Saturday, October 23, 2010

15087 Spring Mist - Well Maintained And Affordable

15087 Spring Mist -a well maintained and affordable 2 bedroom, 1 full bath property - is located in the San Antonio's Spring Creek neighborhood. 



This resale home is in the Northeast School District and is within easy commute to downtown San Antonio, Randolph Air Force Base, and Fort Sam Houston. 

Everything is neat and tidy and ready for a quick move in. 

The home features a courtyard entry, really high ceilings in the living area, and a pass through window from the dining room to kitchen.  The covered patio offers a nice retreat and there's just enough yard for a nice garden.  There's cross fencing for a dog run.  The home backs to church property that's almost like a park.  The seller is offering a residential service plan.

Go here for more 15087 Spring Mist photos and information.

Contact us at (210) 863-2661 or at kelleybus@aol.com to schedule a showing.

We're here to help you with all your San Antonio area realty needs.

Click if you're looking for homes for sale.

Click for expert advice about selling your home .

We're Stephanie and Randy Kelley, Realtors® of Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio, Texas. If you have questions, need San Antonio realty or mortgage loan advice or assistance, or just want to chat a bit about the wonderful Alamo City, please call us at (210) 863-2661 or (210) 867-8743, or E-mail us at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com. Our SanAntonioHomeQuest.com Realty Solutions Team is always ready to help you with your home buying or selling needs.

Please keep 15087 Spring Mist - a well maintained and affordable property - in mind.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Buyers Look For The Negatives In A Property

Did you ever notice how buyers look for the negatives in a property?

They look for a reason to rule out, to narrow their search. In the current market, there are so many homes available that I find that sellers aren't the only ones losing out.

Easily changed features of a home or even a very minor repair on a desirable listing that otherwise meets ALL of the buyers criteria can be the “Kiss of Death.”  I call it the "Mona Lisa's eyebrows effect." Check it out.  She doesn't have any.


Once distracted by a property's minor flaw or trivial issue, the prospective buyer "goes squirrelly" and loses the BIG picture like the kid in this YouTube video.



Thus distracted, it's walk out time, with the buyer thinking, "It may be a Mona Lisa, but why should I hang around a house with no eyebrows, when there are soooo many homes on the market and there must be something better out there than this."

Here are just a few minor items that have placed seeds of doubt in some of my clients minds.

• Cigarette smoke smell or animal smell at the front door.

• Any kind of minor damage around the entrance.(cracked or missing grout in tile, loose weather stripping, bad paint on door or trim)

• Dirty carpet (YUCK) This is the one that the new home sales people love to sell against! Who wants someone else’s nail clippings in their carpet?

• A toilet that runs or sticks when flushing. This opens a whole plethora of questions from the client. "OMG! What other plumbing issues are there? Do they have septic problems? "(Whether or not it's on septic)

• Dated wallpaper/paint. Client: "YUCK! What were they thinking?" Me: "Actually, this was a nice selection in 1989."

• Clutter (just too much of anything) Actually, this is my complaint, the clients don’t usually say anything, or sometimes they say, “Man, they have a lot of stuff,” which translates into, “This place is so cluttered and full of cha chas that I can’t see the house.”   This is when they get real squirrelly and start looking at your collections of vintage tongue depressors, and seriously, why didn’t you lock that valuable stuff up anyway instead of distracting the buyers?

Anyway, these are just a few, I have more and I am sure that you have plenty that you could share. Unfortunately, not all sellers have gotten the memo: The best priced house, in the best condition, in the best location THAT WINS THE BEAUTY contest will sell first. The point is that these relatively inexpensive fixes cause the buyers to lose focus, get distracted (my favorite term is to "go squirrelly") and move on to the next best thing.

In the current market, when a home fits all the major needs of a buyer, we should be able to help them see the BIG picture, how to address the concerns and negotiate those minor distractions into financial savings. . . . . unless there's something better down the street. Hey there's a squirrel!

Thursday, October 07, 2010

October 2010 San Antonio Real Estate Market Report

Here's your October 2010 San Antonio real estate market report.

It proves what a difference a year makes.

Twelve months ago, driven by the Federal First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Program, San Antonio's realty market was in the midst of a home buying frenzy.

The tax credit program was initially very successful as an exceptionally high number of home buyers rushed to purchase their first homes. Although the program prompted elevated home sales across the board, the inventory of properties priced below $150,000 sold off faster than homes in the higher priced categories.

