John King ~ San Antonio Real Estate ~ (210)445-2631

You hear it ALL the time, NOW is the best time to buy! The Time to BUY has never been better!! I hear it too, and not only is it true for the San Antonio Market, but I buy for my personal account as well.

The important thing to remember as an investor, is that it's just property. DO NOT get emotional about buying real estate, if the numbers don't work out on a deal, move on to the next. It's that simple.

Would you get emotional about buying widgets for x dollars to resale in your store for y dollars? Probably not, you would just find another supplier that met your needs at a price you're comfortable paying. Pretty much the same thing with investing in Real Estate.

If you ARE serious about buying property, then you should never underestimate the advantage of having a REALTORon YOUR Side. You don't have to keep "explaining your situation" or make 200 phone calls on newspaper ads or craigslist posters AND it does not get you a better deal to NOT have one. The listing agent just gets to keep the whole commission AND does not represent YOUR best ineterests.

I do work as a buyer's agent, and do most of the foot work for you. The best part, the Listing Agent usually covers my fee for you.

I also have access to some free investor tools, and you are welcome to them as well. Just let me know if you like them or not. http://www.simplifyem.com/partner/john_king

If you're a first time investor, or a grizzled veteran, I'm happy to help. Just let me know!

Get unlimited searches for Homes and Land at : http://www.johnkinghomes.com

Thanks for reading and have a Great Day!

I sell a lot of land, so far, about 17 tracts this year and I answer numerous calls each week with people just starting out. Invariably, most of my calls start out along the same lines, how much is it, and will the seller finance it for me? After a bit of prying to get to the bottom of what they are really after, my buyer's are typically looking for some land in the country to either build, put a mobile home on OR put a mobile home and then build later. But for now, I'll focus on the just the Land - Home Package.

The very first thing you want to do before going through the newspaper "just to see what's out there", is to determine your budget and decide how you're going to pay for it. I know this seems like putting the horse before the cart, but it will save you a lot of time AND heartache in the long run. I see it all the time. So don't be afraid to call a Realtor and ask some questions as to where to get started. Make sure though and ask if they've sold land or land home packages before, as these are a little different than your typical new home transaction.

As a buyer's agent, I have several lenders AND dealers that I am associated with when working with buyer's in the Greater San Antonio Area, it just depends on the situation with which one I will call on. Most dealers have in house lenders that they prefer, and are happy to get you pre-qualified. Before making any decisions though, give your agent a call and let them introduce you. That way, the dealer's will know that someone IS looking out for your best interest and knows what steps have to be done to ensure a smooth transaction.

After getting pre-approved, the next step is to decide how much to spend on a home AND how much to spend on land.

It's easy to pick out the bigger home and start adding upgrades, the big screen media center, etc., and that's where I come in. No matter which home you pick out, you're going to need somewhere to put it, right?

Things to consider, after figuring out what part of the county you'd like to be in, we have to make sure that there is land available that is not restricted from the type of home you're looking at. For example, Single wide homes are fine, AND very affordable, but the main challenge is finding a lot that will allow singlewides. I have been selling lots out of the West Side of San Antonio near Potranco and Loop 1604 in a subdivision called West View since 2005 or so. Great community, but they do not allow single wide homes there, OR homes that are over 3 years old to be moved in there.

BUT, they do allow doublewides, AND in the Estates, which is a site built only community, modular homes are considered to be site built and can be placed in there as well. Good to know, right?

The second item to consider is improvements to the land. Does it already have an electric meter onsite? What about water? Will you need a well? Septic system or Central Sewer System? How much will these cost? Who will do that for me? All things I know about and am happy to help point you in the right direction OR hold your hand and lead you there :)

And don't forget about restrictions. Thinking about chickens or other farm animals? Think again. Many communities simply do not allow them, so if this is important, don't forget to let me know upfront. This will rule out several places to look for lots.

So before finalizing the home and options, we'll determine about what it will cost to get your land plus all the improvements for getting it set up and move in ready.

Finally, don't forget to ask if the price includes set up and delivery. Delivery alone can add as much as $4,500 for local deliveries in the San Antonio area!

I hope this article has been some help, and if you have ANY questions about Land Home packages or buying Land in general, I'll be happy to help. All you have to do is ask! The call is free.

If you'd like to search for land, go to http://www.johnkinghomes.com and choose the map search option, then select Lots & Acreage from the drop down menu.

Why would a Seller want their agent to setup a Single Property Website? After all, it is advertised in the MLS and Realtor.com, right?

Absolutely, if you're property is in the MLS, then it is fed up the chain to Realtor.com.

But what about the people that drive by your property, and want more information, but are reluctant to call " A Salesperson". Sometimes, they really are "Just Curious" and might over speculate as to what a property is priced at, and they just keep on driving.... But what if they look it up, and discover it really is within their grasp, OR even that of a friend or relative that may be looking.

To back up the single property website, I also employ another modern technological marvel, the cell phone. Now I am not a huge fan of texting, and I certainly didn't like it when it first went main stream. It cost extra, I didn't get to make that personal contact that we all love and enjoy so much ( can you hear the sarcasm here?) But I do listen to my clients, and MANY of them DO Text. And often. With this in mind, my listings also carry a rider that not only advertises the single property website, but also a "Text for more info" link. Send a text, get an instant reply with more pictures, the price and contact info to save for later, AND a link through to the whole website when they get back home.

