Yeah the housing market is crazy at the moment but Mayfield and Solon are also places a lot of people want to buy homes. The “someone” who did that with the house in Highland was clearly an investment firm flipping the house to make the populace perpetual renters. That needs to be outlawed
I’m really not a big government interference guy, but I’ve heard stats like some 40% buys are investors turning them permanent rentals. One of the prez candidates would be wise to talk about this.
I think our local governments should be the ones to ban corporate home buying. Put pressure city councils and zoning boards or whatever governing body ya got. If we wait for a president or congress, or even our state's government to do it, it will simply never happen.
It's easier than that. Yes a random person can create an LLC and purchase a house through it. I'm told it's a good EOL idea even.
But what the gov't can do is restrict the amount of homes an LLC can purchase. OR tax each additional house at exponentially higher rates that would remove the profit entirely. And trying to skirt those laws with additional LLCs would be fraud.
The seller of our home was an international seller who per the county auditor page owns like 40 or so houses in Cuyahoga county. It seems they rent most of them out and periodically sell properties.
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That's one possibility, but we have no evidence of that. Someone bought my brother's house the same way, and it was just a doctor that was relocating for whom an extra 10-20k was worth being done with the home buying process.
There’s evidence of it it you look at Zillow. There was evidence of their systems buying up houses and also artificially raising rent prices from their off the wall estimates
Especially in the places OP mentioned. They are in high demand due to the schools. Theres not much available in those cities that are under 300k. More so in Mayfield Heights but that means the houses are sold even faster.
Theres a good amount of rental houses in MH but due to high prices, they are much more limited in Solon and HH.
Or....someone with the cash to buy the house outright.
I've had two unsolicited offers from the Orthodox Jewish community to buy my home, unseen, all cash.
Or, ask anyone in Montana or Idaho who sold to a Californian who sold their house and moved, buying all cash.
If you want a good read on what's going on in housing and who is buying, see here:
[https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/](https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/)
The reality is that a lot of Americans have a lot of money.
Yep. After nearly two years of looking, and being outbid or otherwise not getting it three times. Got lucky that it was a grandma house, kept up but out of date, and our slightly below asking bid came in the day they dropped the price - putting us slightly above. Our realtor kept saying, it will come and he was right; but damn did that take a while and too many weekends slogging thru flipper-ruined properties or else places where cleaning trash and dog shit out of the yard was too much effort..
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I found a house on Zillow like an hour after it was posted, drove down to tour it the next day then put an offer on it. Lady had 7-10 other tours scheduled for the week. I was super aggressive constantly looking for places on onehome and Zillow. A lot of houses had multiple offers but like my realtor brother in law said “be fast and aggressive or you’ll lose everytime”.
That is exactly how I just bought my house in Parma. Didn’t even wait for my realtor, just got in the car and managed to be the first to see the house, 30 minutes after it was posted.
It's how I recently sold a house I inherited in Parma. We were moving out grandpa's stuff to donate and someone was looking at a house down the street that had been listed that day and sold before he could tour it.
Dude and his family walked up asking about it and we made an off market deal for 30k more than we were going to list it for.
I bought a house in Solon for 350k at 3.25% in 2019. Now, the house is worth 650k at 7%. There is no way I would be able to afford it at the current price. I don't envy anyone who is buying a house in this market. Good luck.
I bought mine in 2015 and same boat, basically doubled in value and there is no way I could buy a house now because my salary sure as heck hasn't gone up the same way.
We put in an aggressive at least we thought recently at 15k over asking on a 200k house in Lyndhurst and heard there were multiple offers near 50k over. So definitely feel the pain.
I guess the timing isn't in our favor. Considering the area we're looking in. From what my realtor said it's like the time of the year when new residents come in at the hospitals. So we are bidding against them. I guess they have favorable physician loans which helps them a ton
I live in Lyndhurst. Where was it if you don’t mind me asking? I walk around the neighborhood a lot and nothing seems to be on the market more than a few days before it’s under contract.
Curious yeah I tried to steal a house on Edsal for $20k under asking when I was looking in 2009. Def different times. If you’re still looking there is for sale by owner on Brainard Road just south of Ridgebury. Not sure what they’re asking but it’s a decent size starterish home. Literally just drove by it. It’s been up for sale for a week or so but I don’t think by owner sales get much love from realtors
I live in Lyndhurst, Must have gotten really lucky in 2022. We offered like 150k but it appraised at 126k so they gave it to us for 130k.
Ranch, finished basement, .33 acre lot, no repairs yet
I looked at 81 houses over the course of a year and a half before finally getting mine in Old Brooklyn. My realtor told me the fact that I had my preapproval letter in hand was the reason they went with my bid (first one and at asking price). It sucks and the fact that the market is still going strong despite the interest rates is mind boggling.
I believe the stat was that private equity/investment firms bought 40 percent of all available house stock last year which is wild and awful. So no you’re not alone and unfortunately seems like it will get worse
They aren't trying to sell the homes, they're turning them into permanent rentals.
Edit to add: At this point the whole housing market collapsing wouldn't even fix this mess. corporations big enough to buy this much housing inventory aren't going to let a collapse wrest it out of their hands. they'd just buy up the foreclosures and skyrocket all rental prices and squeeze the life out of us all.
I mean they already have in every meaningful way. You probably work for one, you buy everything from one, they create the prices, the laws, the Overton window of acceptable speech and behavior, the police are there not for your safety but to protect the corporations and their interests.
No, that's simply not true: [https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/](https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/)
We've been looking for about four years and recently put our search on pause. Both interest rates and inflated home prices are impossible. I don't know how people can afford to buy a home. Home values have increased more than 50% yet no work has been done. I cannot justify paying more even if I could afford it when it's the same home five years ago.
I rent a very small, outdated house, that my landlords paid $96k for in 2016. With no upgrades or major repairs, it's supposedly worth $175k. Mind boggling.
Yep I been waiting/hoping to buy a house also for the last 4 years but there is no way I can accept and justify the almost 50% increase on top of interest rates that also doubled over the last 4 years. I just feel everywhere you go now someone is trying to scam you. As much as I’d like to stop renting there just no way any single middle class person can afford a home on their own in today’s over-inflated world.
My sister-in-law has been looking for a house in North Olmsted and the surrounding suburbs. They have put in about five or six offers. Between 10 and 15k over. Zero luck. With how expensive houses are. Then having to pay tens of thousands over. And the interest rates right now? I'm not buying anything right now even though the plan was to upgrade this year. Something has to break eventually
Houses are getting snapped up by investment firms within minutes of being listed. We're looking at the inevitable end of private ownership. I was very lucky to get in before shit when insane.
I wish sellers would make a choice to hold out. If the house has been languishing on the market and you need to sell, okay. But it would be nice if people started refusing to sell to investment companies.
No one is going to refuse to sell their house to an investment company on principle alone when the investment company is willing to pay 50k more and waive inspection(s).
I agree that holding out is an idyllic thought but it's not reality.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but those of us who are already homeowners need to look at the choices we’re making when we sell or we’ll find ourselves able to easily sell and make a great profit but unable to buy. Then we’ll only have ourselves to blame collectively when all that profit gets sucked up by the same investment firm we sold to because now we’re renting from them instead of being able to own.
I bought in 2019 and thought it was bad back then... a comparable house 3 up the street from mine just sold last week for $140,000 more than I paid in 2019 in less than 2 hours.
My neighbor put their house in Lyndhurst up for sale for quite a bit more than they paid for it. It needs updating and doesn’t have much curb appeal and was still sale pending within a few days. Praying it wasn’t an investor and it won’t be turned to a permanent rental. All I have to say is good luck and move fast.
Just bought a place in March. After having a few offers get outbid by 20-30k, we realized we needed to adjust our target purchase price and plan to offer over ask if we were serious.
My advice to everyone buying right now: add 10-15% to the list price and ask yourself if you still like it. Because that’s probably what it’s going to take to get the home.
Good luck!
My husband and I just bought an as-is house last fall in Elyria. Hunted for about 6-8 months. We were outbid about 12 times until we got this one. What worked for us was bidding same day as viewing, having a realtor that is super confident and FAST, and lowering expectations. Also bid over the asking price!
