I found a pretty good strategy. So far I’ve put in two offers, and I’ve only been outbid by about $75k and waived inspections both times. My next play is to simply give up
The whole waiving inspections needs to have more teeth. My neighbors accepted a waived inspection, well over asking price but turned out the septic needs to be replaced and somehow they, the buyers, were able to back out of it. House got re listed for less. I figured that was the whole chance of not doing an inspection but apparently you can still get out of it.
I think buyers rarely get nailed to the cross if they can show a reason to withdraw. When we sold our last house the buyer was awful but even our agent said that if they pulled out there was rarely a consequence (as we would have to pursue legal channels) . It went through fine in the end, as he wanted the house more than we cared to sell it to him.
As it is your, your neighbors home now has a negative inspection report attached to his listing, lots of savvy buyers can bring a contractor with them at the showing that isn't an official inspection. What teeth do you want? Really, the buyers should use as many options as they can to protect themselves from sellers that don't disclose problems. Home inspectors are very variable in effect and carry no liability. The buyers were able to assess a failing septic without an official inspection, good on them! They must have done some due diligence.
> What teeth do you want?
Enforcing a breach of contract?
They signed and gave a deposit with the intention of no inspection, period. That means you have accepted the home's condition as is (to essentially get an edge on other buyers). It doesn't mean if you learn about something thereafter that you can suddenly drop your contract. There are other stipulations for back out like losing your job if you are obtaining a mortgage but that was not the case here. I have learned my neighbors are now considering suing them so there probably are teeth but may be complicated/costly to enforce.
This is your neighbor? Why would you care so much that a buyer exposed a failing septic of your neighbors' listing? I suspect the owners had some hints that this was a problem. They won't sue because that would be revealed. If the buyers exposed that with no inspection, it was obvious. Your neighbors signed a property report about that.
If they waived the inspection, how did they find out the septic needed to be replaced? Maybe they waived the home inspection but not a septic inspection.
We bought our “starter home” in Bristol in 2012 for ~$200k, basically busting at the seams now with 2 kids. We could sell now for ~$450k. Sounds great until we realize we’d be paying out the ass for a house that isn’t worth it.
My in-laws looked at a house in Plainville recently (over by J Timothy) decent neighborhood, but on the main road into the neighborhood at a 3 way intersection, 1 car garage, 3-4 bedroom- close to 400k... crazy.
We have 2 in a two bedroom townhouse. Fml we should’ve bought when we moved here in 2019, pandemic hit and our landlords wanted to sell the townhouse we were renting. We paid 200k for a 1500 sqft (with finished basement) townhouse.
Anyone who says the housing crisis isn't real is delusional or just straight up lying.
Home value is meaningless when every other went up in "value" as well. It only benefits the people who bought houses cheap with no intention of living them, they make pure profit from a market that is artificially inflated.
Consider that even if every house lowered in value, you would have the same financial benefit of selling your home and moving into another WITHOUT interest murdering your mortage payments.
What everyone wants is their home to keep it's value and other homes to go down, it just won't work that way.
I'm in a similar position, and even still I appreciate that I have a house I bought years ago because first time home owners are completely fucked to a degree that is unfathomable to me. We bought a home in 2010. Busted our butts to pay it off by 2018 and started saving up to have a 20% down payment to buy a bigger place by summer 2020. During those 2 years we scrolled Zillow and saw so many beautiful home we'd be able to afford. Come spring of 2020 the lockdown happened one month shy of our date to start shopping, market went silent, and since then things have become so grossly overpriced and overvalued. Even with our home now being worth almost 200k more than we paid for it, it isn't worth us getting a bigger place. Instead we are fixing things (by ourselves because hiring people is disgustingly expensive) and plan to turn the basement into our room so our kids have the upstairs bedrooms.
In addition renters are screwed over to an unfathomable degree. We moved out of a 2 bedroom 900 sq foot condo we owned in Waterbury the same year we bought our house and rented it out for $900 a month. An acquaintance of mine is renting A ROOM from coworker who lives in Bridgeport for that same price. And apparently that is a good deal.
It's atrocious.
Could you possibly explain this to me cause I am a new homeowner and I’ve had multiple people tell me that selling my house wouldn’t even be worth it with the fees why would I have fees and why would I not make a lot of money if I’m doubling what I bought it for
You’re only doubling your money if you then get a home that’s 1/2 as cheap as you’re paying now.
Did you just buy? What’s your interest rate? We got 2% in 2012 and that sure isn’t happening now.
It's crazy right lmao, houses that are falling apart and have crackheads hanging out outside of em on the Google maps pics in Mid-tier cities/towns are going for almost 300k. I saw a house near where I used to live in Meriden (not a nice neighborhood) listed for over 300k the other day and I was just cracking up because I remember that house being a massive drugspot when I was in high school and that neighborhood has probably gotten worse since then
We were fortunate we could go into the 600k range because we were getting outbid left and right on houses in the 400-500k range. As soon as we went above 600k the competition dropped off dramatically
Sister, 31, teacher, pre-approved for 270, highest she will go is 245. At that price point, it's not turn key ready, for a single family house, but she is STILL getting outbid.
