Moving to San Antonio - looking to buy (Howe, Alto: rentals, condo)

[rbrivard]

Definetly rent first. I have lived in San Antonio for many years and can tell you that the city is very spread out. The city is also congested in some area and horrible construction in some others. Also what kind of environment do you want? No matter what side of town you live on their is always safer ones you can only find by living here and exploring (or asking around co-workers and new friends).

[TexasRedneck]

If anyone thinks I directly comments at them (except in response to comments directed at me, that's not my intent. Whay I *am* trying to do is provide input based on my personal, 3rd party observations - I'm neither a Realtor, or a buyer/seller. I'm a businessman that derives some of my business from residential sales. Last year started great, died to almost nothing mid-year, but since December has slowly started coming back. Is it where it was 2-3 years ago? Heck, no - but it IS improving.
Thing is, I lived through the S&L debacle in the 80's, which makes this latest problem seem much easier by comparison. That doesn't help those living it right now, but the key here is that perhaps down the road, folks might find this on the web and temper any decision they make by reading some of the historical perspectives. As I've said repeatedly - we put over 30% down on this house BECAUSE we've lived through a "dead" market before - and vowed we'd never be in the same position again. Those of you living in it now....I *DO* feel your angst, but the biggest message I'm trying to convey is to LEARN from it, REMEMBER it - and NEVER live through it again! Look at which builders' subdivisions are most heavily hit, and remember that down the road when you're looking at another house.
Am I wrong? I don't *think* I am, and let's find out - I'm going to name 3 builders' names off the top of my "avoid" list - nothing scientific, and no basis in factual knowledge - but generated based on some of the "gut feel" developed based on my own experience:

1. KB Homes
2. Fieldstone
3. Armadillo Homes

Question to the Realtors - am I correct, are the above the some of the "biggest losers" in terms of original purchase price vs current value?

[RGJ]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

I'm going to name 3 builders' names off the top of my "avoid" list - nothing scientific, and no basis in factual knowledge - but generated based on some of the "gut feel" developed based on my own experience:

1. KB Homes
2. Fieldstone
3. Armadillo Homes

Question to the Realtors - am I correct, are the above the some of the "biggest losers" in terms of original purchase price vs current value?

I doubt your list is going to remain here very long
And you probably won't get an honest answer from someone in the business who is known by name on this board.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by Proffer

I would rent for a while first. If you do your research on home buying (outside of what a realtor will tell you), you'll learn that buying when interest rates are low, and about to head up, is the WORST time to buy a house. That's one of the reasons I'd wait a year first. Interestingly, the realtors' argument that you'd better buy while interest rates are low because it will be less affordable soon is precisely why you should wait! If it will soon be less affordable to buy, what do you think will happen to prices? These people who ALWAYS want you to buy NOW, like to ride both sides of an argument. If homes become less affordable because of higher interest rates, what in the world makes one think that prices will not go down? It's not like people HAVE to buy at all--ever! (a shocker to consider, I know) Wait until you know what's going on with neighborhoods, interest rates, etc. Three thousand to move your stuff will be a drop in the bucket.

It's interesting in theory, and I can see a little of what you're saying, but reality is that people will always buy houses. Always. In the 80's when interest rates were in the high-teens, they bought houses. They just adjusted WHAT they bought. The incredibly low interest rates of the last few years have honestly probably convinced folks to buy more home than they should, which is a reason so many are feeling the pinch now. You can't time the market, because it's impossible to predict what it's going to do. Home prices aren't going to skyrocket or plummet. They're going to move a small percentage either way, at best. Interest rates won't go down, but they probably won't skyrocket because the current administration won't let them. With all the bad PR they're getting, they're going to find a way to artificially keep them low.

The bottom line is that rates and home prices will affect WHAT people buy, but they'll still buy. They bought when rates were high. They just bought less house. When rates were low, they bought more house.

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by RGJ

I doubt your list is going to remain here very long
And you probably won't get an honest answer from someone in the business who is known by name on this board.

