Alicia Brown

Hi Thomas! I know it has been a while since you posted. Hope it all worked out well for you! Just as a follow up (I am also in the DFW market), I have seen a lot of requests from buyers in the recent months for sellers to provide a credit towards buyer closing costs. Especially if a property has been on the market for a long time, sellers are often more flexible in what they are willing to negotiate. I would definitely get with your agent and discuss how you want to structure your offer. So much is part of an offer (purchase price and various terms) that I am confident you can negotiate something with the sellers to make sure it is a win-win for everyone involved. Best of luck!

Hi Chad! Since it has been a few months, I am sure you have already come to a decision, but I thought I would go ahead and send a quick response anyway. The decision around listing a home with a listing agent versus going with an iBuyer is such a case by case process. A lot of it will depend on the actual urgency, how much you will need (or want) to net, etc. I had some clients in Prosper who needed to sell quickly so they could purchase their dream home. None of the other options we were looking at would work in their situation, so they chose to go the iBuyer route so they would qualify for their new mortgage. They ended up not netting nearly as much as they potentially could have by listing on the open market (just due to the iBuyer's purchase price and fees), but for them it was worth it because it meant they got their dream home. I have had other clients choose to not go the iBuyer route just due to the fact that they wanted to try and net as much as they could. It really just depends on your situation, how much time you realistically have to sell, and what your overall goals are. Right now the median days on market for Frisco is at 53 days (across all price points). Hope that helps!

That is a great question! My parents actually just went through this same process. They agonized over their decision for over two years. So, I understand that it is definitely not only a financial decision but an emotional decision as well! From the financial aspect, it's definitely worth talking to your CPA or a financial advisor about how it would impact that aspect of your life. If you have owned the home for a long time, I am assuming you have the homestead exemption in place. That caps a max of a 10% increase in taxable value year over year so I am sure that has helped significantly in keeping the property taxes lower. If you were to purchase something now, it will start your property tax taxable value at a current valuation. Also, whether or not you will be financing or paying cash could influence your decision as well. If everything in the home is currently working well and in great shape, that is also a really good consideration because if you were to wait a few years, you could potentially be looking at some system replacements or other expensive repairs to make it listing ready. But, it would also give you the benefit of a few more years of property value increase potential. So, all things to consider, but since we don't have a crystal ball, the emotional aspects are a big player as well. If you are currently feeling like the home is too overwhelming, that is a big clue. But, is that something that can be sourced out? Is it in the budget to hire a landscaping company or a cleaning service? Would that help to take away some of the overwhelm? Or, would the house still feel like too much? And, if so, does that outweigh the current feelings of connection and nostalgia with the neighborhood? If you were to picture leaving the neighborhood and finding something smaller, do you see yourself regretting it? Missing the house? Missing the neighborhood? If so, it might still be too early to leave. I am local in the DFW area. If you have more specific questions, feel free to reach out. I am happy to dive into it deeper with you or provide you with a broker opinion of price so you have more concrete information to make decisions from. Best of luck in your decision!