holy crap! I Just Checked The Current Price of Our Old House in Florida!

[leftchick]

We lived in South St. Petersburg and sold our 1776 sq ft Ranch with a pool in 1993 for $101,000. I just checked my old address out of curiosity at zillow.com and it says its estimated worth is $259,000.00!!!! Holy Shit! It is still 1776 square feet with no where to remodel but up! The neighborhood was not the best because we backed up to an apartment complex with lots of noise. I had read the Florida market was crazy but damn! I am shocked!

[Joanne98]

1. My old house in San Diego is half a million.

[leftchick]

3. California is insane!

I was watching flip this house on TLC this weekend. Half a Mil for 700 sq feet???

[EFerrari]

6. That's what my family paid for this condo and it's just over 600 sq ft

Nuts!

[leftchick]

8. I don't understand how people can afford that?

I mean if someone moves from out of state? Say they sold their home in NC for 200,000 and move to CA? How can one afford to mortgage the rest?

[EFerrari]

10. Variable mortgages. My family has been here for a long time

so they just trade up their inflated property for another.

But, a lot of families seem to do those "nothing down" variable mortgages and I don't know how they sleep at night!

[Jim__]

2. You should have held on to that house!

We could all be rich if only we were a little bit psychic.

[Roon]

4. My Grandparents paid 9,000 for this duplex in 1952

it's now worth 300,000.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warpy]

5. I just checked my pop's house I sold in April

It's listed at what I sold it for. The guy who bought it is a property flipper. He's gonna take a bath, I'm afraid.

[leftchick]

7. I just checked the last house we moved from in Raleigh NC

we sold it in 1998 for 215,000. It is now estimated at $323,000! This is crazy!

The house we live in now is estmated about 3,000 more than we paid for it. :(

[ace2u_in_MD]

9. Same thing with my departed Mother-in-law's place...

Sold it last year for 320K (suburban MD) to a REI (Real Estate Investor) who was going to rent it out. Even with rents at $1700/month, I just do not see it working on a cash flow basis. Hell, they had to put 70K down to do the loan...

They said that they were buying real estate to rent, with a house for each kid to go to college on. Even in 15 years, I just do not see it working. I tried to make it work cash flow (buying out my wife's 2 siblings), but with a 70% mortgage, I could not get to cash flow.

We bought our current house 8 years ago and have seen it's valus almost tripple.

[Snivi Yllom]

11. try in another 6 months

It will be way down, Florida's housing market is in free fall in some areas.

[stop the bleeding]

15. Not in the Tampa/Pinellas area which is where she lived n/t

[momzno1]

12. just sold my house in June

got $280,000. Paid $90,000 in 1994

[leftchick]

16. excellent move!

and just in time. Housing price across the country are plummeting.

[Tellurian]

26. Right, the New England states are feeling the effects of the

sluggish economy. Foreclosures are up with no end in sight. It's all going to get worse before it gets any better. Could take 3-5 yrs..worse than the stagnated 80s.

Nationwide,there is a glut of real estate on the market. People are in denial, holding out for the long dollar. You are lucky to get out when you did. I saw if coming 2 yrs ago and baled just at the right time, TG, in my area..

[jerry611]

34. Foreclosures are up because people bought more than they can afford

I have a friend I went to college with that is now a loan officer. He said people were buying houses too big for their budget at the adjustable low interest rates. Now the rates are going up when they have to refinance and that could increase the payment by more than $500 a month. Some people can't afford to do the refinance and they end up in default.

[Tellurian]

42. People are losing their jobs...

Downsizing resulting in job loss, is the primary reason for defaulting mortgages and foreclosures.

[Rockholm]

39. And you know all of this how?

"Foreclosures are up with no end in sight. It's all going to get worse before it gets any better. Could take 3-5 yrs..worse than the stagnated 80s."

[Rockholm]

40. Please define "plummeting."

Prices are not plummeting in Massachusetts, where "some" really want a bubble to burst. Second quarter numbers are out, and while the number of closed transactions have dropped between 10-15 percent, the actual sale prices has dropped ONE PERCENT. If that is a plummet, I will take it!

[Tellurian]

41. They certainly are! As they are stagnated in RI..

Houses that normally sold in a matter of weeks are averaging 120 days +..
Do you have a property on the market?
What is the asking price?