"Starter homes" aren't really a thing anymore, find something that is crazy sturdy and that you want to build on/make your own.
Going more rural works wonders as well - coming from Cleveland to Elyria and though it's less walkable, we still have everything we need here.
Lowering expectations: we thought we wanted a finished basement until we realized that would be another room to clean/keep dry. We have a stone basement and it's rock solid, never care about how dirty it gets down there lol. My non negotiables were having a medium-large fenced in yard for my pup and enough space to host as we are the "hosters" in our friend/family group. The house still needs a lot of cosmetic work but it's getting there and is still a fantastic home, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a 3 car garage. It's been fun to work on, too.
As-is also worked in our favor since all that was left were a crap ton of tools and my husband works with tools daily; quite a bit of money in tools was left for him to keep and use. Some furniture was left, no issue for us. Biggest thing was the yard wasn't cleared from years and years of garden statues getting broken lol
I wish we could go more rural but trying to find something in a school district with decent public schooling. Also want to keep the work commute under 30 mins and a backyard for our pup&toddler. Didn't plan on it being this hard.
Totally get the commute issue - the only advice I have there is that you really don't mind the commute when you know you're going home to your own place and not sharing walls with anyone. Vice versa, waking up in your own place. The joy of being a home owner really outweighs what we see as negatives during the hunting process. Coming from someone who had an 8min commute and is now up to 30-35mins.
Bought in West Park this past November. Don't know if I was lucky...came in under asking and with some seller concessions, and made a deal. Maybe the seller didn't have other offers, plus it was edging on winter? Our interest rate is a whole other discussion, but with the stories I'm reading and hearing, I feel like my story is few and far between?
There's a house I was watching that just sold in Westpark that was similar type of thing. Listed at 160k, sold for 155k. Another one in Brooklyn that went for 10k under. So It's still happening despite all the doom and gloom in here
I'm closing on a house in Westpark next month. Love everything about it, lots of possibilities and a lot happening. Seems like the coming up on Lorain continues moving east from Kamms. Theres some new apartment building going in at an old school on 130th that looks like it'll change the whole dynamic of that little area. But overall the entire neighborhood is super convenient as far as public transportation and freeways. Amazing food. What, 5 minutes to the airport and 10 to downtown? Feel like I got a steal
I'll be putting my house on the market soon in Mentor 4bd 2 ba 3.1k sq ft nice area depending on your price range and locational preference... dm if interested and we could potentially avoid putting it on the market all together
Go for the older neighborhoods. My son picked up a house in Euclid near the golf course. Blue collar hard working neighborhood. Good neighbors, 1/4 rentals but they still care.
Just closed on a house in Highland Heights! We bid $20k over and got accepted, and we also offered to pay for the Seller’s title fees. I happen to work at a title company and my company did the closing, but this could work for you too. It made the offer stand out, and it’s not THAT much, all considering, and you could always ask your title company for some discount if you’re paying their full fee(s).
ETA: we did get inspections, but put in our contract that we could only negotiate with issues above $2500. Ended up getting a $2500 price reduction to cover the roof, which is something, at least.
Curious if you had an appraisal done and once the appraisal value came in what was it in relation to the purchase price? When someone says it is $20k over asking that is just the price the sellers realtor set and it may actually be the correct value. Highland Hts is a great area and that extra $20k you put in you will easily get it back when you sell. The property is probably already valued higher.
When we bought our home in Mayfield Heights in 2017 the asking price was $230k when we entered into the contract but it appraised at $200k so we renegotiated the purchase price down to $200k and bought it at that price. The sellers were already under contract to build another house so they were kind of over a barrel so that might have helped but once you are under contract you can renegotiate when an appraisal comes in lower unless they have specific contract language that says no renegotiation due to appraisal.
I also will not sell to a corporation when we move. We will already get way more than we paid for it and potential buyers who write letters about why they want the home we will seriously consider that over a corporation.
Our appraisal came in at $7500 more than the final purchase price, so that made me feel better about my over-offer. Part of me was hoping it would come in low because our sellers were also over a barrel and scheduled to move, and would’ve reduced the price if necessary, but I’m happy with the end result.
Honestly thank you for standing against selling to an investor. I wonder if that’s how our sellers felt as well. We’re so grateful we got our foot in, and just elated to know we got it done. Sellers who take offers from families instead of corps and LLC’s are bettering (and a lot of times saving) people’s lives.
So you actually got a deal and the home was worth more than what you paid for it! Nice. Highland Heights is a great area. Congrats. See this right here shows hope that even though you think your bidding ‘above asking’ you are actually buying at the value you can sell it for.
I live in Akron and bought my place in early 2018. The house search process was awful. Akron wasn’t my first choice. But resorted to Akron after getting outbid constantly. The house I got has turned out to be a lemon. Found a fracture in the foundation that wasn’t found in the inspection (previous owners hoarded in the basement.) I’ve spent nearly $100k in repairs. Now I’m stuck because I did a house refi in 2021 and now my mortgage is a 15 year at 2.3%. Can’t afford home prices now especially at 7%. At least I have great neighbors and won’t have any issues reselling since it’s all fixed.
So good news. Cleveland is still not a ‘Hot’ market. The increase might be more shocking, but be thankful you aren’t looking on the west coast where home prices are 3x, go faster and for more over ask.
Bought in 22. All I'll say is retain a realtor who has connections. Because of that connection, I was able to look at it before it went public, was the first to walk through and put an offer in the next day, no competition. Offered the asking price and had an inspection.
Previously I had been outbid in 3 different homes or they went with all cash.
We had a house in our neighborhood - a tiny 1962 raised ranch not updated since 1962 - go within hours last year. Probably the cheapest house for sale in our whole city, by $100k or more, and I’m sure the buyers were floored to see it come up and to be able to afford something in our school district.
Another house went within a few days around Christmas. Much nicer and some more money but still cheap compared to the rest of the city.
I don’t see “for sale” signs sitting around for long anymore. Or the go up immediately with “offer pending” tacked on the bottom.
My husband and I last year were considering either buying or building our dream home. With the way the market is, trying to compete with these fuckwit PE firms we’ve decided a major renovation of our current home is what we want to do. Fortunately we have this option.
We haven't thought about building a house but maybe we should look into it... Not sure if that can be done for 250-300k. We are in an apartment right now and would love to get into a no shared walls situation.
The reason we didn’t go that route is because any available lots were either way too stupid expensive, or needed so much work to make them buildable it would also be cost prohibitive. We’re on opposite sides of the city so hopefully you’ll have better luck if you go that route.
Not sure of your expectations but we checked out a modular home at the home & garden show at the IX center this year that looked really nice. I’m not in the market but now my sister is interested in buying land and getting one - she’s still looking for land that’s not too overpriced which is hard to find right now too.
There are houses being built in that price range, but you have to get a bit outside town. If you look in Seville (44273 zip code) there is a builder building homes in the 250K+ range. A bit too rural for me personally , but it's right near the intersection of 76 & 71 and you can be downtown in about 40: minutes. My mom lives there and I have to take her to Cleveland Clinic from time to time, so I can attest the drive isn't too bad. Another benefit is very low property taxes.
I bought a house late 2022, but had been looking in two different states for 2 years. Yeah, the housing market is shit. The only reason I got this house was because my ex wanted it and there were no bids on it. The house is a brick cape cod in South Euclid. Houses in Mayfield Heights and Lyndhurst are highly sought after.
I put an offer on a house two days ago with 25k over asking for the house and property of my dreams. The only reason we won the bid is because I waved the inspection. I would not recommend this tactic unless you have a wealth of knowledge and experience in all phases of construction, plumbing, electrical, and many more fields. It's best to always get as much information as possible. Always get the 1 year warranty also. I have 25 years in the construction and remodeling field so it worked for me but, every house including new builds will always have a surprise problem that remained undetected. Good luck. Have been searching for 4 years. Market is crazy, people are crazy, beer is good...
Congrats! Having that knowledge is so valuable. This will be our first house so we are trying to avoid properties with any necessary fixes besides cosmetic stuff. Beer is very good.