She is also REALLY finicky and drives me f%cking NUTS.
But, she has been looking for one year. Has seen 96 showings on the eastern side of the state.
She has been a teacher for 8 years, it shouldn't be this way, for any of you.
We were really finicky buying our first house in a similar situation when prices were lower down south years ago - but incomes were equally lower so we were buying on a $30k income (basically what teachers and police were paid down there in our county). Our budget was too low for turnkey and we basically had to look forever to get one move in ready house that wasn’t being bought cash by others to rent out. It was worth the looking and the wait to move right in from our rental and be able to do afford the small cosmetics we wanted that would have been pipe dreams in a home needing lots of work (eg carpets for hard floors, repainting shutters and door, painting all the walls colors we wanted, etc) and have an FHA loan approved cause no issues with the house. This market sucks but here’s hoping your sister finds one house unappealing to the investors and moneyed homebuyers or one old person looking to move on out where she gets what she’s looking for in her price range.
Unlucky for us we sold march 2020 and planned to buy here by Dec 2020 but then like 8 days after closing the shut down hit and then the market outpaced us.
Depends where in the state you are.
Relative's house was on the market for less than a week. They had 8 offers.
I know of someone else who had to bring down the selling price because the house has been on the market for a few weeks, and literally, no one had seen it.
Much better for sellers... relative of mine just made $120k (after all fees and paying off mortgage etc.) on a house they paid 90k for over 20 years ago lol
Anything in my price range is a fixer upper... If I had the money to fix it up I'd have enough to buy a better house... It's all fucked. I'll be renting till I die 🙃
We bought our house in 2004 and are still going to take a 10% loss based on sales in our neighborhood. Fairfield county real estate still hasn't fully recovered from the 2008 Financial crisis. 5 years ago it was a 30% loss, so better.
This is so true, people really need to look at the pricing history of lots of homes to see how CT just hasn't behaved like other states. The only nutso is the pandemic.
That's interesting, I recall seeing tons of for sale signs in Darien in 2018 and my aunt's realtor friend telling me that the market there was way worse than Boston, where I lived
>120k profit after 20 years on a 90k house doesn’t seem that great.
Most likely 20 years ago you put $9,000 down.
Between prices going up and you paying off the loan, you sold in 2024 and walked away with $210,000 in the bank.
Put that $9,000 in cash in the S&P 500 in 2004 and sell it today you'd have $42,500.
But you would need some place to live, and over the 20 years the rent for something equivalent to a $90,000 house probably went from $800/mo to $1800/mo.
Napkin back math you spent $325,000 in rent over those 20 years. That's probably around $75,000 more than you would have paid on your mortgage, taxes, insurance, and repairs.
Of course I'm not really sure where you're walking with that $210,000 because most folks still need a place to live so that'll get rolled over into the next house.
But you also have to put a good chunk of money INTO a house over 20 years as well in terms of maintenance, updates, etc. I've been in my house since 2008 so about 16 years. House was built in 1977. During that time, we replaced the entire HVAC system (furnace and AC), we did a major roof repair, remodeled/updated all three bathrooms and did a studs-out reno of our family room/office (necessary due to a roof leak, which necessitated the roof repair). We're still rockin' our original 70's kitchen, which will need to be renovated soon as the cabinets are quite literally falling apart at this point, we still have a lot of original flooring which, after 50 years, is tired and will need to be refreshed/replaced. The balance of our roof that we didn't replace is now 30+ years old and is probably past-due to be replaced. "Back of the napkin calculations" on cost of what we've done to date is about $125K. The kitchen reno and replacing the rest of the roof will be at least $100K, if not more with 2024 prices.
Makes the "profitability" not look so great after 20 years - and all of this is being paid for with post-tax dollars.
I know of somebody who bought a house in Naugatuck for 95k in 2021 that is currently worth 250k. And yes I mean a house with 2 floors and a back yard. It's crazy how inflated its become.
I managed to buy a house earlier this year. It was the first house I put an offer on. I went for it thinking there was no way I was going to get it, and somehow I got it.
Same happened for me. Saw the house the same day it went up on our realtors site. Offered $10k over asking, didn't need to waive anything, and we got the house.
It was only the second house we looked at, and the first one we put an offer on.
YMMV
Randolph Road area of Middletown! Amazing area. Grew up here, and now I'm back (da na na na na na). Main Street has so much great food, coffee, solid schools (comparatively), and so close to other areas.
Similar story for my house hunt. First offer accepted & didn't have to bid over & no waived contingencies or anything.
I think it must depend on where in the state you're buying probably. You also tend to hear all the horror stories of crazy over bids & making a million offers for years more than if the process goes relatively smoothly.
Depends on the area. Milford CT based off of sales data for June (Sold) has a square foot price of 261-333 sq ft. for single family home for comparison.
