Crazy Rhode Island real estate market (Newport, Westerly: sales, neighborhoods, buyer)
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This is EXACTLY what I did this summer, even with a hefty mortgage in Jamestown. Good luck doing it now though. I would say I got lucky but I treated finding a bargain like it was my full time job. People moving in from Mass and NY want a turnkey home. I was willing to prioritize square footage and location over condition. Which is exactly what I did when I purchased in Jamestown over a decade ago. Without taking my renovations into consideration my house in Narragansett has appreciated 1% a month since I bought it.
12% (compounded) a year plus something I can live in at a 2.6 interest rate is not a bad investment. But most people don't approach their home buying with an investor hat on.
People seem now to be settling on fixers. They immediately turn them over to contractors and/or architects. Saying, "call me when it's finished". A prominent JTN new house architect told me the other day, his practice is now concentrating on renovations & home offices. Watching Realtor.com, I see Shore fixers are now selling almost before print.
Nonsense. Numbers have been used to lie (or in this case promote ignorance) since the beginning of time.
If you make a claim based on numbers ie. you can get same house in one town 1/2 the price of same house in the other town, the only way I'm aware of to support that claim is well...numbers. If have some "secret of the trade" way of doing so, by all means share it. Or perhaps we should just listen to an anonymous person on the internet because they "said so"...
I do know Westerly and , as I said, I consider it a nice town- so stop deciding what I think. And why you say I " apparently " "look down on Warren" I have no idea. I'd love to find a suitable house there in the very small historic district, but there aren't any for sale.
And why you think I am somehow in charge of the socioeconomics of ANY town, believe me I am not. Facts are facts.
My impression, based on your posts, is that you're not very familiar with Westerly or Warren.
I'm not trying to offend you, Holly. It just seems that you view Westerly as just Watch Hill, and that's not an accurate representation of the town.
People seem now to be settling on fixers. They immediately turn them over to contractors and/or architects. Saying, "call me when it's finished". A prominent JTN new house architect told me the other day, his practice is now concentrating on renovations & home offices. Watching Realtor.com, I see Shore fixers are now selling almost before print.
LOl I should have been more specific. I have never seen an house in jamestown that WASN'T a fixer. They are almost all dreadful. The house I just sold was 100 times better than when I bought it and it was STILL dreadful! I was talking about Narragansett. The houses are more basic - tons of raised ranches, but highly convenient and generally low maintenance. People want to rent them out right away, not remodel a kitchen and put on a new roof. The other thing is a 500K fixer is usually an 7-800K house. So buying a 499 fixer in a neighborhood where the price maxes out at 550 can be an issue.Good luck even getting a contractor to take a 50k job down here right now! Its like the old supermodel quote- they don't get out of bed for less than 100k. The New Yorkers and trust funders have always been in Jamestown but I think its gotten more popular as the prices in Newport have SOARED in the last decade and people from massachusetts start to see Jamestown as a convenient alternative to Nantucket or the Vineyard. Its reputation is swankier than most of the cape as was intended by the multimillion dollar fire station and golf course. The farms, lighthouse and other vistas have that instagram appeal that is driving people over from newport to visit. It is in fact a wonderful respite from the 'real world' but if you are forced to live in the real world the reality of living there is just not that much fun. I have no idea what's going to happen this summer since almost every restaurant is for sale or out of business. Your options will be whatever you can pick up at the cumbies. How romantic.
As for the shores if you want to spend almost a million dollars on a house where you can't drink the water, you are plagued by constant bridge noise and your vista includes the above ground septic, I don't think it matters too much how nice your kitchen looks like or how good your architect is, I'm not going to be too impressed with your decision making. When it was cheaper it made more sense to make those kind of compromises, now there are just better choices to be had in other towns.
Anecdotally I parked at a small shop in Narragansett on new years day and mine was the only car in the lot that wasn't a BMW. So who knows what we'll see in the next couple of years. Jamestown you get a lot or Teslas (so woke!) and Range Rovers with some suburbans and mercedes for good measure. These are not people waiting on a stimulus check. These are people who saw a 14-30% growth in their investment portfolio in the last 6 months.
I do know Westerly and , as I said, I consider it a nice town- so stop deciding what I think. And why you say I " apparently " "look down on Warren" I have no idea. I'd love to find a suitable house there in the very small historic district, but there aren't any for sale.
And why you think I am somehow in charge of the socioeconomics of ANY town, believe me I am not. Facts are facts.
Not to get in the middle of a fight but you should check out Peacedale in South Kingstown if you like that historic small town with a little grittiness. The schools are better, it also has a great bike path, a killer bakery and rock climbing gym, a few breweries and distilleries, its less than ten minutes to the beach and there are still bargains to be found there. (but don't tell anyone!) West Bay is just so much easier to get around than the East Bay as well.
If you make a claim based on numbers ie. you can get same house in one town 1/2 the price of same house in the other town, the only way I'm aware of to support that claim is well...numbers. If have some "secret of the trade" way of doing so, by all means share it. Or perhaps we should just listen to an anonymous person on the internet because they "said so"...
I just did this but I don't really want to share my address with you. Here's the stats- 1700 sqft 3/1.5 in town/west ferry Jamestown- 1,000,000 + To 2000+ sqft 4/2 in an upscale neighborhood less than 5 minutes to the town beach in Narragansett for well under 550,000. Both were/are in need of extensive, mainly cosmetic work. The thing is if you put 500k in my Jamestown house it would probably be worth 2.2M. It was surrounded by mansions. 500k in my new house where homes are now going in the low to mid 800s would be dumb. So maybe you can't do it now but you could do it less than six months ago.
I just did this but I don't really want to share my address with you. Here's the stats- 1700 sqft 1/1.5 in town/west ferry Jamestown- 1,000,000 + To 2000+ sqft 4/2 in an upscale neighborhood less than 5 minutes to the town beach in Narragansett for well under 550,000. Both were/are in need of extensive, mainly cosmetic work. The thing is if you put 500k in my Jamestown house it would probably be worth 2.2M. It was surrounded by mansions. 500k in my new house where homes are now going in the low to mid 800s would be dumb. So maybe you can't do it now but you could do it less than six months ago.
So why didn't you do that before selling? If what you wrote is accurate, you left 700k on the table.
So why didn't you do that before selling? If what you wrote is accurate, you left 700k on the table.
I have my doubts. 2.2 million for a 1 bedroom?
Sorry that was a 3/1.5 ! Edit to add , in town houses are on sewer and are good candidates for expansion in beds and baths.
I left 700K on the table because I didn't have 500k plus a place to live with my kids and dogs while the house was completely ripped apart. The person who bought it does and their architect was there the day we closed.
That's one of the ways really rich people get richer. They have a lot more choices. I assure you the numbers are accurate. If I could have done it I would have.
At a whopping 7%, I'm just not seeing the dramatic differences being claimed here.
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but you should check out Peacedale in South Kingstown if you like that historic small town with a little grittiness. The schools are better, it also has a great bike path, a killer bakery and rock climbing gym, a few breweries and distilleries, its less than ten minutes to the beach and there are still bargains to be found there. (but don't tell anyone!) West Bay is just so much easier to get around than the East Bay as well.
