May 2009

Property Taxes – Glitch to Blame for Sky High Home Values in Areas of Waco? – Info to Protest Your Appraisal

By now you may have received your 2009 Notice of Appraised Value from the McLennan County Appraisal District. And by now some of you are back home from the emergency room after having a mild heart attack! No kiddin’!

I was told that there was some sort of ‘glitch’ that caused well…. the total market value on some home appraisal notices to ’sky rocket’! Straight out of the ionosphere bouncing off the moon and headed out of the milky way at faster than the speed of light, to put it mildly. Heck, MCAD (McLennan County Appraisal District) had my own home appraised value at over $94,000 higher than last year! My first thought was…. “?!*%!” I’ve talked to other Wacoans whose home values were appraised way too high as well. One home owner in Western Ridge said that his value went from $195,000 to $308,000! – talk about hyper speed.

I called the next day to the appraisal office and was told at first (by whoever answered the phone), that my value would be readjusted down by $56,000. Wow! Thanks but no thanks, you’re still about another $44,000 too high. After wrangling a little, I was finally able to talk to someone else there that could help me. Since I’m a Realtor, I had the comps in front of me and was able to get my value down to where it should’ve been to begin with. Some folks may not be as lucky to have that info front of them.

Note: If you plan to protest the appraised value of your house, this article will contain helpful information. Also, if you live in McLennan County (Waco, TX area) and you need comps of recently sold homes in your neighborhood to use as evidence when trying to get the value of your home lowered by the county, I’ll have a form at the bottom of this article that you can fill out and I’ll get you the comps via email as soon as I can.

Hey, this isn’t about ‘cheating’ the county out of tax revenue. This is about fairness. It’s only fair that your appraisal be as accurate as possible. That’s what the Appraisal Review Board (ARB) is for!
Under Texas law, you have the right to protest the appraisal district’s actions concerning your property. The ARB is an impartial panel made up of citizens to resolve any disputes between home owners (taxpayers) and the county appraisal district.

If you feel that your home’s value is too high and you can’t resolve the issue with the appraisal office directly, then you can take your case in front of the ARB. In addition, the ARB will hear testimony from the person who actually did the appraisal of your home’s value.

Recognize that the Appraisal Review Board acts as an independent judge:
The ARB listens to both the taxpayer and the chief appraiser before making a decision. It is not a case of taxpayer against the ARB and Chief Appraiser. Appraisal district staff must take an oath to tell the truth. The ARB will ask you to take an oath as well, either by swearing or by affirming, before you present evidence. The chief appraiser has the burden of proving your property’s value. If he or she fails to meet the burden of proof, the ARB must determine in your favor.

There’s a recent addition to the law that adds another tool for the owner of  property under protest with a market value of $1 million or less. If the property owner submits to the appraisal district a properly conducted, recently completed and certified appraisal of property value at least 14 days before the hearing, the appraisal district must provide evidence that clearly refutes the independent appraisal. If the county appraisal district fails to do so, the ARB is required to rule in favor of the property owner.

If you believe the value of your home is too high, then by all means CALL THE DISTRICT APPRAISAL OFFICE FIRST! Typically, the folks there would rather not go through the time and hassle of a hearing in front of the ARB and are sometimes more than willing to try and resolve your dispute over the phone.

I’ve had to protest my home’s appraisal a few times and I’ve never had to present my case to the ARB. Only once, did I have to go down to the district appraisal office. Every other time, we managed to iron out our differences over the phone

“Okay, so now what? I got my appraisal in the mail, it was too high and we can’t come to an agreement.”

For McLennan County, you must file a written notice to the Appraisal Review Board if you want them to hear your case. File your notice of protest by May 31 or no later than 30 days after the appraisal district mailed a notice of appraised value to you, whichever date is later. Note that the deadlione is 30 days after mailing the notice, not its receipt. If you are an off-shore worker or on full-time military duty, you may be entitled to file a late protest.

The hearings will begin on June 15th, 2009 and be held at:
315 South 26th Street in Waco, TX

You should’ve received a protest form with your notice of appraised value. If you did not, then send a letter with your name, property address, and the reason you’re protesting. If you have any questions, the phone number for the McLennan County Appraisal District is (254) 752-9864.

Okay, now that you have filed the written notice, you need to start collecting evidence to support your protest.

