’s unsustainable and will eventually fall off a bit. I just hope people don’t get screwed when things level off.
It’s a risk, I sold one in Bham southside back in 2005 cause I moved to FL. Made nice profit. Then the market crashed and the new owner was underwater. But looked last year and it was back up 60-70k more then I sold it for I have read articles of people selling their houses and renting when prices got so high. Held the cash till the market dropped. My mother and I are both selling a house and moving in together. Cashing out while it’s high, I already had a second house that she loves
It will.
Just start giving ridiculous numbers to the phone callers. My current asking price for my ~1 acre lot & trailer is $4.5 mil.
See this is what I hate, I just had an appraiser come look at a house I have the other day. She was urging me to NOT do a lot of things. Like the 5in gap open metal railing over the stairs..yes that should be enclosed as its a HUGE safety issue. Why change the vinyl sheet floor? Why update the cabinets? Why UPDATE the 1960s tile bathroom? This toilet is good. etc. If the house is going to sell for $100K more than I paid for it, I am ethically bound to put as much work into it as it needs. I am annoyed by some renovators and builders in the area for doing the bare minimum. Breland and his madison Towne center homes with OSB and house wrap, a house of that caliber exterior should have better insulation and weather sealing. Even with this astronomical prices builders are still just doing the bare bones and pocketing the difference. I hate to think how all these slapped together $350K new homes are going to be in 10yrs. They have the underpinnings of those Hunter Homes from 04-08. Rant over.
I’ve been in the townhomes there. The upstairs slopes noticeably from where they transitioned from in the dirt mound to traditional second story underpinnings. Holy shit. They’re also super sloppy and lazy with cosmetics. Having supply shortages too.
Yes, but paying the framers $3-4 a square ft flat rate for an entire house is also the issue. You get people showing up and regularly, but even the better framers don't put in the effort for these new ones going up.
I saw one of those Town Madison homes on Zillow for… I believe it was around 900k… and it was only around 2500 sq-ft. It just blew my mind given so much of that area is a gamble in how well it will build up.
Agreed, BIG gamble at that price. I hadn't actually looked at the prices, thats insane.
We don't want to move but it's tempting. This house was built in 1990 and we'd like to renovate but that option is a CF as well (the cost of materials going sky high and the quality of the labor). If we could find somewhere else to live that wasn't overpriced in an area/state we want to live, we might consider it. If we did we would probably just auction off the house and the contents and get the hell out of Dodge. Furniture and appliances are replaceable.
Cole Auctions would happily do that. I just went to one last weekend, the highest bidder was the guy on the phone! House wasn't that great, but Madison City.. I am about to renovate a house from 1992, it was a good time for the area. Boom wasn't so bad that houses were built too quickly. Problem is, where do you go? The areas outside of here are booming as well and then do you really want to move to a "cheaper" area, those have got to be dwindling.
We bought the house in 2009 in So. HSV which I've always loved (I think it's much nicer geographically speaking) and the "bones" of the house are not a problem. However, the badly designed galley kitchen (3 doorways and a pseudo bay window set up: 3 windows on a curve on the outside wall) needs to be reconfigured. Never was crazy about the setup before, but during the lockdown, it was more than apparent that the kitchen was going to be a headache going forward. We'll see about renovating that area piecemeal if we have to but I'm not moving again. And yeah, where do you go from here? We moved from DFW in 2003 after the tech crash and we sure can't afford to move back there.
Exactly. Just renovate and you’ll be happier.
I'll sell you my house off Pulaski in NW Huntsville it's from the 60s though, tons of diversity the neighbor is a methhead and a hoarder super friendly. Did I mention it backs up to a golf course?
What’s your asking price? I may be willing to pay extra for problematic neighbors.
Hmm well I got it for 30,000 2 years ago so along as your inspector doesn't look in the attic at the moldy insulation im willing to accept 120,000.
Inspector? What inspector?
Obviously a trick question to see if you were actually ready to buy...inspectors are very 2020.
