All Forum Posts by: Iris Hou

Hello! Can anyone recommend an experienced buyer's agent who's been in the business mainly in the North Dallas - Collin County area (hopefully 10 yrs+). Looking to buy a 500k-700k SFH. Having some short sale/foreclosure experience is a plus.

@Bruce Lynn Wow that's a lot of great great info!! I can't say enough how appreciated I am! If you can let me know your company name (if you are in buyer's agent business in Dallas/Frisco area) or recommend me someone you know who's good, that'd be nice. And we'll contact once we move to TX, or even earlier, when we start selling our CA house.

@Lucia Rushton That's good to hear that you like it! We're starting to contact seller's agent to sell our CA house. Maybe we'll be in TX much earlier than we planned :).

@Lucia Rushton Yes indeed. It appears that I was misinformed by the buyer's agent that I interviewed with and had the wrong impression about the market, at least partially. Well that's exactly the value of BP and the pros here helping newbs like me :).

@Andrew Garcia Thank you! Very knowledgeable and wise strategy, and I totally agree.

@Paul Camuto Appreciate your insight! The RE buyer agent that I interviewed with suggested me to buy new construction saying we don't need to add price to get the contract, vs resale people are adding 15%, 20% or even more to the listing price and waiving contingency in order to win the deal (I'm not a fan of waiving the contingency - what if there's serious issue hidden that can cost so much money). But now, after talking to you and others in BP, it seems I was under the wrong impression, at least partially.

@Andrew Garcia I feel 3s and 4s are the lows that won't happen in the near future unless there's another crash that made the government having to lower the interest rate to save the market, and the current interest rate in my opinion is not too bad yet. What I really worried about is the future hikes that can pop the bubble eliminating the investors from the RE market and I get myself locked in the highest home price for years. But who knows, no one can really predict the market.

@James Wenzel Really appreciate such valuable advice, and that's exactly one of the reasons why I want to sell my CA house qnd move to TX this year. Factoring in the natural disasters, potential foundation issues, investment value (and of course safety, school and family attractions), is there any district/city that you'd suggest besides San Antonio? I heard that the cities near Houston have high flooding and hurricane risks and houses tend to settle due to their soil - though I really don't know enough about TX in general.

@Andrew Garcia Thanks for your suggestion and info! I'm actually thinking of buying the 1st house in TX with cash. After we settle and get more familiar with the new area, then we'd probably refi and cash buy another or just buy the 2nd with a mortgage. I also feel kinda insecure considering the possible fed rate hike impact on the RE market, which is the reason why I try not to leverage too much or at all. Am I too conservative?

@Bruce Lynn Appreciate all the info that you shared! What season would you recommend us to come and buy our house in Texas (our schedule is really flexible and I work remotely all the time)? We're actually considering selling our house this July/August and then come rent in Texas, shop for our home and maybe buy in the fall/winter. Is it a good time? Not sure how long it takes to really get a deal there if we don't go crazy on the bidding war. I'm also a little worried that considering Texas RE's potential foundation issue, forgoing some conditions in order to win the contract may make us end up buying a home with serious issues. What's your insight about that?