7. May 2012 by admin.

Buying a home for sale in San Antonio (Texas) is a big step for many families, and doing it correctly is one of the biggest worries for many home buyers (especially if it is the first time buying a home in Texas).

It is critical to ask for an option period, when making an offer, because the option period will give you the unrestricted right to cancel in case the home inspection reveals deficiencies that need to be addressed.  It is horrible to be in a situation, after you buy a home (without doing an inspection) and later you find out that the home needs costly repairs or it is brink of some kind of hazard that puts the health of your family at risk.

An option period needs to be purchased from the seller/owner when submitting an offer to buy a home.  Typically, the cost of an option period is about $10 a day, it wise to ask for a minimum of 10 days which comes out to about $100 dollars to have enough time to get all the inspections done, and an agreement of repairs be completed with the homeowner.

One important fact to keep in mind, is that the option check needs to be delivered to the listing Realtor or the seller/owner within 48 hours in order for it to be effective.  It is best to hand deliver the check to the Listing Realtor or the owner because mailing it can be risky because it may not arrive within 48 hours or the check can be lost by the post office; and giving the option check to Title company does not fulfill the duty of delivering it to the seller or listing Realtor.

In any case, it is our recommendation to please consult with your Realtor before making an offer on buying any home for sale in San Antonio, they will know the procedures, and will help guide you to a successful home purchase.

If we can assist you buying a home for sale in  in San Antonio Texas North Central, Northwest, Northeast, Southside, West, or Downtown Homes for Sale or Real Estate Markets.  Please visit http://www.sanantoniotxrealestateforsale.com

Posted in Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Southside San Antonio Real Estate or Homes for Sale, TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »

7. May 2012 by admin.

Please visit http://www.sanantoniotxrealestateforsale.com

Posted in TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »

5. May 2012 by admin.

Northeast San Antonio, for the past month, has undergone a steady and healthy number of homes that have sold for this area of San Antonio.  There were a total of 326 homes that sold last month in Northeast San Antonio Homes for Sale or Real Estate Market.  Since the Northeast San Antonio is large part of the city encompassing many different types of homes(range of ages (year built)), it is only fair to look at Average and Median Price range in order to get a better understanding of what kind of homes are selling in Northeast San Antonio.  The Median price range for a home sold in the Northeast San Antonio in the past month is 142,950 with price per square foot of 72.44.  This median square footage was 1906 square feet.  I am going to speak now about the average, but I know that people now are wondering what is the difference between average and median price range, and the best method to describe the difference is that average takes everything into account and sometimes distorts the true value of homes for sale, and the median sometimes doesn’t take enough into account; so it is good to look at both in order to interpret the best data to describe the homes for sale in Northeast San Antonio.  The average is 160,694 with a price of square foot of $77, and this data is on a home with an average of 2023 square feet. Looking at both the average and median data it is fair to say that Northeast San Antonio will on average cost $74.50 dollars per square foot.  Most of the homes are going to be priced around 150,000 range and most are going to be around 2,000 square feet.  Overall this shows a very good healthy market report of Northeast San Antonio.

Posted in TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, Blogroll, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »

4. May 2012 by admin.

I find that most home owners are unaware how easy or difficult it is to setup a home showing when they are considering purchasing a home for sale in the San Antonio Real Estate Market.  They have good reason to think this because most Realtors are also unaware on the showing availability until they actually call in to scheduling company to schedule a showing.  It is normally during this call to the scheduling company, do the Realtors find out if the home is one of 3 statuses.  A “GO” which means the home can be shown at anytime; “Courtesy Call” with stipulations of 1 hour up to 24 hour notice; or an “Appointment Required” which means that the scheduling company needs physical call approval from the owner in order for you to see this home.  Within all these showing requirements also exists “restrictions” meaning that, if specified, sometimes the home cannot be showned on “Sunday” or certain times during the week.

 Luckily, most homes are setup on “Courtesy Call” on a 1 to 2-hour notice which means that a Real Estate agent needs only to call and give the scheduling company 1 or 2 hour notice that they are going to see the home.  The best resource is your Realtor when scheduling showings because they are the only ones that have access to schedule showings.

Posted in Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Southside San Antonio Real Estate or Homes for Sale, TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »

2. May 2012 by admin.

Fee for service (commonly referred as brokerage commissions) is typically the biggest expense of any Real Estate transaction for a person who is looking to sell their home with the purpose of purchasing another one.  For most home owners, selling their home involves a 6% brokerage commission because the 6% pays both for the fee for service charged by the listing agent and the selling agent (buyers agent).  What some homeowners don’t always use to their advantage is that they can leverage the 2 home purchases with the same Realtor to help them reduce some of the expenses that are involved with the Real Estate transactions in a program called a Move up program.  This program directly benefits the seller because it saves them money.