You can try it here by going to http://www.ZMls.mobi and entering property id 64840. It simulates the texting experience you get on your phone. I use this on ALL of my listings. (This id number may change...after I sell the property, and I WILL sell it, so if it is no longer active, just drop me a line and I'll be happy to give you a new id to check out!).

Have a great day, and happy hunting!

Getting your home priced right is no accident. Anyone can list your home, and at any price, but for it to get SOLD, it's got to be priced right! And from the get go.

Pricing your home appropriately from the start is crucial. If you over price, even just alittle, then agents will not even look at it and they will think you're crazy to boot. Typically, they know what homes in a given area should sell for, and if you're overpriced, they will not waste the time.

Once you do start to change the price, the home has now been on the market for a while, and agent's have already seen your listing, so they skip over it now. And since it's been on the market a while, they may wonder what's wrong with it... so to catch up, you have to lower the price even more. And this is called chasing the market. A terrible place to be in.

It's much easer to price right upfront and let the offers come to you, than to chase the market. not to mention, you'll likely net more money and have way less stress in the end.

To start with, let's go over what pricing your home correctly does NOT include:

• What you 'feel' it is worth
• What your neighbor / friend told you they got for theirs.
• What you owe or paid for it
• The tax value the county has placed on it
• Online estimates such as Zillow's Zestimate

Okay, so why start off so negative John? Well, to get to the meat, you've got to get through the misnomer's. While buying and selling a home is very emotional, it is still a business transaction at the end of the day. If you let your emotions get in the way, it can cost you big time.

I've heard people say they would rather let the bank have it back than to sell it for less than what they felt it was worth! Really? Really?? So a foreclosure is better than giving up some potential profit? What about just breaking even and moving on with life, what is that worth to you? A lot if you ask me.

"My neighbor said they got FULL PRICE for their home". The truth is, you may not be privy to all of the details and the neighbor may have felt he would lose face if you knew the whole truth. Did they give up anything else, such as paying the buyer's closing costs? That might have added up to be more than just a small discount.

Why does what I paid for it not have ANY bearing on what I should ASK for it? Well, we all want to buy low and sell high, but here in San Antonio, if you bought at the hieght of the market, say in 2006 or 2007, you may not break even if you sell today. But if you HAVE to sell, I'll do everything I can to help make your home competitive. Be prepared though, sometimes folks just break even, or even have to ctake a loss to get out of the property. Just like any investment, if the market is down in your area, it's not the time to sell. If you bought prior to this AND did not over pay, you're in luck, and you should do just fine.

What about the Tax Appraiser? They said my home is worth $XXXXX dollars. To be honest, you typically want this to be as low as it can possibly be, after all, you do pay taxes based on this figure. During Property tax Season, I also work as a Property Tax Consultant. I go down to the Appraisal District, armed with recent sales figures and tax values of other similar properties and fight to have tax valuations brought into line.

The best example I have of this is a property out on the North Side. It was valued at over $313,000. Larger homes about the same age, with twice the acreage were only selling for an average of $250,000. Pretty big difference if you ask me. That's why I don't rely too much on the appraisal district's numbers.

Zillow give's me the value of my home in just a few seconds and it's NO WHERE what you're telling me. Zillow has reported that they have over 300,000 ways of calculating a price. WOW! That is an aweful lot of ways to average out a few numbers.... They're also based on Tax Records (see above) and estimates. Now don't get me wrong, I like Zillow. They've got a great website, and you can find a lot of useful information there, but you really want the most recent actual sales figures when pricing your home, not estimates.

So, what does go into pricing a home properly? Accurate, recent and relevant information. Not every home is the same, so things can be adjusted for, such as square footage, pools, etc. You want to know what other similar homes have sold for recently in your immediate area. No longer than 6 months ago, max. Even a different subdivision just across the street can a huge difference in their prices vs. your nieghborhood's. The other thing is having the entire year's data handy, this helps to determine if the market in your neighborhood is going UP or Down so we know which way to lean.

Thanks for reading, and if i can be of any service, please feel free to give me a call at (210)445-2631.

John King, Texas Realtor

As an agent, I get this question all of the time, mostly idle conversation. And most folks want a simple good/bad/it's getting better answer. With that in mind, I've developed (and update as I need to) the short answer.

If it's under $200k, great! If it's over $200k, it has got to be in the right neighborhood and priced aggressively.

Pretty simple I think. Where do I come up with that?

I look almost daily at the overall listings vs. sold data, like a stock broker would look at the ticker tape to see where the stock market is. Same idea really. And it varies according to neighborhood even, nevermind which side of town!

Take today ( 09-15-09) for example. In and around San Antonio, there are 209 NEW listings posted to the market, 153 existing listings went under contract, 287 existing listings underwent Price Changes and 116 exisiting listings were SOLD. Out of the 116 that were SOLD, 82 were under $200,000 which accounts for nearly 71% of the sales for today. Of the 209 NEW listings, 154 were under $200,000 which is 73.6% of all new listings taken in today.

If you have a question about a specific neighborhood, just let me know! I'll be happy to let you know what's going on in YOUR area and be there to help when it's time to buy or sell.

Until then, Have a Great Day!

--John