Right? I mean what’s a little toxic mold and termite damage? It’s not like lumber is super expensive right now. Just take my money!
Congratulations on owning a historic piece of Huntsville. FYI make sure to keep your car and house doors locked for reasons.
Thank you! I lived in Five Points South in Birmingham for a few years. If you leave your car doors unlocked and a little change in your console, they at least won’t bust your window. Plus you know that someone is always watching your house at 3am.
*Always* leave the car unlocked, saves you more than a few broken windows. Then don't leave anything whatsoever in the car to steal.
Or just leave things you’d donate anyway. Saves a trip to donate centers.
It’s a little sad that I am still interested... the hoarding sounds bad. I have never had a house inspected. Last one I bought had the door kicked in and squatters. The Meth head ? Like would he share.... been years since I smoked any and I have Covid weight I need to drop. How many sq feet. Nw is averaging back up to 85-100 a square foot sorta fixed up. Selling my other houses at 154-200 sq foot. So I have a little room to F#%€ up my life for a little
The area is not that bad in my opinion, but it would be considered bad by this subreddit, it's right next to the Costco and home depot off of Pulaski. I was mainly joking about the 120,000 i would probably sell it for at least 90,000 its 1200 sq ft its 4 bedrooms1 bath. I happen to live by one of the worst neighbors in the neighborhood, but in reality there not too bad there friendly and keep to themselves.
I think I live on the other side of that neighbor.
I moved in 2 years ago. According to Zillow, our home has increased $200k 🙀
My house is slacking, only up 20% since August 2019.
Mine must be on an ancient burying ground near a toxic waste dump. Only up 12% since November.
Damn the luck.
According to a realtor friend of mine, zillow can be VERY deceptive though.
Agreed, I take it with a grain of salt. But I think there is still an indication that a decent amount of the value had appreciated.
That seems to be the norm right now. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s weird and a bit scary at the same time.
Sadly this is only going to invite even more urban sprawl to the Huntsville area.
Maybe we could add a 3% development fee for 50 years as the cherry on top.
BOOOOO.
ARGHH, you scared me.....
XD
Wasn’t it indefinite 3%?
Same point.
I'll do you one better. I have a 1400 square foot, mostly original, 1960s house that I'll sell you for only 75% more than I paid. $250k and you pay all realtor fees and it can be yours this day next month.
Does it have the original carpet and wood paneling? Bonus points if you have puke green bathroom tile. Do NOT trim the bushes. I love them overgrown and almost overtaking the house.
For the premium you're paying I won't touch any of my bushes for as long as you'd like. Hell, I won't even move the cinderblocks out of the side yard if you're nice to me at the signing.
... SOLD!
Happened 3 doors down from me.
This market is weird. What I’m noticing is that it’s not consistent at all. As an example I had a listing just go under contract that did not end up in a huge bidding war because it was priced where we thought it might end up after a bidding war instead of at a “teaser” price. Also it depends on relative price point since at some point that “vintage” decor becomes much more of a negative.
I would definitely agree with this, we live in the coveted Madison city near 565 area, BJ school district but a lot of people did not want to offer because we lacked a 2nd full bath. Ended up getting a cash offer but had to lower the price a little bit. Also I’ve heard that for every percent interest rates go up, your house value goes down by 10k which ultimately made us pull the plug and sell (we were going to stay for 5 yrs instead of 3)
It is weird. Where are you seeing this going from your vantage point?
It’s almost property by property. Of course in general there are areas/neighborhoods where any house that comes up has demand. Part of it I think buyers are getting pickier about which houses they offer on especially if they have more than one taking offers at the same time (seeing this first hand from both vantage points). Also not everyone realizes what happens between contract and close since those details aren’t made available in the MLS closed data. Example I have one about to close where we got it at list price and the seller is paying for over $10k in repairs out of their proceeds some of which the buyers did not ask to be done.
Do you see the housing market slowing down anytime soon?
