People in this town have been watching too much HGTV. We've had an influx of folks from Chicago who want to work from home here and every longtime local thinks they're the Property Brothers.
Turns out the new owners of the house next door are not our new neighbors, just the latest flippers. We've been here 11 years and that house has been sold 4 times, each time to someone who does a reno and then puts it back on the market.
I'm trying to figure out if this is good or bad for the neighborhood.
We've been offered twice what we paid for this house. It's nuts.
This has been a quiet, stable neighborhood. Nothing fancy, very middle class, really kind of boring if you aren't an old fart like us.
And that's fine with me. I'd like it to stay just that way.
Our new reality.
@BrazenlyLiberal Amazing that the market could bear four flips and I am assuming four increases in price, but that is the market these days. Sadly, the chances are the flips were all cosmetic and the house hasn't really benefited from those "owners" like it would have from a single owner/occupant who really invested in it.
Pandemic did it. People could buy a home with a yard here for significantly less than renting an apartment in Chicago. The train is a comfy ride to the city. We were "discovered". But I'm with you - there's only so much that can be done to increase value in that house and I wonder if the last one to buy it is going to take a hit.
@BrazenlyLiberal @elbutterfield
Folks learned house flipping was lucrative. Had a friend who bought a shitty little bungalow in W Asheville for $220K. Over 2 yrs she invested $75K (mostly cosmetic & did most of the work herself) then sold for $449K
Still shitty little bungalow next door to a drug pad.
Yeah. I mean this house next door has lovely neighbors π but...
It did get a new roof and siding last flip. But it's a standard tri-level and there's not much to do structurally. It has to be cosmetic changes.
@BrazenlyLiberal @LnzyHou I would have been tempted to look around during an open house to see what they did...
Last time they put in ugly floors.
@BrazenlyLiberal @LnzyHou Oh dear, nothing worse than a flip with bad taste.
Asheville is a star, though. Great reputation as a nice place to live. A lot of folks up here talk about retiring down there. They're looking for the blueberry in the tomato soup of the south and like what they think is happening in Asheville.
@BrazenlyLiberal @LnzyHou Haha! "the blueberry in the tomato soup" I have never heard before!
@BrazenlyLiberal @elbutterfield
That ship has sailed. Itβs outrageously expensive for retirees, while a beautiful place to live.
@BrazenlyLiberal It's bad. It drives property prices and taxes up, without actually improving anything except possibly the temporary appearance of some properties.
Anything that makes homes into investment objects instead of homes is bad for all neighborhoods.
I worry that it makes the area seem unstable. But the prices keep going up. I just hope everyone has a chair when the music stops
@BrazenlyLiberal
It's bad. The houses get more expensive and no one actually ends up living in them.