maryland heights (St. Louis, Nevada, Florida: for sale, apartment, renter)

[showman1968]

i've just moved back to maryland heights as a home renter after living somewhere else a few years back. i was just wondering what the home values are like now there. i've just noticed that there seem to be a lot of homes for sale in the area. any other maryland heights residents here notice that? or is it just my imagination? also, it makes me wonder, considering that avg. home values are dropping like bricks, how so many people seem to be able to move all of a sudden. thoughts?

[aragx6]

I wouldn't say housing prices are falling like bricks -- in most of the St. Louis area home prices have pretty much stabilized. Small price drops may still be likely, but sometimes people gotta move. A lot of people moved into houses thinking they'd only be there 2-4 years and are now getting anxious to move on or up -- even if it's for little or no profit. Thankfully far fewer folks are underwater on their mortgages here than in some places that got hit the worst such as in Florida and Nevada.

[AJohnston_STL]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I wouldn't say housing prices are falling like bricks -- in most of the St. Louis area home prices have pretty much stabilized. Small price drops may still be likely, but sometimes people gotta move. A lot of people moved into houses thinking they'd only be there 2-4 years and are now getting anxious to move on or up -- even if it's for little or no profit. Thankfully far fewer folks are underwater on their mortgages here than in some places that got hit the worst such as in Florida and Nevada.

My friend bought his house 2 years ago and has lost $20k on it. I'd say they are still dropping slowly - the more houses on the market + time it takes to sell = lower prices.

[aragx6]

^Unless I knew how much the house was, it's hard to see how significant that loss is.

But to be honest, it's more likely that it's a combination of small price drops over those two years (think 5-10%) and that they, at least slightly, overpaid for it to begin with.

Hopefully they're not trying to sell a house they bought 2 years ago though, right? Is that just the assessor's valuation?

[flynavyj]

There are a lot of homes for sale EVERYWHERE, it's not just limited to Maryland Heights. My wife and I were driving to church, and while going down ONE street, we litterally saw 6 homes for sale within one block. The prices will depend on the age and condition of the home, but area to area they'll probably be pretty consistent unless condition differs significantly between one house to another. I'd expect in Maryland Heights you'll find the vast majority of homes between 160k-210k...some will be higher and some will be lower, especially depending on neighborhood but that'd be a pretty good ballpark. You should check a realtor website and view the homes in your area, Prustl.com has a great map search which i like, and you can narrow things down by price range, features, etc.

[moorlander]

Originally Posted by AJohnston_STL

My friend bought his house 2 years ago and has lost $20k on it. I'd say they are still dropping slowly - the more houses on the market + time it takes to sell = lower prices.

So he sold it for 20k less than he paid?

[BoomBoxing]

Unfortunately I may find myself in a similar situation, though definitely not 20k in the hole. The market just flat out sucks.

[moorlander]

If I sold my place right now it would probably sell for 50k less than I paid for it in 2004. I'm not selling right now though so I couldn't care less.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by BoomBoxing

Unfortunately I may find myself in a similar situation, though definitely not 20k in the hole. The market just flat out sucks.

Oh, do you own in STL? That sucks.

We keep getting pressure from family and friends to buy here in KC while the market is good, and at times it's been really tempting. But I don't want to stay in this town one day more than it makes sense for. I'd be heartbroken to get stuck bc we bought a house we didn't need.

Plus I pay $600 for a crappy but huge apartment in a neighborhood I love. No mortgage in the area would be so low.

[BoomBoxing]

^Yes. It sucks hard. My advice is that if you have any inkling about moving in the next 5 years, or maybe in the next 10 years, don't do it.