Real Estate Appreciation

[va_residents]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

You don't and I understand, if you are going to remain there until your kids sell it as an estate - then let them worry whether appreciation was good or not.

Most people don't live in a house that long, though. Average time for the rest of the nation - 7 years. Houston - 3 years. Tht's why appreciation is important here.

Just not for you (and me, neither, BTW).

Oh, yeah, just to let you know - the value on the house will really go down if there is a body buried in the back yard. Might tell the kids.

I lived in my other house for 5 years then moved to Houston. If I did not move, I would move into another house any way. The time for me is 5 years. Why is average time for Houston only 3 years?

[va_residents]

Originally Posted by HoustonRonnie

Not really. You've read it wrong. All of these things are in the house just like other builders (standard builders' grade stuff), but everything has and option to purchase Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 upgrades from the standard. Want some really cool shaved hardwood floors? Level 4 upgrade, if you see what I mean. Want builders' grade carpet and pad, that's not an upgrade, it comes in the price.

Ronnie

Builders charge too much for the carpet and padding upgrade. I didn't buy these upgrade because my two small kids destroyed the carpet in my other house. I hired contractor to replace new carpet and padding which were upgraded. The price was even less than what builder charged. Same thing for the hardwood floor. Builder charges $10/sq ft. You can get much nicer hardwood floor for less than $10/sq ft if you hire contractors.

[HoustonRonnie]

Originally Posted by va_residents

Builders charge too much for the carpet and padding upgrade. I didn't buy these upgrade because my two small kids destroyed the carpet in my other house. I hired contractor to replace new carpet and padding which were upgraded. The price was even less than what builder charged. Same thing for the hardwood floor. Builder charges $10/sq ft. You can get much nicer hardwood floor for less than $10/sq ft if you hire contractors.

It's all negotiable. About 1/2 of the upgrades we received were negotiated into the base price (nothing extra from the original base price quote) and the other 1/2 I paid for. To illustrate, (numbers hypothetical) the base price was say $300K, all the upgrades we wanted were, say, $25K, the final sales price with all the upgrades was $312.5K.

Just sayin'...

Ronnie

[SteveArmy]

good for you. personally i dont want to be the guy who has to pay for a new roof or AC system.
i do not understand the whole idea with 'appreciation'. most of us are throwing money 10x more on interests/taxes/maintenance that makes 'appreciation' look worthless

[donhalljobs]

I wish I could commit to a house. I don't think today's jobs have the stability to allow me to stay in one city for 5-10 years.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by va_residents

I lived in my other house for 5 years then moved to Houston. If I did not move, I would move into another house any way. The time for me is 5 years. Why is average time for Houston only 3 years?

I can only guess that we may have more upward mobility than a lot of places. I have a lot of past clients move up into more expensive homes as not much time goes by. Also, possibly because Houston is so big - if someone changes jobs and the new job is across town, it dramatically affects commute time - so they move.

I have had some people tell me that they were bored after a couple of years - (the shortest time was 11 months and they admitted they still loved the house - but just bored). I am guessing the vast choices here affects that. By the way, this really is a bad reason.

I have heard from some other Realtors that my clients stay longer than theirs - I try to get them to think beyond just next year, so it does cut down on house changes. Some people already do - others get it quickly - and still others just won't. It's probably dumb on my part to make sure they are going to be fine at the house for some time.