Posted by Chris Tesch on Wed, Jul 28, 2010
Our community currently is in a holding pattern. It's almost as if no one will exhale until Texas A&M University announces which people will be laid off. The university has been, traditionally, the job mecca of College Station.
Now look at Forbes best places for business and careers. College Station, Texas ranked #20 in the nation for small metro areas that will attract jobs and businesses to the area. For Texas College Station is the #5 small metro area for this distinction. All this in spite of TAMU's preported lay off.
Despite some doom and gloom for the very short term College Station and Bryan are in an enviable position and by extension so are the residence.
What does this mean for now, and for the future with regards to College Station real estate? A huge changing pattern. Currently we have a 9.1 month supply of homes, definately swinging to a strong buyers market, low interest rates and potential incentives for people to invest currently in College Station homes, duplexes or condos. What an advantagous time to buy, but unfortunately people just aren't taking advantage for the most part. On the horizon we see lots of hope. Growth is everywhere from the new Lowe's, Scott and White Clinic and HEB to Bryan's phenominal business explosion. As jobs come pouring in to our market incomes will rise, as incomes rise so will the ability to buy homes, especially in the luxury range. This will mean that both College Station real estate and Bryan real estate will be affected. Ladies and Gentleman start your engines. It's going to be a fast ride while Aggieland races to the top. While other communities are facing horrific job cuts we have, in the long term, nothing but good news.
Posted by Chris Tesch on Tue, Jul 27, 2010
Reading all the doom and gloom in the papers? Worried about the Brazos Valley's future? There ae many write ups about the possibility of lay offs at Texas A&M but not many about what's happening in Brazos Valley that's great. The Texas A&M Health Science Center will be opening soon. In conjunction with that are going to be companies moving to the Valley at a fairly fast pace. G-Con, the pharmacudical company that will be working fairly closely with the Health Science Center is hiring soon a possible 150 employees. This company will be developing and researching vacinnes.
Bryan-College Station has been written up just recently for being one of the top smaller towns in the nation in job growth. G-Con and the Health Science Center are just the beginning.
Bryan and College Station's economic future doesn't seem to be in question. With this and other development that the area is expected to bring there's no where to go but up. Wages, real estate and businesses will all feel the impact. Welcome G-Con and the Texas A&M Health Science Center! We're looking forward to continued growth in our area!
For more information go to http://www.tamhsc.edu/.
Posted by Chris Tesch on Mon, Jul 26, 2010
Does it always feel like you're a day late and a dollar short? Are you a buyer who needs College Station Real Estate or Bryan Real Estate? Did you miss the April 30th deadline for finding a home and reaping the $8000 tax benefit? Fear not! Stimulus money is still there!
More than $28 million dollars is availabe through the Brazos County Housing Finance Corp. You might qualify to receive a 35% credit on your income taxes for the lifetime of your loan capped at $2000 a year. The best thing about this is it's not quick BUT it potentially is a lot more money over the lifetime of the loan. On a 30 year mortgage there is a potential savings of $40,000.
Maximum income limits do exist, but are fairly generous. One or two member households can have a maximum income of $58600. Three or more in the household qualify with an income up to $67,390. Some areas will actually qualify with more income.
You must use an approved lender for this homebuyer credit.
This credit includes any counties within Brazos County.
Call to find out more. We'll walk you through the process and find you the perfect home as well!!!
Posted by Chris Tesch on Sun, Jun 20, 2010
This year it seems that even more parents are deciding to invest in a College Station home, duplex, condo or townhome. Student housing at Texas A&M is a ever present worry for parents sending their kids here.
Some of the issues that bother parents is the safety of the area, the expense of nice rooms, the fact that in many cases their student is living with an assigned roommate and the noise of the dorms.
Investing in a College Station home is the most reasonable step for many people. The clients that I helped yesterday have just found that their son was accepted to A&M. Their daughter has been here for a year and they have neices and nephews whose goal is to come here in the future. Obviously buying and holding won't be a problem in their case. The daughter is currently in a lease for $500 a month for her room plus a share of the utilities. With their son here the rent would be $1000 a month.
We found them a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a beautiful back yard and deck, spacious bedrooms and a safe neighborhood for under $150K. Their payments will be less than rent and the third bedroom will have a tenant to help defray the cost. At the end of the line they will sell probably with our typical raise in equity of 3-5% per year. Definately this makes sense for them.
Another set of parents I'm helping this week has found a four bedroom needing just a bit of work for $150K. The son has been here for a year and is hating where he is living because even at this newer "luxury" student living complex it's in huge disrepair. Mom and Dad are going to finance 120K for a payment of less than $1000 a month. Three roommates won't be a problem as he's got lots of friends and the roommates will pay about $450 each plus a share of the utilities. With the income of $1350 a month even the sons utilities are free.
