Walker Texas Team

When it comes to buying or selling a home, there are a wide variety of factors to take into consideration. Aside from the location, layout, and amenities of a home, there are several important factors to consider when it comes to the home’s exterior. Here are some of the biggest considerations that should be carefully thought of and weighed out in relation to buying a home. Landscaping While it may be nice to have large trees that produce spectacular colors during the fall, eventually all of those leaves are going to come down on the property. One of the biggest things that often goes overlooked when buying a house is how much work it is going to take to properly maintain the landscaping. If there’s a lot of work that needs to be taken care of each week, its either going to consume your free time or cost you to hire people to maintain your yard for you. If you opt to outsource your landscape maintenance, you’ll have to pay someone to come and mow the lawn, trim the bushes an...

Purchasing a home is often one of the largest financial decisions one can make in their lifetime. Understanding the process of buying a home prior to starting your search can greatly help reduce the uncertainty and anxiety throughout the process. Meet with a Lender One of the first steps you want to take is to meet with a lender if you plan to use financing. While many buyers may feel that this is jumping the gun prior to going to see a property, in reality you want to make sure that you are looking at houses in a price range that you will ultimately qualify for a mortgage. In addition, once you are ready to put in an offer you will need a pre-approval letter to submit along with it. Having this step behind you takes away the stress of having to get it done after identifying a property. Start Browsing Once you’ve met with a lender and have a good sense of the price range you should be looking in, you can start taking a look at various real estate websites. Many major sites ...

Looking to buy a home? Here are five essential tips for making the process as smooth as possible. Get your finances in order. Start by getting a full picture of your credit. Obtain copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you find. Next, find a suitable lender and get pre-approved for a loan. This will put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. https://goo.gl/IMHGaH Find a house you can afford. As with engagement rings, there’s a general rule of thumb when it comes to buying a home: two-and-a-half times your annual salary. There are also a number of tools and calculators online that can help you understand how your income, debt, and expenses affect what you can afford. Don’t forget, too, that there are lots of considerations beyond the sticker price, including property taxes, energy costs, etc. Hire a professional. While the Internet gives buyers unprecedented acce...

Moving from a small town or suburb to a large city can be an intimidating proposition. Here are a few tips to help make your move as painless as possible. Research before you move . It’s important to understand the culture you’re joining. Do research online and find out about school systems, neighborhoods, parking, weather, public transportation, and laws that are native to that area. If you can, visit a city before moving and connect with someone who’s lived there before. Have a plan . There are a lot of steps to go through before you start packing the moving truck. Find housing before you leave, or at least know where you’ll stay while you look for a home. Never sign a lease on an apartment that you haven’t seen. If you can’t get there, find a friend or an employer to check for you. Have a job waiting for you, or if that’s not possible, know what you’ll do for money in the first few weeks of living there. Try to line up things like driver’s licenses, car ins...

As the events of the last few years in the real estate industry show, people forget about the tremendous financial responsibility of purchasing a home at their peril. Here are a few tips for dealing with the dollar signs so that you can take down that “for sale” sign on your new home. Get pre-approved . Sub-primes may be history, but you’ll probably still be shown homes you can’t actually afford. By getting pre-approved as a buyer, you can save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can’t afford. You can also put yourself in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Unlike pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history. By doing a thorough analysis of your actual spending power, you’ll be less likely to get in over your head. Choose your mortgage carefully. Used to be the emphasis when it came to mortgages was on paying t...

f you’re planning to sell your home, you may be considering updates to get it market-ready. Here are seven ways to instantly increase value. Replace Your Mailbox Small things like the condition of your mailbox and your yard have big impact on curb appeal. Clean out flowerbeds, powerwash stains on the driveway and sidewalk, replace house numbers with shiny new ones, and remove grass and accumulated muck from street gutters. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Get Decorating Advice from a Pro The personal touch you’ve put into the interior of your home is part of its charm, but potential buyers may not see it that way. Meet with a realtor (who may consult with you for free) or an interior designer (who won’t) for advice on how to make the inside of your home most appealing. Create a File for Paperwork If you have the manuals for appliances, energy audits from utility companies, specific color swatches for the paint you’ve used, and invoices fo...

Selling a home is one of the biggest decisions a homeowner can make. There are a number of factors that are making many homeowners realize that now is a great time to sell their current home, while it’s also a great time to buy again. This is because the residential real estate market is once again thriving. Reports reveal large numbers of motivated buyers and sellers are interacting in the market. This means that the prices for homes have moved up by up to 30% over the past year in some markets. Some savvy real estate investors have admitted that they have never seen a market that has turned so aggressive since the 1970s. Market demands are also up by 25% in a number of states across the country. Investors are willing to part with their money to make sound buys. This is good news for the sellers who have been in the dark for decades, especially when it comes to favorable rent prices. 52% of correspondents that were interviewed in a survey said that this is the time to...