Here are a few tips and other things to know when protesting your appraised value to the Appraisal Review Board:

• Collect information about recent home sales in your neighborhood. If you need comps for your neighborhood, I have a form at the end of this article that you can fill out and I’ll be glad to get that information for you. Make sure you use sales data of properties that’s comparable to your own. Year built, square footage, locations, type of construction, etc… The comps will be of recent sales. Typically, going back the last 6 months. If necessary I can broaden the area or use sales going back a little further.
• Be sure to weigh the costs and time it may take to prepare a case! If it’s only going to save you a couple of bucks, then take that into account!
• Take photos of your house that will support your claim of a lower value. For example: cracked slabs, bad plumbing, etc…
• Make note if you don’t have some of the ‘extras’ that other properties in your neighborhood may have:tile, wood floors, granite counters, storage shed, swimming pool, etc…
• Think about using an independent appraisal for evidence. Have you recently refinanced your house? You may have a copy of your appraisal in the packet of information you got after closing on the new loan.
• Be sure to ask the appraisal district for records of similar properties in your neighborhood
• Check to make sure that the county has the right square footage of your house. If the county has your square footage higher than it actually is, that will skew your value. If you don’t know how to measure your house, you can call an independent appraiser to do it for you. The cost will probably be $50 – $100.
• Present a simple and well organized protest based on clear evidence. Stress key facts and figures. Write them down in a logical order and be sure to give copies to each ARB member! You’re required to give a copy of your evidence to the appraisal district before the hearing as well.
• Stick to the facts. The ARB has no control over the appraisal district’s operations, budget, tax rates, or local politics. Trying to address these topics will waste time and will not help your case.
• Most important of all – BE ON TIME TO THE HEARING!

If your property value is too high and you’re not comfortable going in front of the ARB, you can have someone act as your agent. The person that you appoint as your agent just needs to bring a written notice signed by you giving that agent a right to act on your behalf.

Here’s a few downloads that you may find useful:
Texas Property Taxpayer’s Remedies: How to Protest Your Property Value for Property Taxes
Appraisal Review Board Manual – 2009
Property Tax Info – From the State of Texas Website

If you’re protesting your property tax appraisal and need comps of recent homes sales for your area, please feel free to fill out the form below and I’ll be glad to email a CMA to you. You may be able to use the comps to help get your appraised value lowered!

Important: Please fill out your name, email, and the address of your property. I need the address to make sure that I pull the right info for the right neighborhood!

As always, if you have questions or need more info, just give me a call.

Bad MLS Photos – A Home Seller’s Problem

I know you’ve seen them. Heck, maybe even the photos of your house could win bad photo of the week! Not a good thing.

Actually, there’s a few different emotions I experience when I see exceptionally bad MLS photos. First, there’s the comic relief. Some of those photos are just down right hilarious! But also, I feel for the home sellers because I think they may not even know how bad those photos are. Then there’s the disappointment in the agent that actually took the photo.

When I say a bad MLS photo, I’m not talking about a professional’s opinion of right lighting, white balance, use of HDR, color saturation, contrast, focal length, etc.. When I say bad MLS photo, I mean…. “That agent should’ve NEVER taken a picture of that! What the heck were they thinking!” or that the agent could’ve at least slowed down before they stuck their arm out of the car window to snap the exterior pic of the house with their cellphone camera! The photos below are actual pictures from one of the MLS systems, they have not been altered or retouched other than resized:

According to The National Association of Realtors’ 2008 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, about 87% of home buyers use the internet in their search for that perfect home. Typically, the first thing they’ll notice about your house, fortunately (or unfortunately in many cases), are the photos. I say fortunately because having great photos is a good way to make your house stand out from the rest of the crowd.

It blows my mind that a Realtor can list a $400,000 $500,000 or $1,000,000 house and show up to take photos with an old 1.3 megapixel point and shoot camera they bought used for $50. The commission on an expensive home like that can be a considerable amount. You would think that the agent would spend some time at their new listing trying to take the best photos possible, instead of doing a  ”dash and shoot” – where they dash in, spend about 15 or 20 minutes shooting pictures, then dash back out.

Hey, the photos can make or break a house, really. Since the majority of home buyers are looking for homes on the internet, one thing they want to see are the photos. Got awful pictures? Your home’s appeal isn’t as good and the number of potential buyers for your house just got smaller. Unfortunately, when your ‘potential buyer pool’ decreases, many times your net proceeds from the sale of your house will also shrink.