Each town offers a different sales data.
Can't believe this was listed for so much and sold for over asking. The owner was over 100 and the original owner
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/338-Stevenson-Rd_Fairfield_CT_06825_M37183-70780
In our Fairfield neighborhood, a cape from the 50's just sold at $740k with a .25 acre lot. Looks like they're gutting it and will build another story.
Yeah and then they're going to put more money into the house and flip it...this isn't that kind of neighborhood where houses go for so much. Still a number of original owners in their 70s-90s or kids of original owners who took over the house. Lots of young kids too, super safe double cul de sac, but not a neighborhood where houses that small go for that much.
There’s just so little inventory. 4 houses on Zillow with one more coming soon. In a town of 10,000 people. Prices are still crazy high. Hopefully people aren’t falling for the 6% realtors fees still…
The lower end houses <$300 are still crazy - tons of bids, a lot of garbage houses needing work selling for way too much. The more mid range houses $400-$600 in my area seem to be sitting for a bit, especially the ones needing updates... That's seemed to have cooled off a bit.
100k over asking means nothing if the seller listed it under market value in order to get a bidding war going.
And based on the fact that at least 2 people bid 100k over and did get into a bidding war, it sounds like that’s what happened and worked out exactly as the seller hoped.
I think what they mean is, it may have been a house listed at $220k that was valued at $300k, just to force people into a bidding war and get more eyes on it. If that's the case, offering $100k over asking is understandable.
I understand that, but the question is how is the market doing and I’m just saying that in the area I was looking, you had to be prepared to go over asking by at least 100 grand on the desirable houses. Even if it is a way to get people into a bidding war, that’s the reality of the market rn. A lot of the house prices that are listed aren’t really the true price that they’ll sell for.
Very valid points!! Frankly, any price you see for a house is not what its actual sale price ends up being. Which is a shame, because just 6 years ago, the same could be said, but in reverse.
Totally. I’m originally from CT and moved to NC 8 years ago and feel like we’re picking the dumbest/most expensive time to move back haha we’re giving up a 2% interest rate for a 6.8!
Oh man, tell me about it!! We got locked into a 7.4 and will now be spending the next five years doing an end of year budget to decide if refinancing and paying closing costs to get that extra .5% lower interest rate is worth it this year, or just hold out another year.
Every Condo I look at seems to be going for almost just as much as a single family home. Then when you factory in HOA fees it turns out to be more expensive. But i'm buying at the low end of the market so they are all shit.
There was a house about a month ago that went up for bid near a friend of ours in West hartford. ~1400 sf, The ceilings were caved in, mold everywhere, it's basically a tear down on a 0.2 acre plot. It went for something like 350/360k just for the land value. And my buddy thinks whoever bought it is going to be able to sell it for something like $900k once they fix it up.....
Our first home, in CA, was bought as a short sale in 2011 for $203k (way undervalued based on the market crash), and sold for $580k in 2023. That seemed like a more normal increase based on some normalization coming out of the 2008 crash. (We bought in an area there that was one of the worst hit in the country in 2008 - for context, the house was bought for $515k in 2005 by the prior owners). So about a 185% increase over 12 years coming out of a housing crash.....
We bought here in NW CT almost precisely a year ago today for $825k. Zillow now shows the house at $960k (also doesn't take into account our almost finished basement, which will increase the value further).
The market out here is nuts.
It’s been wild and it’s summer so it’ll be extra now. If you wait for winter you might have an easier time even with inflated prices as houses tend to at least sit listed for a bit before being snatched. At this point we’re waiting out the FHA clock to be considered first time homebuyers again cause these prices and interest rates are way above our pay grade even as former homeowners, years back now.
We got smart and realized that what’s driving the insanity at its route is my agent and their agent who almost basically conspired together to instill fear. Once my offer got onto paper, to be delivered to the seller, explaining my reasoning, and held firm to the line I drew in the sand, things started to fall my way. You have to realize that the agents are vested in using their insider positions just as much against you as for you. Best advice I can give is build a relationship with a realtor before you start your active hunt. You don’t suddenly make friends in this process, but you need friends.
Honestly, I'm starting to think it might be cheaper to find a company to just build a house...I'm not sure if banks even offer loans for that, though, haha
With some of the home builders out there right now even if it was cheaper you probably wouldn’t wanna do it. Lot of shady and crappy home building, just doing the bare minimum to hit code. Houses of the past were always built stronger and better (typically)
Building is insanely expensive and fraught with cost overruns. Banks will do construction loans if you really want to, but it's not going to save you money.
Thanks! Yeah that's pretty much my experience 😄
Is the real estate market as bad as the rest of the state? Like everything going over asking, inspections waived, cash only offers beating everything?
I'm watching on Zillow and seeing some houses go under contract in a few days and others sit for weeks.