There are times when renting does make sense. In the case of a student being here less than three years and the parents not wanting to be landlords or if the student isn't sure that they want to continue here renting may be the best alternative. There are, however, too many people that I run into that wish they would have done it at first opportunity. I've very rarely ran into people that wish they hadn't have.
For help with student housing purchases please call me. I'm your College Station student housing specialist.
Posted by Chris Tesch on Tue, Oct 27, 2009
I've met a multitude of people who remark on the amount of parents buying College Station condos or other properties for their students. There are two emotions most of them express at the time either envy because their parents didn't do anything like that for them, or consternation at the fact that the students are living so lavishly.
I don't think anyone would disagree with the fact that our kids are living in, for the most part, much nicer conditions than their parents were during their college careers. That being said the reality is that they will either spend the money on rent or on a house payment.
If your student is planning on attending Texas A&M or Blinn College for three years or more in most cases it's advantageous to buy student housing as opposed to renting it. Even during this economic downturn the prices haven't soured (though they have for a brief period not appreciated) in this segment of our market as a steady supply of students are coming in and leaving each year. If the market does happen to take a turn for the worse (an unlikely possibility probably) then you can keep it for investment property and rent it out until conditions improve.
One typical scenario: A parent bought a 4/4 condo in Waterwood for $149,000 at the beginning of their students sophmore year. Putting down 20% they finance $132,000 on a 30 year note at 5.5%. Payments would hover around $1200 a month with the Waterwood homeowners association of $120 factored in. Renting 3 rooms out at $450 each, the parents are able to make the payment without spending anything for housing for their child.
In 2009 the condo they purchased costing $149,000 sells for $165,000 giving them, at the end of the three years a profit of $16,000. Even with real estate closing costs factored in the profit would be around $6,000. During the three years they lived in the condo the student hasn't incurred any rent and the parents end up with an overall profit of $6000. Compare that to renting. Month after month the student (ie the parents) end up paying $450 a month for the student to share an apartment or home.
I believe in the concept of owning student housing so much that my daughter, a college freshman, is in our condo currently! It seems like a clear choice given the alternative! For more information on potential properties for your student call or email me!
Posted by Chris Tesch on Mon, Oct 26, 2009
Thinking of selling your Bryan or College Station home? Choose your College Station real estate agent carefully. Don't simply rely on word of mouth (though that can be a good beginning point) but check out the agent that you're thinking about dealing with. There are many myths about homesales that carry a bit of truth but a create a lot of hype. Let's look at a few of them.
1) Hire a Realtor who's been in the market for years.
Sounds like a winner...doesn't it? Just hire a real estate agent that's been around in Bryan or College Station for years and you'll have made the right choice. However what you have to look at is not necessarily length of career, but achievements within their career. Someone who's been a College Station real estate agent for 30 years but only sells 3-4 homes a year is probably a worse bet than someone who's been in real estate for 5 years and sells 50 homes a year. Their knowledge is more up to date, so they can price your home more accurately and they have a ready pool of potential buyers.
2) The agent with the lowest days on the market is the right one to choose.
There are many reasons to dispute this myth. In general days on the market might show you something about the agent, but not necessarily that their marketing skills are spectacular. Some agents artificially keep their days on the market low. How do they do this, you ask....Well there are several ways to make it possible.
The first is that the agent may take only listings that will sell quickly (I know a real estate agent that is part of a husband and wife team, somehow one of them always gets the easy listing and the other one the tough listings).
The agent may price their listings too low, making everything they sell an absolute bargain. You don't want to get less for your home even if it has less days on the market unless you really need to move it immediately.
These are just two of a long line of other reasons why days on the market may not be the indication of a good agent.
3) The Realtor is with brand X, a nationally known company so they've got to be good.
This is a very common myth. The fact is that real estate companies don't hire people, they recruit them. There are good and bad agents at just about any company. Yes, the national exposure will definately help but don't assume that the agent has been screened carefully. Real estate agents are self employed and pay franchising fees to work with a company. There are many companies out there who are agent mills. They will take anyone who can fog a mirror into their firm. If they prosper then the company has made money. If they don't do well the company hasn't lost much.
4) The Realtor is going to advertise in the paper so we'll get lots of exposure.
As an agent I use all of those tools, absolutely. However, in the years I've been selling College Station real estate I've found them to be less and less effective. There was a time when Sunday and Monday the phones would ring off the hook for the latest property listings in the newspaper. No more! The buyers we get now are going to the internet to look. Over 94% of buyers start their search on the web. It's increasingly important to have a large web presence, not necessarily for the company, but for the agent themselves. Which leads us to Myth #5.
5) My agent has a great looking website so I'm getting exposure.