It's certainly not an "attack" on 'em, but rather based on their marketing strategies - the types of homebuyers they tend to pursue. And the Realtors I've known over the years would typically not sell in these types of developments, because they know that many will be burned, and NOT call on them for their next home.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

If anyone thinks I directly comments at them (except in response to comments directed at me, that's not my intent. Whay I *am* trying to do is provide input based on my personal, 3rd party observations - I'm neither a Realtor, or a buyer/seller. I'm a businessman that derives some of my business from residential sales. Last year started great, died to almost nothing mid-year, but since December has slowly started coming back. Is it where it was 2-3 years ago? Heck, no - but it IS improving.
Thing is, I lived through the S&L debacle in the 80's, which makes this latest problem seem much easier by comparison. That doesn't help those living it right now, but the key here is that perhaps down the road, folks might find this on the web and temper any decision they make by reading some of the historical perspectives. As I've said repeatedly - we put over 30% down on this house BECAUSE we've lived through a "dead" market before - and vowed we'd never be in the same position again. Those of you living in it now....I *DO* feel your angst, but the biggest message I'm trying to convey is to LEARN from it, REMEMBER it - and NEVER live through it again! Look at which builders' subdivisions are most heavily hit, and remember that down the road when you're looking at another house.
Am I wrong? I don't *think* I am, and let's find out - I'm going to name 3 builders' names off the top of my "avoid" list - nothing scientific, and no basis in factual knowledge - but generated based on some of the "gut feel" developed based on my own experience:

1. KB Homes
2. Fieldstone
3. Armadillo Homes

Question to the Realtors - am I correct, are the above the some of the "biggest losers" in terms of original purchase price vs current value?

Because I'm licensed, I can't and won't name names. What I can tell you is that the subdivisions that were hit were the ones offering insane financing, getting people into homes for almost nothing. When that happens, a lot of them treat the home as a rental, because they've got "no skin in the game" for lack of a better term. The more equity you have in a home, the more you respect it.

Granted, that's not a blanket statement, because there are a ton of VA buyers and others that DO in fact care for their home and have great pride in it. Heck, when it was still available, I did an 80/20 loan on my personal home so I could keep my investments where they were and not have a down payment. Tons did.

However, just as many got into homes that really shouldn't have. They had enough to afford a payment, but not everything that goes along with home ownership. Production builders are a good thing for a great amount of the population, but you have to keep in mind that you NEED to take care of a house for it to last. But in a lot of these neighborhoods, you had glorified renters that didn't have any "skin in the game" so they didn't take as much pride in their home. This led to a lot of the neighborhoods looking run down.

The low to no down payments is the main driving force behind this industry wide issue.

[kevcrawford]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

It's certainly not an "attack" on 'em, but rather based on their marketing strategies - the types of homebuyers they tend to pursue. And the Realtors I've known over the years would typically not sell in these types of developments, because they know that many will be burned, and NOT call on them for their next home.

AND because if we do our job right, we're going to be the one selling that home in the future, and we'd rather have a listing that would be appealing.

[scuba steve]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

It's certainly not an "attack" on 'em, but rather based on their marketing strategies - the types of homebuyers they tend to pursue. And the Realtors I've known over the years would typically not sell in these types of developments, because they know that many will be burned, and NOT call on them for their next home.

Lol all the talk about attacks is because of a term I threw in a while back that can be found on urban dictionary meaning:

Getting your feelings hurt, being offended or getting all bent out of shape because of something petty or stupid.

Which is exactly where I knew this thread was headed towards.

I agree with kevincrawford's last couple or three posts completely btw, and to add that from what I've driven through at least it does seem that these type of neighborhoods wound up with a disproportionate number of rentals which never helps the situation.

Seriously though SA is a city plenty large enough to have submarkets in real estate. An area does well, another one winds up a bit more like the ones we hear about on the news. It's up to a buyer's due diligence to figure out not only where they want to live but to look into neighborhoods plus the surrounding area on the larger scale and truly figure out what is the area doing and in what way does it look to be trending over say the next five years or so.

[USAF-24]

[quote=majormadmax;17504095]Yeah, just because it's the most popular and fastest growing part of town, it's gotta suck!


My bad - meant NE.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by USAF-24

My bad - meant NE.

Unfortunately, lately I would have to agree. When we lived here last (99-02), the NE part of SA was pretty nice, but when we returned in 2005 we were surprised to see how it had become. It definitely wasn't heading in the same positive direction that it used to.

That said, we were also shocked at how much the NW side of town had grown during the three years we were gone. Inasmuch as I like this part of SA, I have to admit that the growth has its downsides. Many beautiful and historic properties have been bulldozed to build housing communities and strip malls.

Still, given the choice I would still lean towards this part of the city. It sits at the foot of the Texas Hill Country, traffic is bad but nothing like the northside (re: Stone Oak) and at least there is room to grow here.

I will also admit I am impressed with how much the southside of SA is improving, it still has a long way to go but at least it's on the right path.

Those are just my observations, and I am sure some (maybe even many) disagree with them.

Cheers! M2