Opinions requested regarding SoWal real estate pricing...

[Indigo Jill]

It won't be a steal in hindsight if prices keep falling.

You are 100% right - if you buy without doing your homework and in an area where prices are free falling. But not all areas in SoWal are doing that, fisher.

I truly believe there is property out there right now that won't go much lower - like the lot on my block. As it's been said before here, there are areas where buyers may want to hold out a while. But there are other areas that are great areas to buy into now, especially if you are buying as a long term investment, such a someone who wants to move here.

It may just be me but I don't see any point of moving to an area where you know you want to live for a while and going through the hassle of renting on the chance that prices may fall a few thousand dollars (because there are buys right now where IMO they are priced to sell and won't lose much more value). If I buy wisely today, and plan on keeping the investment over the long term, I personally would feel that I have made a great investment decision.

Is the glass half full or half empty??

 

[Here4Good]

I'll fall in with the rent first voting bloc - not just because of the current prices, but also because this area can be pretty tricky to figure out. You might think, "Oh, I want to be as close to 30-A as possible", and then discover that the traffic and being surrounded by tourists is not the paradise it might be, and decide that Point Washington is the place to be (not that I'm prejudiced, but Point Washington is the place to be! :clap_1: ).

There is a couple who just purchased a home in our neighborhood, for example - they had actually lived in the area before, and they were working with a realtor to find a home to move back down. The lady got lost, took a wrong turn off of Bay Drive, followed the open house signs our neighbor had posted, and found our neighborhood, which she had no idea even existed. They were familiar with the area and were working with an agent, but would never have found this lovely home if she had not gotten lost!

In a market like this, there are bargains and there are mistakes waiting to happen. I would want to be here, looking every week, checking every nook and cranny, before I plunked down my money.

 

[full time]

When just about everyone says the real estate market sucks, that's about the time to buy. By the looks of this thread, it's a good time to be a buyer. Good call Indigo Jill.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Beach Dad, I agree with Indigo Jill and I am a Realtor.

If you were my Dad or my brother, or any of my customers, I would say to you: find a Realtor you are comfortable with and one whom you trust. Interview your Realtor the same way you would your Doctor or Lawyer--get references, and establish a rapport.

Since you are relocating to the area to establish a home, you are different than someone who is looking to make money from real estate investment.

That said, decide where you want to live; how much you want to pay; and have your Realtor find it for you. If your primary motivation is living in SoWal, and you stay within your budget, and find the house you love, then it is a successful venture.

Good luck!

 

[Indigo Jill]

Another vote for renting in the short term. Not only because I see prices pretty flat to declining for the next 2-3 years, but also if you're talking dream home, it gives you time to really look around and figure out what the perfect place is for you. .

Even if you bought wisely today and prices stagnate for the next few years, if you have purchased as a long term investment, according to history, things will swing up again.

More importantly though, if you rent for 2-3 years, you have lost that time to build equity - and helped the owner of your rental build theirs! There are many "what if's" in life ... this is an AMAZING place to live and we all have to be thankful we can afford to be here because many who would like to move here can't. Do your homework and you will see there is a perfect place for you RIGHT NOW to buy and call "home".

 

[Indigo Jill]

If you were my Dad or my brother, or any of my customers, I would say to you: find a Realtor you are comfortable with and one whom you trust. Interview your Realtor the same way you would your Doctor or Lawyer--get references, and establish a rapport.

IMO everyone needs to use a Realtor when buying or selling - with the litigous nature of our society these days, you'd be foolish not to have a Realtor.

That said, you have to be proactive in your search. Your Realtor doesn't actually wear your shoes. Even if you tell them in great detail what you are looking for, only you, the buyer, knows what you really want (which can change in the process of looking!). I had the best Realtor in SoWal on my team when we looked for our house...and I was the one who found the one we ended up buying.

Buyers have access to every single tool they need to find a property themselves. When you hire a Realtor as part of your team, there is no reason why you shouldn't find your "dream home" first time around, making renting a moot point.

 

[fisher]

Even if you bought wisely today and prices stagnate for the next few years, if you have purchased as a long term investment, according to history, things will swing up again.

