All Forum Posts by: Debra Dunne

You can pick up Tradewinds proper for the $100k mark too if you keep an eye out, though they've been higher recently. They're newer(ish) houses. I think mine over there was built in 2004.

   You might shoot a little lower, though. Southlawn, Oakdale, Lawndale all are solid rental neighborhoods, that are generally $65k-$90k and you can rent them for a higher return than the nicer neighborhoods. Tenants are a little more trouble, but generally pretty good all in all.

Ah...the lament of every real estate investor, everywhere. ^_~

I have a couple of guys I use, but only one I'd recommend. I've found an awesome guy named Mitchell Vivens. He can do most anything, has the tools to do most anything, and does it well and cleans up after himself. Only problem is he's just one guy. One guy can only complete stuff so fast, and he has a bunch of demands on his time. If he's got your project, yours is the only one he's working on, but you have to take a number behind projects he's already working on. Worth it IMO.  I feel kind of weird posting someone's phone # out here on a public board for all to see, but PM and I'll be happy to share it! 

  Personally I'd stay away from A-tex builders. They advertise a TON on craigslist, but I found the guy to be full of himself, and the quote he gave me was 3 times what anyone else quoted me for the same work. Maybe others have had better luck-I've never actually had him do anything for me-but that's my opinion

@Jonathan G.

  The trim IMO. That wood trim around all the window and door frames and in some of the rooms. I don't know how it is in every market, but here in Amarillo, you can find the wood look trim in almost everything built pre 1985. In fact, I can usually guesstimate the age of a house if I don't happen to know when the neighborhood was built when I walk in and see the wood-look trim instead of a plain white one or beige one. Obviously, this house was built after that time frame, but that's immediately what my mind flashes to when I see it.

  That heavily textured paint in the one bathroom(?) too. You just see an image of a lone sink with no vanity attached (Which also makes it look dated IMO) and a mirror above, and on the walls is a really thick type texture. The only place I've seen paint texture like that was in my grandmother's 1926 built house.

The paneling in the dining room is another thing. It's not wood-look, and it's only on the bottom, but paneling isn't something I see in "modern" houses.

The smaller tile in bathrooms. It wasn't pink or blue or other 70's colors, but it didn't really yell "I'm a modern bathroom!" either

  It IS a nice house, but that neighborhood is very ritzy and well to do. Everything is fancy and state of the art in the area. This house just kind of warrants a "meh" compared to everything else I've seen there. I wouldn't even look twice at a "meh" house for that price point. You could get about anything in town for half a million dollars. 

@Zane O.

Just for another viewpoint, I had some coworkers who have nothing to do with the real estate industry, but who live in town, look at your pictures to give their viewpoint. Their thoughts were

1) Didn't like the flooring change from the grey tile to the wood(or maybe it's just a wood look tile) in the dining room

2) Thought the paint was bland in most rooms, and didn't care for the red room at all. 

3) wanted a pool if they were going to consider that price point

4) didn't like how the bathroom tile was all one type of tile. The ladies wanted cute little inset or designs in it to break up the monotony

I hope this helps in some way and good luck to you!

If you want an opinion from a local, your house (while lovely) lacks the pop and wow of a bunch of The Colony homes. I agree with what Scott Schuetz said. It doesn't have anything special that I noted from the pictures (compared to a lot of the Colonies homes) and has an older feel to it, even though it's newer construction. 

Honestly, though, I think your main problem is price. There's not many buyers at that price range here, and I didn't really note anything that would attract my attention if I were looking for a house in that range. 

I do think staging would help. Make it LOOK special with your furnishings if there's nothing particularly special about it (in comparison to neighbors of course. It'd be a grand house in any other neighborhood). My 2 cents anyways. :-)

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4505-Yale-St-Ama...

That was the one I was talking about. 

The only other duplex I know of for sale is over on Curtis, but I think they're 2 bedroom and not somewhere I'd be extra thrilled to live at either, though not as horrible as some. 

There was a duplex for sale on Yale St, not too long ago. I think Howard Smith had the listing. Not 100% positive on the details but I think they were asking $193K or close for it. I'll see if I can find it again and let you know

I like the bright turquoise door. It makes the whole house stand out, IMO. Draws the eyes in and then you notice how nice the rest of the house looks too.

Zane: Shawn! I knew it was something with an S, but I couldn't recall. I'm not familiar with the Dodson one though. Does he have a mailing list? 

Yeah that Lenwood thing was a great deal. I had to go fairly high to get it, but still way under market. There were 26 offers on it altogether! And that was only in a short amount of time. It was listed Friday and they told me I had it Sunday night. So 26 offers in 3 days....

Tom:  Go Buffs! I didn't go there myself, except for a few summer classes and odds and ends, but you've got have pride in your home town college. Thank you for the well wishes and send some of that rain y'all got our way! ^_~

Zane: I'm on the Mitchell's mailing list and AmarilloWelcomeHomes too (Is that guy's name Shane? I want to say it is, but I've only talked with him a few times.) If you know them in person, though, that'd be great, because I completely miss out on the good deals they've had because I'm too slow and not on their radar. >_< I just bought a VA foreclosure on Lenwood, so I'm not looking to buy again right now, but it'd be nice to have someone on my side when I am. Pleased to meet you!

Thank you Micheal! There doesn't appear to be a lot of people from this area on here (or maybe we're all just the quiet evil genius types ^_~) but the few that I've seen post seem to be very knowledgeable about what they're doing and what the Amarillo market and area is all about. It's interesting to get perspectives from different places, though. My market vs. Juneau's vs. what's out in California all are completely different from each other. I'd probably have never realized exactly how different they were if not for someplace like BP.