Maybe a few years ago, especially on the West and East Coasts (also states like Arizona, Nevada, etc..), having great photos wasn’t as much of concern as it is now. Back in the housing heyday of a few years ago, the buyers were in a frenzy. It wasn’t uncommon for an agent to list a house in the MLS (without photos I might add) and wait, what like 7 hours(?), for multiple offers to come in. Well, it’s a new time, the frenzy is gone, the multiple offers are gettng a little more rare, and yes, Virginia, just throwing a house up on the MLS isn’t going to guarantee a sale.

Maybe it’s time for agents to think out of the box a little (more on that on another post for another time). That out-of-the-box thinking will require better photos of your house! Wow, it’s kind of disturbing that  ’better photos’ could be considered ‘out of the box’. Taking good (if not great) photos should be as common for real estate agents as getting the listing agreement signed by the seller.

The photos below, I actually took myself and  were not on the MLS. Actually, the original photos of that house were pretty good; the original listing agent let me take some photos for myself so I could do a ‘comparison shoot’ (and let me get some practice). I also wanted to preview the house for a buyer I had coming to town. Now, I need to make a note that I’m NOT a professional photographer. Photography has become a new hobby for me.  Anyway, for the ‘before’ pictures, I did a typical ‘dash and shoot’. I dashed in, snapped some quick photos, and dashed back out again. The dash and shoot took about 15 minutes; And I used a regular digital point and shoot camera. For the ‘after’ photos, I was there for 1 hour 45 minutes taking the photos, then another 2 or 2.5 hours on my computer post processing the pictures, well, and I used a ‘little’ (little may be pushing it) more expensive camera equipment:

Hopefully, the ‘after’ photos would make you want to see the house more if you viewed the listing online. By the way, as I’m writing this, that house is for sale. If you’d like more information about it, just give me a call.

If you have signed up to receive home listings via my “now” notification system, then you’re well aware at how bad some photos can actually be. Just so you know, all those listings that I send out are from the entire MLS system and NOT just my listings (or just listings from Keller Williams Realty). When you recieve updated and new listings in your email, just know that the photos and information that you see are actually supplied by the listing agent.

Here are a couple of great websites that actually ’showcase’ awful MLS photos. Might be good for a laugh:

• Orlando Real Estate Photography
• Very Vintage Vegas
• The Real Estate Bakery
• Norm Fisher

One thing you should do as a seller – ask your agent to give you a print out of the MLS sheet concerning your property. You need to know how the photos look (if the agent even bothered to supply photos), but also to verify that it contains accurate information! You’d be surprised how many listings contain wrong information: Sales price, school district, bedrooms, square footage, etc…

With so many homes for sale on the internet, your property can become easily lost in the crowd. It’s important that your agent makes your house stand out as much as possible. Taking great photos is just the first step.

The old saying really does ring true: “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”.

Best Resources for Researching Waco Real Estate Information

I have a lot of clients that move into the Waco area from out of town and of out state, which is great, I love that the Waco area seems to be growing; Especially in the past 3 or 4 years.

Of course, those folks who are new to the area want information about it. No surprise, many people decide to hit the internet and read about Texas and the Waco area. Unfortunately, in their search for information, they may stumble across some websites that either have outright false or very outdated information.

I’m not trying knock those webistes. I have nothing against them, but I’m trying to keep you informed.

I’ve had several out of town clients requestion more information sold prices they’ve seen on these third party websites and unfortunately, the data they’ve received from those sites has been wrong.

I don’t know how those websites come up with estimated price of recently sold homes for the State of Texas (maybe they use averages?), but one day I randomly compared information I obtained from one of those websites and the information contained in our MLS. In ALL cases of my comparison, the third party “real estate” website contained wrong data. Either the sales price or the sales date (or other key pieces of information) was false.

As I’m writing this, Texas is a non-disclosure state. Meaning that the prices at which homes sold for is not a matter of public record. You can’t go down to the county courthouse and look up that info. You can find out how much of a loan someone took out on a piece of property, but you won’t know the actual sales price… Unless you talk to a Realtor.

Realtors have access to that information (and more), provided that the sale of a home was recorded into the MLS. Whenever there is a sale, part of our job is to the update the MLS record and record the sale. This typically includes sales price, sales date, if the seller made concessions, etc… Having these records in our MLS database helps us keep a pulse on property values and help sellers establish an asking price and also help buyers establish an offer price.

Zillow.com and other similar websites can have useful generic real estate information. Just be aware if you want up to date (and important… accurate) information concerning the Waco real estate market, your best resource for that information is your local Realtor.