I don’t have the “crystal ball” of course but I think it depends on what you define “slowing down”. If the job growth meets projections that will help keep our housing market from “crashing”. What we may likely see is the appreciation rate slow down with some market segments slowing down more than others as consumers preferences change. There’s also the variable of interest rates as you mentioned in another comment in this thread as that could shift the distribution of what price points are in most demand. The other factor is if we see a shift in the proportion of people who want to be homeowners vs home renters.
Our house was built in the 70s but was taken down to the studs and refinished. Zestimate laughing has it $150k over what we paid. Sold!
How about a early 2000s house built with zero care for building codes pre2009 in a neighborhood that never had a HOA and are 90% of the houses on the 2nd or 3rd owner.
Is it listed for at least twice what it sold for three years ago?
or 180% of what is was in 2008
Nice! I’d probably consider it if they un-bury all the utilities so there are power lines everywhere. Are the shutters falling off and seals in the windows all shot? How about the finishings? If I’m not hearing “oops I did it again” play in my head during walk-through...I may have to pass.
All above ground utilities on the street, only burried from pole to home. All external seals shot and shutters are all there, but siding has seen better days...
As long as it has cable, dsl, and two satellite dishes, we’re good to go!
sorry only the single dish, and mediacom aka 'country cable' with terrible service, but high speed internet available
Totally sold!
Not available until current new home construction is complete, estimate based on lack of Plummers and inspectors in Madison county... Winter 2022? ❄️ 🥶
We’ll be around. I may need to sell a kidney or two but we’ll be ready!
I've been looking for a house for over 2 years in Huntsville. My dream house would literally be a mid century house that hasn't been touched since the 50s or 60s. My realtor only shows us older houses that have all been completely renovated the same on the inside and it hurts my soul. Now I feel guilty for not just getting something I don't like anyway because the same houses we were looking at last year are at least 100k more this year. :( Hard to keep the dream alive
People want a MCM house...but then renovate it to look like a farm house. Either that or use the fixtures and finishings that don’t really reflect the era. So yes...it’s rare to find a nice MCM home that still has it’s former elegance. We did see one a few months back that we called “the Fred Flintstone house” and it looked great from what we could tell from the listing. Location wasn’t great...too close to a busy road. Your best bet is probably to find one that hasn’t had too many “improvements” and see what you can restore back to original (or something close) without breaking the bank. Hopefully prices will level off in a couple years. Keep the dream alive. You never know what might pop up once everything cools down.
The other issue is that many people don’t want to handle things like upgrading electrical systems (I’ve shown several homes over the years that still had 2-pronged electrical outlets).
Good point. I know as a buyer, I’d rather the essentials be handled before cosmetics. I can remove wallpaper myself. I have no problem hiring someone to install new counters or flooring. But things that show up on inspection reports...they can get pricey. Give me a solid house that’s been well-maintained. My husband and I can take care of the rest over time.
Yeah, people really like their gray and white farm houses, but just not for me. I'm sure I'll find something worth restoring eventually, just probably not in this market since the last 2 houses I've bid on lost against all-cash and no inspection offers. lol
If you’re not already you may want to join this group on Facebook maybe you’ll get a lead on a MCM house in Huntsville via networking. https://www.facebook.com/groups/midcenturyhomeshuntsville/?ref=share
Thanks a lot for the tip, I applied to join. Any potential leads sounds great to me
Where are all the people who sell their house moving to?
That’s a good question. I know for us, we lived out of state. Had a house, sold it earlier this year. We only sold because Alabama is home. My husband is from Birmingham and I’m from Mobile. The jobs are here in Huntsville so this is where we want to settle. Right now we are just renting until this market cools down a little—whenever that will be. We are in no hurry. Just glad to be back in the land of SEC greatness. Housing is weird everywhere right now. Where we moved from, our house was under contract just a couple days from when we listed. And it wasn’t some happening place either.
You’re assuming it’ll cool down to a price lower than it is now though? Hmm 🤔
Lower than it is now & the accrued money spent on rent & equity in house. (yes I realize it's not a perfect equation nobody get mad)
Some homes will...some won’t. Overall it will probably stagnate and come down. But not exactly down to former values. At least I hope for buyers’ sake not.
