Condos or Townhomes? What's Your Choice?

Most of the time people in our area think of condos and townhomes as interchangable terms. They actually are not and can have strict implications when finding financing for your student housing needs.

Condos in Bryan or College Station have a shared association that maintains the exterior of the buildings and common areas. With ownership of a condo you own the airspace, but not the land, around your condo. You, as part of the association, do have a share of the land. With the purchase of a condo you do not need to have insurance with most finance companies. Despite their nonstringent requirements please get insurance. You still retain ownership of the sheetrock in. If a disaster occurs the association will be responsible for rebuilding the exterior of the structure. You will be responsible for the sheetrock, cabinets, fixtures and finish out of your property.

Financing a condo can have special implications, but typically only if you are using an FHA loan. FHA will want to ensure two things about the condo association. The first is that it is at least 51% owner occupied. You will not be able to get an FHA loan on a property that is primarily owned by investors. The second is that no more than 10% of the units are encumbered by FHA loans. It is an unusual case where there are more than 10% of a condo project that has FHA insured loans, but ensuring that your project isn't one of them can be difficult at best.

Townhomes are considered conjoined (typically) single family structures and have no strict guidelines. You may or may not have a home owner association that will provide common maintenance and maintenance of the exterior. You own the land under your unit and have no FHA guidelines specific to townhomes.

Why would you want to go FHA? That's for a different discussion! For more information about different aspects of the Bryan/College Station market go to my blog site at http:/www.BCSRealEstateNews.com. Please give Coti or I a call for all your buying or selling needs here in Bryan-College Station, whether it be a condo or a luxury home!

College Station Condos Going Fast!

Condos in College Station have been going fast this year. Sales are brisk in both the condo market and the 150K and below housing market. Waterwood, at this time, only has one condo on the market active and it is a three bedroom, three bath. The Woodlandsrecently sold it's last four bedroom, four bath condo. Fox Run still has many three bedroom, three baths, but only one two bedroom, two bathroom unit available. Canyon Creek has only experienced modest sales this year. Deacon Condos on Fraternity Row are completely sold out currently also.

If you are looking for student housing call or email! We can set you up on a search and call you or email you when anything comes available on the market for sale. We are full service Buyer's Agents and can show you anything on the market as well as negotiate the best price for you.

If you are looking to sell student housing give us a call and find out about our progressive marketing program.

College Station Home on Acreage

Bryan and College Station are filled with both city lots and wide open spaces. Moving here you will need to make a decision about how you want to live. Is a small city lot for you? Would an acre or more be right? What about a property you can have horses on? Easily found in certain price ranges here (typically 250K and up, but sometimes lower, pricing will go up to over 1 million). Things to consider are land upkeep, and costs associated as well as garbage pickup, septic system costs (a contract with a reputable maintenance company is required by Brazos County). Some of the pleasures are wide open spaces and the ability to see the stars brilliantly at night!

If you’re in the category of the acreage lover, are you looking for the perfect spot to call home? Consider this gorgeous 3 bedroom/2 bath on five rolling acres near the Brazos River! Zoned to the newest College Station elementary school, Forest Ridge, this fantastic property is sure to please! A three stall barn and tack room, fenced corral and beautiful stone firepit are all designed to make your outdoor living more enjoyable! Remodeled interior features new granite tile countertops, a more open floorplan and beautiful new tile and carpet. Call for your private showing

College Station Real Estate in 2008, Meca, or Disaster?

The news has been bombarding us with information about how low new housing starts are; as well as how "prices are plummeting" on existing homes. In many cases what the reporter is doing is taking statistics from one area and applying them to the nation. No matter how you slice it, Bryan and College Station real estate is very different from San Francisco real estate, or New York real estate or, as as matter of fact, any other real estate market in the United States.

Nationally there has been a downturn in sales. Most of the areas affected by this are in places where double digit increases in value previously were the norm. Bryan College Station, in contrast, has had steady, but slow appreciation with rates ranging from 3% to 7% per year. We have actually had some of our highest appreciation while some markets have suffered.