If you’re a home buyer looking to buy a property, besides contacting a Realtor, the best place to go on the internet to view properties is probably realtor.com. Realtor.com is owned by the National Association of Realtors and it has the most accurate and up to date information regarding homes currently for sale.

I’ve seen to many websites who claim to have the largest database of home for sale in the universe! Unfortunately, all to often their “database” of homes for sale… is out of date. I’ve seen properties listed as active and “for sale” that were actaully sold a year earlier!

Information that I find on the internet, I usually take with a grain of salt.

I had one client who was moving here from out of town. He had found some information about recent home sales on zillow.com. The website had stated a house was sold in Woodway for $176,300 when actually it was sold for over $200,000. Because of those wrong figures, he though that home values in Waco were cheaper than they are. Actually, he didn’t believe me when I told him about the actual price! I had to prove it to him.

Just a reminder, information you may find about what a house sold for, or what is currently offered for sale, etc… may be completely out of date and wrong. Your best option for up to date and accurate info is to call a local Realtor.

Foreclosures – The Nation, Texas, and Waco

So… How’s the nation’s foreclosure rate? In short, Higher. According to data released today, the foreclosure rate for April jumped 32 percent compared to the same time period last year. More than 342,000 homes received a foreclosure notice in April. Of course that’s a nationwide statistic.

Although I like going there on vacation, I’m glad that I don’t live there… the city of Las Vegas lead the pack in foreclosures. One in every 56 households got a foreclosure notice last month… Wow! Coming in at number 2 (but not far behind), was the southwest Florida metro area. One in every 57 Cape Coral-Fort Myers households got a foreclosure notice.

Looking closer at the data though provides some interesting stats. The top ten states leading the foreclosure rates are:

1. Nevada
2. Arizona
3. California
4. Florida
5. Illinois
6. Michigan
7. Georgia
8. Idaho
9. Utah
10. Oregon

I’m a little surprised by Georgia, Idaho, and Utah. You would think for sure that New York would make the top ten list! Not to mention Colorado, New Mexico, and maybe Washington state.

But you’ll notice that Texas isn’t on that top ten list! Hooray! (sort of). Texas foreclosure rate is still up from a couple of years ago, but not as much as other area. As a matter of fact, according the Star-Telegram, the North Texas area has seen a jump in foreclosure rate of about 8% for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the end of 2008. Mainly due to job losses.

According to RealtyTrac, cities in just 4 states (California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida) counted for the 26 highest foreclosure rates in the first quater!

Okay so where does that leave Waco? Better than some areas and worse than others. Really though, according to the Waco Trib, foreclosures for May came in lower than the record breaking April. For the first five month of 2009, over 570 houses were posted for forelosure. In contrast, just a few years ago, a little over 350 houses were up for foreclosure during the first 5 months.

Usually with higher foreclosures rates, obviously home value appreciation rates either slow or decline. Using data from the Waco MLS system to compare the 1st quarter of 2009 with the same time period last year, values for existing homes in the Waco MSA have fallen by only 2.6%. By contract, the  DFW area existing home values have fallen by nearly 5%. As a whole Texas home values are down, but not out, especially when you consider the housing problems in a few select states through out the country!

It’s kind of interesting though, even though Waco MSA home values are down 2.6% percent for the 1st quarter, when I look at homes sold in the last 30 days and compare it to the same time period last year, values for existing homes are down 4.4%

This is kind of funny though,  a few years ago, I’d have clients who were moving to Waco from California and I’d show them what they can get here for their money and they’d be in shock and how much house they could actually buy! I’d tell them… “Hey, this ain’t California “. Now, when I get a client from California who thinks they can buy a $200,000 home in Waco for $100,000, I have to tell them… “Hey, this AIN’T CALIFORNIA!” Although are values are down, they’re not cut in half like in some areas fo the country! But don’t get me wrong, Texas, on average (and true today), still has some of the best buys for your buck compared to the rest of the nation!

Even with the depressed housing market (and falling home values) in states like California, Texas is still a GREAT value! Here’s what $230,000 will get you in San Diego: View Listing. Here’s what $231,000 will get you in the Waco (Hewitt) area: View Listing

Some experts say that increases in foreclosures, lower interest rates, and good deals out there have created a “perfect storm” for home buyers in various high price areas. Even though Texas and the Waco area haven’t suffered as badly as those areas, it’s still a great place to buy a home and live.

Waco, The 1953 Tornado – The Legend & The Irony

There’s an old indian legend that says the Waco Indians chose this area to settle because it was in a geological recess, protected by hills and bluffs, making it tornado proof.