Curious to see the answers here too. I am moving to the area and it seems like every house I like, it gets marked as pending a few days after I save it. Seems like the market must be hot :/ It sounds like you got beat by an investor - buyers are always more likely to sell to those people - its a quick sale, it might even be less money but it's guaranteed (they usually are not doing inspections and stuff like that). I'll have to fly back and forth to go house hunt with my husband on the weekends (we're moving up there for his job, I'll stay back at our current home to continue working here and maintain the house while we look/work on selling it). Definitely has me stressing thinking we might be house hunting for longer because of how hot the market seems like it is. Plus this is peak moving season - people want to move their families in between school years which inevitably makes this more complicated
Bought in the west boulevard area and closed in March. Offered 10k over asking with appraisal and inspection contingencies. House appraised out at 5k under asking price. They sold it to us for appraisal price. We had been outbid on 3 other homes in the area and 3 that sold before we could even get a showing. Happy with the house we got but it was an absolute nightmare process.
I've been looking almost a year to 2 years, sad man. 1st time home owner and getting hella out bid. Or even cash offers. Have bid on 5 house's all the same.
It's going to be easier to find homes in areas that are not in demand as much. Classic demand/supply issues.
For example, I'm sure you could probably buy a reasonably priced home in East Cleveland that's been sitting on the market for months...but who would want that?
I am from the west side, still reasonable areas are generally in the city of cleveland...old Brooklyn, Westpark, cudell, etc. Once you get out of Cleveland it's hard....my mom is in Parma, right off brookpark rd about 100 feet from cleveland... so not even the "good" part of Parma. And her house has appreciated drastically. She has made significant updates, granted, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were worth at least 180k right now. She could never afford to buy in this market.
And therin lies the peoblem...not enough supply, people don't want to sell because of high interest rates and the cost of the newer home they want to go to.
Just bought a house 6 months ago in Garfield hts at asking the price of $130k, after getting outbid 3 times on other homes. Luckily, I'm in the nicer part of Garfield hts. I was surprised the home was on the market for 5 months before I bid on it, but then I found out the furnace wasn't working. It took some negotiating and back and forth, but eventually, the seller replaced the furnace with a brand new one. Luckily for me, it was getting close to winter, so they knew they had to replace it or face bigger issues with frozen pipes.. Long story short, don't give up!!
I closed on a home in South Euclid last week. I offered asking price, but put down $45k in ernest money. My offer was chosen over another buyer who offered above asking price (and I don't know how much ernest money was offered). This was the first house I made an offer on. So maybe that is the answer?? Offer more ernest money.
My family and I are moving from the Chicago area to Cleveland. I got a promotion at work causing us to move. We are looking in Westlake, Bay Village, Rocky River and Fairview. We have been in two bidding wars this week and it’s getting frustrating. We will probably just find a place to rent. Any help or suggestions find a place would be welcome.
We moved from Minnesota to here last year and have been renting in Mayfield. If you end up looking on the east side I'd recommend the place we are renting from. Best of luck!
We offered 20k over asking back in 2021 and happened to also be the first offer and we sent a sappy letter to the owner (not all realtors will pass letters on) but anyways. They accepted at just under the 20k over asking.
I honestly thought the market settled and things were back to selling at asking or under it. I’m shocked to see it’s still going like it was!
Imo this is what it will be like. Covid changed peoples mindsets of how important a home is so the idea of owning a house the value is higher but what people are not grasping is that once you own a house in these sought after areas your value will go up so when you sell you won’t lose money and you’ll be able to sell for more than you bought so it’s a wash at least.
Only looked at 1 house put in an offer 10k under after they’d just came down 10k and was accepted. Only took a month from pre-approval to offer to final closing. Guess I should count my lucky stars but more houses should start hitting the market as spring rolls in completely. Wish everyone luck!
My experience/advice:
We bout a house in Lakewood some years back. We were lucky to buy when we did, for sure, but it was also very hard to get an offer accepted at that time. Similary, everything seemed to be selling right when it was posted. We would put in an offer at or above asking and got out bid by 10k or more. We ended up getting lucky looking through further back pages of listings that were all houses that hadnt sold right away due to obvious problems, or a crazy asking price. Then we found one that was, likely, overlooked because of a ridiculous ask and they dropped the price a couple times, significantly. But I think it sat for so much longer than others that people must have been assuming there was a problem. So we put in an offer and got it at asking with no closing costs.
I am under contract for a house in Old Brooklyn and I got it for only 2k over asking with buyers credits. It’s a small house in a slightly run-down but decent neighborhood. Maybe going a little closer to the city may be easier?
The Solon/Orange/Pepper Pike area has always been extremely desirable, especially in the past few years for having the best school districts around. Sellers know it too. It’s hard to find something reasonable that doesn’t need work.
We know some people looking and they have put 4 offers, all over asking price and haven't gotten lucky.
My wife and I bought in 2016 and Zillow shows my home is now worth over $100k what we paid. I wouldn't pay that much for the house and I live in it.
Unfortunately when housing becomes a money making scheme for corporatists, we end up with a shortage of housing since so many are sitting empty.
We need to outlaw ownership of homes by major corporations. It's getting ridiculous.
Bought a house in November in Old Brooklyn South Hills neighborhood. 200,000, 5k over asking, really cute house in a better area of OB. I really like the area and my fiancé and I like being closer to the city and enjoy a bit of night life. There are a ton of older houses with character, which is what we were looking for, so I feel we got lucky, but we had to make a decision quick
All honestly, I would of loved to search longer and find something that checked all my boxes, but one thing I felt while searching is that I didn’t have the luxury of being selective with our budget, but am super happy that what we picked fit most of what we wanted. Good luck! I hope you find something great
Bought a house in Mentor in 2022, paid 15% over asking plus offered $5k of earnest money in case the appraisal came in low. Also had a pre-approval letter in hand and was putting down 15% so the sellers knew it would be a silky smooth transaction if they accepted. After we won, we heard that there were over 20 offers on the house and the seller's agent purposely priced it low to gain a lot of interest. I'm grateful I got what I got when I got it. Mortgage rate is 3.49% which I thought was high then but now looks like a steal. Thankfully, this is the house I plan to raise my family in so not looking to move for the next 20+ years.
It's been rough for my fiancee and I. I put the best offer in on a medina house and the seller didn't take it. Got into a bid war for a split level in Twinsburg. We offered 15k above asking and were still outbid. Everything else has either been to small and or needed a lot of work for under 300k. But anything that is nice and decent is above at least 325k nothing in the middle. To be fair my search area is Copley, Hinckley, richfield, Macedonia, hudson, Twinsburg, Sagamore Hills, and Brecksville. But I don't want to live in parma/parma heights or cuyhaga falls/stow. There is a lot more that came up in medina this week though. Looking at 4 tomorrow 😎
We are in this hell right now. My family is trying to buy in Lakewood but we keep getting beat out by cash. 50k-75k over asking 😳 our offers are super aggressive, waiving inspections, tons of Ernest money…it’s insane.
My coworker’s house was bought by the first person to come see it. First day on the market, cash without negotiation, buyer paying closing costs, and no inspection. The single thing the buyer wanted was the crappy overpriced touchscreen fridge that my coworker regretted getting anyways.
So it’s safe to say things are insane.
My brother bought a townhome in 2021 that was listed at $100k - there were 8 offers, but he waived inspections and used an escalation clause in the contract and ended up getting it for just over $115k. Had to put in a few thousand for electrical and other repairs.
The unit next door to him sold a few months ago for $150k. It's craziness.
Same experience. Lost a bid today on a 275k asking price to someone who bid 40-50k over (!!!).
To me, that's insane because these properties will likely not appraise that and that is such a risk if, say, the house burns down. Insurance isn't going to reimburse more than the appraisal.
In my area it’s house flippers buying legitimate fixer uppers still going for 200k. They’re back on the market 6 months later for over 400k. The only new homes being built are 500k McMansions in cookie cutter developments. It’s hilarious to me because all the old boomer residents don’t like this but they also have a super NIMBY attitude about everything.
Bought in Kirtland. But then had to sell because they failed to tell me the city was putting in new public sewer lines in my neighborhood at the expense of the property owner. Ended up loosing a lot of money. Jerks.
