Waiting on the Heights

[heightsian]

We were in the same boat as you are nearly two years ago and we ended up paying to get out of our lease when our house in the Heights came on the market. We had already lost one house in a bidding war (2 days on the market) and so when our house came on the market, we jumped. It cost us a bunch to break the lease, but it was worth it: another house with our specifications and in our price range didn't reappear on the market for many months. The liveable houses in the good parts of the Heights zoned to the good elementary schools go really fast. I'm watching houses in my area -- the Woodland Heights -- fly off the market in days. My neighbor's home sold in 3 weeks and a house just down the street sold in less than that. If a house is on the market too long, it's either overpriced or needs lots of work.

[ToyYot]

We broke our lease and paid dearly for it, but the house ticked ALL the boxes, to hard to pass up. Glad we did now, haven't seen anything comparable on the market since (not the heights).

[City Love]

The market is definitely moving quickly in The Heights. I suggest you keep watching the market and try to jump in around March/April. Like mentioned, if you close in April, your first payment won't be due until June 1st. But honestly, it's much better to pay 1-3 months of extra rent, than losing out on the home you really wanted.

I suggest you look at Norhill too. Try to get a single family home if you can in your price range. It will appreciate better. The nice ones do sell quickly! I'm helping a client purchase a new SFH on Rutland in The Heights, all 3 homes are under contract now for about $300 a sq ft!! This is for homes between 1600-1700 sq ft.

[jshwon]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Interest rates have been bouncing around in the 3's for some time now. I don't think things are going to change that much in the next few months.

Just a thought on your timing. You didn't say whether the lease ended at the first or the end of July, but I am going to use the first of July as an example. If you close the last week in May, you will not have a June payment. Your first payment will be July. That means you need to be in contract by about mid April. You can lock your rate, at that point. This mean you need to be out looking late March forward. If your lease ended the end of July, just move everything forward a month. That's not far off.

Thanks this is solid advice. I didn't look at it from that angle. My lease expires the beginning of July so you're right its not that far off. We are almost half way through February so in March we should be pushing hard to find something so we can be in contract mid April. Makes sense.

[jshwon]

Just wanted to give an update on my Heights house search. We were able to find a nice two story house east of Yale. We are extremely happy with the location especially since we were looking west of Durham and didn't expect to find something in the established Heights. We were able to work out arrangements with the seller and are scheduled to close 4/15.

I'm familiar with some eateries in the area but would like recommendations on new places and or things to do in Greater Heights. We are a pretty active family and would like to take advantage of any activities the neighborhood has to offer.

The next thing we are pondering are schools. Our son is only 16mths so we have a few years to figure all that out but if there are any parents here I welcome your perspective on schools. Public? Montessori?

Thanks,