SE Texas Real Estate Talk

Beaumont, Texas Neighborhood Sales Snapshot: Willow Creek Country Club

If you are a golfer then you know about Willow Creek.  If you are looking for a home in Southeast Texas then you will want to know about Willow Creek.  Located off Major Drive in Beaumont's west-end, this is one community that offers more than your typical neighborhood. 

Five Quick Facts:

1. 34 homes have sold so far this year.
2. 10 homes are for sale at the present time.
3. 105 days is the average length of time the sold homes stayed on the market.
4. $230,500 is the median price of the homes that sold.
5. 93% of the asking price is what the home sellers averaged for the final sales price.

Want to know more:

1. $658,000 was the most expensive sale. It was a 5200+ square foot home with 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths.
2. $120,000 was the least expensive. It was a 3000+ square foot home with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths.  It was a bank owned sale.  Someone got a super deal.  Yes, the home needed repairs.  But at under $40 per square foot, someone got a deal.
3. $80-$125 is the range of price per square foot.  Newer homes sell at the higher side of that range. *All data is from the Beaumont MLS

Still curious:

1. Golf Course Info
2. Brentwood Country Club Home Page
3. Club House and Other Amenities

Want to look at homes: 

1. Click Here to Contact Diane
2. Willow Creek Country Club is one of the great neighborhoods in Southeast Texas.  If you are relocating to Beaumont or already here and you need a real estate professional to help you find the home that is just right for you, I welcome the opportunity to show you all the great neighborhoods Southeast Texas has to offer. 
3. Stay tuned for the next neighborhood sales snapshot coming tomorrow.

Beaumont, Texas Neighborhood Sales Snapshot: Walden Meadows

 If you are wondering what neighborhoods are selling like funnel cakes at the fair then you are going to like the posts this week.  All week the focus will be on home sales in some of the most popular neighborhoods in Southeast Texas. 

Its Monday and today we'll be talking about home sales in Walden Meadows. 

To start with, Walden Meadows is a fairly small neighborhood, with only five streets and about fifty completed homes.  Development of the neighborhood began less than 10 years ago and most of the homes are only a few years old.  Prices start in the high 200's. 

Here's what you should know about residential sales activity in Walden Meadows this year:

1. There have been two sales.
2. A four bedroom, four bath on Silverleaf sold for $271,000 which was over $100/square foot.
3. A four bedroom, two and a half bath sold for $305,000 which was also over $100/square foot.
4. There is a four bedroom, two and a half bath currently under contract.  It will be the lowest price per square foot sale in the neighborhood this year.  (Still close to $100/square foot).
5. There are currently two homes for sale.
6. Average days on the market for Walden Meadows is 60. 
7. With five homes having been put on the market this year, the neighborhood turnover is right at about 10% for 2009. 

Location, location, location:

 They say location is everything in real estate.  Walden Meadows combines the best of both worlds.  You've got easy access to I-10.  You are within walking distance to the new elementary school.  The BISD school zonesfor the community are Dishman Elementary, Vincent Middle, and Westbrook High. For you golfers out there you can walk across the street to Brentwood Country Club, one of the best golf courses is Southeast Texas.  Its a short drive to Dowlen Road shopping and dining but away from its hustle and bustle. 

Moving to Beaumont or just looking to move to a new neighborhood, Walden Meadows might be for you.  Just remember with homes averaging about sixty days on the market, you'll want to act quickly because homes in Walden Meadows can sell faster than funnel cakes at the Southeast Texas fair.

Southeast Texas Home Buyers Find FHA Loans Most Appealing

Its harder to finance a home these days.  If you've been in the residential real estate market in 2009 that comes as no surprise.  You may find it surprising to know that in October in Southeast Texas more home buyers used FHA loans than any other type of financing.  See the cool chart below.

Conventional financing still comes in second for all Southeast Texas home buyers and not far behind is cash.  37 home buyers paid cash for their home in October.  What a nice problem to have. 