Most Move up programs work in this kind of matter.  The seller gives you a discount on fee for service on the listing on the your home as long as you use them for the purchase of your next home.  The money is saved by you on the listing side (when you are selling your home) because the Realtor will normally reduce the fee for service for selling the home from 6% to somewhere between 4.5% to 3.5% (please keep in mind this amount is flexible will differ from Realtor to Realtor).  In many cases, this reduction in fee for service saves the seller several thousands of dollars.  The best news is that unlike some discount brokerages you get all the same service you would expect from a full service brokerage company.  Most Realtors are willing to offer a Move Up program because although they don’t make as much money  on the selling side they make it up when you buy your next home.  The best news is that the fee for service when you are buying is paid by the seller and not buyer.

In conclusion Move Up Programs are great for homeowner who are looking to sell their home in order to move into a different home. It is a win-win for the both the client and the Realtor.  As the client, please still due your due diligence, and don’t select a Realtor solely because they offer the Move up program, please make sure that they will do everything you expect and setup a concrete plan for the in both transactions (selling/buying) including goals of time-lines.  If done correctly, Move Up programs are wonderful.

If we can assist in discussing a Move up Program in greater detail or if we can help you in finding a home for sale in North Central, Northwest, Northeast, Southside, or West Real Estate Markets.  Please visit/contact us by visiting http://www.sanantoniotxrealestateforsale.com.

Posted in Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Southside San Antonio Real Estate or Homes for Sale, TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »

1. May 2012 by admin.

A HUD home is a foreclosure that is owned by the Federal Government.  Specifically it is owned by the department of Housing and Urban Development which stands for HUD in short.  There are several rules or procedures that most home buyers or investors are unaware off when buying a HUD home.

In my experience, I find that many people that are looking for the best deal in a neighborhood or in a area town in San Antonio (North Central, Northwest, Northeast, Southside) will often chose to look at a HUD home because in most cases they are priced the least (compared to other homes).  Here are a couple of items to keep in mind when looking at HUD homes.

First, they are bought “as is” with no sellers disclosure.  Since they are owned by the Federal Government, HUD they are not required to provide any kind of disclosure.  In addition, unless they have escrow repair funds for some items but not all items.  This is important because sometimes the home will not qualify for certain types of financing.

Second, the earnest money money deposit needs to be in Certified Funds and must be delivered within 48 hours of acceptance of your contract.

Third, you are given an inspection period and you are responsible for paying to have the home de-winterized and re winterized, and you have to pay again for the winterization process a second time to have the appraiser check the home.   In addition, you are responsible for the connection of utilities, and sometimes the utility company requires that you be present to turn on utilities to the home.  The bad news is that sometimes they give you up to a 4 hours time slot which means you need to available up half a day to get the utilities turn on and sometimes you do not have the time to spend doing this with different utility services.

Fourth, you need to pay for a survey and title policy.  These are normally seller expenses but with HUD homes you are responsible to pay for these items.

Fifth, with HUD homes, they only contribute a maximum of 3% percent to deal.  They cap the amount of contribution which means that sometimes you don’t have enough to cover all the closing costs so unless you have the additional funds you will not be able to cover all expenses in buying the home.

In many cases, HUD homes are good buys but if the items mentioned above just don’t seem appealing or you don’t want to go through all the hassle. It may be better to not look at HUD homes.

Please keep in mind that sometimes the discount on price that you receive in buying a HUD home is so large that it is worthwhile to doing all the work to buy one but be aware of what has been mentioned above.

If we can help you find a home for sale in the San Antonio Real Estate Market. Please visit http://www.sanantoniotxrealestateforsale.com 

Posted in Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Southside San Antonio Real Estate or Homes for Sale, TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »

24. April 2012 by admin.

Closing costs are natural part of any transaction because buying a home always carries a cost depending on proposed terms for buying the home(Convential/FHA/VA/Cash…).  Most transactions are financed which means that typically the closing cost for that transaction will typically be in 3 - 5% price of the home.  One important distinction to make is that any amount in closing cost money is completely different and is a separate charge from how much you are required to put as part of your down payment.  I find that many first time home buyers get both charges confused because they think they are both the same charge because it is money out of their pocket.

