[melpetezrinski]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

How can you say prices are coming down when there are still lotteries going on for a new home or lot? The only time TV has dropped the price of a home is when they can’t sell them. I have friends that are looking for a new house in Eastport area and they get notified that they have 2 hours to respond to buy it or it will go to the next person. The villages is getting around $300 sq ft on some of the new home models and that’s before adding in the land. But that’s cheaper than the $500 - $700 per sq ft in our area for a designer home. Cheap homes with Formica and carpet floors are $300 sq ft.

The villages sells everything they make, and if it starts to get a little slow, they will cut costs like putting in cheaper stuff in the house to bring the price down. Newell lots were a steal compared to lots from fennel for example, but you pay more for everything else.

When Florida is getting more and more people migrating here from other states, if it’s truly down in price, it won’t be long before they will be more expensive. On top of that, people migrating from NY, Calif, and other states will think the houses in TV are cheap and will have cash to buy.

"Cheap homes with Formica and carpet floors are $300 sq ft" It's more like $230 and the only homes selling for "$500-$700 are pool homes with a view and that's a rarity. The price per square ft realized on closings are averaging approximately $245 over the last 5 months.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by Altavia

Big savings are on the way for realtor "fees."

The 6% commission, a standard in home purchase transactions, is no more.

For the average-priced American home for sale — $417,000 — sellers are paying more than $25,000 in brokerage fees. Those costs are passed on to the buyer, boosting the price of homes in America. That fee could fall by between $6,000 and $12,000, according to TD Cowen Insights’ analysis.

The agreement effectively will destroy the current homebuying and selling business model, in which sellers pay both their broker and a buyer’s broker, which critics say have driven housing prices artificially higher.

By some estimates, real estate commissions are expected to fall 25% to 50%, according to TD Cowen Insights. This will open up opportunities for alternative models of selling real estate that already exist but don’t have much market share, including flat-fee and discount brokerages. ok

Have sold quite a few of our past homes in UK, and have never paid more than 1% selling fee.
Handled it all myself last two properties, and saved even more.
I have always been amazed what US estate agents charge, and get away with.

[MX rider]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

A crash is harsh wording. You must admit this is a difficult market. If you buy a home at ask price today, a few months later, the exact model is now $50,000 less. And, the same preowned models are sitting on MLS and VLS for months. We are not anticipating a crash. We are waiting for the market to stabilize. Right now, it is much better to invest your money instead of purchasing a home with cash. The real estate market is showing losses.

I would agree with frayedends.
In my opinion trying to guess where home prices will go is fools gold to a certain extent. Yes, the market is a bit uncertain now, and prices seem to have leveled off or even gone down. But if we were looking now, I wouldn't hesitate to buy if this is where we really wanted to be.

If rates drop, and at some point I believe they will, the market will pick up steam again.

We have friends looking to buy this summer to be snowbirds. Their house in Indiana is paid for and they're getting a mortgage for the home here. They said they can live with the higher rates, and if they go down they'll refinance.

They're 74 and 67 and have had some health scares. As they said, time is not on their side and they don't want to wait to live here.

We were lucky and bought 2.5 years ago and got a very good rate. Like our friends, our home in Indiana is paid for, and our main goal when we bought was to find a home we liked within our budget. We really didn't give any thought to what it would be worth down the road, and we still don't.

At this point for us, it's all about living our best life everyday.

At the end of the day, it all depends on your situation. If you're buying for investment reasons, then that's a different story.

[Snakster66]

Originally Posted by Randall55

My advice is to keep things simple. Pay close attention to the color of cabinets and floors. The more neutral; the better. Example: White cabinets- oak-colored floors. Perfect! Buying a home with unique colors will be difficult to sell. Paint your walls the same color throughout. A light shade will make the rooms appear bigger. Keep landscaping minimal. Most people hate to take care of high maintenance lawns. Do not add a built-in. Turning your 3rd bedroom into a permanent office will reduce the amount of interested buyers. If your plans are to make money on a home, you do not have to spend a lot on upgrades. Upgrades are not a guarantee that you will make more money on the resale.

As someone who is currently looking in the resell market, this is great advice. In particular:

landscaping...when I see a house with many bushes and hedges, my only thought is "how much will it cost me to rip all of that out and replace with something lower maintenance?"

Built-ins...People seem to love built-ins down there, but they are a major turn-off to me as a buyer (I can only speak for myself and won't generalize for the buyer market). Even though I plan to use a room as a home office, I still am turned off by a huge built-in desk/cabinet/murphy bed monstrosity in a room. I want to maintain flexibility down the road. And that means not having to tear out a built-in after I formally retire.

