Steve Malinoff

Stuart,

At this point, you probably need to list sooner rather than later. On average, it takes close to 120 days to sell a house. Some sell faster, some slower, some not at all. Everyone is right, in that the most important factor to make an immediate impact in the demand for your home is pricing.

While renting it out isn't your first choice, it is still a viable option, and better than potentially losing it to foreclosure, short sale, etc. Often, I have clients that try to sell, but if they don't get sufficient bites on the house, they end up leasing.

The important part for you, if you want to lease, is to have an adequate property manager to manage the property while you're gone. This is an ongoing expense, but will provide tremendous peace of mind, and with a new baby, peace of mind is priceless. Even if you're at a small loss each month, it may be more affordable than other possibilities.

Give me a call, 210 521 0068, and I'll give you a no cost consultation in greater detail on what your options are, what I can do to help you, and what to expect from the process. Or, if you prefer, email me at stevemalinoff@aol.com.

Best of Luck

There are other things to consider if you are going to sell. How long have you lived in the house? how much do you owe? how do homes in your area sell? - Sat Jul 19 2008, 18:25

MLS exposure typically has about a 70% success rate. That means approx. 30% of all listings that are on the MLS will not sell. This assumes, of course, all other things are equal. What type of other exposure do you have? I don't even see your home advertised on this website - www.trulia.com. I don't see a virtual tour. The pictures are also blurry. Is your home advertised on google, yahoo, msn, aol real estate, etc? what you need to do is find out what your realtor is doing for you beyond the minimal MLS exposure.

How many showings have you had? If you've had a satisfactory amount of showings, then you'll know that the issue is something with the house once the prospect is there. If you're not having a sufficient amount of showings, it's probably due to your lack of exposure.

If you'd like to discuss it further, feel free to call me at 210 521 0068, or email stevemalinoff@aol.com - Tue Jul 15 2008, 11:00

Regarding trees, most builders have learned their lessons and don't cut down any unnecessary trees when building. That being said, the good, highly treed lots, are always the first to go. BIG, shade trees, though, are difficult to find. Lots of smaller, live oaks, but very few tall shade-type trees, like maples, etc.

1/4 acre to 1/3 acre will be tougher. In your price range, you'd probably have to get a "lot premium". Even with a lot premium, you're unlikely to get a full 1/4 acre.

for your price range, typical lot will be 75-80 ft wide, 120 feet deep or so. The lot size you indicate would probably need to be an "estate" style house, and it might stretch your 250K intended budget.

Check out the website below - it is for Medallion Homes - a popular local builder. This neighborhood is pretty well centrally located, while being out of the air patterns, and not too far from the aforementioned Braun Station.

Feel free to contact me, and I can get you in on a buyer's automatic MLS search, so each time a home comes up for sale that you might be interested in, it'll be emailed to you automatically. - Mon Jul 14 2008, 20:40

Braun Station is a nice, established area. Homes there are a bit below your price range, though. There might be a little bit of Air Force air traffic, but not much. I live in Westover Hills, and they fly over us a few days a week. I don't suspect you'll get that kind of air traffic in Braun Station.

I work in that area frequently. If you need some assistance, feel free to ask. My email is stevemalinoff@aol.com. Remember, you won't have to pay me - the seller in a transaction in Texas pays the commission for both the seller's realtor and the buyer's realtor. - Mon Jul 14 2008, 15:36

I forgot to mention. My favorite newer area of town is in the far NW, called Alamo Ranch. It's a brand new, master planned subdivision, that is only 1 year into what will be a long term build. Once complete, there is supposed to be approx. 11,000 homes out there. All various price ranges, styles, sizes, etc. Your price range, 250K, should be able to get you a great place out there.

Give me a call, when you are ready to look, and I'll be happy to show you around that area. - Mon Jul 14 2008, 12:46

All that have responded have been correct. And, unfortunately, all of the Churchill Estates / Huebner area is in that flight path. If you go further north, outside of 1604, the noise lessens, but is still there a bit. But up there, the bigger problem is traffic.

Where I live, in the NW by Sea World, the commuter jets aren't an issue, but the Lackland AFB jets are. That being said, military jets fly so fast that the noise quickly dissipates.

In the NE, you often see trainers flying around Randolph Brooks AFB, so it's not much better out there than it is for those near Lackland.

