skyblue

Isn't the fourth quarter generally when real estate sales are slowest or has the barrage of short sales and foreclosures temporarily changed that?

Thanks. Do you know of anyone who specifically does septic well? Also, have you come across yards infested with snake holes; any recommendation for that kind of pest inspector? I saw a couple of houses in one neighborhood, which shall remain nameless, but we counted at least 5 snake holes within five feet of the back porch. I decided not to venture any further out on the land.

Interesting. I don't know about anyone else but the few times that an agent has given me a list of comps, the properties all sold for at least 97% of list price. I was suspicious of those comps for that reason.

Funny you brought this one up because I was one of those interested parties but I had no idea that it sold for almost double. I want to avoid that buyer's agent like the plague.

A little word of mouth marketing needed... Please recommend individual home inspectors, inspection companies, septic inspectors, termite inspectors, title company, or other vendors you have had first had experience with that did a great job and that you would not hesitate to send them to your mother, sister, or daughter to work. On the flip side, please simply note that you once used XYZ but you are decidedly not a repeat customer or that you had a one-time experience with so-so for roofing or something plainly factual that I may want to consider. For serious red alerts please PM me with the heck no warning details. Better yet, please feel free to just PM me altogether with anything less than positive recommendations.

Hello, everyone, I have lurked here sporadically for three or so years. I have seen a few news reports indicating that the Houston-area housing market has suffered no real consequences of the economic downturn. Some areas have homes listed for higher prices now than a few years ago. For example, homes in olde oaks that were listed for $189-199k in 2006-07 are listed for $220-240k in 2009 with no updates. To my surprise I have seen a majority of them sell at close to the current higher price. Seems like foreclosures or shortsales are the slim opportunities to get somewhat of a deal. I realize that several variables affect final purchase stats but this topic is for interest sake and not to get prohibitively technical. What year did you or a friend purchase your homes and what was the percentage of the purchase price to the final list price? If you can share general location information, that would add an interesting tidbit. What I know is 4bed/3.5bath/~3800sf/less than 5 years old was purchased this year for 79% of list price but it was a foreclosure in the northwest 4/3.5/>4000sf/couple years old was purchased this year for 101% of list price but it was also a foreclosure in richmond; worth every penny IMO I don't have any first hand knowledge of regular resales right now but I do know a couple others on the market. When I watch housing shows on HGTV, it seems that most everyone is paying within 3% of list price and it makes me wonder whether buyers actually really ever negotiate.