Ah, the Chapel Hill market. Our quaint southern college town is not known for its affordable real estate. People always come and go here and location rules with this highly educated population. The price/sft is directly proportional to the distance from campus. For the first time in a long time though, there are some bargains.
A friend of mine recently got a listing in Chapel Hill. It is a detached home, in a popular neighborhood, neutral, tasteful, nice curb appeal, clean, nice split bedroom floorplan, 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, corner lot…….asking price $150,000. I thought “this home won’t last a day”, and a couple weeks later, …still there.
I gave a listing presentation three years ago to a seller who was contemplating a long term move and wanted advice on improvements. I gave him a price of 415,000. Last year that home went on the market and I was disappointed he chose another realtor. Well, today I quote the lyrics of Garth Brooks and say “sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers”. After many price reductions and one year+ of staging marketing and advertising by mulitple realtors, that home is sitting. Now priced in the low 300,000s. This home has its negatives, but I am shocked to see where they have ended up.
I continue to see that homes either selling at or near asking price or lingering through the discounting stages. The bizarre thing is that when homes are a bargain, no one wants to buy. When the market was at its peak, everyone was fighting to buy at premium price and the mulitple offers were pouring in. I am just wondering, where are the bargain shoppers? If you can get a mortgage, you can get a bargain.