People in New England are still in denial, just like yourself
I'm in the field all day long. As a loan officer at a local bank...
believe me, people are having to lower overinflated pricing on their
homes by anywhere from 10% to 20% if they want to sell. One fellow
purchased a new hybrid car, parked in on his front lawn next to the For Sale sign
with the words:"New Car included", as the incentive. Sellers are paying closing costs
just to get the house closed..

Nope, your info is bogus..This is a BUYERS market all day long!!!

[Rockholm]

43. Not in denial one bit.

No, my home is not on the market. I bought my home last year and plan on living here for many years. A market slow down effects me none.

Houses are sitting be causes they are overpriced. Plain and simple. Supply and demand. Supply goes up and prices go down. Once the supply begins to tighten and homes start selling, price will rise again. This kind of market hurts flippers and chronic movers. Why on earth should someone buy a house for $300K in January, paint the walls and attempt to resell in July for $500K? Look at what is for sale around you. Buyers are aware of value and what they want to spend. Sellers by and large are living in last years numbers. 2005 was the 2nd strongest market in Eastern Massachusetts in history. 2006 is the 3rd strongest market in history.

Real estate is local. If there is a dramatic slowdown in Rhode Island, then you would be the one to see it, as you either live or work there. I live on the North Shore of Boston. Our real estate is much, much different.

Incentives do not sell a home. Pricing a home correctly does. What fool would pay more for a house because it comes with a car? You are buying a house, not a car. By the way, closing costs have been used as a tool to get deals closed in up and down markets.

Loan officer at a local bank. You really have a pulse of the market.

[tridim]

13. I bought my townhouse in Denver 5 years ago

and it's now worth about 5% less than I payed for it. I have no choice but to stay. Same thing happened with my brother in Kansas City.

Not only is the market screwed up, but it's screwed up in different ways in different states. It's kind of like each state is a different country.

[stop the bleeding]

14. Average mean price in Pinellas County is somewheres around

that quarter million dollar mark. I live in Holiday up the road from St. Pete.

We bought our house 3 yrs ago for 70K it and all of the other houses in the hood are now selling for 135 -145K -

With a return like it makes any investor envious -

Florida is off the chain here, 400,000 people move to the state every year - 1100/day. So even with the housing market cooling - the demand in Florida will still be here for quite some time.

[Iwasthere]

17. Bought for $225,000.00 last year...

Now worth $325,000.00

Still some areas that are increasing... they are becoming fewer and fewer though. Sell quick if you want top dollar...

[MissB]

18. We had an 1800 sq foot house that we sold three years ago.

We bought it in '89 for $55k. Sold it in 2003 for $365k. It went up for sale again this year, this time for $480k.

Small 50x100' lot in Portland, Or. Nice old house, but still.

[A HERETIC I AM]

19. WOW! Neat website. Childhood home outside DC now at $508K

In an area near Gaithersburg, my dad bought in the developement when it was first being built for probably $35,000 in 1967. House in Miami he bought in '63 for probably $27,500 now at $807K. Amazing.

[onethatcares]

20. wow, we bought ours back in 77 for 27,900

3/1, lot and a half, 1926 bungalow, 1300 sf at this time. Last appraisal, 285,000. But where would I go? I got space here, I got my usdn(unitedstatesofdaveandnancy), it's a no fly zone, we got a resolution laying around here somewhere, and our neighbors are ok.

[Swamp Rat]

21. The house my family owned in the early 1980s sold for $55k

After some renovations, which included removing about 300+ sq feet of living space that became an outdoor patio, it was bought this Summer for $360,000.

[jbnow]

22. It is crazy

and I wonder how lower middle income people buy houses now.

I bought a little ugly house in 93 and fixed it up to make it a little cute house. I wanted to refinance a couple years ago and it was valued at 4 times what I bought it for.
I asked if they thought the puddle in my driveway made it lake front property.

It's got 3 bedrooms and a garage but it is definitely a starter home, less than 900 sq feet. I find it troubling. Wages have not gone up that much

[onethatcares]

24. that's why I laugh at the flippers

the house next door to us was listed for 185K, the flipper wanted it so bad he drove the price to 191K, then he sat on it for 4 months while trying to sell it at 235K. He did new hardwood floors, a new kitchen and bath. He then sold it for 196K. A net profit of zero and a headache factor of 11

[Renew Deal]

23. You can't even buy a house for $259,000 on LI.

Think about that.

[mcscajun]

25. Not uncommon even outside of FL.

I bought this little crackerbox in Northwest NJ in 1991 for $105,000; last time I looked, Zillow said it was worth $361,000. NFW is it worth that much; it's 100 years old, needs work, on a non-conforming lot, and like yours, there's nowhere to go but up. Makes you wonder...

