Question: What is a CMA? Answer: A CMA – or comparative market analysis – is an excellent way to determine the sales price of your house or the value of a house that you wish to buy. It’s a data-crunching exercise that compares recent sales of similar properties while taking in account house square footage,
In 2017 we began a new feature on our blog called Ask the Agents. Since then, we have answered many, many questions from clients, friends and perfect strangers. This is our 20th installment of questions and answers. Question: What is a sellers’ market? Answer: Typically, a sellers’ market is one in which there is six
Question: We are in contract on a house and had an inspection done. Among the inspector’s findings: wood rot around windows, cast iron pipes under the house and missing shingles on the roof. Doesn’t the seller have to make the repairs? Answer: No. There is no requirement for a seller to make any repairs, unless
Question: Are open houses actually useful? Answer: The short answer is, yes. Oh, we’ve heard many of the arguments against public open houses: Only nosy neighbors come. It’s a weekend amusement for people who could never afford my house. Dishonest people might be checking out my stuff. Real estate agents want them in order to
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) regularly tweaks the various contracts, agreements, notices and addenda that home buyers and sellers and their agents use. The common One to Four Family Residential Contract – that is, the contract typically used to resell a home – has had a number of changes that will soon go into
Cameron and Teresa are working now on the next edition of the River Oaks Market Report, set to go to press next week. The “Outlook” edition will drill down into the River Oaks real estate market for 2020 – what sold where and for how much? – plus offer thoughtful insight as to what to
Question: What precautions should be taken for an open house? Answer: Despite six months of COVID-19, the real estate business has not ground to a halt. Or, to put it more accurately, after a hard stop last spring, it is once again percolating along. People feel more comfortable going out, and there remains a pent-up
We haven’t talked to anyone in the past four months without hearing some version of the same question: How is the real estate market during the COVID-19 pandemic? HAR.com issues monthly updates on the entire greater-Houston market area, as you surely know, and the real estate market varies widely from area to area. We have
Question: What is the difference between a saltwater pool and a regular pool? Answer: A sparkling clean backyard pool makes a sultry Houston summer worth it, right? And no doubt, given our current COVID situation, people who have a swimming pool will be staying home and using it more than ever this year. As real
No one in Houston has been unaffected by the COVID-19 crisis that is playing out. And the scary medical/social-distancing circumstances have been compounded by free-fall oil prices and stock market. For many clients contemplating the largest purchase of their lifetime, this is a daunting situation. As of mid-March, most business that was in the pipeline