www.bismanonline.com

Good Luck!

www.bismarckmandanhomes.com

This site will have every listed house on the market in the area.

 The question is, when will the price gouging start in Bismarck. Rents being jacked up, house prices going through the roof etc...Bismarck is about the only town left that hasn't been affected by the oil boom yet. Or has it already begun?

FEASANT_HUNTER Said:
www.bismarckmandanhomes.com

This site will have every listed house on the market in the area.

This is exactly what i was lookin for thanks.... and fishslayer in my opinion it hasnt started here yet im coming from the heart of the oil in stanley and some houses here i look at that are priced about right the same house in stanley you could add another 100,000! I hope i can find a job here or ill be going back home and buying a brand new modular which is a scary thought!

Housing prices have definitely been going up, although not quite at the same rate as Williston, Dickinson & Minot. People are beginning to move their families here from those cities, plus the flood have both affected prices. A house identical to mine, on the same street, in NW Bismarck recently sold for 20% more than I paid exactly 2 years ago when I built.

Bismarck is consistantly at or near the top for home price increase in the nation the past few quarters. The good news is you will likely never see lower interest rates in your life, so your money goes much farther than even a few years ago.

As far as location, that basically just comes down to how much you want to spend. There are really no bad parts of town, just areas that are better and you will prob see better appreciation, in certian areas. Bismarck is definitely going north. Its high and dry up there and all the new schools are being built up there as well.

Selling a townhouse in beulah next summer you interested?

The wife and I just signed a purchase agreement for a house in Bismarck.  I would say if you are going to buy a house in Bis, best do it now, prices are going to just keep going up.

Our realtor is telling us that newer houses in the 200k - 270k are sold within 3-5 days on average.  We actually bought a FSBO we found on Bismanonline and the guy showed it to 8 couples over the new years weekend.  Good thing our realtor didnt have a problem coming in on New Years eve to write up the agreement and then take it to the sellers on New Years Day.  We were lucky.

Just for instance, the week before, we sat down on a Wednesday night and came up with a list of 12 houses.  When we got to the realtors office on Saturday, all but 5 houses were already under contract.

So my advice is

Search often
If you see a house that you like, go see it that day if possible
If its good, get an offer in soon
Dont go too low on your offer, its a sellers market right now and you may run the risk of losing a house due to a low offer.
Get pre qualified for your loan so the sellers know you are serious

I will soon be moving into a nice big house in Horizon Heights

Ice Man Said:
The wife and I just signed a purchase agreement for a house in Bismarck.  I would say if you are going to buy a house in Bis, best do it now, prices are going to just keep going up.

Our realtor is telling us that newer houses in the 200k - 270k are sold within 3-5 days on average.  We actually bought a FSBO we found on Bismanonline and the guy showed it to 8 couples over the new years weekend.  Good thing our realtor didnt have a problem coming in on New Years eve to write up the agreement and then take it to the sellers on New Years Day.  We were lucky.

Just for instance, the week before, we sat down on a Wednesday night and came up with a list of 12 houses.  When we got to the realtors office on Saturday, all but 5 houses were already under contract.

So my advice is

Search often
If you see a house that you like, go see it that day if possible
If its good, get an offer in soon
Dont go too low on your offer, its a sellers market right now and you may run the risk of losing a house due to a low offer.
Get pre qualified for your loan so the sellers know you are serious

I will soon be moving into a nice big house in Horizon Heights

Appreciate the info! Im a rookie at buyin houses it will be my first one so im quite clueless on alot of things and what not but im learning more and more and hopefully can get what i am lookin for. And congrats on the house.

Your first time buying a house....Get a realtor!

First things, first. Got a job and at least some kind of down payment?

Where you work, even in bismarck, will help you narrow your housing options. Normally I don't tell people this, but continuing to rent until you are gainfully employed is your best (only??) option. Other than that, I suggest buying off the river bottom, just kind of a rule with me.

As far as neighborhoods in town, yes there are some of notably lower desirability. Some have more than their fair share of gang wannabes, some are little clusters of registered sex offenders. You may not care about the latter one now, but your galpals will as will you if you have kids. You can look up the sex offender registry online and see where they are, tend to be the older and cheaper partsnof town.

Allen Said:
First things, first. Got a job and at least some kind of down payment?

Where you work, even in bismarck, will help you narrow your housing options. Normally I don't tell people this, but continuing to rent until you are gainfully employed is your best (only??) option. Other than that, I suggest buying off the river bottom, just kind of a rule with me.

As far as neighborhoods in town, yes there are some of notably lower desirability. Some have more than their fair share of gang wannabes, some are little clusters of registered sex offenders. You may not care about the latter one now, but your galpals will as will you if you have kids. You can look up the sex offender registry online and see where they are, tend to be the older and cheaper partsnof town.

I totally get what your sayin here and im just starting to dip my toes in the water i just thought i would get a head start and if it takes me a year or more to finally sign my name ill still be happy. My first thing is gonna be finding a job before i even think of calling a realtor or anything like that and depends on full time or just part time summer job. But just thought if i could get some good areas to go take a drive and peek around figured it would give me somethin to do. I appreciate the comments and the help.

get a job, get a realtor and get pre-qualified for a loan that you think you can afford.

It might be kinda tough getting a loan if all you have is a part time job and no co-signers.  Banks like stability.

Take your time and figure out what you want in a house garage yard neihbors ect ect.  Figure that out and then think about it even longer. I bought a house a little too fast.  At first I liked it and idea of everything.  But now as everyday goes by I hate it more and more.  Kitchen to small bedroom too small closets too small garage to small.
I'm a little lucky though cause when I sell it the oil field is gonna bail me out cause somebody is gonna pay way more then its worth

What price range do you think you'd be looking at?  That would narrow down neighborhoods a bit.  I'm not a long-time Bismarck resident, but for the most part it seems south of expressway you wouldn't find many houses below 150k and N and W of Lowe's and Menards is mostly newer developments that probably wouldn't be too cheap.  Obviously down south near the river is mostly fairly expensive homes.  I was looking in the 110-130k range a couple years ago and most of the houses I looked at were east or just south of the capitol (somewhat in the Bismarck High School or Simle Middle School neighborhoods) or within a few blocks on either side of east Main.  Ended up buying not too far from Simle and it's not a bad neighborhood.  It's not green acres but I haven't noticed anything too bad.  I guess any neighborhood has people that aren't easy to live by though. 

Welcome to Bismarck!  It is a good town with good services and schools.

And ask the owner about the neighbors, or ask a neighbor about the neighbors. I bought a great house in a good neighborhood only to find out the woman living right next to me has 3 grown kids and their boyfriends and kids living with her also.
A single family residence with 4 families living in one house. Hoping the old bag moves like she keeps talking about, but it could always get worse I guess.