Early in my career when I established my website I heard a saying that's always stuck with me. A website that isn't advertised and optimized is like a sign on a road with no traffic. Web traffic is essential to getting exposure for your home. Not just any web traffic either, but targeted traffic with buyers that are actively looking for homes. Many agents put up their website and forget about it. They then pull it out during the listing presentation like it's a huge benefit. Check your agent out on the web before hiring them. Google their names. If they can't even rank as one of the highest results with their own names they certainly won't rank highly in competitive key words. Then put your "buyer hat" on and search for what a potential home buyer would look for. Some popular terms are College Station real estate or Bryan Texas real estate. See how they rank. There will be national company websites that come up first that they simply cannot compete with, but in which your home will be one of thousands. Look for the actual agents and how they rank.
Ask the prospective agent how much they spend on their website per month. Good websites and excellent exposure don't come cheaply. My website runs around $2500 a month between advertising and administration with the lions share going to advertising.
Join me for more College Station buyer and seller myths in the near future. In the meantime choose wisely! Your home is one of the largest investments you'll ever make!
Posted by Chris Tesch on Fri, Oct 23, 2009
November 3rd is a day that Bryan and College Station homeowners, or people who ever hope to own a home need to mark on their calendars. The propositions we're concerned about affect the entire state of Texas, so even if you are moving to a different area within the state or located elsewhere in the state, please make plans to vote! Early voiting began October 19th and ends October 30th.
Voting yes to these four propositions will affect homeowners in the state of Texas by amending the constitution to protect homeowner rights.
Proposition 2 ensures that a residential property is appraised as a home, not a value based on "highest and best use". Imagine that the field next door to your home had the zoning change and suddenly was a commercial property. If this amendment isn't passed it is possible for the appraisal district to come along and say that your property also could be a commercial property and tax it based on that usage. Some homeowners would find themselves in true financial binds as many counties search for more revenues. Keep in mind that already properties that are used as farms or timberland already are exempt from the arbitrary "highest and best use" appraisal. Our homeowners need the same protection.
Proposition 3 allows the state to have oversight of central appraisal districts ensuring that there are uniform standards for appraisals. No longer would appraisal districts be able to set their own standards, artificially lowering their appraisals in certain parts of the state to take advantage of state monies while other homeowners pay the lions share.
Proposition 5 allows two or more adjoining appraisal district to have a combined appraisal review board. Basically it is difficult to get qualified and knowledgable people to serve on the appraisal review boards in rural areas. To speed up the appraisal review process, should you need to protest your taxes, this would allow board members to cross the county lines to ensure that qualified, knowledable board members are available.
Proposition 11 affects eminant domain. This will set standards for what purposes a county can take a property for eminant domain. In the news fairly recently we've heard of situations where peoples homes were taken away for economic development in the city, thereby enriching a developers pocketbook at the expense of the homeowners. This proposition would strictly prohibit that type of condemnation and only allow eminant domain in the cases where it will truly benefit all residences, such as roadways and other essential intrastructure.
Protect your own Bryan or College Station property and vote yes in the upcoming election. The highly controversial College Station red light camera issue will also be on the table.
See you at the polls!!!
Posted by Chris Tesch on Sat, Oct 10, 2009
An excellent article from the AP news service about home ownership. Overall real estate remains a good investment with price appreciation that typically overcomes the slumps. Owning a home for at least ten years means that you have typically gotten at least 4% appreciation per year, significant tax advantages, and a place to live. Read more here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33243863/ns/business-real_estate/
College Station real estate is still a strong investment call today for your own assessment based on your circumstances.
Posted by Chris Tesch on Sat, Oct 10, 2009
The $8000 tax credit for first time homebuyers isn't the only available credit to take advantage of. Bryan and College Station home owners have abundant opportunities to improve their homes, not only to claim a tax credit but also to save some money in the meantime!
Improvements in a variety of different systems can yield an excellent tac credit for current Bryan and College Station homeowners. Windows, doors, A/C and heat systems, water heaters, solar systems and roofs are just some of the things you could improve your home with and recoup some of the costs.
You may be eligible for a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the cost of materials (up to $1,500) for certain products purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 31st, 2010.
For more information call your CPA and help the enviroment while adding value to your Bryan or College Station home!
Posted by Chris Tesch on Mon, Oct 05, 2009
In just the last few weeks I've noticed, after a somewhat concerning slow down in the later part of August stretching into the first weeks of September, an increasing amount of people looking at the "luxury" end of College Station real estate.
Activity like this usually predates sales by a few months but is too prevalent, I believe, to be a coincidence. In the last few weeks I've frequently been showing homes in College Station that range from 325K to 650K.
This could be a huge relief to those people who have homes on the market currently that range from 300K to 1 million. This segment of the market has, for quite some time, been soft. A rebound is certain to be a sign that consumer confidence is improving and that homebuyers are much less concerned about their job situation.
As always I serve all ends of the market!