More importantly though, if you rent for 2-3 years, you have lost that time to build equity - and helped the owner of your rental build theirs! There are many "what if's" in life ... this is an AMAZING place to live and we all have to be thankful we can afford to be here because many who would like to move here can't. Do your homework and you will see there is a perfect place for you RIGHT NOW to buy and call "home".

A couple of points. First, prices are not stagnant right now, they are falling. It's one thing to buy in a stagnant market and another to buy in a falling market with no bottom in sight. Second, if you buy a house and the price falls after you buy, you are not building equity, you are losing equity.

 

[Indigo Jill]

A couple of points. First, prices are not stagnant right now, they are falling. It's one thing to buy in a stagnant market and another to buy in a falling market with no bottom in sight. Second, if you buy a house and the price falls after you buy, you are not building equity, you are losing equity.

Again, difference in perspective. I'm looking at the perspective of buying in the long term, you in the short term. What you say is totally correct and should be considered if you are buying in the short term. What I say is totally correct and should be considered if you are buying in the long term. We aren't on the same page, fisher, making it a moot dialogue.

 

[Indigo Jill]

A couple of points. First, prices are not stagnant right now, they are falling. It's one thing to buy in a stagnant market and another to buy in a falling market with no bottom in sight. .

I don't agree ... I don't think all areas in SoWal are the same and there is a bottom in sight to the price reductions.

[/quote] Second, if you buy a house and the price falls after you buy, you are not building equity, you are losing equity [/quote]

True - but if you buy wisely, you won't be buying a house that falls in price. And if you do, and you've bought for the long term, history has told us things swing up again. Just like stocks - up and down, up and down.

 

[destinsm]

Even if you bought wisely today and prices stagnate for the next few years, if you have purchased as a long term investment, according to history, things will swing up again.

More importantly though, if you rent for 2-3 years, you have lost that time to build equity - and helped the owner of your rental build theirs! There are many "what if's" in life ... this is an AMAZING place to live and we all have to be thankful we can afford to be here because many who would like to move here can't. Do your homework and you will see there is a perfect place for you RIGHT NOW to buy and call "home".

I am really tired of hearing this line of crap...

If you buy, you are building equity...

If you rent, you are throwing money away...


Lets actually look at this simplistic mainstream idea a bit deeper...

Lets assume as you have stated that the market will stagnate for a few years and I am looking to buy or rent next week...

Well if I looked to buy a home in South Walton and say as example I picked Village of Blue Mountain I would be looking to pay anywhere from $700k to $1.5M depending on the size....

Well if I meander on over to the rental department I can magically rent a home over 2,000 sq ft for $2,000/month in the same neighborhood... And this comparable size home in this neighborhood would be going for about $1.25 million...

So say I bought it at $1.25 million and I even put down 20%(doubtful to have $250,000 cash on hand for a down payment... but I am giving the benefit of doubt in this argument toward the buying side... I also won't even use this downpayment against you as far as the opportunity you have wasted by putting $250k into the house rather than letting it grow in a mutual fund or even a high yield savings) my mortgage with insurance taxes and interest would be no cheaper than $7000/month... This is assuming annual taxes at $7500/year and Annual Insurance at $2500/year... pretty low assumptions...

So knowing that very little of your PITI payment each month for your mortgage actually goes to Principal for the first 5 years of the loan... why would I want to spend $5000/month more to live in the same type of home...

Assuming you even had $7,000/month to spend on a mortgage would you not rather pay $2,000 per month to rent and save the difference ($5,000/month in even a high yield savings account???)

In this scenario with house prices stagnate and the difference from price to rent in five years that person could have saved and grown his savings to close to $350k in a simple high yield savings account with absolutely no risk... or he could fork over $7,000 per month and hope and pray everynight that his house appreciates like it was 2005 all over again...

I also left out maintenance costs, HOA dues, and maybe some other small things to again give the benefit of my math to the buyer.... But in the end, in my opinion you would be crazy not to rent for a few years and see how this thing shakes out...