Need suggestion about the house (Plano, Frisco: sales, buying a house, neighborhood)

[househunter69]

I am working in Plano and have a child of elementary joining. Our first priority is a good school. The max planned budget is $450K.

We like the below house. I am a bit confused due to the below reasons.
The current market is the seller market and there are not many inventories currently available. In Frisco ISD, I don't see many new houses in this price range.

Due to the above reasons, this house should be a hot-selling one. But I do notice that
This house is on the market for quite a long time. I see that builder decreased the price of around 10%. I am just worried that is there any specific reason for it.

We are new bees to the market. There are more chances that we may not notice things which is pretty easy to notice.

As it is a big decision for me and my family, we are afraid that there should not be any issues. Can one of the experienced people through some lights around this be helpful for us to decide?

https://www.zillow.com/homes/16315-M...3580573_zpid/?

[Katana49]

Personally I wouldn't pay any more than $350-375k for that home, which would put it at max $162/sq ft for a Lennar home with a small lot. And, while it may just barely be in Frisco and Frisco ISD, for all intents and purposes, that's house is basically in Little Elm. It's a long way from any Frisco amenities, so that's not a selling point.


It's also one of the smaller homes in the neighborhood. If you look one street over, you can see a 2800+ sq ft house sold for $430k in July, with an identical lot size. That suggests that $425k for 2300 sq ft is overpriced, as the other home sold for $153/sq ft. If you like the home, put in an offer of $350k and see what happens.

[househunter69]

Originally Posted by Katana49

Personally I wouldn't pay any more than $350-375k for that home, which would put it at max $162/sq ft for a Lennar home with a small lot. And, while it may just barely be in Frisco and Frisco ISD, for all intents and purposes, that's house is basically in Little Elm. It's a long way from any Frisco amenities, so that's not a selling point.


It's also one of the smaller homes in the neighborhood. If you look one street over, you can see a 2800+ sq ft house sold for $430k in July, with an identical lot size. That suggests that $425k for 2300 sq ft is overpriced, as the other home sold for $153/sq ft. If you like the home, put in an offer of $350k and see what happens.

Thank you this makes a lot of sense to me. I did not even know this is the way to analyze. May I know how you come up with this number of $162/sq or $350-375k. So that I can analyze the other home in same fashion.

[stephwin]

I feel like 3 bedrooms aren't great for resale, especially at that price. I'd get a 4 bedroom instead. You're definitely closer to amenities in Prosper than most of Frisco. I also don't like driving on 380.

ETA: I just saw that you work in Plano. That's a terrible commute. Either you're paying a ton in tolls every month, or you're literally crawling along 423 or Legacy the entire way because of all of the traffic and school zones.

[househunter69]

Originally Posted by stephwin

I feel like 3 bedrooms aren't great for resale, especially at that price. I'd get a 4 bedroom instead. You're definitely closer to amenities in Prosper than most of Frisco. I also don't like driving on 380.

ETA: I just saw that you work in Plano. That's a terrible commute. Either you're paying a ton in tolls every month, or you're literally crawling along 423 or Legacy the entire way because of all of the traffic and school zones.

Thank you. I did not know about 3 bedrooms aren't great for resale. This information really helps. What amenities are we referring to? It would be helpful if I get some information. I understand the concern about driving in 380 and 423. When I went to visit the house, it was slow-moving. Is there any checklist I can run through to check the value of the house?

[some1livesinamerica]

For new construction houses, I am not really sure if now is really a seller's market. We bought a new construction house last year, price and location are similar to the house in your link. Base on my own observation, just the community that we live in, the builder is definitely not selling houses left and right. The builder for our community is planning to build a total of 73 houses, as of now, roughly 30% of the lots are still empty. According to redfin, in the last 3 months, only 2 houses were sold, currently, 1 is pending. I remember back in 2016, when we bought our first house, it was a new construction as well, price was much lower, the builder definitely had an easier time to sell the houses.
I totally understand buying a house is a big decision, not just your family, but other families as well; we worked hard and lived frugally to come up with the down payment for the house that we want to buy. If im in your shoes and i really like the house, go there and check it out. Talk to sales representative about the house that you are interested in, typically for houses are already built, there should be some negotiation room on the price. And before you close, definitely hire an inspector to inspect the house.
Forgot to mention, to really know if the house is really worth the asking price or not, it is helpful to get a CMA report on this house. Since Texas is a non-disclosure state, you will need the help of a realtor, only realtors have access to the MLS.

