Are Houston Foreclosures Still a Good Deal?

11/21/16 • -1 min

Houston Real Estate Podcast with Dale Ross

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Every so often, we have foreclosed homes that come onto our market, and there are always many different kinds of buyers looking to purchase them. A lot of them are wholesale buyers, looking to purchase a property, rent it out, and sell it. Then we also have the families, the everyday buyers, who are looking for a good deal and want to move into the property right away.

If you are a homebuyer looking at a foreclosure, it’s true that these homes will often be marketed at a discounted rate if they are in need of some improvements or other work. Some, if not most, of these foreclosures, wind up in a bidding process.

By the time the price gets bid up to an actual sales price, typically it’s not a good buy anymore because of all the time and effort tha...

By the time the price gets bid up to an actual sales price, typically it’s not a good buy anymore because of all the time and effort tha...

Previous Episode

Why Am I Paying a Property Tax Certificate?

What is a property tax certificate and why do you pay it every time you sell a home? Today we're discussing the finer points of why a title company orders this certificate.

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A customer recently asked me about property tax certificates and why you have to pay them every time you sell a home. It's a great question, as not many people know exactly what a property tax certificate is.

Basically, whenever you sell your home, the title company will prorate taxes from the beginning of the year up through the closing date, and as a seller, you're responsible for those property taxes. The buyer, then, is responsible for taxes moving forward. The title company will actually hire a property taxes certificate company, who will then determine exactly what the property taxes were for the previous year and certify the number. This gives the title company a hard number to use for prorating the taxes.

The certificate ensures you've paid property taxes up to the point of sale.

At the end of the year, the taxes could have increased or decreased. If they increased, the seller may actually owe the buyer a little more money for the time frame in which they owned the home. On the other hand, if the property taxes decreased, then the buyer may owe the seller some money based on the tax amount.

Next Episode

How Can You Successfully Sell a House in the Winter?

Thinking about selling your house this winter? There are a few extra steps you need to take to get the most out of your sale this time of year that I wanted to share with you.

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Considering Selling your Houston area home? Get a market analysis of your home

Since winter is nearly here, it’s important to remember that the winter market in Houston is still very good—it always has been and it always will be. In fact, December is often the second-highest closing month of the year in real estate here. Why?

People want to buy a home and be living in it by January 1st to take advantage of the homestead exemption. If you buy a house any later, you may not realize the tax exemptions for that particular year.

Another important thing to consider is your landscaping, especially since we have a lot of grasses here that tend to go dormant in the winter. There are several ways to work around grass turning brown.

For starters, you could just leave it as is because you’ll be on even footing with just about everyone else on the market right now. Another option is to buy winter grass or rye grass, which is very inexpensive. It’s a grass you can seed now that’s very hearty throughout the winter months. When the heat comes, it dies off, so you don’t have to worry about it coming back ever again. You can pick it up at Lowe’s or Walmart.

Homes are sold first on emotion.