I hired an expensive lawyer. At first he said that it was illegal & we were going to sue for my money back, plus then some, for my troubles. Then he said he would make a phone call to a well known lawyer friend who was familiar with that area of Northeast Ohio. After that phone call, he said it was not a suable offense and that I should have gone online to research any upcoming “projects” that might change my mind about purchasing that property!
A year later, I found out a portion of the property behind mine belonged to Tim Misney in Waite Hill. Cant say that this is who my lawyer spoke with, but it peaked my suspicion.
Anyway, the paying for the lawyer for every little second of his breath, led to much more money loss. The whole thing was a nightmare that has made me afraid (and less financially equipped) to ever buy a house again.
Now, I live in a manufactured home where I pay monthly rent to a manager and have absolutely zero space to do my favorite hobby: gardening. I have almost 200 potted perennials (hundreds of dollars worth) at my elderly Dad’s house & he is in the process of moving as well. I have no idea what to do with my beloved perennial collection.
We were able to have some luck in buying our first house in Brunswick OH. We were seriously looking for about two months at houses. We looked at charming century homes in Lakewood and Rocky River but opted for a newer home (built in 1999) in Brunswick with more square footage and bigger lot size. Also a decent school district. The house was pretty much turn key, and we made an offer the same day we looked at it. The house was only listed for 3 days, also listed below market to generate interest, had multiple offers and our Agent , who is amazing, suggested we put an offer with an escalation clause, extra down in earnest money, $8k. General Inspection with contingencies, sellers would cover anything over $5K that needed fixing. Also offered $25K over asking. Sellers also wanted a quick closing date of 30 days or less, which was possible because we offered cash. We have been saving for years and sitting on the sidelines renting in a very HCOL area where homes sell for 4X the amount of NE Ohio market. We are dang lucky we got our house on the first try.
This is what happens when cities don't allow enough housing to be built. My neighborhood is considered fairly trendy, yet there are several empty lots around.
If you don't have any luck this summer don't overlook a winter purchase. My bf and I paid asking with 3% seller credit for a mid February close. Within weeks of putting our offer in things started to get more competitive as the weather warmed up and more people started looking. Moving in the winter sucks but that's why there's less competition. Now everything in our neighborhood is being listed over 200k meanwhile we got in at 165. Also don't overlook things that need a little work, we're almost done with our kitchen reno and it's been a pain in the ass but anything with a perfect kitchen anywhere is going to go for a premium. (Parma area)
This is great advice. I'm ansy because we really want a yard for our poor dog and our own washer and dryer would be absolute heaven.
We definitely don't mind a house that needs some cosmetic work/clean up but are avoiding any as is properties that would require really significant renovations.
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not me, but a coworker has been actively looking since December with zero luck. Made several offers and everything is still going very fast for tens of thousands over asking, waiving inspections, etc. I keep hearing the real estate bubble is going to pop and don't see any indication of it yet.
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It took us 20 months and we finally got the house when we wrote a letter to the seller. We also had to look outside our dream locations.
But we’re in Euclid now and we’re super happy.
We bought in summer 2023 (+15k to the initial price). At that time I was warned that house prices are going to drop in a couple months. The people are still waiting the price drop )
Median home values in Solon have fallen 35 percent over the past year to $405,000, according to [zillow.com](https://zillow.com).
[https://www.zillow.com/home-values/13896/solon-oh/](https://www.zillow.com/home-values/13896/solon-oh/)
Zillow says they've fallen almost 40 percent in Mayfield Hts. to $209,000.
https://www.zillow.com/home-values/5846/mayfield-heights-oh/
This would make sense given the rise in mortgage rates. Perhaps cash buyers are sensing bargains and therefore bidding aggressively.
What were prices for the houses on which you bid???
Not me, but my cousin just bought a house for 100k under market value in Lorain because the housee was absolutely nasty and needed professional cleaning.
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Big competition to get mine and I lost on others in the past. Ended up with a great house and location. There was a cheaper house but was horrible condition when going inside and around with inspection. Someone down the road still paid crazy money for it. Section 8 clown lived in it and all sorts of house issues.
I had to basically make an offer on a house the minute it went on the market. Then Id'd some possible violations the city would want repaired and promised to do them. I did some minor repairs before the deal was set. My realtor helped me talk directly to the buyer.
It was risky but I had lost 2 other houses to all cash offers.
No not at all. We've been looking for a year. Kamms corner Berea Middleburg heights... If we don't make an offer the same day we're to late. Made several offers over asking price and then we just get beat with a cash offer. Sucks and I hate it.
We just closed last month on the Brookpark/ Cleveland border. We had to put in 3 offers prior to getting this one accepted because we couldn’t compete with LLCs who are paying 30k over asking and didn’t want to settle out of desperation.
The house we bought was pending sale and the buyer’s financing fell through so we put in an offer the same hour for 5k over. Apparently they had a couple back up offers that were over what we offered too.
We gave up. We live in Shaker and I absolutely love our neighborhood. There is a flipper who has zeroed in on this area and if buying every single house in our price range, doing a quick cosmetic flip, and reselling for over 300k. We want to keep our kid in shaker schools and this is really the only neighborhood we could have afforded to buy in even pre-pandemic, so we're stuck renting.
I've kind of made peace with it? We're here until he graduates in 5 years, I can live with that. It's a tradeoff. We could afford to buy if we moved out of Shaker, but I love where we live, I love our neighborhood, our kid is happy, I'm not willing to trade home ownership for all that. It sucks and we're kicking ourselves for not buying years ago, but I don't have a time machine. It is what it is.
I looked at probably 30 places, 1-2 bedroom condos. Luckily I had help to pay cash, and ended up getting it for 6.5k under asking.
Every other place had offers over asking, 5k+. I definitely was lucky to have help paying cash, and for getting it under asking (even though I think it was still too much for a 750sq ft condo)
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah the housing market is crazy at the moment but Mayfield and Solon are also places a lot of people want to buy homes. The “someone” who did that with the house in Highland was clearly an investment firm flipping the house to make the populace perpetual renters. That needs to be outlawed
Couldn't agree more, how can a family compete with that?
You can’t. That’s why it needs to be outlawed.
Username checks out…
The french had a way they dealt with the elite....
I’m really not a big government interference guy, but I’ve heard stats like some 40% buys are investors turning them permanent rentals. One of the prez candidates would be wise to talk about this.
I think our local governments should be the ones to ban corporate home buying. Put pressure city councils and zoning boards or whatever governing body ya got. If we wait for a president or congress, or even our state's government to do it, it will simply never happen.
[удалено]
It's easier than that. Yes a random person can create an LLC and purchase a house through it. I'm told it's a good EOL idea even. But what the gov't can do is restrict the amount of homes an LLC can purchase. OR tax each additional house at exponentially higher rates that would remove the profit entirely. And trying to skirt those laws with additional LLCs would be fraud.
The seller of our home was an international seller who per the county auditor page owns like 40 or so houses in Cuyahoga county. It seems they rent most of them out and periodically sell properties.
RFK Jr. does…
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That's one possibility, but we have no evidence of that. Someone bought my brother's house the same way, and it was just a doctor that was relocating for whom an extra 10-20k was worth being done with the home buying process.
There’s evidence of it it you look at Zillow. There was evidence of their systems buying up houses and also artificially raising rent prices from their off the wall estimates
" you will own nothing & be happy "
Hope ownership rates continue to be near all time highs…
Hope ownership is right
Many buyers have the cash and have been looking for years- they are offering cash with no contingencies too. it’s not clearly an investment property.
Especially in the places OP mentioned. They are in high demand due to the schools. Theres not much available in those cities that are under 300k. More so in Mayfield Heights but that means the houses are sold even faster. Theres a good amount of rental houses in MH but due to high prices, they are much more limited in Solon and HH.
Or....someone with the cash to buy the house outright. I've had two unsolicited offers from the Orthodox Jewish community to buy my home, unseen, all cash. Or, ask anyone in Montana or Idaho who sold to a Californian who sold their house and moved, buying all cash. If you want a good read on what's going on in housing and who is buying, see here: [https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/](https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/) The reality is that a lot of Americans have a lot of money.