The good news is that for many home buyers, closing costs, is charge that can be asked to be paid by seller.  Please keep in mind that anything that is asked from the owner in regards to closing costs is a reduction in price of the home.  So it up to the owner on how much they are willing to contribute.  Sometimes the seller of a home agrees to pay for closing costs if the price of home is increased to cover the charges for closing costs, but please beware that sometimes this over inflates the price of the home and the home does not appraise for the loan amount; if this scenario happens, this causes big problems for the buyer and seller because all terms need to be renegotiated and sometimes both sides become so far apart in questions of money that the deal cannot go through.  The buyer and seller both lose out in this scenario because the buyer loses money on appraisal and any cost of inspections; and the seller loses time on market and any expenses for maintaining the home in their name.  Also please keep in mind that certain homes for sale have a cap on how much they allow for closing cost contribution.  For example, when buying foreclose homes some homes only allow 3% as a maximum contribution amount.  For some people this is not enough, so it is important to know if there are any restrictions on how much is allowed.

If we can help you find a home in  In San Antonio North Central, Northwest, Northeast, West, or Southside Real Estate or Homes for Sale Market.  Please visit our website at http://www.sanantoniotxrealestateforsale.com

Posted in Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Southside San Antonio Real Estate or Homes for Sale, TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | 1 Comment »

20. April 2012 by admin.

Choosing a correct closing date is critical when your are planning to purchase a home for sale in Texas.  It is required to give the owner a date that you plan to close on a home.  What is important to consider about the closing date is that if the buyer and seller cannot close on the specified date they are considered to be in default of the contract which means it is extremely important to check with your Loan Officer or Realtor that you are working with about selecting the correct closing date because if the buyer or seller can’t close on time then neither party needs to agree to extend the closing date.  Most of the time both parties want the transaction to go through, so they do agree on extending the closing date but I have seen not closing on time, as an excuse for one of the parties (buyer or seller) not to proceed with the purchase of the home.  The most common thing to occur for not closing on time is that both parties will try to get money for not closing on time.  I recommend for any buyer looking to purchase a home to ask their loan officer for a good closing date.  I find it best when loan officers over estimate the close date to make sure they can get everything done on time.  In addition,  make sure your loan officer gives you updates on the progress of your loan, and have your Realtor check with loan officer to avoid any last minute issues that can cause delays on buying or selling your home.

Posted in Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Southside San Antonio Real Estate or Homes for Sale, TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »

17. April 2012 by admin.

Energy efficient home building is best described as an evolution because it is something that has occurred overtime.  The federal government and several organizations have setup standards to calculate home efficiency but in most cases it something that only is encouraged and not required.

Most home builders, now a days, build an energy home with energy efficiency to appease the buyer because the rising cost of utilities have buyers asking the home builder what energy efficient building techniques they build into their home because buyer are also budgeting how much they will have to paying for utility when considering buying a new home.

So to answer the question “what year did homes become more energy efficient,” the older the home, the less energy efficient it will be.  The good news that there are some very simple energy efficient improvements that can be done that will improve the energy efficiency of a home.  The number one improvement that can be done in improving home energy efficiency is increasing the R-value of insulation in the attic.  Many older homes have between a R-13 to R-30 value insulation in where in most cases it is recommended to increase this R-value to somewhere between R-44 to R 48.  Insulation is rather cheap so this improvement is typically well worth the money.  Also placing radiant barrier on the inside of the roof will help keep the attic cool.  Most companies are able to place spray radiant barrier in the inside of your roof.  Lastly, placing solar fans in the roof, will help keep your attic cooler and help in the energy efficiency of your home.  Changing out equipment, if probably the most costly upgrade to do but it absolutely helps in improving a homes energy efficiency.

With any upgrade done to the home.  I always recommend to do a cost analysis to determine your return on your investment which is how many months before your improvement pays itself back in the utility cost savings.  If the return on your improvement makes sense to you then it is probably a good thing to do.

Posted in Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Southside San Antonio Real Estate or Homes for Sale, TX, Northeast San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | 1 Comment »

12. April 2012 by admin.

San Antonio North Central, Northeast, and Northwest are considered by many residents to have moderate to severe traffic congestion.  Luckily most of the major highways only suffer from moderate traffic congestion but some areas do have severe traffic (principally Highway 281 past Loop 1604).  One of the bright spots about San Antonio and its roadways is that the city/state does do road improvements to help reduce the traffic congestion.  For those who are looking to relocated to San Antonio and purchase a home for sale here, I would highly recommend to find a Realtor that is knowledgeable about the area.  They are a great resource to give you an idea how traffic is during the times you plan to travel the highways you would take to your work and the home you are looking to purchase.

Posted in TX, Alamo Ranch Real Estate or Homes for Sale, Dominion, Northeast San Antonio, Northwest San Antonio, Real Estate, North Central San Antonio, San Antonio Real Estate | No Comments »