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 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!