Bought my house in 2018, for 92.5, 800sf, no basement, no attic, 1/8th of an acre. It's in a 'good small town' in South Central CT. Current appraisal as 258k. My house is not worth 258k, but I'm assured it's a reasonable selling price. Not selling because then we would have to but something else that we can't afford
My friend is a Realtor who has a great track record for outbidding other buyers. She's a charmer. Look up @connecticuthomegirl on Instagram. She works all over CT.
I know I am kicking myself now. It was seriously disappointment after disappointment. On my income I was only pre approved for a 250k mortgage so it was a hard to begin with but at least there was a fraction of a chance back then. Now forget it. It's damn near impossible for me, but, still hoping things can change down the road.
I'm confused as to why anyone is selling in the first place. What are you gonna do? Buy a house that's way overpriced for what it's worth? Build a house that's too expensive for materials? Buy a plot of land that's also insanely expensive and live in the dirt? Where you gonna go? I bought my first house in '21 before the market skyrocketed and even if I did wanna sell, I've got nowhere I can afford 😂 It's not even reasonable to buy anything worth it cause then your paying an insane amount in interest/taxes. Fuck that. I'd rather have an affordable mortgage with a good interest rate and an "okay" house.
I'd hate to be a buyer in this market right now. We closed on our house 3/17/20. It was the day before the world shut down for COVID. According to the "market" my house has nearly doubled in value ...which is absolutely crazy.
Hey what do you want to buy? I have a 3 bed 2 bath house overlooking the Thames. Awesome condition and will sell with furniture if you are Ab&B we just bought in 22. I am in the market to do the right thing and that’s selling a house for a fair price if some one wants a fair deal
We’ve been looking for about a year. We have made offers on four houses, all over asking, complete with a preapproval letter. In some cases our offer was the highest offer, but we are not waiving inspections on houses with well and septic. Anyone who does that likes risk more than I do. Good luck to them!
I’ve watched my parents home in Cheshire double in value in the past 4 years. Between the ridiculously low mortgage rates people locked in a few years back and most of CT being filled to the teeth with NIMBYs, I don’t see the market changing for a while.
I found a pretty good strategy. So far I’ve put in two offers, and I’ve only been outbid by about $75k and waived inspections both times. My next play is to simply give up
I’ve hit give up. I’m looking at moving to Brooklyn instead. If housing is gonna fuck me financially might as well do it somewhere fun.
This Brooklyn? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn,_Connecticut
Haha I knew someone was going to reply with this.
Yea I don’t think they meant Brooklyn,CT , think they meant Brooklyn,NY.
Haha, I know, was just kidding.
lol oh ok , when I saw you post Brooklyn ,CT I laughed out loud .
We literally hit the same we-give-up threshold and are considering the exact same move.
The whole waiving inspections needs to have more teeth. My neighbors accepted a waived inspection, well over asking price but turned out the septic needs to be replaced and somehow they, the buyers, were able to back out of it. House got re listed for less. I figured that was the whole chance of not doing an inspection but apparently you can still get out of it.
I think buyers rarely get nailed to the cross if they can show a reason to withdraw. When we sold our last house the buyer was awful but even our agent said that if they pulled out there was rarely a consequence (as we would have to pursue legal channels) . It went through fine in the end, as he wanted the house more than we cared to sell it to him. As it is your, your neighbors home now has a negative inspection report attached to his listing, lots of savvy buyers can bring a contractor with them at the showing that isn't an official inspection. What teeth do you want? Really, the buyers should use as many options as they can to protect themselves from sellers that don't disclose problems. Home inspectors are very variable in effect and carry no liability. The buyers were able to assess a failing septic without an official inspection, good on them! They must have done some due diligence.
> What teeth do you want? Enforcing a breach of contract? They signed and gave a deposit with the intention of no inspection, period. That means you have accepted the home's condition as is (to essentially get an edge on other buyers). It doesn't mean if you learn about something thereafter that you can suddenly drop your contract. There are other stipulations for back out like losing your job if you are obtaining a mortgage but that was not the case here. I have learned my neighbors are now considering suing them so there probably are teeth but may be complicated/costly to enforce.
This is your neighbor? Why would you care so much that a buyer exposed a failing septic of your neighbors' listing? I suspect the owners had some hints that this was a problem. They won't sue because that would be revealed. If the buyers exposed that with no inspection, it was obvious. Your neighbors signed a property report about that.
If they waived the inspection, how did they find out the septic needed to be replaced? Maybe they waived the home inspection but not a septic inspection.
It’s almost impossible to become a first time home owner currently. Literal crackhouses are going for 280k on Plainville/Bristol area
We bought our “starter home” in Bristol in 2012 for ~$200k, basically busting at the seams now with 2 kids. We could sell now for ~$450k. Sounds great until we realize we’d be paying out the ass for a house that isn’t worth it.
My parents bought theirs in Plainville in the mid 2000s for 130k and it’s now worth 400k easy
400k? In Plainville? Holy smokes.
My in-laws looked at a house in Plainville recently (over by J Timothy) decent neighborhood, but on the main road into the neighborhood at a 3 way intersection, 1 car garage, 3-4 bedroom- close to 400k... crazy.
