What Are the Pros and Cons of a Fixer-Upper?

Many people love the idea of a fixer-upper, but there are four things you should know before you buy one.


Have you ever thought about buying a fixer-upper? Many more people are getting into this portion of real estate thanks to shows like HGTV's Fixer-Upper, which takes place in Waco. Can anyone do this successfully and profitably? Absolutely, there are a lot of people who do. However, it's possible to buy a fixer-upper that turns into a disaster. If you're considering buying a fixer-upper, there are some crucial things to remember.

 First, not every house is going to be a diamond in the rough. Some simply need too much work just to make them livable. Consider location and condition, because you want a house that will maintain its value or increase in value over time. If the house has been very poorly maintained, the cost of reviving it could be extremely high. Just because a house needs a lot of work doesn't mean you should pursue it.

 Next, remember that you have to get a home inspection. I can't tell you how important it is to bring in a professional inspector to look at the bones of the house to really get a good idea of what you're getting into. Any serial flippers will tell you stories about a project turning out to be way more than they expected. You can't always prevent it, but the inspection will go a long way.

Not every house is a diamond in the rough.

 Then, if you're thinking about moving or removing walls, you might want to bring in an architect or engineer to the house to evaluate some of these things. You don't want to be surprised by these things down the road after the renovation has begun.

 Finally, consider who is doing the renovating. There's nothing against doing it yourself if you've got the experience, but if you don't have experience renovating houses or doing handyman work, then you'll need to consider the cost of delegating those items to a professional. Make sure everyone doing the work is experienced and won't get overwhelmed.

 If you have any more questions about taking on a fixer-upper or a major renovation, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or put you in touch with a great contractor for any projects you're thinking of.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

4 Reasons to Buy a Home This Fall

Buying a home in the fall is a smart idea for a number of reasons. One of these is that you’ll face less competition for homes from other buyers.


A lot of people look at fall as a bad time to buy a home. In reality, there are pros and cons to buying no matter what time of year you’re looking. When we look at the fall market specifically, there are four big advantages:

1. Lower prices. Prices usually rise in the spring and summer months, then flatten out in the fall and winter. You don’t see a lot of skyrocketing sale prices during this time and things tend to slow down a little bit.

2. Less competition. When you sell in the fall, there are fewer buyers out in the market for you to compete against. A lot of people who have been in the market have either already purchased a home or are waiting until next spring. Less competition gives you a better chance at finding your perfect house.

This is a great time to get a good deal.

 3. The holidays are right around the corner. A lot of sellers don’t want to have their homes on the market during the holidays. If you are looking to shave a little bit of money off your purchase price or move quickly, fall can be a great time for you to accomplish these things.

4. There could be some year-end tax credits. When next April rolls around, you can write off some of the closing costs and your mortgage interest to offset your tax bill a little bit.

If you have any questions for us about buying a home in the fall, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would truly love to hear from you.
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Location: Temple, TX, USA

What if Your Appraisal Comes in Short?


If you’re buying a home and the appraisal comes in lower than the sales price, what should you do? Here are your four options.


Today I’d like to answer a question that I get frequently from clients, which is, “What should I do if the appraisal on the home I’m buying comes in short?” Obviously, this is a situation that we don’t want to happen, but if it does, you have four options:

1. You can cancel the contract. Most contracts today are written in a way that if the house does not appraise for the sales price, the buyer can terminate the contract and get their earnest money back. This isn’t the preferred scenario for a lot of buyers, but it does occasionally happen.

2. The parties involved could put up more cash. For example, if the house has a $100,000 sales price and the house appraises for $95,000, often the lender may not be willing or able to make up that $5,000 difference. In these circumstances, that difference needs to be made up by the buyer and the seller. The seller could offer to lower their sales price, the buyer could put up more money, or the two could compromise. As long as the difference is made up, the sale can continue.

If the appraisal comes in low, you have four options.

 3. You can change the terms of your loan. Depending on the loan that you’re trying to get and the lenders you’re visiting with, this may or may not be a possibility. However, in certain circumstances, it may make sense to take out a second mortgage on the house you’re buying. By having two liens on the property, you can sometimes satisfy the concerns that lenders would have in the event that the property does not appraise. Again, your ability to do this will depend on the lender and property type you’re dealing with, so I would encourage all buyers to speak with their lender about this option.

4. You can challenge the appraisal. This is probably the option that we go with most often. Appraising a house is not an exact science; you’ll never be able to find homes that are exactly the same as the home you’re buying or selling in comparable sales. For this reason, when an appraiser is looking at comparable properties, they’re putting forth their own subjective opinion to arrive at a value for the property. If the appraisal comes back low, what I would do as an agent is reach out to the appraiser and share facts with them that they may or may not have considered when determining the value of the property in an effort to get them to raise their value back up to our sales price. I’d say this strategy works about 60% of the time.

If you have any other questions about your options in the event of a low appraisal or any other questions about buying or selling a home in our area, feel free to reach out to me by phone or email. I’d be happy to help you!
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Location: Temple, TX, USA
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