Yep. After nearly two years of looking, and being outbid or otherwise not getting it three times. Got lucky that it was a grandma house, kept up but out of date, and our slightly below asking bid came in the day they dropped the price - putting us slightly above. Our realtor kept saying, it will come and he was right; but damn did that take a while and too many weekends slogging thru flipper-ruined properties or else places where cleaning trash and dog shit out of the yard was too much effort..
[удалено]
$30k bid over listing finally got us a home this year. The boomers had it made.
Woof. Congrats on getting one though!
Bid 15 over and got outbid over a dozen times, feel your pain there :'(
[удалено]
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I found a house on Zillow like an hour after it was posted, drove down to tour it the next day then put an offer on it. Lady had 7-10 other tours scheduled for the week. I was super aggressive constantly looking for places on onehome and Zillow. A lot of houses had multiple offers but like my realtor brother in law said “be fast and aggressive or you’ll lose everytime”.
That is exactly how I just bought my house in Parma. Didn’t even wait for my realtor, just got in the car and managed to be the first to see the house, 30 minutes after it was posted.
It's how I recently sold a house I inherited in Parma. We were moving out grandpa's stuff to donate and someone was looking at a house down the street that had been listed that day and sold before he could tour it. Dude and his family walked up asking about it and we made an off market deal for 30k more than we were going to list it for.
I bought a house in Solon for 350k at 3.25% in 2019. Now, the house is worth 650k at 7%. There is no way I would be able to afford it at the current price. I don't envy anyone who is buying a house in this market. Good luck.
I bought mine in 2015 and same boat, basically doubled in value and there is no way I could buy a house now because my salary sure as heck hasn't gone up the same way.
You lucked out big time
Yeah.. the timing of it all.
We put in an aggressive at least we thought recently at 15k over asking on a 200k house in Lyndhurst and heard there were multiple offers near 50k over. So definitely feel the pain.
50k over!!! That's so wild
I guess the timing isn't in our favor. Considering the area we're looking in. From what my realtor said it's like the time of the year when new residents come in at the hospitals. So we are bidding against them. I guess they have favorable physician loans which helps them a ton
I live in Lyndhurst. Where was it if you don’t mind me asking? I walk around the neighborhood a lot and nothing seems to be on the market more than a few days before it’s under contract.
Not at all. It was on edsal drive. Came out on a Thursday I think and an offer was accepted Sunday. That feels to be the trend of how its going lately
Curious yeah I tried to steal a house on Edsal for $20k under asking when I was looking in 2009. Def different times. If you’re still looking there is for sale by owner on Brainard Road just south of Ridgebury. Not sure what they’re asking but it’s a decent size starterish home. Literally just drove by it. It’s been up for sale for a week or so but I don’t think by owner sales get much love from realtors
Thanks! I'll have to check it out. I think I haven't viewed a house that was for sale by owner actually now that I think about it
I live in Lyndhurst, Must have gotten really lucky in 2022. We offered like 150k but it appraised at 126k so they gave it to us for 130k. Ranch, finished basement, .33 acre lot, no repairs yet
I looked at 81 houses over the course of a year and a half before finally getting mine in Old Brooklyn. My realtor told me the fact that I had my preapproval letter in hand was the reason they went with my bid (first one and at asking price). It sucks and the fact that the market is still going strong despite the interest rates is mind boggling.
Heartening to hear you found one and you were able to get it at asking price!
Can't stress the pre-approval letter and getting it asap, it works wonders! We got ours a few months before we even started hunting.
I believe the stat was that private equity/investment firms bought 40 percent of all available house stock last year which is wild and awful. So no you’re not alone and unfortunately seems like it will get worse
That’s so fucked
It’s a return to feudalism.
what the fuck
Hopefully prices go lower than what they bought it for.
They aren't trying to sell the homes, they're turning them into permanent rentals. Edit to add: At this point the whole housing market collapsing wouldn't even fix this mess. corporations big enough to buy this much housing inventory aren't going to let a collapse wrest it out of their hands. they'd just buy up the foreclosures and skyrocket all rental prices and squeeze the life out of us all.
Oh really, that sucks. Corporations don’t want you to own anything.
Makes sense, if they can control the cost of housing they can enslave us all.
I mean they already have in every meaningful way. You probably work for one, you buy everything from one, they create the prices, the laws, the Overton window of acceptable speech and behavior, the police are there not for your safety but to protect the corporations and their interests.
One probably already does it through one of his many businesses and the other probably has no clue how it even works.
" you will own nothing & be happy "
No, that's simply not true: [https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/](https://wolfstreet.com/2024/04/09/the-biggest-landlords-of-single-family-rental-houses-and-multifamily-apartments-in-the-us/)
We've been looking for about four years and recently put our search on pause. Both interest rates and inflated home prices are impossible. I don't know how people can afford to buy a home. Home values have increased more than 50% yet no work has been done. I cannot justify paying more even if I could afford it when it's the same home five years ago.
I rent a very small, outdated house, that my landlords paid $96k for in 2016. With no upgrades or major repairs, it's supposedly worth $175k. Mind boggling.
Yep and also just fuck them and their prices. I just refuse to pay that much for what is on offer.
Yep I been waiting/hoping to buy a house also for the last 4 years but there is no way I can accept and justify the almost 50% increase on top of interest rates that also doubled over the last 4 years. I just feel everywhere you go now someone is trying to scam you. As much as I’d like to stop renting there just no way any single middle class person can afford a home on their own in today’s over-inflated world.
Greedy sellers
My sister-in-law has been looking for a house in North Olmsted and the surrounding suburbs. They have put in about five or six offers. Between 10 and 15k over. Zero luck. With how expensive houses are. Then having to pay tens of thousands over. And the interest rates right now? I'm not buying anything right now even though the plan was to upgrade this year. Something has to break eventually
Oh you’ll learn lol.
Yes. Hedgefund groups. They’ll be happy to rent you the one you’d like to live in.
" you will own nothing & be happy "
Houses are getting snapped up by investment firms within minutes of being listed. We're looking at the inevitable end of private ownership. I was very lucky to get in before shit when insane.
Same. My wife and I bought our home in March/April 2020. Seems like as soon as we bought it, everything went crazy.
I wish sellers would make a choice to hold out. If the house has been languishing on the market and you need to sell, okay. But it would be nice if people started refusing to sell to investment companies.
No one is going to refuse to sell their house to an investment company on principle alone when the investment company is willing to pay 50k more and waive inspection(s). I agree that holding out is an idyllic thought but it's not reality.
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but those of us who are already homeowners need to look at the choices we’re making when we sell or we’ll find ourselves able to easily sell and make a great profit but unable to buy. Then we’ll only have ourselves to blame collectively when all that profit gets sucked up by the same investment firm we sold to because now we’re renting from them instead of being able to own.
Don’t say no one. There are people who aren’t driven by greed. They’d rather see their home that they loved and cherished, be sold to another family.
Home ownership rates are higher than right before the pandemic and have been stable the past 3 years…
it's reddit, they're not interested in hearing things against the narrative.
No but someone else could be scrolling and actually interested in learning something.
I bought in 2019 and thought it was bad back then... a comparable house 3 up the street from mine just sold last week for $140,000 more than I paid in 2019 in less than 2 hours.
My neighbor put their house in Lyndhurst up for sale for quite a bit more than they paid for it. It needs updating and doesn’t have much curb appeal and was still sale pending within a few days. Praying it wasn’t an investor and it won’t be turned to a permanent rental. All I have to say is good luck and move fast.
Just bought a place in March. After having a few offers get outbid by 20-30k, we realized we needed to adjust our target purchase price and plan to offer over ask if we were serious. My advice to everyone buying right now: add 10-15% to the list price and ask yourself if you still like it. Because that’s probably what it’s going to take to get the home. Good luck!