Our market is a dynamic market. We constantly have professors, college students and administration moving in and out. Bryan-College Station also has many non-university jobs that are just moving into town. This doesn't guarantee that we will never have a slump, but plummeting prices are highly unlikely.

A couple of years ago a very nice reporter for the Wall Street Journal came to College Station to interview me and several other top agents in the area. His first question to me when we were face to face is "show me the houses that haven't been selling in the area". He truly didn't want to hear that the market was robust and that we were, overall, in very good shape. He neglected the fact that our average sales price home (at the time right around 150K) was showing days on the market of less than 90, and in certain segments hardly 30. Some of the other agents cooperated with him by showing him homes that were priced twice our market average that were suffering from market lag. College Station luxury homes do tend to sit on the market a bit longer than the average home. Sales, however, in this segment have recently been picking up. Just goes to show you, if you look hard enough you can always find the black lining in the silver cloud!

Overall we are expecting 2008 to be a great real estate year. It will be slower than the boom times that we were experiencing in the 2002-2005 time frames, but still a very healthy market.

For more information about College Station real estate or our market overall don't hesitate to email me or call me at (979)574-1084. Have a Happy New Year!

Spring Time and the College Station Condos are Flying

It looks to be an early season this year with parents already calling about College Station condos that are on the market. Just today I spoke with four potential buyers and two potential sellers of College Station condos.

What makes your condo marketable? It's a combination of location, complex amenities, affordability and condition.

Your condo is only as good as the complex it's in. Most of the condominiums we have here have excellent market points, and some down sides as well. Emphasising the positive, while countering the negative is the best strategy. For the condos that aren't directly on shuttle route finding out how close the route is will typically work. Not many are built terribly far from our existing routes. Targeting ads to parents who don't necessarily feel that their student will want to ride the shuttle can work as well. In general the closer the complex is to Texas A&M University the better off you are. However we have some excellent complexes that are tucked away a bit and still sell for premium prices.

Most of our condo complexes offer a small recreation area and a pool. This seems adequate and we certainly haven't seen better statistics with condos that offer volleyball courts or on-site movie screening areas or carwashes. The one amenity that many students and their parents are looking for is the gated community. This always helps for resaleability.

Affordability is very important for students as well as their parents. In general most of our parents are looking for 3 bedrooms at $150K or less and four bedrooms at 160K or less. Homeowner Association Fees can come into play as well with lower fees and similar amenities winning out consistantly.

The condition of your condo is of prime importance. A unit that has been cared for well will sell rapidly and at the best price. Ensure that the carpet is clean and the unit is in good repair with paint touch-ups and frequent cleanings for the best price.

Call me today with any questions you have about this season's sales or listing your condo or home.

Bryan's New High School Drawing New Homes!

Bryans new high school is coming along nicely! As fast as the high school is going up, the community is seeing new homes pop up in Austin's Colony. Austin's Colony is strategically placed with easy access to not only the new high school, but some fantastic shopping and the new Premier Cinema. Imperial Homes, New Vision, and several other builders are seeing the potential and responding to the demand. Blessed with Harvey Mitchell Elementary and close in to town this subdivision is poised for much more growth and it's become one of our most sought after subdivisions in Bryan.

FHA Loans Making a Comeback in College Station

We've recently seen a resurgence in our first time buyers using FHA financing. FHA doesn't have as many issues as in years past when they mandated "non-allowable" expenses for the buyer. Around 1.5 years ago FHA had a wake-up call and realized that most FHA contracts were going through at higher than average sales prices, which meant, in effect that the buyers WERE paying these fees. FHA still has issues. It is tough to get an older home through the FHA inspection process and the appraiser has to be knowledgable in the rules and regulations. A good look has to be taken of the property before the inspections so that the buyer isn't wasting their money on properties that won't meet the stringent requirements of FHA. Using a real estate agent that is familiar with FHA guidelines is important!