After the tax credit program ended in April 2010, the market quickly drew back. Clearly, the tax credit program's success had drawn much of the energy out the market for the coming months.

Now, San Antonio area home sales and list prices are well below average for the second half of the year. Home values in some neighborhoods have depreciated and sellers have lowered their list prices accordingly. Nonetheless, buyer response has been tepid and the inventory of homes on the market remains high.

In order to attract buyers, owners of resale homes are offering attractive concessions and home builders are advertising enticing incentives.

Given the uncertain national economy, it is difficult to reach conclusions about San Antonio's long term realty market trends, but in the short term, it's clear San Antonio's home market remains relatively healthy and extremely favorable for buyers.

As for sellers, the advantage goes to the home seller most willing to reduce his or her price expectations and expend the money, time, and effort to improve the property's condition and appearance.

Looking ahead, all key economic indicators are positive for the San Antonio realty market's continued growth. Contributing factors are the city's low unemployment rate, a history of sustained job growth, and the activities of a highly successful alliance of politicians, government agencies, and private entities focused on supporting local business development and encouraging outside corporations to locate to the area.

Of particular note for the coming year is the continuing infusion of manpower, money, and material resources associated the area's Military Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) projects.

For those who love stats, here are the key indicators for San Antonio's single family detached home listings as of 8 October 2010.

There are 12,458 homes for sale compared to 11,304 one year ago. The inventory is high but stable for the time being. That's a good sign for home buyers.

The average sales price for the most recent closings is $187,140, compared to last year's $176,287. That's an unreliable indicator because of the large number of lower priced properties sold in 2009 under the tax incentive program. An analysis of longer term data indicates an absence of any significant sales price appreciation since 2007. That's another good sign for buyers.

Average cumulative-days-on-the-market (CDOM) for the most recent sales is 123 compared to 126 last year. During 2009, CDOM figures were unacceptably high, but dropped fast during the Federal Tax credit home buying frenzy. It remains to be seen if cumulative market time will improve further, but a slight upward trend is possible. Nonetheless, for the time being, CDOM data is positive for San Antonio home sellers, specifically, and for San Antonio's realty market, generally.

Industry analysts see these data as reflecting a housing market strongly favoring buyers over sellers.

That's all for our October 2010 San Antonio realty market report. We encourage reader comments and recommendations about how to make our reports more informative and useful.

We're here to help you with all your San Antonio area realty needs.


Click if you're looking for homes for sale

Click for expert advice about selling your home

We're Stephanie and Randy Kelley, Realtors® of Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio, Texas. If you have questions, need San Antonio realty or mortgage loan advice or assistance, or just want to chat a bit about the wonderful Alamo City, please call us at (210) 863-2661 or (210) 867-8743, or E-mail us at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com. Our SanAntonioHomeQuest.com Realty Solutions Team is always ready to help you with your home buying or selling needs.

That's all for your October 2010 San Antonio real estate market report.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Texas Attorney General Halts Foreclosures


Breaking news - The Texas Attorney General halts foreclosures and sales of foreclosed properties!

This rather astounding development is summarized in the following bulletin from the Texas Association of Realtors Legal Department:

"The Texas Attorney General's office has halted all foreclosures, all sales of properties previously foreclosed upon, and all evictions of persons residing in previously foreclosed upon properties, until mortgage companies have completed a review of their processes, including whether employees or agents "robosigned” affidavits and other documents recorded in Texas."

"The AG suspension notices were sent to 30 mortgage-loan servicers doing business in Texas."

If you want to know more, read Nancy Sarnoff's and Parva Patel's Houston Chronical article reposted in the San Antonio Express News on 20 October 2010.

Call us if you want advice about San Antonio foreclosures.  We're here to help you with all your San Antonio area realty needs.
Click if you're looking for homes for sale.

Click for expert advice about selling your home .

We’re Stephanie and Randy Kelley, Realtors® of Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio, Texas. If you have questions, need San Antonio realty or mortgage loan advice or assistance, or just want to chat a bit about the wonderful Alamo City, please call us at (210) 863-2661 or (210) 867-8743, or E-mail us at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com. Our SanAntonioHomeQuest.com Realty Solutions Team is always ready to help you with your home buying or selling needs.

That's the news about Texas Attorney General Halts Foreclosures.