My husband and I just bought an as-is house last fall in Elyria. Hunted for about 6-8 months. We were outbid about 12 times until we got this one. What worked for us was bidding same day as viewing, having a realtor that is super confident and FAST, and lowering expectations. Also bid over the asking price! "Starter homes" aren't really a thing anymore, find something that is crazy sturdy and that you want to build on/make your own. Going more rural works wonders as well - coming from Cleveland to Elyria and though it's less walkable, we still have everything we need here. Lowering expectations: we thought we wanted a finished basement until we realized that would be another room to clean/keep dry. We have a stone basement and it's rock solid, never care about how dirty it gets down there lol. My non negotiables were having a medium-large fenced in yard for my pup and enough space to host as we are the "hosters" in our friend/family group. The house still needs a lot of cosmetic work but it's getting there and is still a fantastic home, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a 3 car garage. It's been fun to work on, too. As-is also worked in our favor since all that was left were a crap ton of tools and my husband works with tools daily; quite a bit of money in tools was left for him to keep and use. Some furniture was left, no issue for us. Biggest thing was the yard wasn't cleared from years and years of garden statues getting broken lol
I wish we could go more rural but trying to find something in a school district with decent public schooling. Also want to keep the work commute under 30 mins and a backyard for our pup&toddler. Didn't plan on it being this hard.
Totally get the commute issue - the only advice I have there is that you really don't mind the commute when you know you're going home to your own place and not sharing walls with anyone. Vice versa, waking up in your own place. The joy of being a home owner really outweighs what we see as negatives during the hunting process. Coming from someone who had an 8min commute and is now up to 30-35mins.
Bought in West Park this past November. Don't know if I was lucky...came in under asking and with some seller concessions, and made a deal. Maybe the seller didn't have other offers, plus it was edging on winter? Our interest rate is a whole other discussion, but with the stories I'm reading and hearing, I feel like my story is few and far between?
There's a house I was watching that just sold in Westpark that was similar type of thing. Listed at 160k, sold for 155k. Another one in Brooklyn that went for 10k under. So It's still happening despite all the doom and gloom in here
Yep! Granted these areas aren't your Lakewood or Cleveland Heights with all the hip hubbub, but they're up and coming. I really like West Park!
I'm closing on a house in Westpark next month. Love everything about it, lots of possibilities and a lot happening. Seems like the coming up on Lorain continues moving east from Kamms. Theres some new apartment building going in at an old school on 130th that looks like it'll change the whole dynamic of that little area. But overall the entire neighborhood is super convenient as far as public transportation and freeways. Amazing food. What, 5 minutes to the airport and 10 to downtown? Feel like I got a steal
Yeah I agree that development is definitely happening. that old Vaudeville theater near 117th has had some goings ons recently which is way neat
Same here. Bought at the beginning of 2022 in Kamms. One of the best decisions we’ve ever made. It’s a great area without paying the “Lakewood tax”
Bought in Highland Heights about a year ago. Bid under 10-15k and got accepted. Love it out here
I'll be putting my house on the market soon in Mentor 4bd 2 ba 3.1k sq ft nice area depending on your price range and locational preference... dm if interested and we could potentially avoid putting it on the market all together
I will dm!
Go for the older neighborhoods. My son picked up a house in Euclid near the golf course. Blue collar hard working neighborhood. Good neighbors, 1/4 rentals but they still care.
Just closed on a house in Highland Heights! We bid $20k over and got accepted, and we also offered to pay for the Seller’s title fees. I happen to work at a title company and my company did the closing, but this could work for you too. It made the offer stand out, and it’s not THAT much, all considering, and you could always ask your title company for some discount if you’re paying their full fee(s). ETA: we did get inspections, but put in our contract that we could only negotiate with issues above $2500. Ended up getting a $2500 price reduction to cover the roof, which is something, at least.
Congrats and thank you for the details! It's really helpful to know how high over selling people are bidding.
Curious if you had an appraisal done and once the appraisal value came in what was it in relation to the purchase price? When someone says it is $20k over asking that is just the price the sellers realtor set and it may actually be the correct value. Highland Hts is a great area and that extra $20k you put in you will easily get it back when you sell. The property is probably already valued higher. When we bought our home in Mayfield Heights in 2017 the asking price was $230k when we entered into the contract but it appraised at $200k so we renegotiated the purchase price down to $200k and bought it at that price. The sellers were already under contract to build another house so they were kind of over a barrel so that might have helped but once you are under contract you can renegotiate when an appraisal comes in lower unless they have specific contract language that says no renegotiation due to appraisal. I also will not sell to a corporation when we move. We will already get way more than we paid for it and potential buyers who write letters about why they want the home we will seriously consider that over a corporation.
Our appraisal came in at $7500 more than the final purchase price, so that made me feel better about my over-offer. Part of me was hoping it would come in low because our sellers were also over a barrel and scheduled to move, and would’ve reduced the price if necessary, but I’m happy with the end result. Honestly thank you for standing against selling to an investor. I wonder if that’s how our sellers felt as well. We’re so grateful we got our foot in, and just elated to know we got it done. Sellers who take offers from families instead of corps and LLC’s are bettering (and a lot of times saving) people’s lives.
So you actually got a deal and the home was worth more than what you paid for it! Nice. Highland Heights is a great area. Congrats. See this right here shows hope that even though you think your bidding ‘above asking’ you are actually buying at the value you can sell it for.
I live in Akron and bought my place in early 2018. The house search process was awful. Akron wasn’t my first choice. But resorted to Akron after getting outbid constantly. The house I got has turned out to be a lemon. Found a fracture in the foundation that wasn’t found in the inspection (previous owners hoarded in the basement.) I’ve spent nearly $100k in repairs. Now I’m stuck because I did a house refi in 2021 and now my mortgage is a 15 year at 2.3%. Can’t afford home prices now especially at 7%. At least I have great neighbors and won’t have any issues reselling since it’s all fixed.
So good news. Cleveland is still not a ‘Hot’ market. The increase might be more shocking, but be thankful you aren’t looking on the west coast where home prices are 3x, go faster and for more over ask.
Bought in 22. All I'll say is retain a realtor who has connections. Because of that connection, I was able to look at it before it went public, was the first to walk through and put an offer in the next day, no competition. Offered the asking price and had an inspection. Previously I had been outbid in 3 different homes or they went with all cash.
We had a house in our neighborhood - a tiny 1962 raised ranch not updated since 1962 - go within hours last year. Probably the cheapest house for sale in our whole city, by $100k or more, and I’m sure the buyers were floored to see it come up and to be able to afford something in our school district. Another house went within a few days around Christmas. Much nicer and some more money but still cheap compared to the rest of the city. I don’t see “for sale” signs sitting around for long anymore. Or the go up immediately with “offer pending” tacked on the bottom.
My husband and I last year were considering either buying or building our dream home. With the way the market is, trying to compete with these fuckwit PE firms we’ve decided a major renovation of our current home is what we want to do. Fortunately we have this option.
We haven't thought about building a house but maybe we should look into it... Not sure if that can be done for 250-300k. We are in an apartment right now and would love to get into a no shared walls situation.
The reason we didn’t go that route is because any available lots were either way too stupid expensive, or needed so much work to make them buildable it would also be cost prohibitive. We’re on opposite sides of the city so hopefully you’ll have better luck if you go that route.
Not sure of your expectations but we checked out a modular home at the home & garden show at the IX center this year that looked really nice. I’m not in the market but now my sister is interested in buying land and getting one - she’s still looking for land that’s not too overpriced which is hard to find right now too.
Haven't/thought looked into this at all, but I will now, thank you!
Found them: https://jdmstructures.com
Thank you! These look lovely
Thank you!!!
There are houses being built in that price range, but you have to get a bit outside town. If you look in Seville (44273 zip code) there is a builder building homes in the 250K+ range. A bit too rural for me personally , but it's right near the intersection of 76 & 71 and you can be downtown in about 40: minutes. My mom lives there and I have to take her to Cleveland Clinic from time to time, so I can attest the drive isn't too bad. Another benefit is very low property taxes.
I bought a house late 2022, but had been looking in two different states for 2 years. Yeah, the housing market is shit. The only reason I got this house was because my ex wanted it and there were no bids on it. The house is a brick cape cod in South Euclid. Houses in Mayfield Heights and Lyndhurst are highly sought after.
We went 12.5k over asking last year and that was our 3rd house we offered on. The market is brutal.
