On Condos take up residence in downtown Janesville

Posted on October 15 at 9:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

"It's a heckuva opportunity for young professionals who want to live downtown, build up some equity and not piddle money away on rent."
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I can't believe this actually came out of someone's mouth when when almost every house currently selling in Janesville is selling for LESS THAN what sellers paid for the house even five years ago..
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Let's see....100K mortgage, less 20%, is 80K, which as 6% for 30 years is $480 monthly payment, plus $200 for taxes, plus another $100 for condo fees. Can you rent something like that for less than $800 and get garage parking?
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Also, you can buy houses just as large as these condos, with attached garages, for the same money or less and not have to pay the monthly condo fees in addition to mortgage and taxes.

On Property values decrease in Rock County

Posted on August 18 at 8:45 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

JohnWayne-Your friends may be able to get what the house is worth, but what the house is worth may not be as much as they would like. Sadly, there there are 123 homes in that price range(95K to 125K), many with attached garage, 3 br and more than one bath, and a larger lot.
Also, they may have made many improvements, but the improvements I saw on the listing were things that are necessities and I would expect to find in any house.

On Downtown Edgerton development faces uncertain future

Posted on March 1 at 8:50 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

"I just feel bad for those who are going to wait two years, and the prices are going to go up, and the rates are going to go up," she [Carrier?] said. "They're going to be unhappy."

Uh....no....rates influence affordability....when rates go up prices WILL come down and be in line with income and rent. The days of easy loans are over. The 80's were very different, as interest rates were high and could be brought down.
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Today, we are at all time home price highs and low interest rates.

On Downtown Edgerton development faces uncertain future

Posted on March 1 at 8:39 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Shocking....just shocking....no one could have seen this coming...
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I thought snowbirds were going to buy the condos?
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May 12, 2008
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http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/may/12/...
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No one has bought a condo yet, but Carrier and Sweeney have heard plenty of interest, especially from “snowbirds” who spend summers in Wisconsin and winters down South, they said.

On Developer: Fulton Square project will go forward

Posted on August 2 at 2:41 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

WOW....just wow....
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Whatever happened to the snowbirds saving the Edgerton Condo market, as was mentioned
http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/may/12/...

On Local housing market doesn’t seem to have troubles of national trends

Posted on May 27 at 3:08 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

werpknarly,

I wasn't ranting about you.
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What I find amazing is you can look at the listing and look at the price and almost automatically know who the agent is.
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There have been a couple of times I've looked at the listing and been interested in the house and then saw who the agent is and said "forget it." Not worth my aggravation, as they bought the listing.

On Local housing market doesn’t seem to have troubles of national trends

Posted on May 26 at 7:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

It's nice to throw out numbers that cannot be verified - SCMLS waits 45 days to release results, yet realtors can throw out a number as of May 8.
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Sellers don't want to sacrifice price? Okay, there are at least 30-40 other homes in that price range to look at.
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Given income, a 250K home is not middle range in Janesville, as that would require an income of about 83K.
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GM will not impact the housing market? Then who is buying these homes? Yes, they may have strong ties to the community, but if the mortgage cannot be afforded the house goes on the market. I also see a lot of home on the NE side of Janeville that are selling for less than what they were purchased for 4-5 years ago.
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Also, I believe the Wall Street Journals states that 1/3 of Rock County mortgages are subprime.

On Housing markets are steady in Milton, Edgerton

Posted on May 12 at 7:16 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Re the following comments (sounding like an add for NAR) -

Playing your music as loud as you want.

It's great to aspire to be the person who is referred to in such a way as "the neighborhood was nice until THEY moved in." An occasional loud night is okay, but depending how often this is occurring, the cops may quickly have them on a first name basis.

Painting your room any color that catches your fancy.

I would dare say you could do that in a rental, just repaint before you leave or divide your security deposit by your lease length and figure that along with monthly rent as the true cost of rent. Also, buying new construction in Edgerton more than likely mean also buying in to a homeowner's association - can you still paint your house any color you want?

Knowing you’re not throwing money away on rent.

This really depends on the cost of equivalents rentals in Edgerton. There are quite a few people in Madison that felt the same way, put 1K down and moved in. Two years later they're lucky to sell without bringing money to closing. Rentals don't cost 6% to leave.

I have to admit, I like Edgerton better than Janesville, but I really have to stop and think about those condos....in Edgerton??? Besided the snowbirds are all coming to Madison and saving the Madison condo market.

Yes, Milton and Edgerton have fewer homes for sale than Janesville, but THEY"RE SMALLER TOWNS. Also, where are the jobs coming from to support those home purchases, especially in areas such as Fieldcrest. The houses look great there, but if I want to spend Madison prices on a Madison style house on a Madison sized lot, guess where I'll live? Yes, in Madison. Spec homes?? In Edgerton?

On GM layoffs will create short term struggles

Posted on May 7 at 6:35 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

Zoom,

You are correct - prices in Janesville have been edging down over the past year. I've seen that, too.

I think the only way to find out how much credits are given back at closing, and therefore the "real" price is to work with a realtor. But when I was working with one a year ago I noticed a few things 1) Nothing in Janesville was selling for asking price and 2) almost every buyer was getting something back. If you check the Janesville parcel web site and see they paid more than asking, they definately got money back.

Over the past 10 years, there has been little appreciation in J'vlle home prices. Any increase in home prices seems to be an artifact of more expsensive homes being sold.

On GM layoffs will create short term struggles

Posted on May 6 at 9:40 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

dkush21:
Taxes go down? You've got to be kidding - the assessed value WILL decrease, but just increase the mill rate.

My heart goes out to all the persons being laid off.

Just for the record, I was ticked off at the realtor saying it wouln't have much of an impact. No, all 750+ homes will not hit the market tomorrow, but imagine what having even 75 additional homes (a conservative 10%) on the market will do to home prices in Janesville.

Today - 639 homes on the market in Janesville + 75 hypothetical for GM and related companies, so image there will be 714 homes on the market. Currently 159 of those homes are listed between 150K and 200K (over half of the 639 homes for sale are 150K or above).

Who is going to have the income to buy those homes? Who's going to be able to buy your house so you can afford to buy that home? You wont't sell your house at the price being offered? Okay, there's at least another 75-80 homes to look at that will fit my needs.

What's really scarey? At least 72 of those 639 homes already for sale are essentially spec homes. What is even more frightening? Janesville has more homes for sale per capita than Madison! But no, Janesville is not overbuilt!