The places that attract us (me and wife) the most are blank slates where we can project our vision, not places where we first have to imagine getting rid of a bunch of things before we can imagine how we can implement a vision.

Back to the market, There are houses that I have been watching for quite some time now. Some are stubbornly holding on to their asking price, others are chasing the right price with either modest or aggressive price cuts. But the vast majority are not sniffing their asking price when they finally do sell. It is not 2022 any more; and from my observations, it has gotten worse (for sellers) over the last month.

[kansasr]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

There is NOT LOW inventory in the Villages. VLS and MLS preowned homes combined have approx 1000 homes available. Denham and Dabney are moving at a snails pace. Moultrie Creek lots are also moving slowly. The enclave still has many lots available.

Since Lake Denham was over 86% sold through early February (per the Lake County property appraiser), I'd say things are moving quite nicely. Even Dabney was over 1/3 sold through that period!

[Topspinmo]

All houses are overpriced except mine!

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

All houses are overpriced except mine!

U R sooooo lucky.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by CarlR33

In the North it’s a sellers market because most home owners are sitting on low interest rate loans on homes that have appreciated in value the last few years and with low(or non existent) home inventory it’s a sellers market there. So those people are able to bring cash to a suppliers market here.

BINGO!
Hi Mom!

[Normal]

Originally Posted by CarlR33

In the North it’s a sellers market because most home owners are sitting on low interest rate loans on homes that have appreciated in value the last few years and with low(or non existent) home inventory it’s a sellers market there. So those people are able to bring cash to a suppliers market here.

There may be assumable mortgages up there? Few homes are mortgaged down here.

Also, the chances of a “created” or built inventory surging are low in the winter months. There you have basically a fixed inventory that usually doesn’t see drastic changes.

Buyers are demanding inspections and repairs here before closing and prices are being negotiated down.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Have sold quite a few of our past homes in UK, and have never paid more than 1% selling fee.
Handled it all myself last two properties, and saved even more.
I have always been amazed what US estate agents charge, and get away with.

Marry an Attorney....problem solved

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Snakster66

As someone who is currently looking in the resell market, this is great advice. In particular:

landscaping...when I see a house with many bushes and hedges, my only thought is "how much will it cost me to rip all of that out and replace with something lower maintenance?"

Built-ins...People seem to love built-ins down there, but they are a major turn-off to me as a buyer (I can only speak for myself and won't generalize for the buyer market). Even though I plan to use a room as a home office, I still am turned off by a huge built-in desk/cabinet/murphy bed monstrosity in a room. I want to maintain flexibility down the road. And that means not having to tear out a built-in after I formally retire.

The places that attract us (me and wife) the most are blank slates where we can project our vision, not places where we first have to imagine getting rid of a bunch of things before we can imagine how we can implement a vision.

Back to the market, There are houses that I have been watching for quite some time now. Some are stubbornly holding on to their asking price, others are chasing the right price with either modest or aggressive price cuts. But the vast majority are not sniffing their asking price when they finally do sell. It is not 2022 any more; and from my observations, it has gotten worse (for sellers) over the last month.

Prices are all over the board. If you check the price history of a home, this tells the story. Many homes start with aggressive pricing then get reduced month after month. This is also true with new construction. If you are the first to buy in an area you pay full price. Months later, prices of homes remaining are slashed. In Denham and Dabney nearly 300 homes saw price reductions. Even with the price reductions, homes are still sitting. Will the developer reduce them further? This is one important aspect we would like to see before purchasing.

The theory that only undesirable homes get price reductions is no longer valid. Most are not buying feverishly. Both preowned and new are sitting on the market for months. This means prices eventually fall on most homes. We are waiting to see what the end of summer brings. Taking a FEW MONTHS to evaluate is not a big deal. Plenty of other things to keep us occupied. Right now, we are enjoying those.

Note: If you find a home where the seller is holding stubbornly to the price, check the price history. Look at the price the seller bought then add closing costs he will need to pay. Many cannot reduce the price without suffering a loss.

[Randall55]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

Prices are all over the board. If you check the price history of a home, this tells the story. Many homes start with aggressive pricing then get reduced month after month. This is also true with new construction. If you are the first to buy in an area you pay full price. Months later, prices of homes remaining are slashed. In Denham and Dabney nearly 300 homes saw price reductions. Even with the price reductions, homes are still sitting. Will the developer reduce them further? This is one important aspect we would like to see before purchasing.