Here's five more noteworthy tips about the type of financing home buyers used this October:

1. The median price for cash closings was $75,000.
2. The median price for conventional closings was $163,000.
3. All homes spent an average of 116 days on the market.
4. The median price for FHA closings was $124,900.
5. This October 155 homes closed, compared to 178 last year, and 185 in 2007. 

*Data is from the Beaumont MLS and has not been released to Texas A&M real estate center yet.  One of the big advantages of FHA financing is the 3.5% down payment.  For first-time home buyers its about the cheapest way to get into a home.  FHA loans also allow up to a 6% seller paid closing cost contribution.  Its no wonder, with the first-time home buyer tax credit still driving the market, that FHA financing is the most appealing loan type right now.  Want more information about the Southeast Texas residential housing market?  You can contact me right here on the blog.  Just click the contact Diane button in the right column. 

Three Note Worthy Housing Headlines From The National News

Each day my inbox is filled with real estate news headlines from multiple national news sources.  Some days a few catch my attention.  Here's three that will give you some thing to think about this Halloween weekend.

Let's call story number one, "Nationally, Home Prices Hit Bottom in January."

NEW HOME SALES FALL, PRICES RISE
WASHINGTON (Associated Press) – Nationwide, sales of new homes fell 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 from August to September, according to the Commerce Department.
Last month’s decline was the first since March and was off 7.8 percent from a year ago. However, the market has improved 22 percent from its bottom in January.
The median sales price of new homes, $204,800, was down 9.1 percent from September 2008, but up 2.5 percent from August’s $199,900.
Sales declined nearly 11 percent in the West and 10 percent in the South while they remained unchanged in the Northeast and increased 35 percent in the Midwest.

Let's call story number two, "Get Rid Of The Home Valuation Code of Conduct"

Daily Real Estate News  |  October 30, 2009  |   Share

House Committee Weighs Scrapping HVCC
The appraisal system imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last May is under attack by the House Financial Services Committee and could be on its way out.

The “Home Valuation Code of Conduct” could be terminated by the proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency under a bipartisan amendment approved by the House committee.

The amendment would require the new agency’s director to replace the code with a set of rules developed through regular administrative procedures and pubic comment periods used by all federal agencies. The valuation code was the product of a settlement among New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Critics say the code created more problems than it solved and has encouraged lenders to use inexperienced appraisers who don’t know the areas where they are doing the work, which is resulting in lowball valuations as well as higher fees.

The legislation under which this code would be scrapped is likely to pass the full House, but may have a tough road in the Senate.

Source: The Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth Harney (10/30/2009)

Let's call story number three, "Expand and Extend the Home Buyer Tax Credit"

Senators OK homebuyer tax extension  click link for the full story. 

All three of these national headlines promise good things to come for the national housing market.  Good news for the nation, means good news for Southeast Texas housing too.   Happy Halloween.

 

 

Home Buyer Negotations: How Much Do Sellers Really Come Off their Asking Price?

Other than "How is the Southeast Texas real estate market?", the question I hear the most is, "How much is the seller willing to come off their asking price?".  Home buyers are always eager to know the magic number.  The reality of it is that often there is no magic number.  The motivation of the seller often determines how much they are willing to come off their asking price.  Some sellers won't come down much at all but others with a motivation to sell often do come down on price. 

That said, we can look at sales by area over the past ninety days and look for trends. The data analyzed is from the Beaumont MLS.  245 homes sold within the past ninety days priced from $100,000-$200,000 which is the most active market segment at the present time. Cool chart inserted below: 

It may seem obvious but the shorter length of time a home is on the market the less likely the seller is to come down on price.  Areas shown above with the lowest average days on the market also have the highest % sold price to asking price.  As days on market go up sellers usually become more negotiable.

