Plano Home Frustrations (Rice: new house, water heater, luxury)

[stan4]

Originally Posted by Rakin

Don't judge a house by pictures on the internet. If you go inside you'll see the reason why.

Ermagerd, truer words never spoken.

[DallasG]

Originally Posted by Rakin

Don't judge a house by pictures on the internet.

In my old neighborhood, one home was listed so poorly, with a vague description and bad pictures that they weren't getting any traffic. They fired their realtor, asked a photographer friend to take professional pics, wrote passionately about good features of their home on FSBO listing. Home was sold in three days with 11 offers and they saved on realtor's commission as well. Some realtors are great marketers while others have no idea on how to advertise a product in positive lighting.

[pistisan]

Originally Posted by Vogue186

My husband and I currently own a home in the Irving-Valley Ranch area and for 3+ months have been on the house hunt. We are looking to move to Plano, as it is closer to work for both of us (currently commuting to Plano and Richardson) we need a larger home, and better schools. We now have a 1 year old and are planning to have another within a year or so.

So...we are super, duper frustrated. Our budget is $365 - $400K MAX. Looking for the following:

- Exemplary schools
- 2,500 - 3,500 sqft
- Decent neighborhood
- Backyard area for play (prefer pool)
- 1 or 2 story okay, but would prefer MBR down

We had a contract on one home that we LOVED at the higher end of our budget, only to learn the roof is bad and the home is uninsurable. Sellers did not disclose this "minor" detail and would not work with us on the repair, so we walked.

Perhaps we are being picky buyers but the market is dry. Every home we have seen lately has some major flaw in our minds - backs up to a busy street, has an awkward floorplan (5 bedrooms and only 2 bathrooms), major foundation issues, etc. Everything we find that we do like is already "sale pending." We have a good agent doing his best but the bottom line is we aren't seeing anything we like, or that we feel will meet our needs.

Perhaps our timing is off...

My best analogy is that we are at the bottom of the candy bowl - everything is picked over. What's left is the icky stuff no one wants.

We're looking at 75023, 75024, 75025, 75093.

Any suggestions or other zip codes / areas to look or recommendations?

Thank you!

I do see a lot of homes in 75025 zip code that is within your price range. What other requirement do you have? Also what feature attracted to the home you placed an offer on but backed out due to a roof issue?

[DitsyD]

Originally Posted by usc619

Why not expand your search right next door to Allen and Frisco??? Seems as you're hung up on the status/schools. To be honest they're all basically the same.

The schools are NOT the same.

[Vogue186]

Originally Posted by pistisan

I do see a lot of homes in 75025 zip code that is within your price range. What other requirement do you have? Also what feature attracted to the home you placed an offer on but backed out due to a roof issue?

Really we liked the floorplan of this house (MBR down, 4 bedrooms 3.5 baths, 2 living), the fact that it had a decent sized yard - front and back ( and a pool), great character, and awesome schools. It was just what we were looking for. Again, I've been seeing lots of others that we like as well but they are already listed as "sale pending" as soon as they show up on the MLS, so they must be inside deals.

[Vogue186]

Originally Posted by 2URGSE

The builder of the development is Megatel Homes. The location is the SE corner of Parker and Presto. I believe they have a sales office offsite in Plano. Call their main number and I'm sure they can give you more information.

Couple of things to note:
1) That parcel of undeveloped land isnt that big to begin with, so I imagine the lots will be quite small and probably will not give you much backyard space.
2) Double check the zoning of middle/high schools for that area. I think it might be different compared to homes just on the other side of Preston.

Thank you! Will check this out. Always open to suggestions and exploring other options!

[pistisan]

Originally Posted by Vogue186

Really we liked the floorplan of this house (MBR down, 4 bedrooms 3.5 baths, 2 living), the fact that it had a decent sized yard - front and back ( and a pool), great character, and awesome schools. It was just what we were looking for. Again, I've been seeing lots of others that we like as well but they are already listed as "sale pending" as soon as they show up on the MLS, so they must be inside deals.

When you say, "As soon as they show up in MLS", is that mean you visit the home the same day the property is listed in MLS and make an offer on the same day?

[Vogue186]

It's one of two scenarios. 1) the house shows up on our agent's MLS portal, we try to schedule a viewing as soon as we notice it, and it's sold before we can even get there. Or 2) we see it in our agent's portal, schedule a viewing and it is already under contract by the time we see it.

My husband and I are still leaning towards going back to the house we walked away from. It's really what we want. But isn't it crazy to pay top price for the area (one of the priciest homes in the neigborhood), only to put $15K back into a roof just to make the house insurable? Seems like a bad financial decision to me. Am I crazy?

[BayTexan]

Look in 75025 around Russell Creek park - homes zoned to Andrews, Skaggs, or Wyatt elementary. Quite a few homes in your price range and fitting most of your criteria. These are in the Plano West feeder.

[pistisan]

Originally Posted by Vogue186

It's one of two scenarios. 1) the house shows up on our agent's MLS portal, we try to schedule a viewing as soon as we notice it, and it's sold before we can even get there. Or 2) we see it in our agent's portal, schedule a viewing and it is already under contract by the time we see it.

My husband and I are still leaning towards going back to the house we walked away from. It's really what we want. But isn't it crazy to pay top price for the area (one of the priciest homes in the neigborhood), only to put $15K back into a roof just to make the house insurable? Seems like a bad financial decision to me. Am I crazy?

Can I assume the home at your agent's website is up to the minute and you visit the home the same day it is listed and available for viewing?
What's wrong with the roof? Can the insurance company cover the damage? I wouldn't suggest to pay top dollar and pay an extra $15K to fix it, that's just don't make sense, Wait a week or two and see if the seller contact you to reconsider or have your agent give them a call to see if anything has changed.