this thread is obviously dated but in the current market of early 2009 (circa end of wall street), one CAN get a house in FH for 500,000. Don't expect to buy in the gardens, though I believe 45 summer just sold recently for 875,000 (3000sqft bookend townhouse). if you look in the lower alphabetical streets - mainly kessel (not so much), loubet, manse and nansen, you can absolutely find houses going within the 500,000-600,000 range. in fact, i think there was a foreclosure sale on 72-27 loubet for exactly that amount very recently. if you expand to the stretch between metro and union trnpike, you may even find a couple going below half mil.
i think it is also important to consider the different agencies you choose to work with. terrace and madeline are invested in artificially buoying the prices in part b/c many of their brokers stay in the gardens. exit is pretty unscrupulous and are famed for the fake binders to stall or muck up closings (quite sociopathic if u ask me), and the others are just small players so you'll still need to go through the big real estate gatekeepers to get to anything nice.

If that is so, then how does one buy a home in FHG? I got the Terrace realty treatment of "you cannot afford this house." I almost screamed at them in offense. I know what I can and cannot afford and I do not have time looking at unaffordable homes. Do scrupulous RE agents exist at in in FH?

Market economics dictate that sellers and buyers decide on the price of a commodity. Realtors are the middlemen - they want to believe that they are responsible for pricing, but truth be told, they do not own the commodity. Of course sellers will want others to tell them that their properties are worth a large sum of money; however, all one needs to do is examine the inventory. Has ANYTHING moved? Terrace, Madeline, Advantage are still selling the same old houses more than 9-10 mths ago. Now is purportedly the season, has anything sold?
My advice is to disregard the agents - they are obliged to bring your price as the buyer to the seller, let the seller decide. Granted, agents will attempt to dissuade/persuade sellers according to their own agenda; if the seller listens to the agent, then they are not really ready to sell anyway. The trick is to have top financing ready with maybe 50% cash down; there will be folks ready to sell - people die, move away, have emergencies - and they will be ready to make a deal. Insist that the agent shows you the property you are interested in... it's not as if agents are busy these days.

The brokers are all lying scumbags. I've bid several times on houses, only to be told the owner rejected my (lower) offer. It turned out the lying bottom feeder broker never told the owner that Imade an offer. They should be put in jail.

[quote="Catman"]The brokers are all lying scumbags. I've bid several times on houses, only to be told the owner rejected my (lower) offer. It turned out the lying bottom feeder broker never told the owner that Imade an offer. They should be put in jail.[/quote]

That's entirely unethical. Here is information from their licensing office on how to file a complaint.
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/cnsl/complain.html

Here is the form to send to them http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lcns/pdfs/1507.pdf

Good luck.

You are obviously a very digruntled and unhappy person! Calling people A- Holes. Perhaps you should look to work with a reputable broker or failing that look for a house in neighborhood where you can afford to buy. Forest Hills prices are as result of the location and conveniences.