If you go a bit further west than churchill estates, you may be able to get out from under that approach area. Closer to I10, maybe into the medical district. The area isn't quite as nice as churchill estates, though. Try the area off of Vance Jackson, N of DeZavala. Nice neighborhoods in there, that shouldn't have too much of the air noise...

if I can help, give me a call, 210 521 0068 - Mon Jul 14 2008, 12:44

Jeremy, some of these answers are incorrect. From what I understand, it is ILLEGAL for a builder to offer a lower price to a buyer if they aren't using an agent. As a case in point, I recently sold a 200K new / inventory home, that put forth 21K in buyer's incentives. Noel, who currently works for KB (according to his bio), should check with his management to see if they would sell a house for less if there wasn't a realtor involved. The intention of this is to protect realtors from a potential builder making a backdoor deal with a buyer directly, or vice versa, thus cutting out the realtor. In other words, let's say commission was 4,000. if there wasn't some form of protection for the realtor, what is to stop a builder from approaching the buyer and saying "we'll give you an extra 2K in incentives if you cut out the realtor and buy direct". Often, the situation is just the opposite of what Noel suggests, in that buyers usually don't know that builders are "negotiable", but realtors do...Because of this, even though I work in San Antonio, i've sold 3 new homes in Houston, and 1 in Austin, along with 2 in San Antonio.

All of that being said, it is partially correct in that part of a realtor's job is to find a house for their client. Assuming the job of a buyer's agent is in 2 halves - find a house, and negotiate / complete the deal - then you've already got 1/2 done. Maybe a realtor, who has been through this process several dozen times, will know what to look for more effectively than someone buying maybe their first or second house ever. If Jeremy were to come to me to ask for representation on a home he has already found, I'd cut my commission in 1/2. I think that would be fair - 1/2 the job is done, 1/2 the job isn't.

Fact is, people seldom buy or sell more than a few houses in their lifetimes. A decent realtor should be running 20 transactions or so each year, so the quality of knowledge, compared to a buyer who at best is a novice, is significant.

Another fact is that typically the builder's 10 year warranty applies to STRUCTURE. The nuts and bolts of the house are warrantied for a MUCH shorter amount of time - maybe 1 or 2 years. The warranty is prorated - it might be 1-2 years "bumper to bumper", then another couple of years for electrical and plumbing, then the remainder of the 10 years mentioned earlier for structure.

Another fact, making a comparison of buying a car to buying a house is quite simply foolish. Car saleman aren't licensed, and not required to be ethical in dealings with the public, etc. Same is true for NEW home counselors / salespeople. Realtors are LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY held to a higher standard of knowledge than non-realtors, including those that work for the builder.

Also, often sales counselors are bonused on each sale. Thus, it is in their best interest to sell the house. Much like car salesman, they will do whatever it takes to sell a house. HOWEVER, their loyalty rides with those who sign their checks - the builder. Also, if their bonus for the sale is in any way tied to the amount someone pays for the house, add this to the fact that they're not required to be up front, ethical, honest and forthright, and you've got someone that gives the appearance that they are on your side, when they are actually not.

Food for thought. If, there was another builder 2 blocks away, that had a similar house, for 5K less, do you think your "sales counselor" would tell you about it? if you had a realtor, they would. Or, if the same builder had complaints filed against them, that the realtor knew about, and the sales person knew about as well, would you find out from the sales person? You'd certainly find out from the realtor.

Another fact - not all inventory homes were built for someone else. Some builders do build inventory homes, and their sales counselors pick the most popular options to put in the homes. Recently, though, since sales have fallen, this tendancy has diminshed some. However, it is not fair to assume that just because a home is in fact an inventory home, that someone ordered it, had it 1/2 built, and then cancelled his contract. Some builders will change their terminology a bit - they might call a home built by them with nobody in it a "spec home" instead of an inventory home. Typically, this happens when a builder has a particular lot that, for whatever reason, choices as to what type of floorplan fit on that lot, are limited.

If you believe Noel's statement that you can get a better price without a realtor, give the builder a call, and ask them if the incentive amounts or sales price changes if you have a realtor. They'll tell you the answer.

Jeremy, if you need assistance, call me, and I'll help you any way that I can. 210 521 0068. or email at stevemalinoff@aol.com - Mon Jul 14 2008, 12:13

Give me a call. 521 0068. I have a couple of suggestions, but would prefer to speak to you directly. I live right across the street from you, and am very familiar with the area. - Thu Jul 10 2008, 11:21

It is difficult to compete with the builder. They offer high incentives for buying from them, financing through their lenders, etc. Also, it's obvious you're significantly upside down in the house. Did your current realtor share with you exactly how much you should expect to lose on the house?

Is your realtor keeping in touch with you, explaining the reasoning for such? now a days, MLS exposure often isn't enough to sell homes. Home buyers often start searching for homes before they have a realtor. You probably need more exposure - internet, print, etc. Then, once you know you have the most exposure possible for your home, then you can look at other areas as well - pricing, etc.

Give me a call and I'll be happy to discuss it further with you. 210 521 0068. - Thu Jul 10 2008, 10:27