[WSJ$$$] Austin Is Capital of Homes Selling at Super Premiums

I bought in March 2019. Thank God I did. I could sell now and make a killing...but where would I move?!

 

About an hour outside of Austin.

 

We got lucky and bought a house in 2006, basically few miles from New Apple campus and still just few miles from Dell. I'll probably just rent it at some point and continue to use it to buy more property elsewhere by taking advantage of the extra equity. There's no way I would even be in the market for a house in this area with the premiums but it's nice to continue to be on the opposite side, I mean like even during the housing crash we didn't really lose value like some, just been really fortunate. I'm by no means some rich guy.

 

Maybe I should find a remote job.

I do find out tomorrow if I get a job that is literally double my current salary. Probably won't get it, but that would sure open a lot of doors -- literally!

 

Man, I hope it goes good for you! But yeah definitely hold house/remote could definitely help too. I had a friend that managed to close on a 350k house in June that's up to 410k+ already, the market is just out of control around here.

 

I've got some family in that area and their phones are ringing off the hook with people wanting to buy their home.

I've seen some of the higher-priced stuff not getting offers, though. There's a huge new build on my block that was originally priced for $1.5M and has not found a buyer. Seems like the sellers/builders got greedy when $1.5M would get you in the door in Hyde Park.

 

Maybe that's where TMac's going now that he put his Sugar Land mansion up for sale.

 

I bought for 230 on the NE side. Neighbor just sold his house, 800 sqft smaller for 375k.

I worked from home in March 2020 but literally begged my boss to let me come back to the office in April, alone, because I hated it.

I'm too messy and easily distracted. I can't sit in my own filth for 24 hours. 12 is enough, thank you. lol

 

Not Detroit

 

Bought in central/ east Austin in 2009... home has quadrupled in value and it's really enticing to cash out, but once I leave, there's no coming back

 

must be those _alifor__ns

 

im in the exact same situation, expect south central austin in 2008. the money i could get for my house is just stupid, but selling would basically mean im never going to own a house in the city again. its just too expensive here now.

the market is actually "cooling off" a bit...but its gone from insane once-in-a-lifetime out-of-control white-hot to just once-in-a-generation "crazy busy". instead of 40 people bidding on one house and offering $60k-$100k over its now 10 people bidding on one house and offering $20k-$40 over.

if you look on zillow you will see houses staying up for longer than they had been earlier in the year. also seeing more price reductions, which is never a good look when youre trying to sell. seems to me that people selling now are asking for more because they saw how much other houses were going for...so they have overvalued themselves instead of letting the highest bid (auction-style) set the price.

 

Central Texas property taxes are going bananas.

 

I live 5 minutes away from Frisco up here in the DFW area and 1800 sq ft homes in my neighborhood are going for $400K without batting an eye, sight unseen. My brother and sister in law are in their late 20s (a DINK couple) and saved up enough money for sizable down payment on a house a couple of years ago but wanted to wait out this bubble but they're gonna have to keep on waiting because it's not going to pop any time soon.

 

tell them to buy ASAP. its not a bubble - prices are not going down. plus, interest rates have nowhere to go but up. every year they wait is costing them tens of thousands.

texas is pretty well insulated from any bubble-popping that happens on a national level. even in 2008 we didnt necessarily see the bubble pop - it just slightly deflated.

 

I've told them countless times but they (well the brother in law specifically) wants a "deal on a house" to which I just shake my head in disbelief because that won't be happening anytime soon given how many Californians are moving down to this area.

Back in 2016 my wife's uncle told me to wait out the bubble because, in his words, it will eventually pop. I said...ehhh I'm going to take a risk and just buy a house now and we closed on our house in 2017. If I had waited I would have not been able to afford it at all in the 2021 market.

 

If interest rates rise too much, then prices will drop. Basically instead of buying more house, you're putting more $ towards interest so the buyer pool shrinks.

That said, waiting for a bubble to pop usually doesn't work out well - you would need a catastrophic bubble pop to offset the gains over 2 - 3 years. And if that does happen, you probably will wonder if you should buy, will have a job, should wait until prices drop even more, etc. If you know you're going to be somewhere for the long term, then it makes sense to buy as 10 years from now, you won't care if you paid $200k or $250k for the house, etc

 

even when interest rates rise i dont think home prices will drop. but the rate of increase will go down. no more 25%-50% year-over-year increases. and no more buyers offering $50-$100k over asking price. but again, barring any catastrophic collapse i dont see home prices going down. we have entered a new normal.