Tomball is a Great Place to Live
Tomball? Why an article about a dinky town that many Texans can’t pinpoint on the map? You’ve heard people say “location, location, location.” In Tomball’s case, that is a very good selling point.
First of all, Tomball is conveniently located near the 99 Grand Parkway, 249 Tomball Parkway, 290 NW Freeway, with Interstate 45 and Sam Houston Tollway 8 only a few minutes’ drive away. The Woodlands is very close, and downtown Houston, Katy, and Magnolia are just a short drive away.
Our children’s education should be another key determining factor in where we choose to live, and Tomball is home to several highly rated public schools. Tomball Memorial High School, Willow Wood Jr High School, Northpointe Intermediate School, Lakewood Elementary, Willow Creek Elementary, Canyon Pointe Elementary, and Creekview Elementary are all highly rated and well above average on Great Schools.org.
Finally, you can’t beat the laid-back feel of a town like Tomball. There is plenty of land for folks to spread out, and depending on the neighborhood, much more distance between homes than in the big cities. From my home in a traditional subdivision-type neighborhood, we only have to drive a couple of minutes (literally) to see horses, cows, longhorns and pastures as far as the eye can see.
Buyer competition may get even stiffer in Spring – be prepared
In my post of February 4, I discussed how 2020 was a record-breaking year for Houston home sales. Well, all indicators point to that trend continuing at least through this Spring and likely beyond. There was a very low number of homes available for sale in January, which will likely cause prices to continue rising at least through Spring. As seen in the chart below, new home listings have dropped considerably across the nation from the previous year, while median listing prices have risen:
Realtor Magazine, February 2021
Realtors understand the importance of acting quickly in this kind of market, but not all buyers are aware of this urgency (especially first-time buyers). Many may have an unpleasant experience the first time they make an offer, when it turns into the inevitable “bidding war” with other buyers. That’s why it’s crucial that realtors prepare buyers for this situation by explaining the market, as well as the best strategies to get that home they want in such a competitive seller’s market.
Negotiation is certainly a big part of the process, but a bit of old-fashioned psychology and common sense comes into play also. How much do you want to offer initially? What’s the absolute highest you can ultimately go? Do you increase in large or small amounts? Will the home appraise for the highest amount you are willing to pay (of course, if you’re a cash buyer this isn’t a concern)? Are you willing to offer even more than what the home will appraise for, and make a larger down payment to offset the higher purchase price? And try to put yourself in your competitor’s shoes – they could be thinking just like you as far as pricing, or they could be a bit lower or higher. And are they automatically adding $5000 (a nice, round number) to their original offer, or tacking on substantially more?
It can be a bit nerve-wracking for buyers, but also for their realtors at times. It’s just all part of the business, so try your best to be prepared. You may end up losing a couple of homes to higher offers, but I promise you that you will ultimately win that dream home.
Thinking of buying? Winter is a great time!
Everyone knows mortgage rates have been at the extreme low end of the spectrum for some time now. The question is: how long before the rates start creeping up? This is a case that whatever goes down, must eventually go back up. Not only that, but we are still in the middle of winter, when the rates usually are better than the other times of the year.
Lenders are willing to routinely offer a discount of almost 20 basis points in January, as compared to other times of the year. If you took out a mortgage in July at 3.5%, this month you may have gotten it at 3.3%. But if you miss out in January, remember that December and February are the next-best (cheapest) months to shop for a loan.
What does this mean to us? Just like what is happening across the U.S., the housing market here in the Houston and surrounding areas has been very hot, with a majority of properties getting multiple offers. So even though it’s supposed to be a slow season, it has been very competitive for buyers, with many properties selling for above asking price. People are taking advantage of the super-low rates, and if you’ve been thinking of buying and have been on the sidelines, you may be missing out on an opportunity that only comes along once in a blue moon.
Finding a Home Near Great Schools Pays Off
When I bought my first couple of homes I never even thought about the local schools. That’s because I wasn’t married when I bought the first one, and when I bought the second one with my wife, neither of us gave schools a second thought. We were just trying to find the best neighborhoods we could afford to live in, and the ones that looked safest.
Luckily, as it turned out, both of those homes were located in better school districts. Since then, a good school district is one of our top criteria when looking for a home. Since we came to this realization, I can’t tell you how many “perfect” homes we looked at and ultimately passed over because the local schools weren’t very good. There were times where we even broadened our standard to areas where the schools were rated a bit less than 10, 9 or 8 on a scale of 1-10. The home we’re currently living in has schools that are rated 9 or 10 across the board, but it’s not always as easy as you may think to find those areas.
How do you find these better school districts? If you don’t have a realtor, sites like Zillow have a great built-in feature to narrow down the better school areas. Take notes or even screenshots of the map with schools pinpointed, and do your home searches in those areas. If you have a realtor, you can ask them to build their home searches around those schools. Realtors who have kids (like me) fully understand your concerns around schools, especially now in 2021.
Another benefit of living in an area with great schools concerns property value and the ability to make a quicker sale in the future when the time comes. When you’re ready to sell, I guarantee many home hunters are looking for those “elusive” homes near great schools for their kids, and to them, it’s worth paying a little (or a lot) extra. Keep good school districts in mind when home hunting, and I promise you won’t regret the extra time and occasional frustration.