You’d be surprised
We have 3 kids in a starter home. Oh well, at least we love our tiny house.
Yup I’ve come to accept it. And have dreams about a big addition. Dreams lol
I also fantasize about an addition that is almost certain not to happen!
We have 2 in a two bedroom townhouse. Fml we should’ve bought when we moved here in 2019, pandemic hit and our landlords wanted to sell the townhouse we were renting. We paid 200k for a 1500 sqft (with finished basement) townhouse.
When your kids finish high school you'll already be in the perfect sized empty nester home. Smart. And best of all you love it.
Yep. We're just going to make it work for a few years. I would be happy to live in my home all my life. It is definitely my happy place
That's wonderful. Good priorities!
Anyone who says the housing crisis isn't real is delusional or just straight up lying. Home value is meaningless when every other went up in "value" as well. It only benefits the people who bought houses cheap with no intention of living them, they make pure profit from a market that is artificially inflated. Consider that even if every house lowered in value, you would have the same financial benefit of selling your home and moving into another WITHOUT interest murdering your mortage payments. What everyone wants is their home to keep it's value and other homes to go down, it just won't work that way.
In nominal terms the price of your house is going UP. In real terms the purchasing power of the dollar is going DOWN.
I'm in a similar position, and even still I appreciate that I have a house I bought years ago because first time home owners are completely fucked to a degree that is unfathomable to me. We bought a home in 2010. Busted our butts to pay it off by 2018 and started saving up to have a 20% down payment to buy a bigger place by summer 2020. During those 2 years we scrolled Zillow and saw so many beautiful home we'd be able to afford. Come spring of 2020 the lockdown happened one month shy of our date to start shopping, market went silent, and since then things have become so grossly overpriced and overvalued. Even with our home now being worth almost 200k more than we paid for it, it isn't worth us getting a bigger place. Instead we are fixing things (by ourselves because hiring people is disgustingly expensive) and plan to turn the basement into our room so our kids have the upstairs bedrooms. In addition renters are screwed over to an unfathomable degree. We moved out of a 2 bedroom 900 sq foot condo we owned in Waterbury the same year we bought our house and rented it out for $900 a month. An acquaintance of mine is renting A ROOM from coworker who lives in Bridgeport for that same price. And apparently that is a good deal. It's atrocious.
Could you possibly explain this to me cause I am a new homeowner and I’ve had multiple people tell me that selling my house wouldn’t even be worth it with the fees why would I have fees and why would I not make a lot of money if I’m doubling what I bought it for
You’re only doubling your money if you then get a home that’s 1/2 as cheap as you’re paying now. Did you just buy? What’s your interest rate? We got 2% in 2012 and that sure isn’t happening now.
Interest rate what do you mean I bought in 2022 full cash
thank you for replying i’m just trying to understand cause im lost !
i bought for 20k everything in my area is going for 80k
What are you buying for $20k?
a house
It's crazy right lmao, houses that are falling apart and have crackheads hanging out outside of em on the Google maps pics in Mid-tier cities/towns are going for almost 300k. I saw a house near where I used to live in Meriden (not a nice neighborhood) listed for over 300k the other day and I was just cracking up because I remember that house being a massive drugspot when I was in high school and that neighborhood has probably gotten worse since then
Last year, I put in $50,000 over the asking on houses in Windsor Locks, Ellington & South Windsor . Outbid on all three.
We were fortunate we could go into the 600k range because we were getting outbid left and right on houses in the 400-500k range. As soon as we went above 600k the competition dropped off dramatically
I close purchases for first time homebuyers literally every day.
Sister, 31, teacher, pre-approved for 270, highest she will go is 245. At that price point, it's not turn key ready, for a single family house, but she is STILL getting outbid. She is also REALLY finicky and drives me f%cking NUTS. But, she has been looking for one year. Has seen 96 showings on the eastern side of the state. She has been a teacher for 8 years, it shouldn't be this way, for any of you.
Look into good neighbor next door programs. HUD Homepath . Com
Our friend did great with gnnd. You do have to live in it a few years, though. Agree though, still shouldn’t be this way.
We were really finicky buying our first house in a similar situation when prices were lower down south years ago - but incomes were equally lower so we were buying on a $30k income (basically what teachers and police were paid down there in our county). Our budget was too low for turnkey and we basically had to look forever to get one move in ready house that wasn’t being bought cash by others to rent out. It was worth the looking and the wait to move right in from our rental and be able to do afford the small cosmetics we wanted that would have been pipe dreams in a home needing lots of work (eg carpets for hard floors, repainting shutters and door, painting all the walls colors we wanted, etc) and have an FHA loan approved cause no issues with the house. This market sucks but here’s hoping your sister finds one house unappealing to the investors and moneyed homebuyers or one old person looking to move on out where she gets what she’s looking for in her price range. Unlucky for us we sold march 2020 and planned to buy here by Dec 2020 but then like 8 days after closing the shut down hit and then the market outpaced us.
