Wide Eye

Does it matter whether an agent mainly works with buyers? Does the agent have to be an expert of the area a buyer is looking for? I guess the best way is through friends' referal, but their agents do not live in the area I'm interested in. What's your experience? Thanks!

If the current owner of a house owns tax to the county/city, would you buy this house? I know there may be troubles... but exactly how risky is it?

Thanks cdipaolo! Thanks Jeebus! It seems that I-10 is still the most convenient way to get into the loop (in our case, Greenway Plz). I hate the traffic on I-10 as much as I love the houses in the neighbourhood. Maybe I need to learn to live with it...

I'm not a home builder and I'm not working in the industry. However, my husband and I happened to talk to the sales staff of this mid-rise. We were told that a two bedroom unit is sold at around $500K. There might be some one bedroom units with study being sold at high $300K, but nothing is under $300K. As of mid March of this year, a lot of the units have been sold out. We've also heard that the owner of the building (or the builder, whoever that may be),is going to live in this mid-rise once it's done! By the way, the monthly maintenance fee is $600, which is lower than the $800 maintenance fee of Greenway Plz. We've also talked to the sales people of the brand new town house complex next to this mid-rise. The town houses are very small (2-2) but being sold at close to $300K. Because of the price and the lack of parking on the street, we decided to move out of the loop.

Thank you guys! I didn't expect to get so much good info so quickly! We don't have kids yet, but this situation may change rather soon... I appreciate the information on school zoons. One of my concerns is commute. Does anyone here have a daily commute to the innerloop everyday? Which way is the best, relatively speaking? I've heard that Westpark toll sometimes gets bumper to bumper during rush-hours. How about Westheimer? Better or worse? We'll try to avoid I-10 if we can. cdipaolo, thanks a lot for the cime statistics...that's exactly what I'm looking for. I noticed that some good-sized houses off N. Wilcrest were on sale for very reasonable prices (~$260K). I wonder whether a house sitting off of a main street is less attrative to sellers or what... Another question is that how much should we expect to spend on regular maintenance of a 50-year house? I'm thinking of a 2200-2500sqf house on an 8000sqf land. How about taxes, if we live in? Thank you so much!

Hello forum! We're first time home owners and would like to hear your opinions. Because I work at North HW6 and my husband works at Greenway Plz, we try to find a place "convenient" (though, it's hard) for both of us. We're considering Walnut Bend, Lakeside, Wilchester and Briargrove CT,Park... Our budget is up to $300K, though $250K-$280K would be even better. Which area is better, in terms of safety, traffic and home value appreciation? I tried to find crime statistics of the neighbourhood on internet, but didn't have much luck. Do you have any resource to recommend? Many thanks! W.E.