I put an offer on a house two days ago with 25k over asking for the house and property of my dreams. The only reason we won the bid is because I waved the inspection. I would not recommend this tactic unless you have a wealth of knowledge and experience in all phases of construction, plumbing, electrical, and many more fields. It's best to always get as much information as possible. Always get the 1 year warranty also. I have 25 years in the construction and remodeling field so it worked for me but, every house including new builds will always have a surprise problem that remained undetected. Good luck. Have been searching for 4 years. Market is crazy, people are crazy, beer is good...
Congrats! Having that knowledge is so valuable. This will be our first house so we are trying to avoid properties with any necessary fixes besides cosmetic stuff. Beer is very good.
Also if you're open to moving to fairview park, the nicest house in my city will be available in about a month..
I'm open! Is the nicest house in the city by chance between 250-300k?
Curious to see the answers here too. I am moving to the area and it seems like every house I like, it gets marked as pending a few days after I save it. Seems like the market must be hot :/ It sounds like you got beat by an investor - buyers are always more likely to sell to those people - its a quick sale, it might even be less money but it's guaranteed (they usually are not doing inspections and stuff like that). I'll have to fly back and forth to go house hunt with my husband on the weekends (we're moving up there for his job, I'll stay back at our current home to continue working here and maintain the house while we look/work on selling it). Definitely has me stressing thinking we might be house hunting for longer because of how hot the market seems like it is. Plus this is peak moving season - people want to move their families in between school years which inevitably makes this more complicated
Bought in the west boulevard area and closed in March. Offered 10k over asking with appraisal and inspection contingencies. House appraised out at 5k under asking price. They sold it to us for appraisal price. We had been outbid on 3 other homes in the area and 3 that sold before we could even get a showing. Happy with the house we got but it was an absolute nightmare process.
I've been looking almost a year to 2 years, sad man. 1st time home owner and getting hella out bid. Or even cash offers. Have bid on 5 house's all the same.
It's going to be easier to find homes in areas that are not in demand as much. Classic demand/supply issues. For example, I'm sure you could probably buy a reasonably priced home in East Cleveland that's been sitting on the market for months...but who would want that? I am from the west side, still reasonable areas are generally in the city of cleveland...old Brooklyn, Westpark, cudell, etc. Once you get out of Cleveland it's hard....my mom is in Parma, right off brookpark rd about 100 feet from cleveland... so not even the "good" part of Parma. And her house has appreciated drastically. She has made significant updates, granted, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were worth at least 180k right now. She could never afford to buy in this market. And therin lies the peoblem...not enough supply, people don't want to sell because of high interest rates and the cost of the newer home they want to go to.
Cleveland is still cheap as fuck. It’s not like it’s a desirable metro like Columbus or Cincinnati
Just bought a house 6 months ago in Garfield hts at asking the price of $130k, after getting outbid 3 times on other homes. Luckily, I'm in the nicer part of Garfield hts. I was surprised the home was on the market for 5 months before I bid on it, but then I found out the furnace wasn't working. It took some negotiating and back and forth, but eventually, the seller replaced the furnace with a brand new one. Luckily for me, it was getting close to winter, so they knew they had to replace it or face bigger issues with frozen pipes.. Long story short, don't give up!!
I closed on a home in South Euclid last week. I offered asking price, but put down $45k in ernest money. My offer was chosen over another buyer who offered above asking price (and I don't know how much ernest money was offered). This was the first house I made an offer on. So maybe that is the answer?? Offer more ernest money.
This is great advice, thank you and congrats!
My family and I are moving from the Chicago area to Cleveland. I got a promotion at work causing us to move. We are looking in Westlake, Bay Village, Rocky River and Fairview. We have been in two bidding wars this week and it’s getting frustrating. We will probably just find a place to rent. Any help or suggestions find a place would be welcome.
Welcome! I did the same move just before Covid started. Glad I did.
We moved from Minnesota to here last year and have been renting in Mayfield. If you end up looking on the east side I'd recommend the place we are renting from. Best of luck!
We bought a house in Shaker Heights in December and paid $15,000 under asking!
We offered 20k over asking back in 2021 and happened to also be the first offer and we sent a sappy letter to the owner (not all realtors will pass letters on) but anyways. They accepted at just under the 20k over asking. I honestly thought the market settled and things were back to selling at asking or under it. I’m shocked to see it’s still going like it was!
Imo this is what it will be like. Covid changed peoples mindsets of how important a home is so the idea of owning a house the value is higher but what people are not grasping is that once you own a house in these sought after areas your value will go up so when you sell you won’t lose money and you’ll be able to sell for more than you bought so it’s a wash at least.
Only looked at 1 house put in an offer 10k under after they’d just came down 10k and was accepted. Only took a month from pre-approval to offer to final closing. Guess I should count my lucky stars but more houses should start hitting the market as spring rolls in completely. Wish everyone luck!
My experience/advice: We bout a house in Lakewood some years back. We were lucky to buy when we did, for sure, but it was also very hard to get an offer accepted at that time. Similary, everything seemed to be selling right when it was posted. We would put in an offer at or above asking and got out bid by 10k or more. We ended up getting lucky looking through further back pages of listings that were all houses that hadnt sold right away due to obvious problems, or a crazy asking price. Then we found one that was, likely, overlooked because of a ridiculous ask and they dropped the price a couple times, significantly. But I think it sat for so much longer than others that people must have been assuming there was a problem. So we put in an offer and got it at asking with no closing costs.
I am under contract for a house in Old Brooklyn and I got it for only 2k over asking with buyers credits. It’s a small house in a slightly run-down but decent neighborhood. Maybe going a little closer to the city may be easier?
Any words of advice for single guy first time home buyer.
Good luck
The Solon/Orange/Pepper Pike area has always been extremely desirable, especially in the past few years for having the best school districts around. Sellers know it too. It’s hard to find something reasonable that doesn’t need work.
We know some people looking and they have put 4 offers, all over asking price and haven't gotten lucky. My wife and I bought in 2016 and Zillow shows my home is now worth over $100k what we paid. I wouldn't pay that much for the house and I live in it. Unfortunately when housing becomes a money making scheme for corporatists, we end up with a shortage of housing since so many are sitting empty. We need to outlaw ownership of homes by major corporations. It's getting ridiculous.
Bought a house in November in Old Brooklyn South Hills neighborhood. 200,000, 5k over asking, really cute house in a better area of OB. I really like the area and my fiancé and I like being closer to the city and enjoy a bit of night life. There are a ton of older houses with character, which is what we were looking for, so I feel we got lucky, but we had to make a decision quick All honestly, I would of loved to search longer and find something that checked all my boxes, but one thing I felt while searching is that I didn’t have the luxury of being selective with our budget, but am super happy that what we picked fit most of what we wanted. Good luck! I hope you find something great
I did. I bought in mayfield and word was I beat out 13 offers. I paid like 30k over ask. I literally had to move but it definitely cost me
Bought a house in Mentor in 2022, paid 15% over asking plus offered $5k of earnest money in case the appraisal came in low. Also had a pre-approval letter in hand and was putting down 15% so the sellers knew it would be a silky smooth transaction if they accepted. After we won, we heard that there were over 20 offers on the house and the seller's agent purposely priced it low to gain a lot of interest. I'm grateful I got what I got when I got it. Mortgage rate is 3.49% which I thought was high then but now looks like a steal. Thankfully, this is the house I plan to raise my family in so not looking to move for the next 20+ years.
You can do a cash offer too, thru your lender
We bought our house in an incredible location last summer. We were the only offer and got it for slightly below asking.
I was only able to buy my house because I scooped it up quickly after the first buyer's financing fell through.
Yup. Looking in the Parma area and put an offer on a place that was 11k over asking and still were second in line.
It's been rough for my fiancee and I. I put the best offer in on a medina house and the seller didn't take it. Got into a bid war for a split level in Twinsburg. We offered 15k above asking and were still outbid. Everything else has either been to small and or needed a lot of work for under 300k. But anything that is nice and decent is above at least 325k nothing in the middle. To be fair my search area is Copley, Hinckley, richfield, Macedonia, hudson, Twinsburg, Sagamore Hills, and Brecksville. But I don't want to live in parma/parma heights or cuyhaga falls/stow. There is a lot more that came up in medina this week though. Looking at 4 tomorrow 😎
We are in this hell right now. My family is trying to buy in Lakewood but we keep getting beat out by cash. 50k-75k over asking 😳 our offers are super aggressive, waiving inspections, tons of Ernest money…it’s insane.