On May 11, 1953 a reporter telephoned James Dixon, chariman of Baylor University Department of Geology, and asked about the old indian legend. Dixon kind of scoffed and said “It wouldn’t take but one tornado going right across Fifth and Austin to prove that wrong.” A few hours later, that statement became truth.

May 11, 1953 – Ed Berry, president of R. G. Dennis Department Store called his banker, Carroll Sturgis and asked him to come over to the store so they could talk business. Sturgis turned down the offer saying, “Looks like there’s going to be a storm.” ‘Storm’ was an understatement.

On the same day, May 11, 1953, a doctor’s assistant left his office for a moment and ran across the street to grab a newspaper. An article in the paper read that Waco was protected by hills (bluffs) and would never be hit by a tornado.

Just at that moment, a funnel cloud touchdowned and was headed toward downtown Waco. The doctor’s assistant, Ted Lucenay, was buried underneath bricks, boards, and debris. One of Ted’s co-workers was struck by a desk and although they couldn’t see each other, they talked throught the wall. “I heard her until she took her last dying breath”, said Lucenay.

At 4:36 p.m., what has become known as “The Waco Tornado” struck the downtown area.  Over two blocks wide, the tornado struck with such ferocity that the R.G. Dennis Department Store crumbled, killing 22  people inside, including Ed Berry. Sadly, those 22 people were just the tip of the ice-berg.

In all, 114 people were killed by the tornado and nearly 600 injured, with some survivors trapped beneath the rubble for 14 hours. Despite the massive help, it took several days to recover the bodies of those killed.

The Waco Tornado, rated an F5 on the Fujita scale, damaged 1,000 homes and business and completely destroyed over 600 more, including the Dr. Pepper bottling plant, which today is the Dr. Pepper Museum. Also, 2,000 vehicles were either damged or destroyed in the high winds. The cost of the Waco Tornado was estimated at about $50 million, which is over $350 million in today’s dollars.

The Waco Tornado was judged to be over 1/3 mile wide with winds reaching at least 260 mph. After the tornado was finished with Waco, it moved north-northeasterly and left a 23-mile long path of destruction. It ranks in at number 10 for the top 10 deadliest tornadoes in American history.

You can read more information regarding the Waco Tornado

• Waco Tribune Herald
• View Photos of the aftermath
• View Video of the aftermath
• Fox News Article
• Waco History Project (article 1)
• Waco History Project (article 2)

Waco – The City’s Future Plans of Yesteryear

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but I seem to enjoy history a lot more now than I did when I was in school. Maybe because just in my lifetime, I’ve witnessed so much history – BIG history. Anyway, I was just browsing a few websites reading about the history of Waco and I just came across a fun (and interesting) article on the Waco Trib’s website. It’s an article the features some of the plans for the City of Waco – as envisioned decades ago.

Kind of fun to see where the city has been, what the citizens though would be great for the our town, what we completed, what we did not, and where we’re headed now.

Eight swimming pools, beaches, walking trails, highrise apartments, marinas, and museums were just a few of the ideas thrown around. Here’s the entire article from the Waco Trib – Mapping Waco’s Future.

Texas Home Building Making a Comeback Before the Rest of the Country?

Texas home builders are set to rebound quicker than anyone else. So says Joe Robson,  chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.

Of course there’s not prediction when the housing market will up-turn, but many people think that Texas is poised to experience a home market recovery first, mainly due to our supply and demand levels. Texas has been able to keep up with our housing demand (in the past) compared to other areas.  So while other parts of the country did experience a “home shortage” a few years ago (of course, driving up home values – dramatically), Texas hasn’t suffered from that problem, partly due to the sheer size of our state and the availablity of land here.  Also, we can’t forget that we’ve kept a relatively good check on our market here! With the exceptions of a few locales, the  home builders here haven’t terribly “over-built” like in other states.

Hey! I prefer slow and steady anyday over rapid bubbles. It was bound to happen, seriously did anyone think that the insane home value appreciation rates could hold up? Yeah, me neither.

I was talking to someone in California yesterday. They were looking at my listing at 1135 Heatherwood in Hewitt - View Listing. They were telling me that house would be around $800,000 where they live! Wow! Even today? With the market bust in that state? That’s completely bonkers! How can ANYONE afford to live there at all? And a own a home?