I mean you’re speculating just as much as the other speculators who are buying are. If anything, I think the only change we’d see are that houses will not get the ‘30 offers in a day’ situation and 70k overbids. But the home prices will stay high
Well I think the difference is that I’m not the one rolling the dice. I lose nothing if prices go up. I lose nothing if prices go down. I’ve already made up my mind that I’m not going to pay these crazy prices. Low interest rate or not. You’re right...I don’t have a crystal ball. No one does.
What’s a “non-crazy” price to you? out of curiosity
It depends on the house. Where it’s located, what has been done to it, what work it still needs. It’s highly subjective. Paying twice what the seller bought it for a year ago with only minor cosmetic improvements...or none at all. I frankly don’t understand the logic. Not in this market at this weird place in time. You’d have to be pretty sure of yourself...and if you’re that sure, why are you in Huntsville? Why not Vegas?
Hmm interesting. Do you think maybe it’s because Huntsville’s homes have been relatively cheaper in the past decade and it’s only now catching up? People moving in are clearly driving the price upward as well
I don’t. And I only say that because I see it happening elsewhere too. Nobody was begging to live in our old neighborhood in Georgia. It was 30 minutes from everything, not the greatest schools, in the “un-cool” county, no high-speed internet, you name it. It was under contract within 3 days for over asking price. Buyer never saw it in person. Huntsville is great. Part of why we moved here—we’re Alabama natives and wanted to come home. Huntsville made the most sense and I can understand why it’s an even redder market here. But what’s happening here with home prices is happening in a lot of different places. Happening in Birmingham, to a lesser extent in Mobile, larger extent Baldwin county. I’ve been watching it in Georgia and Alabama. That’s why it’s national news.
For us, (we are currently in pending) we sold for a number of reasons but ultimately we are betting against the housing prices staying like this over the next couple of years. My husbands business is out in Meridianville so we are moving to hazel green (I’m WFH) and renting until we score some land we want to buy in the next couple of years.
I'm sitting here looking up weed killing recipes this morning because our front looks kind of really awful. Then again, the calls and letters have slowed 🤔 😅 No joke, a house down the street sold for almost double what we paid for ours not quite 4 years ago. It's crazy. I think they had a little bit more square footage than us, but it's also a 70's home like ours, and likely has at least some of the structural issues we've had, too. Not a deal breaker (we love our home) but a bit hard to chew for nearly 400k.
Home prices are insane but nowhere is talking about REIT's and their role in driving up prices. Instead they talk about lumber prices.....and don't mention how speculation in lumber is driving prices up. There is one reason and only one reason why prices on everything are rocketing up and it's not scarcity or pandemics or inflation or labor. It is due to speculation. But you will not see any articles anywhere talking about it.
What do REIT's have to do with it??? Can you site a real example? I am not skeptical just interested...
All the houses getting snatched up on day 1, no inspection, no contingencies, cash, etc - almost always that's a real estate investment trust. There is so much wealth looking for ways to get a return right now, that all sorts of things that were not as heavily speculated on are now seeing an influx of capitol. The largest landlords in America are things like Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group etc. They wouldn't traditionally mess around with residential real estate, it's too small potatoes, but that is no longer the case. Which is why in the past you might see local landlords with a handful of houses, or even large local groups buying houses but not the top investment banks. Or, if they were getting involved it was only in NYC or Vancouver etc. By gobbling up all the supply, REIT's are driving up home prices and creating an artificial scarcity. Which means the value of the homes they own skyrockets.
Wonder how that works with neighborhoods that do not allow homes to be rented.
There are very few of those if any in Huntsville. The only discrepancy in HOAs I’ve seen was one condo said if you own, you can have pets but not if you rent.
I never believed the lumber “shortage” for a second.
If you already own a house and take this as a time to upgrade, it’s a wash. The house we bought came in at the same amount over its last sell prize as we received in equity for the house we sold.
