Specifically, how do you determine what's a fair price? Found something inside the loop. A year old. Did some research on HAR and HCAD, but any help would be appreciated.
have your realtor check the comps for the area, that will give you an idea of what comparable houses are selling for.
zillow.com is a fun tool to play with although it isn't necessarily accurate. Also, keep in mind that you should be able to buy a house for well below its appraisal value in today's market. For the record, zillow had my home appraised at $145K while the county tax appraiser had it appraised at $132K and a professional appraiser came in at appraised it at $156K.
Get a realtor. That's your first step. They can do a comp for you in the area that'll give you an idea of what homes are selling for.
Fair price is only what a buyer and seller are willing to do business. Even though the housing market is doing bad, that does not mean you can talk down a seller to rock bottom prices. This isn't like purchasing a car, where you can transfer negative equity into the next house. Your best deal is going to come from builders who have large inventories, new construction or bank/foreclosures. Sellers who have bought in the last 3 or 4 years or new homes will be the hardest to get a good deal. You really can't talk someone down below their loan. If you're buying from an individual, goto the courthouse and find out how much they paid for the home. Thats really the only way you can find a fair price.
Simple, you just look at similar property in the neighborhood or in the vicinity. that's what the tax assessor does in processing your taxes.
If your looking for the best deal go the foreclosure route if you have the money and dont mind a little work..And more than likely you will need a conventional loan not a FHA.... As mentioned there are a ton of buyer incentives for new construction but make there they can build it before the tax credit expires... If your just looking at a typical resale I'd say expect to pay some where near the list price it is a sellers market right now....
Get a real estate agent (A Realtor is someone in a huge association of real estate agents. It's like calling all sodas Coke). I recommend an agent who has been in the business a LONG time in that area and know it like the back of their hand. You might get some young pretty thing that gives you a boner, but she/he won't know half what some old grizzled vet knows. Have them get comps for the area. Foreclosures are a mixed bag. I wouldn't recommend one to a first-time home buyer. You never know what you're going to get. However, if you have time and patience, you could go short sale, which is a home that is close to foreclosure but the mortgage-holding bank is willing to take less money than what is owed to not have to deal with foreclosing on the house. The patience part comes with dealing with the bank. You aren't dealing with the seller any more- they pretty much waived their rights.
Market is bad but not that bad in Houston. And especially areas like the Heights. So don't expect to get a good house for a song and a dance. If you're patient you can find a real good deal though. If you've looked long enough in that area you will know the general price and what is a good deal. If you haven't then get a real estate agent to help you.
Sorry to re-open this old (month-old) thread, but I had a question for those of you who have already sold or bought homes or both. We're selling our home in Katy and already have an agent. We've narrowed a certain area and price range fo the house we want to buy. We would sell before we buy as we don't want to have two mortgage payments or deal with renting. I was wondering if any of you could tell me the disadvantages or advantages of hiring a different agent for buying your home other than the one helping you sell your home...? Should I use the same agent or a different one?
If you use one, they'll usually give you a discount on your sell. So instead of 6% they'll only charge 5% if you buy through them on the new house. The only disadvantage to using the same one I can think of is if they are not familiar with the new area. You should get someone who knows the area well so they know what's a good deal etc, outside of what they can find in comps.
You should have tried to work a deal with the agent selling your home to get them to discount the commission on the sell if you use them to buy your new house...are you paying the full 6%? There really is not to any advantage to using a separate agent for the buy and the sell unless the agent selling your home is not familiar with the area you want to move to.
Thanks. ^^ We haven't finalized any sale or contract on the percentage of the sale of the current home... so we might still be able to talk about it... but... I am leaning towards the NO, since I do not believe the agent might be knowledgeable on the area.
