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In Texas, the Termination Option, or the option period as it is typically referred to, provides buyers with an unrestricted right to terminate a contract to purchase property, for a specified fee within a specified number of days after the contract is signed by all parties.  In layman’s terms, the buyer has the right to say, “No thanks, I decided I don’t want to buy your house after all.”  Since this is an unrestricted right, there need not be a reason for terminating or cancelling the contract.  The buyer does pay for this unrestricted right to terminate.  Some of the more typical amounts I see are in the $50 - $75 range, but I have seen both larger and smaller amounts.  The fee can be credited to the buyer or seller at closing, generally buyers are…

You finally did it, you found the home of your dreams.  Since you’ve already shopped around and pre-qualified, you know that you can afford it and approximately what the payments will be and how much money you’ll need to bring to closing.  Now you’re ready to make an offer.  Many first time homebuyers have no idea how this is actually done.  Often, buyers call in on a property and ask the agent to make a verbal offer to the seller.  Usually this is an extremely low, often ridiculous offer, referred to as a “lowball” offer.  More on lowball offers later, let’s look at why verbal offers are shunned by agents and sellers. In Texas, offers are formally made by filling out a contract, specifically a One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale).  This…

Finding a House - The Agent & Agency

OK, so you’ve read through Real Estate 101 and you’re pre-approved and you know how much you’re qualified to borrow.  You’re ready to start shopping for houses!  And you have found an agent with whom you feel comfortable working – by the way, this agent should be ME, if you’re in the Waco area.  Why get an agent, you ask?  Don’t they cost extra? You could always just get those nice, color real estate magazines and/or drive around neighborhoods you like and just call the agents in the ads or on the signs.  You have to call all those agents anyway since they NEVER put the price in the ads or on the flyers.  Besides, once you call them, they’ll get you all fixed up and look out for your interests. 

OK, time for dirty…

My wife and I lay in bed for what seems like the thousandth night in a row, listening to the crooning drifting into our bedroom.  “I hate that dog”, I said, “and I don’t even know his name.”  My wife and I decend into another fit of giggling.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going, but the resiliant break through with humor.  The “crooning” comes not from our TV, its circuits now long since cooled in our living room, but from a neighbor’s dog barking incessantly up the street.  “What do you suppose he’s barking at?”, I inquired.  “Probably separation anxiety,” answers my wife, ever the social worker and dog trainer.

Now, we live in a nice neighborhood and all of our neighbors are great…nice family folks with regular hours and regular jobs and, I…

Often, sellers are often surprised that a new roof or new carpet doesn’t increase the value of their home by the amount they spent on it.  I usually remind them that their home had a roof on it before they replaced it, and amazingly enough, buyers expect a house to have a roof on it when they buy it.  Same thing with new carpet, paint and etc.  Now that is not to say that a new roof won’t increase the sell-ability of their home, or that they can’t recoup some of the cost of replacement. 

Given two equivalent homes, one with a new roof and one with one needing replacement, which one would YOU buy?  For many buyers, the replacement of a roof is an unknown quantity in the home buying equation.  After all, even with an estimate, the replacement could end up…

Here are some interesting figures from the past year for the Waco Real Estate Market.  IF you would like a market report customized for you, please visit Waco Home Sellers and request a free market report that can be tailored to your specific interests.  The following statistics represent the home sales from January 23, 2006 through January 23, 2007.  These figures are for 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom homes and are broken down across the most popular areas of central Texas.  For each area, the number of homes sold, the average price and days on market (DOM) is provided.  The last column is the percentage of the asking price for which the homes actually sold.  For each area, the new versus existing home sales are separated out.

These numbers should be quite…

(or How to Buy a House in Waco)

As a Realtor, I frequently get calls from people that want to own a home, but have no idea of how to go about buying one.  They might say, “I think I want to buy a house but I don't know what to do.”  Or, “I saw a house I would love to buy but I’m not sure where to start or how to do it.”  Or even, “Can I afford to buy a home?”  If you are thinking, “Yes!  That’s me!” you’re in the right place.  The question you should be asking is this: Can you afford NOT to buy one.  OK, here is dirty little secret number #1:  If you can afford to rent a house in Waco, you can afford to BUY one.  Let’s be honest, landlords don’t buy a house and then rent it for less than the payments, insurance, taxes and upkeep cost them.  They are…