Look at the two areas with the longest average days on the market for the past ninety days.  Beaumont North 5 and Pinewood both average over 185 days on the market and less than 90% of the asking price for the final sold price. 

Five things you need to know about Southeast Texas home sales ($100,000-$200,000) that closed in the past three months:

• The average days on the market was 110.
• FHA loans have been used than any other type of financing.
• Lumberton and Beaumont are the areas with the most sales, followed by Silsbee, Vidor, and Orange County.
• The median price was $136,000.
• Over 20% of home sellers sold for the full asking price or more. (Not including closing cost contributions)
• On average sellers throughout Southeast Texas sold their homes for 94% of their asking price.

So next time someone asks you how much to offer for a home you know to tell them there's no magic number but 94% of the asking price is a pretty good guess at how much the seller will be willing to come down.  If you want more strategies on how to make the best offer call me.
 

Southeast Texas Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension In Works

The first time home buyer tax credit which has been responsible for as many as 50% of the home sales that have occurred this year is set to expire on November 30th.  Right now the Senate is working on an extension.  There are a few changes in the proposed legislation. 

Fresh from the Daily Real Estate New headlines, here's the latest:

Daily Real Estate News  |  October 28, 2009  |   Share

Senate Dems on Board with Credit Extension
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) says Senate Democrats have agreed to extend the first-time home buyer tax credit. The latest version extends the program to home sales signed — not closed — by April 30. Purchasers would have another 60 days to close the sale. The credit will also be expanded to include so-called step-up buyers who have lived in their current home for at least five years.

The credit would be cut nearly 10 percent to a $7,290 cap. Income eligibility for first-time home buyers would stay the same, but it would rise for step-up buyers to $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples.

Source: Bloomberg News, Dawn Kopecki and Ryan Donmoyer (10/27/2009)

The exciting part of the extension is the step-up provision.  We may start to see some better activity in the mid and upper price ranges once the ink is dry on the new legislation.

So, Really How is the Southeast Texas Housing Market?

This week the Beaumont Enterprise ran a feature article that said homes in Southeast Texas will gain more value than homes in any other market in 2010. 

We love press like that!  Confidence affects the housing market.  When people are confident about their jobs, the economy, the housing market, they buy stuff.  That includes houses. 

But the truth of the matter is our market has strong segments and it has weak segments.  Today, here's a inside look at the weaker segment. Homes priced above $300,000.

By the numbers homes above $300,000:

Fannett has 10 homes for sale.  1 closed in the past ninety days.

Lumberton has 26 for sale. 5 closed in the past ninety days.

Orange Co. has 10 for sale. 2 closed in the past ninety days.

You get the picture.  If you are buying a upper end home you will have a good selection to choose from.  If you are selling one, there is an excess of inventory available in most areas right now. 

Here's three other things to know about the residential housing market segment of homes $300,000 and above:

1. There are 203 active listings in the Beaumont MLS.  33 closed since Aug. 1, 2009
2. On average they spent 86 days on the market which is not that long.  The best of the bunch still sell pretty fast.
3. The fastest selling area was Beaumont W6 (don't know where that is? call me).  Those homes averaged less than 30 days on the market.

So, really how is the Southeast Texas housing market?  Now, you know a little more about the true picture in the upper segment.  Next week, a look at the hottest price range $100,000-$200,000. 

 

Oh How House Hunting Has Changed

When my mother first started selling homes for Coldwell Banker, back when I was in middle school, before computers, cell phones, and the world wide web, the local MLS used to print books with all the listings.  They were like big telephone books with all the properties that were for sale.  As soon as a book was published it was out of date.  Homes went under contract every day just like they do now.  But the local MLS couldn't publish a new book every day so the information source went out of date almost the day it arrived.

By the time I started selling homes for clients, laptops and cell phones were tricks of the trade.  The local MLS boards had all gone to computerized data bases of the properties that were for sale through the multiple listing service.  Remember the old DOS data bases.  Ugh.  Yes, I do too and they were not user friendly.  Today, oh how house hunting has changed.