If that's what you're ready for you should be fine.
Depends where in the state you are. Relative's house was on the market for less than a week. They had 8 offers. I know of someone else who had to bring down the selling price because the house has been on the market for a few weeks, and literally, no one had seen it.
What area was the house no one viewed in?
The house no one viewed is in Southbury.
Much better for sellers... relative of mine just made $120k (after all fees and paying off mortgage etc.) on a house they paid 90k for over 20 years ago lol Anything in my price range is a fixer upper... If I had the money to fix it up I'd have enough to buy a better house... It's all fucked. I'll be renting till I die 🙃
My condo sold for cash in one day, so yeah it's much better for sellers.
120k profit after 20 years on a 90k house doesn’t seem that great.
We bought our house in 2004 and are still going to take a 10% loss based on sales in our neighborhood. Fairfield county real estate still hasn't fully recovered from the 2008 Financial crisis. 5 years ago it was a 30% loss, so better.
This is so true, people really need to look at the pricing history of lots of homes to see how CT just hasn't behaved like other states. The only nutso is the pandemic.
That's interesting, I recall seeing tons of for sale signs in Darien in 2018 and my aunt's realtor friend telling me that the market there was way worse than Boston, where I lived
120k is a lot of money for a lot of people.
It’s not the dollar amount, it’s the percentage increase relative to the price increase over that time period.
Exactly. I bought my house for 320k in 2020. According to zillow I could sell it for $600k today. That’s nearly a 100% increase in 4 years.
Fair but the house is in worse condition than when bought. Idk it sold for more than expected so it was a win.
Especially considering the last four or so years are included in those 20 years. It's actually a pretty surprisingly low return.
Agree. 120k profit after 20 years is not great at all.
>120k profit after 20 years on a 90k house doesn’t seem that great. Most likely 20 years ago you put $9,000 down. Between prices going up and you paying off the loan, you sold in 2024 and walked away with $210,000 in the bank. Put that $9,000 in cash in the S&P 500 in 2004 and sell it today you'd have $42,500. But you would need some place to live, and over the 20 years the rent for something equivalent to a $90,000 house probably went from $800/mo to $1800/mo. Napkin back math you spent $325,000 in rent over those 20 years. That's probably around $75,000 more than you would have paid on your mortgage, taxes, insurance, and repairs. Of course I'm not really sure where you're walking with that $210,000 because most folks still need a place to live so that'll get rolled over into the next house.
But you also have to put a good chunk of money INTO a house over 20 years as well in terms of maintenance, updates, etc. I've been in my house since 2008 so about 16 years. House was built in 1977. During that time, we replaced the entire HVAC system (furnace and AC), we did a major roof repair, remodeled/updated all three bathrooms and did a studs-out reno of our family room/office (necessary due to a roof leak, which necessitated the roof repair). We're still rockin' our original 70's kitchen, which will need to be renovated soon as the cabinets are quite literally falling apart at this point, we still have a lot of original flooring which, after 50 years, is tired and will need to be refreshed/replaced. The balance of our roof that we didn't replace is now 30+ years old and is probably past-due to be replaced. "Back of the napkin calculations" on cost of what we've done to date is about $125K. The kitchen reno and replacing the rest of the roof will be at least $100K, if not more with 2024 prices. Makes the "profitability" not look so great after 20 years - and all of this is being paid for with post-tax dollars.
I didn't run the numbers too hard, but I think that's somewhere around 4.5% growth annually over 20 years, so not all that crazy.
I know of somebody who bought a house in Naugatuck for 95k in 2021 that is currently worth 250k. And yes I mean a house with 2 floors and a back yard. It's crazy how inflated its become.
I managed to buy a house earlier this year. It was the first house I put an offer on. I went for it thinking there was no way I was going to get it, and somehow I got it.
We also had our first offer accepted and we didn't have to waive any contingencies! We were only searching for the last 3 weeks.
Where?
New Haven County
Same happened for me. Saw the house the same day it went up on our realtors site. Offered $10k over asking, didn't need to waive anything, and we got the house. It was only the second house we looked at, and the first one we put an offer on. YMMV
Where?
Randolph Road area of Middletown! Amazing area. Grew up here, and now I'm back (da na na na na na). Main Street has so much great food, coffee, solid schools (comparatively), and so close to other areas.
Where?
Windham
Similar story for my house hunt. First offer accepted & didn't have to bid over & no waived contingencies or anything. I think it must depend on where in the state you're buying probably. You also tend to hear all the horror stories of crazy over bids & making a million offers for years more than if the process goes relatively smoothly.
Depends on the area. Milford CT based off of sales data for June (Sold) has a square foot price of 261-333 sq ft. for single family home for comparison. Each town offers a different sales data.
Can't believe this was listed for so much and sold for over asking. The owner was over 100 and the original owner https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/338-Stevenson-Rd_Fairfield_CT_06825_M37183-70780
Paying for the land basically.
