Home Buyer Information
Mortgage rates hit new record lows
May 3rd, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information
Freddie Mac has announced mortgage rates have hit new record lows with the average 30-year mortgage rate being 3.84%. No, that’s not a typo. It is 3.84%.
But with the 3.84% being an average rate, it makes you wonder if any home buyer / borrower is ever able to get the low average rate? The answer is YES!
I’m currently representing a buyer on the purchase of a new construction home in the Woodlands and the terms of their mortgage are 0.8% origination fee with a 30-year fixed interest rate of 3.8%. These are FABULOUS interest rates which makes for a great time to either refinance or buy a Spring Texas home.
If you can get pre-approved for a home loan but don’t want to deplete your entire savings, you do have options. You can negotiate with the sellers to pay some or all of your closing costs and prepaids reducing your out of pocket expenses. If you need help with the down payment, you can ask your parents for the money.
Purchasing a Spring Texas home can still be within your reach. Rumors of 20% down payment requirements are just that rumors. They are NOT true. Behind a VA loan which has a 0% down payment, a FHA loan has the next smallest minimum down payment requirement of 3.5%.
If you are ready to take advantage of these ridiculously low interest rates, call us at 281.300.3141 or 281.804.8626. We are ready to help you find the ideal place for you and your family to call “Home” in Spring Texas or the Woodlands.
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Crime Reports for Spring Texas
April 25th, 2012 categories: Discover Spring Texas, Home Buyer Information
When working with buyers relocating to the Spring Texas area, I am typically asked ”What’s the crime like in Spring Texas?” That’s a loaded question because the National Association of Realtors code of ethics prohibits Realtors which includes me from directly answering the question.
What I am permitted to do is to provide a source where you can check out the crime rates yourself. You can then form your own opinion about the crime in the Spring Texas area.
The best source I have found for information on crime is www.crimereports.com. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is the source of information and the site is extremely user friendly. Type in an address and the crime reports are quickly generated. The date range is defaulted to the last 14 days but you can change it to show you the last 30 days or you can select a custom date range.
You can also specify the type of crime report / incident you would like to view such as breaking & entering, robbery, theft of vehicle, family offense, or missing person. In addition, you have the ability to overlay the location of registered sex offenders.
And yes, there is an APP for it too. You can download CrimeReports for the iPhone from the iTunes App Store.
When you are ready to go view homes for sale in Spring Texas, give us a call at 281.804.8626 or 281.300.3141.
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96% of people believe now is a good time to purchase a home
April 11th, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information
The American Dream of owning a home is still alive. According to a recent national survey conducted by Prudential Real Estate, the majority of people still believe real estate is a GOOD investment.
A couple of key findings from Prudential Real Estate’s recent survey are:
- With interest rates at historical lows, 96% of people believe now is a good time to purchase home
- 70% of respondents believe their property values will increase over the next two years
- 63% believe that real estate is a good investment
The Spring Texas real estate market is reaping the benefits of the increase in consumer sentiment as YTD sales through March of single family homes are up 18%.
What’s your thoughts? Do you believe that real estate is a good investment?
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Lakes of Cypress Forest begins development on Section 4
March 26th, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information
Seven years after the first homes were built, Lakes of Cypress Forest has begun development on the final section of its community. Lakes of Cypress Forest, a gated community in Spring Texas, is located off of Cypresswood about 1.5 miles from I-45 in the Klein school district.
Upon completion of the 111 homes planned for its final section (section 4), the number of homes in Lakes of Cypress Forest will total over 470. The homes in Section 4 of Lakes of Cypress Forest will be accessible through a gated entrance on the north side of Cypresswood.
The average lot size will be 70′ x 130′. Section 4 will have a lake area with 32 homes having lake views. Plans for the lake area are still under development. Additional privacy is available to the 35 homes that will back to Seals Gully.
Darling Homes and Dunn & Stone will be the builders in Section 4 of Lakes of Cypress Forest. The homes base prices are $280,000 to $390,000. Lot premiums for lake views are anticipated to be $65,000 to $80,000.
New home construction is projected to start in September of 2012 with average build times of six months. The builders are accepting lot holds in advance of the construction start date.
If you want to learn more about Lakes of Cypress Forest or other new constructions homes in Spring Texas, give us a call at 281.300.3141 or 281.804.8626. We can help you find and purchase foreclosure homes, resale homes, and new homes in Spring Texas.
View all homes for sale – Lakes of Cypress Forest homes for sale
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How long before the sellers respond?
March 20th, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information
When you submit an offer on a house in Spring Texas, how long does it take before the sellers respond? Depends on when you submit the offer and who the seller is.
If the house is a Foreclosure, Short Sale, or Corporate Relocation, it is owned by a corporation. The people who make the decisions for the corporation work 8 to 5 pm Monday – Friday. Thus if you submit an offer outside of the normal work days and hours, the earliest you will hear a response is the next work day.
The people who handle Corporate Relocation houses are pretty quick and will typically respond to your offer by the next business day. On Foreclosures, the typical wait time is between 2 to 10 business days. If you submit an offer on a Short Sale, you better be willing to be patient. We sometimes don’t receive a response on a Short Sale until 60 days after the offer was submitted.
If the Spring Texas house is owned by an individual, the response time is usually significantly quicker. Although the seller is under no obligation to respond within a specified time frame, the majority of sellers will respond to your offer within 24 hours.