I sold a house to a buyer that moved here from California (San Diego) recently. He was coming to Waco for a new job. Anyway, we were talking about home values here compared to California. I always assumed that, on average, folks in California made more than people in Texas… Boy, was I shocked when that buyer said… “Actually, with my new job in Waco, I’ll be making per year here than I was in San Diego!” And I’m talking a “professional” job too. Complete surprise.

Anyway, back on topic. The fact that Texas is expected to rebound quicker than other areas of the nation is good news for our state!

Real the entire article: Texas home building expects fast rebound

The Truth About Home Price Reductions and Good or Great Deals

I read an interesting (okay, funny really) press release put out by Trulia announcing their “Hair Cut” search engine. Apparently this new option for searches will let you specify only to search for homes that have had a previous price reduction. I guess that means that you can specifically search for homes whose price has had a “hair cut”.

A quote from the CEO of Trulia:
“It doesn’t matter if your price point is $200,000 or $2 million, in these difficult times people are searching for the best deals they can find on homes. Our new price-reduction functionality makes it easier for people to find the home of their dreams without laboring through unwanted results.”

My first question is why would consumers want to limit their searches in this way? Not to see a potential home because that house hasn’t needed a price reduction? Sounds counter productive to me.

Is the CEO trying to say that homes who haven’t had a price reduction aren’t a good deal? The truth is that many homes that go “under contract” or “pending” status rather quickly (when they first hit the market), more often than not… did NOT need a price reduction. It was a great price to begin with!

Truth be told, a lot of times, the best deals to be had by buyers can by found by those properties that just hit the market! NOT the houses that have had 30 price reductions and been on the market for 2+ years. Stop and think about it. A seller lists their house for sale (for more than it’s worth). It usually sits on the market and can go through several price reductions until the asking price for the home reaches a point to where someone is willing to buy it. Just because a house has had a price reduction doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. All that means is that the previous price was higher than what someone was willing to give for it.

Now, you take a seller who lists their house at BELOW market value. Their asking price is LOWER than a price for which someone is willing to pay for that home. Would you think that those houses sit on the market for very long? Usually, they don’t.

Let’s do the math. As of right now, there are 337 homes marked as “pending” or “under contract” (meaning that someone has a contract to buy that house). Out of that 337, 120 homes have had price reductions, which means that about 64% of the house that are “under contract” (right now) had NO PREVIOUS PRICE REDUCTIONS!

Let’s go further and look at houses that only have been on the market for 45 days or less. There are 113 houses “under contract” (right now) that have been on the market for 45 days or LESS. Out of those 113 homes, only 8 have had a previous price reduction, which means that 93% of those homes had NO previous price reduction!

I quite don’t “get” what Trulia is trying to accomplish (with their new “hair cut” search engine) other than to drive people to their website so they can sell more advertising. In the ever increasing competitive online market place for home listings, maybe that company needed to make some “news” or just have a reason to issue a press release? Whatever the reason, be wary of the gimmicks that some of these websites try to tout as the next best thing because, in fact, it may not the best thing at all!

The figures and the math all add up. One of the best ways to find a great deal is to be informed… and fast. The sooner you know about properties hitting the market the more informed (and better positioned) you become.

If you’re a buyer looking for great deal, just know that many of those “great deals” don’t stay on the market long at all. In addition to knowing which homes hit the market fast, you need to be prepared to act fast. Getting pre-approved for a home loan is a major step you can take to set yourself up to be able to act fast… just in case you come across that great deal.

Since I’m a Realtor, I know you may take this with a grain of salt, but really, one of the best ways to find those great deals is to find an agent; an agent you trust AND an agent that keeps up with market constantly. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but sometimes those great and unbelievable deals never actually make it the MLS system (and thus, never make to websites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc…). Realtors do talk, and talk a lot, especially about any homes that they’re about to list…. that happens to be one of those great deals.

Find an agent you trust, one that can keep you informed and more importantly QUICKLY informed. Some of those websites I mentioned earlier are great for browsing and killing time, but if you’re serious about buying a house, the sooner you find your personal Realtor, the better positioned you’ll be.

If you’re looking to buy a home, you can sign up for my free email notifications of new listings. This service is free. If a home that matches your search criteria is listed on the open market, my system will automatically email you that listing. You’ll be notified on a daily basis. But if you prefer, I can notify you immediately! Warning: If you choose to be immediately notified (instead of daily), the number of emails can be numerous.

Sign up here – Waco Home Search

Just remember, often, the best tool you can use in searching for your first home or a great deal… is a Realtor.