The theory that only undesirable homes get price reductions is no longer valid. Most are not buying feverishly. Both preowned and new are sitting on the market for months. This means prices eventually fall on most homes. We are waiting to see what the end of summer brings. Taking a FEW MONTHS to evaluate is not a big deal. Plenty of other things to keep us occupied. Right now, we are enjoying those.

Note: If you find a home where the seller is holding stubbornly to the price, check the price history. Look at the price the seller bought then add closing costs he will need to pay. Many cannot reduce the price without suffering a loss.

We were lucky to sell our last home in the Villages for a good profit. We are currently renting and waiting until the end of September. This is a strange market! No telling what is going to happen.

[Snakster66]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

Prices are all over the board. If you check the price history of a home, this tells the story. Many homes start with aggressive pricing then get reduced month after month. This is also true with new construction. If you are the first to buy in an area you pay full price. Months later, prices of homes remaining are slashed. In Denham and Dabney nearly 300 homes saw price reductions. Even with the price reductions, homes are still sitting. Will the developer reduce them further? This is one important aspect we would like to see before purchasing.

The theory that only undesirable homes get price reductions is no longer valid. Most are not buying feverishly. Both preowned and new are sitting on the market for months. This means prices eventually fall on most homes. We are waiting to see what the end of summer brings. Taking a FEW MONTHS to evaluate is not a big deal. Plenty of other things to keep us occupied. Right now, we are enjoying those.

Note: If you find a home where the seller is holding stubbornly to the price, check the price history. Look at the price the seller bought then add closing costs he will need to pay. Many cannot reduce the price without suffering a loss.

The people who price smartly, sell quickly. The ones who don’t, dont. This is more true right now than it has been in some time. Many sellers still think it’s 2021 or 2022 where they can throw up an inflated price and still have a feeding frenzy. It’s not. House prices are depressed now from the peak in 2022. That’s reality. How long this continues, I don’t know. But I am getting good at seeing new listings and predicting whether the will sell relatively quickly or sit.

Stubborn ones MAY be people on the edge of losing money (bought at the peak in 2022 or thereafter), but some seem to have a number in their head and don’t want to drop it. I’m good either way. When I’m ready (hopefully sooner than later), I know what I’m targeting and what number should get it done. The good news is, if one house sells, there’s always another one that gets listed .

New houses? Don’t care, not interested in that area. But I do like to see the developer lower prices, because I firmly believe it has a ripple effect on re-sell prices.

[Randall55]

Originally Posted by Snakster66

The people who price smartly, sell quickly. The ones who don’t, dont. This is more true right now than it has been in some time. Many sellers still think it’s 2021 or 2022 where they can throw up an inflated price and still have a feeding frenzy. It’s not. House prices are depressed now from the peak in 2022. That’s reality. How long this continues, I don’t know. But I am getting good at seeing new listings and predicting whether the will sell relatively quickly or sit.

Stubborn ones MAY be people on the edge of losing money (bought at the peak in 2022 or thereafter), but some seem to have a number in their head and don’t want to drop it. I’m good either way. When I’m ready (hopefully sooner than later), I know what I’m targeting and what number should get it done. The good news is, if one house sells, there’s always another one that gets listed .

New houses? Don’t care, not interested in that area. But I do like to see the developer lower prices, because I firmly believe it has a ripple effect on re-sell prices.

We feel the same. Cookie Cutter homes are the same throughout the Villages. In our opinion, one is not that much better than another. We are more concerned about the possible ripple effect you mentioned. IF it does occur, we do not want to be on the wrong side of it. If prices go up, great! We will take the hit. It is better to buy high in a sound market than overpriced in a down market. Until then, our money is collecting nice interest.

[MX rider]

Originally Posted by Randall55

We feel the same. Cookie Cutter homes are the same throughout the Villages. In our opinion, one is not that much better than another. We are more concerned about the possible ripple effect you mentioned. IF it does occur, we do not want to be on the wrong side of it. If prices go up, great! We will take the hit. It is better to buy high in a sound market than overpriced in a down market. Until then, our money is collecting nice interest.

I think it really depends on the reason someone is buying. If you're buying here to live, find a home you like at a price you feel is fair and enjoy the years you have left.
Why wait?

Unless you plan on reselling soon, who cares what the home values do? Just like the stock market, they go up and down. And just like stocks, you haven't lost a dime unless you sell.


If interest rates go down, the market will heat up again imo. Then prices will head the other direction. But really, nobody knows for sure.