Far Western End of Montgomery Co. ? re: real estate market (Philadelphia: for sale, foreclosures)

[BOS2IAD]

Our daughter and son-in-law are planning a move to the far Western end of Montgomery County. She has a job lined up while he plans to job hunt once they've moved. Since she is the only one with a sure job, they don't want to overextend themselves when it comes to rent.

So...we went up there a couple of weeks ago with our daughter to look at rental properties---and much to our surprise, found that both rentals and sale properties aren't priced realistically. Where we live (Northern Virginia), most people with houses to sell and houses to rent, seem to get that the market is cold and have priced their properties accordingly. That's not to say that you won't find the occasional person who is unrealistic.

We noticed that there are quite a few properties in the far western end of Montgomery County that are languishing on the market for months---both rentals and sales. When searching for our daughter, I came across 2 possibilities. Both houses had been for sale---even dropping their prices to no avail---and now have languished as rentals for almost 4 months. I suggested to our daughter that she ask her realtor if the owners were willing to negotiate a lower rent in exchange for a longer lease. Her realtor informed her that apparently the other realtors have fielded similar calls and that the answer the owners always give is "no".

We once had a rental property---and believe me---if it didn't rent at what we were asking, we would have dropped the price, rather than pay a mortgage, etc. on an empty property.

But, yet, we see so many properties out in western Montgomery County that sit empty. On top of that, some landlords don't even want to provide the basics such as kitchen appliances.

I would imagine that in the eastern end of the county, close to Philadelphia, the housing market is a lot stronger.

Any thoughts to what is going on there? On top of that, we did notice many foreclosures. Given that, I'm perplexed regarding all of this!

Thanks for your thoughts---and any advice (?)...

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

I would imagine that in the eastern end of the county, close to Philadelphia, the housing market is a lot stronger.

Any thoughts to what is going on there? On top of that, we did notice many foreclosures. Given that, I'm perplexed regarding all of this!

Thanks for your thoughts---and any advice (?)...

I am not too familier with western Montgomery county but prices are definetly falling closer to the city. The Real Estate crash, or what ever you want to call it came very late to Philly (many of us thought we had escaped) but since this past summer it has hit hard. Almost nothing is selling and sellers who are serious are dropping prices in the vain hope of landing a buyer. Just go through the MLS and all you see is reduced, reduced, reduced. Rents on the other hand are stable or rising. As for your situation I guess people just have their personal bottom beyond which they won't go. If I were buying and the seller didn't want to play ball I would just move on to the next property. It isn't as if there is a shortage of listings (in the east). Renting is another story and you may have to pay for what you want.

[Avalon08]

What price range do you consider unrealistic for a single-family-home rental? In which town(s)?

[BOS2IAD]

They are mostly looking at townhouses, rowhouses or twins---anywhere in the western end of the county. They would like to keep it at $1000-1100/month. In other words, they aren't confining their search to just one town. Our daughter is willing to commute a bit of a distance to get to work.

My referring to rents being "unrealistic" has to do with houses that are languishing on the rental market for 3 - 4 months. That suggests to me that the landlords have unreasonable expectations since those houses are languishing. We have seen some houses like that (languishing) that are a couple of hundred more per month. I did the research on 2 of those properties. With both, the owners tried to selling for a few months---even dropping the price. Now they are trying to rent them out but they have gone 3-4 months without a taker at the rent they're asking. One of them even dropped the rent. Yet, apparently from what our daughter's realtor told her, the realtors for those landlords have been brought lower offers and the landlords won't even negotiate.

I don't know---maybe they're really flush with cash and don't mind paying a mortgage on an empty house plus the heating and electric bills. Yet somehow I doubt they are flush with cash.

It just surprises me that so many sellers/renters have such unreasonable expectations. I figured that by now most people have realized that throughout the country the market is cold---with winter markets being even colder (no pun intended).

[sp2007]

3-4 months is "languishing"? I had my house for sale for 18 months dropping the price almost in half in that time.

[BOS2IAD]

Yes, when you're talking about a rental property that's sitting vacant, not earning any income for the landlord, then, yes, that's languishing. Plus when said landlord refuses to negotiate with several prospective tenants, then that should tell him/her that s/he is asking too much in rent.

Well...anyway...it looks like they have found a decent property in their price range. Their realtor is currently working on things.

Thanks to all who answered.

[killakoolaide]

It's kinda weird out there because it's basically undeveloped, shoot for the mainline, mid county(norristown/KoP), North Penn, or east MontCo(Abington/Willow Grove).

[Avalon08]

I grew up in Montgomery County and I still don't know what you mean by the "western end of the county". The county is oddly shaped, so I don't know whether you're talking about Pottstown or Phoenixville or what. And the town/area would dictate the market value of the rent, which is why I was asking.

It sounds like you're expecting to be able to get a fire sale on rent from a desperate seller. I think most sellers would just keep the house on the market rather than lock into below-market rent for a year.

Hope things work out for your daughter.

[BOS2IAD]

No---the 2 houses I mentioned are being marketed for rent at this point. The sellers tried to sell them, even dropped the prices. Now they have them for rent---and one has been on the rental market for 4 months, the other almost 3 months. Both houses are currently vacant. It's one thing if the owners are flush with cash but my guess is that they aren't. Our daughter and her realtor never even looked to ask sellers to rent their houses. They are only looking at houses that are marketed as rentals.

BTW, the towns you mentioned are among the ones they are looking into. As I mentioned, they found a property they like and their realtor is working on it.