[azmouse]

27. Amazing.

I checked out the house my husband and I once owned in Tucson and sold 5 yrs ago. We sold it for $225,000. It's now being valued at almost $400,000!!! Unbelievable!

It's very cool to see the satellite pics but a little scary too to see the detail they can get.

[leftchick]

28. that freaks me out too

:hide:

[rzemanfl]

29. Great website. My childhood home in Franklin Park, IL. which

I recall my parents sold in 1959 for 16 or 17 thousand is now worth $267,000, all 760 square feet of it.

[greatauntoftriplets]

31. My parents paid $16,000 for their house in 1949...

We sold it for $575,000 in April. The neighborhood line among people who had lived there a while is "I couldn't afford to buy my house today". Unfortunately, assessments for real estate taxes are headed up. One neighbor's assessed value is rising 60 percent, another is seeing theirs double.

[AirmensMom]

32. FWIW ...

I sold my house in FL for $55,000 more than zillow.com said it was worth. They had my neighbor's house, the exact model with fewer upgrades, no pool, on a smaller lot, valued at $7,000 more than ours. That made me scratch my head.

[Rockholm]

44. That website is so inaccurate.

It methodology can't factor in the intangibles. It only goes by public record. It does not even show my property. I bought my home last year and it does not even reflect the sale. I am on 2.5 acres and it does not reflect that. It is far, far from accurate. A neat tool, a plaything, but that's about it.

[hedgehog]

33. I live in a place with high taxes but the low housing costs more than

make up for the difference.

[DemReadingDU]

35. did anyone verify the house facts - square footage?

Zillow had the square footage totally wrong. They said 1466 sq ft, when actually, the homes in my area all have at least 2400 - 3000.

It's a Beta site, so hopefully they are working out these bugs.

[The Anti-Neo Con]

36. My parent's home...

They have a 2,000 s.f. brick ranch built in 1957 (Yes, a big home for that time era). It cost about $27,000 to build according to my dad. He had it appraised last year @ $450,000. This is in the St. Louis area.

[Vinca]

37. I wouldn't give much credence to web sites that give an instant

value on a home. Maybe the house you used to live in is now infested with black mold and nearly worthless. A web site picking data doesn't know that. Unless the house just sold, the numbers are meaningless.

[NuttyFluffers]

38. huh, cute website. wish my folks kept more property in SF Bay Area

old family home sold in 1998 for around low $400 and saw it now for $673. a modest increase. in fact, it outpaced the home they now live in which was around high-mid $400 but is only $641 now. oh well.

i'm still pissed that they sold the old family home and another rental to fully pay off the current home. stupid, stupid, stupid move. the other homes were within spitting distance of being fully paid, too. everyone, and i mean *everyone* from me, my mom, my brother, all our family friends, all our neighbors, all the coworkers, EVERYONE said don't sell it. but my dad did, against the *universe's* better judgement. it was consolidating 3 properties down to 1. and if there's one simple rule in property in the SF Bay Area is that you hold onto property with a death grip, especially since these homes were taking advantage of prop 13 handsomely (both 20+ years under same ownership, thus really low taxes). oh well... short-sightedness. i mourn that i haven't inherited a fiefdom of yore; i could micromanage that sucker within a gnat's ass.

simple rule of thumb, never sell property unless they are trying to pry it from your cold dead hands -- or charging you too much to hold it. rent it, pull its equity, re-mortgage it, burn it (no, really, don't do this one), i simply don't care, but never, ever sell it until the very sword of destruction is upon you. that's what i've leard from watching poor realty mistakes. it's best used as a long term investment. oh, and it's hard to start big -- another lesson. biting off more debt than you can chew is a recipe for disaster.

[TahitiNut]

45. The condo I sold in 1993 for $269K is now $692K ... a 157% increase.

:cry: 3 BR, 2.5 BA, 1,341 sq. ft.

http://www.zillow.com/search/Search.htm?addrstrthood=22661+Queens+Oak+Court&citystatezip=Cupertino%2C+CA&mode=search

[Nabia2004]

46. 1900 sq ft appraised in 1990 @ $89k, 2001 @ $179k, 2006 @ $420k

1955 ranch rambler, this is located north of Seattle.

In the suburbs of Wichita Kansas the same house can still be purchased for $89,000 or less.