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Thinking of Buying or Selling Your Home?
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Check out the latest tips from Texas REALTORS® and other experts before buying a home or selling your home.

Selling Your Home: How you go about selling your home can mean a great deal to your bottom line. So it's important to plan everything out during the selling process.

The Selling Process:

Step 1: Choosing a REALTOR® Selling a home is one of the largest decisions of your life. The first thing to do is to find a Texas REALTOR® you trust. Ask your friends and relatives who have sold homes recently for their recommendations. Or, you can use the find-a-REALTOR® search to locate one in your area. Before working with a Texas REALTOR®, you should know that their duties depend on whom the they represent. The REALTOR® who lists the property for sale represents the owner. Your REALTOR®'s sole duty is to ensure that your home sells quickly, easily, and at a suitable price.	Step 2: Setting a price When setting a price, the important thing is to be realistic. If the price is too high, you may not find a buyer. Too low, and you cheat yourself out of money Appraisal Comparative market analysis Net procee
Step 3: Signing a listing agreement After you choose a REALTOR®, you will most likely sign a listing agreement--a contract in which you agree to allow a REALTOR® to sell your home during a given period and pay the REALTOR® a fee when your home sells. Most REALTORS® are independent contractors who work for a company operated by a licensed real estate broker.	Step 4: Marketing your property Preparing your home Honesty and candor Attracting and screening buyers Purposeful absence Fair housing
Step 5: The offer When a buyer makes an offer on your home, your REALTOR® will contact you promptly. The written offer lays out all the terms of the proposed transaction--the price the buyer is willing to pay and the financing terms--and becomes a binding contract if you sign it. The offer may be contingent on the buyer selling a home first or obtaining an inspection. The offer describes the property, states who pays for which closing costs, and specifies dates of closing and possession.	Step 6: Closing the deal The sale formally ends at the closing table. In most transactions, the closing lasts less than an hour and often occurs at the title company office. Your REALTOR® and the buyer's agent may be present. The sale actually consists of two transactions: 1) transferring the property to the buyer, and 2) paying off the existing mortgage on your home.

Buying Your Home: Learn more about buying a home through a step-by-step process, discover about programs for downpayment assistance and view information sheets on buying as well as articles on credit and financing.

The Buying Process:
Step 1: Choosing a REALTOR®

Buying a home is one of the largest purchases and biggest decisions of your life. The first thing to do is to find a Texas REALTOR® you trust.

Ask your friends and relatives who have bought homes recently for their recommendations. Or, you can use the find-a-Texas REALTOR® search to locate one in your area.

Before working with one, you should know that the duties of the REALTOR® depend on whom they represent.

Step 2: Deciding what you need and want

Needs and wants list

Location

Type of home and lot

New vs. older homes

Step 3: What can you afford?

There are typically three major areas of concern when deciding what you can afford: down payment, qualifying for a loan, and closing costs.

Step 4: The offer

What to offer

Contract forms

Inspections and warranties

Seller's options

Binding contract

Step 5: Financing

Finding financing

Lenders

Types of loans

The true price of financing

Loan approval process

Hazard insurance

Step 6: Closing the deal

The closing is the end of weeks or even months of research and decision making. The closing could last less than an hour but may take longer, depending on the complexity of the transaction. It often occurs at the title company's office. The title company officer will explain each document before you sign. You may want your attorney present as well.

Two basic kinds of documents

The home is yours

Some other points to keep in mind:

Buyer/seller agency- It's important to understand who your REALTOR® represents--buyer or seller. The REALTOR® will provide you with information about representation. As a buyer you may sign a buyer representation agreement with a REALTOR®. It will discuss the scope of the REALTOR®'s representation.
Prepaids- You should be aware that your closing costs will include prepayment of an escrow account to cover insurance and taxes.
Be sure to have a property inspected by licensed inspectors to determine: a) the condition of the property b) any environmental conditions c) wood-destroying insects; and d) other matters. Brokers are not qualified to perform such inspections.
Residential service contracts can offer repair to appliances, electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, or other systems in the property.
Be sure to obtain a policy of title insurance or have an abstract of title reviewed by an attorney of your choice before buying a property.

Why The Bolivar Peninsula is The Best Bet

Living on the coast doesn’t have to be just a dream. Though only a few of us can afford a mansion on Maui, simpler homes on other coasts may well be within financial reach.

Featured in Coastal Living Magazine, Crystal Beach is one of the nation’s most affordable oceanfront communities. And it has plenty to offer bargain-hunters. Straddling the 27-mile-long Bolivar Peninsula separating Galveston Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, the beach got its name from the local sand, which sparkles like crystal.

This largest of five peninsular communities benefits both from proximity to Galveston Island—accessible via a free ferry that crosses the bay—and from tight state restrictions on land use, which have left most of the narrow spit undeveloped. Behind those crystalline beaches lie marshes, ponds, wetlands, coastal prairies, and High Island’s Audubon bird sanctuaries.

Despite the land-use strictures, developers have been busy in Crystal Beach. Newer housing tends to be at the higher end of the price scale, but the availability of older homes helps keep average prices down. Even many of the reasonably priced properties that are not right on the water offer beach views thanks to large lots and a lack of high-rise condominium buildings.

Crystal Beach is primarily a resort community, with tourism the major contributor to the local economy. An estimated 80 percent of property owners are summer weekenders, and year-round residents have the place pretty much to themselves from September to mid-May. One seasonal drawback is Zoo Beach, which attracts summertime crowds of both families and partyers.

On the plus side, the calm, warm Gulf waters that lap the peninsula’s beaches make them great for small children. The ferry provides an easy commute to downtown Galveston Island. From there, it’s a 50-mile run to Houston. But many folks head down to the landing not to make the crossing, but to perch themselves on the jetty and net crabs.

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