Real Estate Pricing Today
Everyone knows, each neighborhood in the city has its own unique real estate pricing today. Older sections of the city have one price. As you move out from the center of the city, construction in the 1940’s, then 1950’s have a different real estate price today, as well as different styles of homes. Homes built in the 1960’s have similar styles and real estate prices today. Once we get into homes build in the 1970’s, real estate prices go up and the styles have a different flare. Homes built in the 1980’s and later are in high demand, and real estate prices today reflect that demand. Then we reach that section of homes built in 2000 and later. Homes that far out from the center of the city are larger, have more updates, and of course higher real estate prices and with that comes higher taxes.
You can pretty much determine your location based on real estate pricing today. There are of course a few deals known as fixer uppers. In most cases, foreclosed homes. As we progress into sections with higher priced homes, the number of fixer upper units decreases. But the number of buyers increases to a degree that those fixer upper prices are only a little below market value. There is little wiggle room when you add the purchase price to the cost of repairs. Those may be a good investment for the buyer who plans on buying the home then remodeling it to suit their taste. But for the investor, it could spell doom when the cost of their initial investment and remodeling exceeds the market real estate pricing today. Add into that a few months of taxes, and the investor feels like their time and effort were eaten up by the tax man.
There is one section of real estate pricing today few people consider. That’s because most people are drawn to the general location of the city, and the suburbs that surround it. When we look at those real estate prices today, we can draw a set of rings around the city and see prices and taxes change. Just outside the city, prices sky rocket because of the high demand. But outside of that price range, we generally see prices begin to drop back to moderate levels. If we looked at a map, we would find one price drop after another in both purchase price and taxes.
When looking for a new home, location is said to be the most important factor. What do they mean by that? In reality location equates to drive time. People are willing to pay so much for a home within a 10 minute drive from work. Even more for a home within 20 minutes from work. Go past that 20 minute drive time and we see prices begin to drop. But those real estate prices today are generally based on a center point established long ago, before suburbs began planning industrial centers. The thing is, many workers purchased homes between the industrial park in the suburbs and the center of the major city. In hindsight, moving in the other direction would have been the smart move.
Over the past 10-15 years small towns have grown at astonishing rates. Property values have increased and so have taxes. Many people have found jobs in and around those small towns and made the move to country living. They are living their dreams.
Finding the best value in a growing community is now becoming the new trend in Real Estate. It takes a little more research, but in this computer age, that information is only a few clicks away. All you need to do is decide which direction to go, and we can look at that radius away from the central city that offers the best prices, lowest taxes, and greatest opportunities.