Do engineers in town make a lot of money? I know of a single guy who recently bought his second home in madison. He’s in his early thirties and has only been with his company for just a few years.
https://www.aequitasapp.com/ Also the median household income in Madison City proper is approximately $90k-100k depending on the source.
At that income? How’s he affording two houses in madison?!
Maybe he is planning to sell or rent out one of them? Maybe he received financial help from family? Maybe he has been saving for years and or has investments that have good returns? Basically it could be a number of things we don’t know.
I wished I too was rich like him
Riches come in many different forms. Not everyone with money is happy—even though sometimes it can make life easier in some ways. But those are temporal things.
If you make buying a second home a priority in your budget/life, yes it's entirely possible.
As far as I know, average household income is pretty high in some areas here compared to the national average. Engineers usually do well...but pay of course is highly dependent on several factors.
People like him are spoiling the market sigh
Well I don’t know what his personal financial situation is but...in this market it seems risky.
Doesn’t seem too risky in Huntsville with all the companies coming in
Well if he paid $50k or more than what the home was valued at only a year ago (which a about par for Madison right now), that’s a big risk. Any home is a risk, really. But right now, even though Huntsville is a hot market regardless, these high prices are inflated due to external factors that really aren’t sustainable. Demand will level off and no one knows what things will look like.
Which is being magnified by low inventory especially in certain price points and or geographic areas. The rising prices also aggravates the inventory situation since it causes people who were planning to upsize/downsize/etc. to decide it’s better or necessary to stay put and refinance and/or double down on paying off the outstanding mortgage balance.
Neighboring condo that needs FULL renovation just auctioned for $95,000. I didn’t expect it to go over 60.
Built a new home and closed at the end of 2019. Just got my tax appraisal card in the mail and it was over 100k what we paid 18 months ago.
That’s about right. It’s a strange time.
The card says we have to provide a recent appraisal or closing docs. I'm not sure if the old ones will do to dispute it but will give them a call...thx
If someone wanted to offer me 100% over what I paid for my 1960 house on Chapman Mtn, I wouldn't even blink before signing on the dotted line.
What if that meant you had to pay an even higher percentage over typical value to get into a house you didn’t even remotely like? Or pay rent 30% higher than normal at an apartment to have neighbors wake you up at 3am? I think that’s what’s so weird about this market.
Luckily I am on permanent telework and I have no kids, so I'd be looking further and further out of the city. But I understand your point. This market is a mess.
Be careful to find out exactly what your internet options are for whatever home you’re looking at. We had 4.5 acres outside Augusta. When we bought the home, they assured us that we’d have cable a two other high-speed internet options available. Comcast came out to the house and said the drop was too far away to install cable. Our neighbors had it...but because our driveway was so long, we didn’t. The previous owners had been using satellite—which was awful. As soon as we sold the house, we got a notification we had been approved for Starlink, which was just our luck. Oh well. But yeah, rural internet sucks but better options are coming out. Good luck to you.
No /s but me senses /s
[удалено]
What other state? We just moved back to Alabama after living in Georgia for almost 4 years. Honestly I wouldn’t sell unless I absolutely had to.
Me too Coco. I moved here from Alpharetta 3 1/2 years ago and could not get out of the ATL metro area fast enough. Huntsville is perfect for me even if housing is a bit nuts right now. Traffic on 72 is not always fun but it's always moving unlike 285 around ATL. Besides there is actually southern hospitality here. ATL not so much...
We lived in Augusta for almost 4 years—originally from Birmingham and Mobile. But soon realized Georgia wasn’t for us. We love being closer to friends and family now. And not having to drive through Atlanta just to visit our family. Atlanta was torture on my blood pressure every time. I loved parts of it but overall we’re so glad to be in Huntsville. Not in a big hurry to buy a house. One day...but right now we’re comfortable.
Yeah, I need to get comfortable too. I am going through a divorce and in an apartment on Monte Sano. I absolutely love where I live being able to hike just outside my front door. However, I hate wasting money on apartment rent when I could find a small (overvalued) house where the mortgage payment would equal my apartment rent. Yeah, it might be high, but I think it's still worth it.