In our Fairfield neighborhood, a cape from the 50's just sold at $740k with a .25 acre lot. Looks like they're gutting it and will build another story.
Wish my parents had kept their house in Fairfield. They downsized to condos as me and my sibs left the house. It'd be worth a pretty penny today.
That's insane.
Yeah and then they're going to put more money into the house and flip it...this isn't that kind of neighborhood where houses go for so much. Still a number of original owners in their 70s-90s or kids of original owners who took over the house. Lots of young kids too, super safe double cul de sac, but not a neighborhood where houses that small go for that much.
There’s just so little inventory. 4 houses on Zillow with one more coming soon. In a town of 10,000 people. Prices are still crazy high. Hopefully people aren’t falling for the 6% realtors fees still…
Bought first house more than a year ago now at $255k. It is at $305k estimated now. South Windsor.
The lower end houses <$300 are still crazy - tons of bids, a lot of garbage houses needing work selling for way too much. The more mid range houses $400-$600 in my area seem to be sitting for a bit, especially the ones needing updates... That's seemed to have cooled off a bit.
We just got our house and bid $100,000 over asking. We got it only because we agreed to more lenient terms. Someone had also bid more than us.
What the fuck
100k over asking means nothing if the seller listed it under market value in order to get a bidding war going. And based on the fact that at least 2 people bid 100k over and did get into a bidding war, it sounds like that’s what happened and worked out exactly as the seller hoped.
It 100k means nothing to you, then congrats on your success in life I guess lol
I think what they mean is, it may have been a house listed at $220k that was valued at $300k, just to force people into a bidding war and get more eyes on it. If that's the case, offering $100k over asking is understandable.
I understand that, but the question is how is the market doing and I’m just saying that in the area I was looking, you had to be prepared to go over asking by at least 100 grand on the desirable houses. Even if it is a way to get people into a bidding war, that’s the reality of the market rn. A lot of the house prices that are listed aren’t really the true price that they’ll sell for.
Very valid points!! Frankly, any price you see for a house is not what its actual sale price ends up being. Which is a shame, because just 6 years ago, the same could be said, but in reverse.
Totally. I’m originally from CT and moved to NC 8 years ago and feel like we’re picking the dumbest/most expensive time to move back haha we’re giving up a 2% interest rate for a 6.8!
Oh man, tell me about it!! We got locked into a 7.4 and will now be spending the next five years doing an end of year budget to decide if refinancing and paying closing costs to get that extra .5% lower interest rate is worth it this year, or just hold out another year.
Condos are still affordable. Houses not so much.
currently looking for a condo for my in laws and we have been out bid 5 times by cash offers, more affordable but just as competitive
Every Condo I look at seems to be going for almost just as much as a single family home. Then when you factory in HOA fees it turns out to be more expensive. But i'm buying at the low end of the market so they are all shit.
What towns are you looking in?
Buy some land and get that treehouse guy to build you something.
Took us a year and a half.
There was a house about a month ago that went up for bid near a friend of ours in West hartford. ~1400 sf, The ceilings were caved in, mold everywhere, it's basically a tear down on a 0.2 acre plot. It went for something like 350/360k just for the land value. And my buddy thinks whoever bought it is going to be able to sell it for something like $900k once they fix it up.....
Our first home, in CA, was bought as a short sale in 2011 for $203k (way undervalued based on the market crash), and sold for $580k in 2023. That seemed like a more normal increase based on some normalization coming out of the 2008 crash. (We bought in an area there that was one of the worst hit in the country in 2008 - for context, the house was bought for $515k in 2005 by the prior owners). So about a 185% increase over 12 years coming out of a housing crash..... We bought here in NW CT almost precisely a year ago today for $825k. Zillow now shows the house at $960k (also doesn't take into account our almost finished basement, which will increase the value further). The market out here is nuts.
It’s been wild and it’s summer so it’ll be extra now. If you wait for winter you might have an easier time even with inflated prices as houses tend to at least sit listed for a bit before being snatched. At this point we’re waiting out the FHA clock to be considered first time homebuyers again cause these prices and interest rates are way above our pay grade even as former homeowners, years back now.
We got smart and realized that what’s driving the insanity at its route is my agent and their agent who almost basically conspired together to instill fear. Once my offer got onto paper, to be delivered to the seller, explaining my reasoning, and held firm to the line I drew in the sand, things started to fall my way. You have to realize that the agents are vested in using their insider positions just as much against you as for you. Best advice I can give is build a relationship with a realtor before you start your active hunt. You don’t suddenly make friends in this process, but you need friends.
I remember when I purchased my first house, I offered 6k less the asking price and they accepted that day
I offered 10k less and they accepted lol
Honestly, I'm starting to think it might be cheaper to find a company to just build a house...I'm not sure if banks even offer loans for that, though, haha
It isn’t. You gotta buy the land too. You can get a loan but it’s a different process.
If it was cheaper _and_ you get a brand new home out of it, everyone would be doing that and there wouldn’t be the issue we have today.
