On Buying a House in Williston
I've recently, (like in the last week or so), been leisurely house shopping. I'm pretty aghast at the housing situation here. As if house shopping weren't one of the most stressful things ever, you add having a VERY limited supply of houses to the equation and that equals "wow is this actually WORTH the stress??"
My mom, a few months ago, equated the housing situation here with prospecting. The demand is so incredibly high for places to live that the prices, quite literally, aren't in any way shaking out to being predictable at all. You'll see two houses, seemingly similar enough for comparison purposes and one will be listed for 800K and the other for 400K. I think these people just throw a price out there like they'd throw spaghetti against a wall to see if it sticks. Unfortunately it usually does. As a result, there's no way normal sane people would want to afford the prices here if they have other options (we have a VERY affordable trailer to rent indefinitely).
I check listings very regularly. Any time I've seen anything even remotely affordable, I call the agent and am informed that the home or piece of land is now under contract. Without fail this has happened EVERY time.
So my last option is buying a home that hasn't been built yet. There's actually one (for our situation) fairly affordable housing development. I have to tell you, because (by comparison) the houses are so much cheaper, I am itching to get my foot in the door and put a deposit down on something just so they'll hold on to it for me and I can have a guaranteed price even if I'm not quiiiiiite ready to buy just yet. Fortunately, there are no homes being built that will be ready before May. I feel like how I felt in California when we first moved there. Brad and I looked briefly at buying but decided we were at the peak of the housing bubble. Well we weren't. We were only about halfway to the top at the time. We just kept wondering if it was really possible home prices would continue to go up. Well they did. And we missed out. I am NOT missing out this time because if I do, it will mean being stuck in 1000sqft for the next indefinite number of years.
It's interesting to me though that not only do I live in North Dakota (a place I never thought I'd live) I'm now also probably going to end up buying a new build tract home (which I swore I'd never do). How's that for irony?
I'm just never going to say never again because I think God takes it as a dare.
My mom, a few months ago, equated the housing situation here with prospecting. The demand is so incredibly high for places to live that the prices, quite literally, aren't in any way shaking out to being predictable at all. You'll see two houses, seemingly similar enough for comparison purposes and one will be listed for 800K and the other for 400K. I think these people just throw a price out there like they'd throw spaghetti against a wall to see if it sticks. Unfortunately it usually does. As a result, there's no way normal sane people would want to afford the prices here if they have other options (we have a VERY affordable trailer to rent indefinitely).
I check listings very regularly. Any time I've seen anything even remotely affordable, I call the agent and am informed that the home or piece of land is now under contract. Without fail this has happened EVERY time.
So my last option is buying a home that hasn't been built yet. There's actually one (for our situation) fairly affordable housing development. I have to tell you, because (by comparison) the houses are so much cheaper, I am itching to get my foot in the door and put a deposit down on something just so they'll hold on to it for me and I can have a guaranteed price even if I'm not quiiiiiite ready to buy just yet. Fortunately, there are no homes being built that will be ready before May. I feel like how I felt in California when we first moved there. Brad and I looked briefly at buying but decided we were at the peak of the housing bubble. Well we weren't. We were only about halfway to the top at the time. We just kept wondering if it was really possible home prices would continue to go up. Well they did. And we missed out. I am NOT missing out this time because if I do, it will mean being stuck in 1000sqft for the next indefinite number of years.
It's interesting to me though that not only do I live in North Dakota (a place I never thought I'd live) I'm now also probably going to end up buying a new build tract home (which I swore I'd never do). How's that for irony?
I'm just never going to say never again because I think God takes it as a dare.
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