[some1livesinamerica]

OP, looking at the floor plan of the house that you are interested in. You know if you buy a ready to build house, you have the option of converting the study into a 4th bedroom. Typically, price for ready to build houses should be cheaper compare to inventory houses, unless you go crazy on the upgrades when you meet with your designer. I guess the downside of buying a ready to build house is that the process typically takes 4-6months, sometimes even longer, depending on how fast the builder builds houses and some people simply don't have the time to wait that long to move into a house. Also, the price for some of the upgrades that the builder offers is insane, $18/sq ft for engineered hardwood floor.... yeah right. But i agree with others, $425k, $184/sq ft for a house thats just south of 380 seems a bit steep.

[househunter69]

Originally Posted by some1livesinamerica

For new construction houses, I am not really sure if now is really a seller's market. We bought a new construction house last year, price and location are similar to the house in your link. Base on my own observation, just the community that we live in, the builder is definitely not selling houses left and right. The builder for our community is planning to build a total of 73 houses, as of now, roughly 30% of the lots are still empty. According to redfin, in the last 3 months, only 2 houses were sold, currently, 1 is pending. I remember back in 2016, when we bought our first house, it was a new construction as well, price was much lower, the builder definitely had an easier time to sell the houses.
I totally understand buying a house is a big decision, not just your family, but other families as well; we worked hard and lived frugally to come up with the down payment for the house that we want to buy. If im in your shoes and i really like the house, go there and check it out. Talk to sales representative about the house that you are interested in, typically for houses are already built, there should be some negotiation room on the price. And before you close, definitely hire an inspector to inspect the house.
Forgot to mention, to really know if the house is really worth the asking price or not, it is helpful to get a CMA report on this house. Since Texas is a non-disclosure state, you will need the help of a realtor, only realtors have access to the MLS.

Thank you. Redfin statistics are new to me. The information about the seller market is from one of the seller agent. I have already visited the house and they are not ready for the negotiation. Thank you for the information about CMA report.

[househunter69]

Originally Posted by some1livesinamerica

OP, looking at the floor plan of the house that you are interested in. You know if you buy a ready to build house, you have the option of converting the study into a 4th bedroom. Typically, price for ready to build houses should be cheaper compare to inventory houses, unless you go crazy on the upgrades when you meet with your designer. I guess the downside of buying a ready to build house is that the process typically takes 4-6months, sometimes even longer, depending on how fast the builder builds houses and some people simply don't have the time to wait that long to move into a house. Also, the price for some of the upgrades that the builder offers is insane, $18/sq ft for engineered hardwood floor.... yeah right. But i agree with others, $425k, $184/sq ft for a house thats just south of 380 seems a bit steep.

I thought the price for ready to build houses is higher when compared to inventory houses. Realter are saying Price = Base Rate + Elevation + upgrades + Premium. So I thought it would be more.

I can wait till next year school starts.

In my family, we are having a debate that a small 3 bedroom house will be enough. But recently I heard that small houses are hard to resell is it true? if yes, then what is the minimum sqft for the bigger house?

[Rakin]

It has high DOM because they probably started it in the MLS when they started to build it. It originally listed for $440 and they have come down.

That's a lot for a 3 bedroom, smaller 1 story that's always to 380.
But Lennar must be selling them or they would come down.

You do know 1 story homes sell for a lot more price per sqft than 2 stories? Going up 1 story is cheap footage. 1 stories also have more slab, plumbing, etc. - a bigger footprint, more costs and less sq footage.

Many older couples love 1 story homes. There is big demand usually for these homes.