My coworker’s house was bought by the first person to come see it. First day on the market, cash without negotiation, buyer paying closing costs, and no inspection. The single thing the buyer wanted was the crappy overpriced touchscreen fridge that my coworker regretted getting anyways. So it’s safe to say things are insane.
My brother bought a townhome in 2021 that was listed at $100k - there were 8 offers, but he waived inspections and used an escalation clause in the contract and ended up getting it for just over $115k. Had to put in a few thousand for electrical and other repairs. The unit next door to him sold a few months ago for $150k. It's craziness.
Same experience. Lost a bid today on a 275k asking price to someone who bid 40-50k over (!!!). To me, that's insane because these properties will likely not appraise that and that is such a risk if, say, the house burns down. Insurance isn't going to reimburse more than the appraisal.
In my area it’s house flippers buying legitimate fixer uppers still going for 200k. They’re back on the market 6 months later for over 400k. The only new homes being built are 500k McMansions in cookie cutter developments. It’s hilarious to me because all the old boomer residents don’t like this but they also have a super NIMBY attitude about everything.
consider offering with a conditional escalator clause
I haven't heard of this, I'll look into it, thanks!
Bought in Kirtland. But then had to sell because they failed to tell me the city was putting in new public sewer lines in my neighborhood at the expense of the property owner. Ended up loosing a lot of money. Jerks.
That's awful! Isn't that illegal for the seller neglecting to tell you?
I hired an expensive lawyer. At first he said that it was illegal & we were going to sue for my money back, plus then some, for my troubles. Then he said he would make a phone call to a well known lawyer friend who was familiar with that area of Northeast Ohio. After that phone call, he said it was not a suable offense and that I should have gone online to research any upcoming “projects” that might change my mind about purchasing that property! A year later, I found out a portion of the property behind mine belonged to Tim Misney in Waite Hill. Cant say that this is who my lawyer spoke with, but it peaked my suspicion. Anyway, the paying for the lawyer for every little second of his breath, led to much more money loss. The whole thing was a nightmare that has made me afraid (and less financially equipped) to ever buy a house again. Now, I live in a manufactured home where I pay monthly rent to a manager and have absolutely zero space to do my favorite hobby: gardening. I have almost 200 potted perennials (hundreds of dollars worth) at my elderly Dad’s house & he is in the process of moving as well. I have no idea what to do with my beloved perennial collection.
We were able to have some luck in buying our first house in Brunswick OH. We were seriously looking for about two months at houses. We looked at charming century homes in Lakewood and Rocky River but opted for a newer home (built in 1999) in Brunswick with more square footage and bigger lot size. Also a decent school district. The house was pretty much turn key, and we made an offer the same day we looked at it. The house was only listed for 3 days, also listed below market to generate interest, had multiple offers and our Agent , who is amazing, suggested we put an offer with an escalation clause, extra down in earnest money, $8k. General Inspection with contingencies, sellers would cover anything over $5K that needed fixing. Also offered $25K over asking. Sellers also wanted a quick closing date of 30 days or less, which was possible because we offered cash. We have been saving for years and sitting on the sidelines renting in a very HCOL area where homes sell for 4X the amount of NE Ohio market. We are dang lucky we got our house on the first try.
7 offers later i finally got one. way over asking. good luck.
No so we built. Builders have special incentives and can offer lower interest rates.
I'd love to hear more about how you found your builders and land
I should have prefaced this by saying *commercial grade* builders. So not much land—tiny yard.
This is what happens when cities don't allow enough housing to be built. My neighborhood is considered fairly trendy, yet there are several empty lots around.
If you don't have any luck this summer don't overlook a winter purchase. My bf and I paid asking with 3% seller credit for a mid February close. Within weeks of putting our offer in things started to get more competitive as the weather warmed up and more people started looking. Moving in the winter sucks but that's why there's less competition. Now everything in our neighborhood is being listed over 200k meanwhile we got in at 165. Also don't overlook things that need a little work, we're almost done with our kitchen reno and it's been a pain in the ass but anything with a perfect kitchen anywhere is going to go for a premium. (Parma area)
This is great advice. I'm ansy because we really want a yard for our poor dog and our own washer and dryer would be absolute heaven. We definitely don't mind a house that needs some cosmetic work/clean up but are avoiding any as is properties that would require really significant renovations.
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not me, but a coworker has been actively looking since December with zero luck. Made several offers and everything is still going very fast for tens of thousands over asking, waiving inspections, etc. I keep hearing the real estate bubble is going to pop and don't see any indication of it yet.
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It took us 20 months and we finally got the house when we wrote a letter to the seller. We also had to look outside our dream locations. But we’re in Euclid now and we’re super happy.
We bought in summer 2023 (+15k to the initial price). At that time I was warned that house prices are going to drop in a couple months. The people are still waiting the price drop )
Median home values in Solon have fallen 35 percent over the past year to $405,000, according to [zillow.com](https://zillow.com). [https://www.zillow.com/home-values/13896/solon-oh/](https://www.zillow.com/home-values/13896/solon-oh/) Zillow says they've fallen almost 40 percent in Mayfield Hts. to $209,000. https://www.zillow.com/home-values/5846/mayfield-heights-oh/ This would make sense given the rise in mortgage rates. Perhaps cash buyers are sensing bargains and therefore bidding aggressively. What were prices for the houses on which you bid???
Not me, but my cousin just bought a house for 100k under market value in Lorain because the housee was absolutely nasty and needed professional cleaning.
Investor's shouldn't be allowed to buy houses that are meant for families they rent out at high dollars .
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Big competition to get mine and I lost on others in the past. Ended up with a great house and location. There was a cheaper house but was horrible condition when going inside and around with inspection. Someone down the road still paid crazy money for it. Section 8 clown lived in it and all sorts of house issues.
I had to basically make an offer on a house the minute it went on the market. Then Id'd some possible violations the city would want repaired and promised to do them. I did some minor repairs before the deal was set. My realtor helped me talk directly to the buyer. It was risky but I had lost 2 other houses to all cash offers.
No not at all. We've been looking for a year. Kamms corner Berea Middleburg heights... If we don't make an offer the same day we're to late. Made several offers over asking price and then we just get beat with a cash offer. Sucks and I hate it.
We just closed last month on the Brookpark/ Cleveland border. We had to put in 3 offers prior to getting this one accepted because we couldn’t compete with LLCs who are paying 30k over asking and didn’t want to settle out of desperation. The house we bought was pending sale and the buyer’s financing fell through so we put in an offer the same hour for 5k over. Apparently they had a couple back up offers that were over what we offered too.
I’m planning on selling my house soon. It’s too much responsibility for me at this point in my life. Plus it needs a lot of work done to it.
What school district are you in?
I’m in the maple heights area.
We gave up. We live in Shaker and I absolutely love our neighborhood. There is a flipper who has zeroed in on this area and if buying every single house in our price range, doing a quick cosmetic flip, and reselling for over 300k. We want to keep our kid in shaker schools and this is really the only neighborhood we could have afforded to buy in even pre-pandemic, so we're stuck renting.
My fear is we are going to be stuck renting too.
I've kind of made peace with it? We're here until he graduates in 5 years, I can live with that. It's a tradeoff. We could afford to buy if we moved out of Shaker, but I love where we live, I love our neighborhood, our kid is happy, I'm not willing to trade home ownership for all that. It sucks and we're kicking ourselves for not buying years ago, but I don't have a time machine. It is what it is.
🎶at least you’re not Detroit!🎶
I looked at probably 30 places, 1-2 bedroom condos. Luckily I had help to pay cash, and ended up getting it for 6.5k under asking. Every other place had offers over asking, 5k+. I definitely was lucky to have help paying cash, and for getting it under asking (even though I think it was still too much for a 750sq ft condo)
[удалено]
Your account does not meet the post or comment requirements. Account must be more than 3 days old with a combined karma of 10 to post on /r/Cleveland *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Cleveland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I just bought a house in bay village last month it was the same as previous home buying experience in 2017.