Coldwell Banker is committed to being the leader in technology in the real estate business.  One of the research studies done by the company shows how home buyers look for homes today.  Take a look.

 
  

• Over 80% of home buyers use the internet to find their next home.
• Over 80% of home buyers use a real estate agent to help them with the transaction.
• Yard signs are still a big factor in how home buyers find their next home.
• All other print media sources are a lot less important than they were a few years ago.

If you know home buyers are using the internet more than ever to find their next home then don't you think you should sell your home with the company that gives their client's homes more internet exposure than anyone else. 

Have you seen:

Coldwell Banker's YouTube Channel On Location

Coldwell Banker on facebook

Coldwell Banker's Seller Resources Website

And you have to see the new Coldwell Banker iphone app.  Its really sweet. 

Now before you sell your home ask yourself this, if most buyers these days start their home search on the internet don't you want to list with a company that will put your home in more places on the internet that any other company?  Yes, you do.  Oh, how house hunting has changed.

Within 15 Seconds Buyer Has Opinion of Your Home

The first impression is critical when it comes to selling your home.  You've probably heard the old saying, "You can never change your first impression".  But did you know that within fifteen seconds a buyer has developed a lasting opinion of your home that could ultimately be the difference between putting up a sold sign or waiting on another buyer.

Here's eight tips you need to know before you put your home on the market.

1. Buyers need to "feel at home", neutral colors, subtle background music, and a clean, new smell help set the stage.
2. Curb appeal can not be underestimated.  Landscape, trim shrubs, fertilize your lawn.  The yard is making an impression before a buyer even gets to your front door.
3. The doorway is a focal point.  Repaint, apply new hardware, install a new front light, and/or replace house numbers.  You'll be amazed at what small details can do to help you sell faster.
4. Appeal to a buyers sense of light.  People react more positive to bright light than dark space.
5. Appeal to a buyers sense of smell.  The smell of cleanliness can have a huge impact.  Lemon oil creates a lasting clean smell.  Fresh flowers can do the same.  Baking cookies or bread is a real attention getter.
6. Your kitchen is probably the most important room in the home.  If it needs updating you might want to get a few estimates.  The money you spend could mean a faster sale and higher sales price.
7. Small details have a big impact.  Any repair work left undone that the buyer sees will have him/her deducting value off your asking price. 
8. Know the neighborhood and understand the competition.  In order to sell your home in the shortest possible time for the highest price obtainable you need to consult with a local expert about the current market. 

Pay attention to these eight tips.  The end result can dramatically increase the saleability of your home.  Need some other home selling tips?  Call me. 

Selling Your Southeast Texas Home? Stop, Look, Read

September residential home sales data has just been released by the Beaumont MLS.  Its on its way to The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M. 

If you are currently selling your home or planning to put your home on the market soon then here's five things you need to know.

1. In all but three price categories we have an excess supply of inventory on the market.  (Six months supply is considered ideal for buyers and sellers)
2. In the higher price ranges, homes priced above $300,000, there is over a year supply of homes currently for sale.
3. Over $400,000 there is close to a 4 year supply at the current sales pace.
4. The majority of the home sales in September were in the $120,000-$150,000 price range.
5. Average sales price for September was $150,495.

Here's how it looks on a graph. 

Buyers in almost every price category have a good number of homes to choose from.  If you are trying to sell a home you need to know what your competition is doing.

Every home seller should know these three things about the competition:

1. How many homes in your neighborhood comparable to yours have sold in the past ninety days?
2. How many homes in your neighborhood comparable to yours are currently on the market?
3. What incentives (seller paid closing costs) have successful home sellers paid to get their home sold in the past ninety days?

If you are selling your home and you don't know these three things ask your real estate agent.  If you are planning to sell your home and want to know these things then contact me. You can reach me by blog, by phone, by text or email.