If you’re planning on moving to San Marcos, or anywhere in Central Texas, you may be moving into a larger home that offers more space… or, depending on your budget and needs, you may be downsizing. If you’re moving into a smaller home, it may be easy to part with some large items such as old furniture. However, if you have possessions you want to keep–but wont have room for in your new home–a storage unit is your best bet. Plenty of household items have no place being out all year long. Additionally, the need for furniture upgrades entails old, used sets that you might not be able to easily part with. Maybe you wish you sell these older items, or maybe you wish to pass them down to future generations within your family. Either way, your home simply does not have the space for these things that seemingly multiply by the day, so, as a result, you decide to get yourself a storage unit. Unfortunately, you do not know much about picking a unit that would be right for yo...

The decision to purchase a home—whether is it your first purchase, or your second or third home—is always a major financial decision. It is important to educate yourself prior to any purchase to ensure you’re getting exactly what you bargained for. One of the first steps to take when buying a home is choosing the right agent to represent you. Be sure to do your research and find an experienced agent in the area. Many buyers make the mistake of using a family friend with a real estate license. However if that agent does not have the proper experience you should not be afraid to say no and search on your own, as this is a huge financial decision. Make sure you are comfortable with the person, and that they have a strong record of getting deals done in the Central Texas area. You will also need to meet with a lender to determine the price range of the home you should be focused on, which dependson your pre-approval amount. Your agent may be able to provide a short list of ...

Buying a home is a big investment, so it’s important to do your due diligence before finalizing a deal. Regarding home inspections, potential buyers should understand that inspecting a house is similar to evaluating any other investment opportunity. As a result, house inspections can lead to major discoveries and help prevent potential problems down the road. Even for new homes, industry professionals recommend certain checklists before buying the property. These checklists are important because they allow home owners to find out if certain repairs or corrections are needed. In a nutshell, an inspector should be able to determine any additional costs of repairing structures of an old or a new home. Here are a few of the most important inspection factors to consider: 1. Ventilation, Sanitation and Plumbing Since heating and air conditioning units are important for maintaining a comfortable home, it is crucial to inspect the HVAC unit and ventilation ducts. For new hom...

Purchasing a home is often one of the largest financial decisions one can make in their lifetime. Understanding the process of buying a home prior to starting your search can greatly help reduce the uncertainty and anxiety throughout the process. Meet with a Lender One of the first steps you want to take is to meet with a lender if you plan to use financing. While many buyers may feel that this is jumping the gun prior to going to see a property, in reality you want to make sure that you are looking at houses in a price range that you will ultimately qualify for a mortgage. In addition, once you are ready to put in an offer you will need a pre-approval letter to submit along with it. Having this step behind you takes away the stress of having to get it done after identifying a property. Start Browsing Once you’ve met with a lender and have a good sense of the price range you should be looking in, you can start taking a look at various real estate websites. Many majo...

1) PRICE – If the price is too high, buyers will not look at it. They have too many other alternatives for the right price. 2) LOCATION – If the home is in a bad location, it will be a turn-off for buyers. The only way to overcome a bad location is to lower the price. 3) CONDITION – If the home has a poor condition then the owner has two choices; fix the conditional issues or lower the price. Only the homeowner has control over the first three reasons – not the agent! The realtor is responsible for the last reason! 4) MARKETING – If the home is priced right, in a good location, then the marketing efforts by the realtor must be examined. The realtor needs to increase the marketing efforts and get the listing in front of more of the right buyers. REMEMBER, IT MAY BE ALL, A COMBINATION, OR JUST ONE OF THE ABOVE REASONS WHY YOUR HOME WILL NOT SELL. A HOME THAT HAS BEEN ON THE MARKET FOR A LONG TIME WITHOUT OFFERS – YOU ...

In residential real estate, value is determined by what buyers are willing to pay. There are two ways to do this: one is a Comparable Market Analysis and the other is an Appraisal. They gather and compare the same information, but they require different licenses; either a real estate license or an Appraiser license. The information that is gathered is usually other properties in the same geographic area that are for sale now (active listings), properties that were for sale but are not now (expired listings) and those that have recently sold (Sold listings.) The most important are the SOLD listings as this will give the most accurate picture of what buyers are willing to pay for similar properties in that area at this time . If one were to look at ten to twelve properties in their area that are similar to their own that have recently sold, they would get a pretty good feel for the value. It doesn’t matter, it HAS never mattered and it nev...

Myth #1: Foreclosure happens fast. With unemployment and underemployment still affecting nearly 1 in every 4 Americans, no one is immune from fears that a pink slip might quickly turn into a foreclosure notice. According to NeighborWorks America, nearly 60 percent of families seeking foreclosure counseling cited a lost job or cut wages as the reason they were facing foreclosure. While the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Programs haven’t been nearly as effective as predicted in actually preventing foreclosures, they have had the effect of extending the foreclosure process for many families. Even though the legal process of foreclosure can happen in as few as 6 months in most states, it is currently taking much longer for the average foreclosure to get to completion. Recently, JP Morgan Chase revealed that their average borrower who loses a home to foreclosure has not made any payments in 14 months nationwide; 22 months in FLorida and 26 months in New York...