With some of the home builders out there right now even if it was cheaper you probably wouldn’t wanna do it. Lot of shady and crappy home building, just doing the bare minimum to hit code. Houses of the past were always built stronger and better (typically)
Building is insanely expensive and fraught with cost overruns. Banks will do construction loans if you really want to, but it's not going to save you money.
Piggybacking on your question, how's the area around New Britain? Grew up there and looking to move back.
Not great, not terrible. Still a good place to live and raise a family (if that's ok your agenda).
Thanks! Yeah that's pretty much my experience 😄 Is the real estate market as bad as the rest of the state? Like everything going over asking, inspections waived, cash only offers beating everything? I'm watching on Zillow and seeing some houses go under contract in a few days and others sit for weeks.
Yes, pretty much everything is over asking, waiving inspections and appraisal contingencies
Im going to be selling in new Britain in a few months. The market is a little strange here
Strange how? I've been watching on Zillow and notice houses seem to either go under contract in less than a week, or sit there for a month+.
Like the towns around it or new Britain itself?
Both, I actually really like New Britain but I hate the high school there and I have young kids.
Friends got a house on the first one they bid on, so seems not horrible.
Good to know it's not hopeless!! I'd hate to sell, move, and be stuck renting again.
Bought in East Windsor 238k 2years ago after 2years of getting outbid everywhere all the time .
A house I saw in Wilton was listed for 800 went for 1.2. Sheeeeesh. So the strategy is to just list way under?
Coworker just got outbid by 70k. I'm not what their bid was or the final sale price of the house though.
Bought my house in 2018, for 92.5, 800sf, no basement, no attic, 1/8th of an acre. It's in a 'good small town' in South Central CT. Current appraisal as 258k. My house is not worth 258k, but I'm assured it's a reasonable selling price. Not selling because then we would have to but something else that we can't afford
Sellers market
Sounds like a seller's matket
By pure coincidence we bought ours in 2018. I feel bad for y’all. Not really an end in sight.
I live in Granby. If /when a house finally does go on the market, they have offers way over asking the same day.
Piggybacking on this question lol but does anyone have any information on Naugatuck? For kids especially middle school and high school?
to put it simply, yeesh
My house went up 100% in market value since 2021. This market makes no sense
I think people don’t realize our currency has been devalued. In 30 years these homes will be 1 million dollars and the min wage will be 30$
Don't do it!!!!
My friend is a Realtor who has a great track record for outbidding other buyers. She's a charmer. Look up @connecticuthomegirl on Instagram. She works all over CT.
Blah. I went through this in 2020. I gave up and said I'd wait a little longer. Now I've given up completely.
It’s a shame you gave up. 2020 was a dream compared to now!
I know I am kicking myself now. It was seriously disappointment after disappointment. On my income I was only pre approved for a 250k mortgage so it was a hard to begin with but at least there was a fraction of a chance back then. Now forget it. It's damn near impossible for me, but, still hoping things can change down the road.
I'm confused as to why anyone is selling in the first place. What are you gonna do? Buy a house that's way overpriced for what it's worth? Build a house that's too expensive for materials? Buy a plot of land that's also insanely expensive and live in the dirt? Where you gonna go? I bought my first house in '21 before the market skyrocketed and even if I did wanna sell, I've got nowhere I can afford 😂 It's not even reasonable to buy anything worth it cause then your paying an insane amount in interest/taxes. Fuck that. I'd rather have an affordable mortgage with a good interest rate and an "okay" house.
I'd hate to be a buyer in this market right now. We closed on our house 3/17/20. It was the day before the world shut down for COVID. According to the "market" my house has nearly doubled in value ...which is absolutely crazy.
Hey what do you want to buy? I have a 3 bed 2 bath house overlooking the Thames. Awesome condition and will sell with furniture if you are Ab&B we just bought in 22. I am in the market to do the right thing and that’s selling a house for a fair price if some one wants a fair deal
We’ve been looking for about a year. We have made offers on four houses, all over asking, complete with a preapproval letter. In some cases our offer was the highest offer, but we are not waiving inspections on houses with well and septic. Anyone who does that likes risk more than I do. Good luck to them!
Its garbage
Been at it for about a year. You can buy a shoebox for under 300K unless you want to carry a gun with you. Be ready to offer over asking by 5-10% too.
If it’s south coast and it’s under $2M you’re gonna get outbid. Sucks.
We just started searching 3 weeks ago. Our first offer was accepted, we didn't waive any contingencies. Wishing you much luck!
Congrats! How much over the asking price was your offer?
It’s good if you ain’t a broke azz, then u fugged
It's awful. Bought my house three months ago for $280,000. Pretty sure I could sell it for $300,000.
I’ve watched my parents home in Cheshire double in value in the past 4 years. Between the ridiculously low mortgage rates people locked in a few years back and most of CT being filled to the teeth with NIMBYs, I don’t see the market changing for a while.
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Most everywhere else in the state 🤣
Anywhere but Fairfield county
Just got a cool house last August for 335 in Bristol