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Garage Sales
March 14th, 2012 categories: Discover Spring Texas, Home Buyer Information
It really doesn’t matter whether you call them Garage Sales or Yard Sales, they both represent an opportunity for you to purge your closets and sale unwanted items. But don’t go grabbing your markers to make your garage sale signs without first checking your subdivisions deed restrictions. As the deed restrictions of many Spring Texas subdivisions prohibit garage sales.
In the subdivisions that do permit garage sales, many HOAs will organize and host bi-annual garage sales to reduce the traffic generated by weekly garage sales.
In The Woodlands, if you want to sell your unwanted items you will have to do it at one of the bi-annual community flea markets. The community flea markets are held in the Town Center Parking Garage. Admission is free to treasure hunters but sellers have to pay $50 per booth space.
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D.R. Horton building in Cypress Forest Lakes
March 4th, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information
Since its beginnings in 2006, Cypress Forest Lakes has struggled to find the right builder with the right product at the right time. The first builder in Cypress Forest Lakes, a small gated community of 71 home sites in Spring Texas, was Meritage. Meritage built homes in 2006 – 2008. The next builder was Dunn & Stone. Dunn & Stone built homes in 2009 – 2010. In 2011, builder #3, D.R. Horton started constructing homes.
Based upon the brisk sales activity being experienced by D.R. Horton, it looks like Cypress Forest Lakes has finally found the last builder it will need to finish out the community.
The base prices on D.R. Horton’s’ homes start at $264,000 for a 2,537 sqft two-story with the most expensive floor plan being a 3,556 sqft two-story for $329,000. Base prices are always subject to change and do not include lot premiums which range from $10,000 for a lot backing to a reserve to $75,000 for a lake lot.
Cypress Forest Lakes is located south of Cypresswood approximately a 1.5 miles from I45 and is zoned to the Klein school district. The tax rate is 2.82% before homestead and it has one of the lowest annual HOA fees for a gated community in Spring Texas. The annual HOA fee is $630.
Community amenities include walking trails, playground, lakes, fountains, and catch and release
fishing.
The community is too small to support its own swimming and tennis facilities. But swimming and tennis is available at the nearby Forest Oaks Swim Club for $200 a year.
Give us a call at 281.804.8626 or 281.300.3141 for the latest information on the availability of inventory homes and home sites in Cypress Forest Lakes.
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Learn about other Spring Texas Neighborhoods
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Are you stuck with the Realtor assigned by the RELO company?
February 22nd, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information, Home Seller Information
If your employer offers you relocation benefits, the relocation company will “assign” a Realtor to work with you. The Realtors who agree to be assigned have taken relocation certification courses and agree to pay your relocation company between 35% to 40% of the commission they earn from either helping you with the purchase of a house or helping you sell your current house.
If you are selling your house, the relocation company will typically have two Realtors from two different real estate brokerages meet with you to present their marketing plans. You will then have an opportunity to choose between the two Realtors.
If you do not like the Realtors assigned by the relocation company because they didn’t listen to your needs or may they are not familiar with your neighborhood, you are not stuck with them. You do have choices!! Just tell your relocation company the name of the Realtor you want to use. The Relocation company will then contact your chosen Realtor to confirm that they are willing to pay a relocation fee. Although Realtors don’t like to pay a 35 to 40% fee to the relocation company (can you blame them?), the majority of Realtors will agree to pay the fee.
You do not have to use the Realtor assigned by your relocation company in order to receive your relocation benefits. You do have a right to choose your Realtor.
If you are relocating to Spring Texas or moving away from Spring Texas and you would like for me to be your Realtor, then give my name to your relocation company. I work with all the major relocation companies including SIRVA, CARTUS, PRUDENTIAL, HEWITT, and BROOKFIELD.
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Relocating to The Woodlands
February 19th, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information
If you’ve been thinking about relocating to the Woodlands, watch the video below. It will motivate you to stop thinking about relocating to the Woodlands and to start relocating to the Woodlands.
When you are ready to start house hunting in the Woodlands, give us a call at 281.300.3141 or 281.804.8626. We will be happy to help you find the right house to call ”Home”.
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Top 10 Homebuyers regrets
February 13th, 2012 categories: Home Buyer Information
Woulda, coulda, shoulda …. the regrets of home buyers. Here’s a list of regrets I have compiled from Spring Texas home buyers so that maybe you can gain from their hindsight.
I wish I would have chosen a house with a smaller yard. Cutting grass when it’s 95 degrees and 85% humidity is exhausting.- I should have gotten the home inspected. Since it was a new home, I thought there wouldn’t be anything wrong with it. Builder says the repair is not covered under the warranty. Ouch!!
- I should have asked to see the sellers water bills. My monthly water bill is more than my electric bill … Ridiculous!
- I wished I would have taken notes when the seller showed me how to turn on the gas fireplace. I know there’s a trick to it but I can’t seem to figure it out.
- I should have walked around the backyard. The neighbor’s dog barks uncontrollably whenever I’m in my backyard which is not much now.
- I wished I would have thought more about resale. An apartment complex is being built on what use to be the empty lot behind my house.
- I should have driven through the neighborhood at different times of the day and different days of the week. Driving down my street on the weekend is like driving on an obstacle course with lots of weaving and dodging.
- I should have paid closer attention to the condition of the carpets. No matter which way I arrange my furniture it still doesn’t cover all the spots.
- I should have investigated plans for future road development. The Grand Parkway is going to be built right behind my house. Good for my commute time but bad for a good night’s sleep.
- I should have said “NO” to the house with the wallpaper. I eventually got the wallpaper off but with it came the sheet rock.
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