If you are a first time buyer, getting ready to start looking for a home at Fort Hood, here's a quick peek into a real house hunt in the Fort Hood Real Estate Market:
My latest buyer already had a target subdivision and price range in mind when we met for our first consultation. He and his wife are first time buyers and are looking for a home that is close to Fort Hood and close to her work in Killeen. They also want their children to attend Copperas Cove schools, so it's been pretty easy to narrow down their choices.
They've been looking at new construction but just didn't find anything that quite fit their needs and time frame (before the holidays). So we moved on to looking at existing homes, which are a pretty good value in the market right now since sellers are paying most if not all of your closing costs.
The buyers picked five properties off the internet to see this past week, and here's what we found when we got to the homes:
Property #1 - First Impression: Big pile of rocks and dirt in the front yard (lots of work required to remove). Front porch and door were covered in dog paw prints. The interior was, frankly, filthy. Looking into the back yard we saw that the dogs had pretty much destroyed it, and they had chewed chunks out of the back porch posts, too!
Property #2 - First Impression: Nicely maintained yard. Attractive brick with stone accents. Spotless interior, nice floorplan with a fireplace and playscape in the back yard for the buyer's children. Well priced! These sellers are as perfect as possible for an unoccupied home.
Property #3 - First Impression was not good. Yard is full of dead grass and weeds, not a bush, tree or flower to be seen. And this home was occupied! Interior was surprising in that it was clean, neat and nicely decorated, perfect for showing to a buyer. Many buyers would never get past the dead yard to even consider this home. It was very well priced, though, and the buyers took a chance and went in to see the interior. It appears the seller is pricing the home low to offset the condition of the yard.
Property #4 - First Impression: Beautiful yard, neatly trimmed, healthy, green, with nice landscaping touches. Interior was clean, neat, with a big covered patio overlooking the healthy, landscaped back yard. This floorplan was actually the same as property #3. These sellers had painted several walls a variety of "interesting" colors that didn't appeal to the buyers. This was the highest priced home we looked at. This home had been on the market three days.
Property #5 - New construction. The builder had confirmed the home was finished and ready for buyers to move in. When we got to the address, we were greeted with a bare concrete foundation....... I guess he thought we were going to pitch a tent and use the Port-a-John out in the street!
After looking at these five homes, the buyers said they would call in the morning with their decision of which home they wanted. But it didn't take 20 minutes before they called back with their choice! Property #4 was the clear winner. We met the next morning, wrote the offer, and by the end of the day had everything negotiated and signed. They will be spending the holidays in their new home in Copperas Cove!
Great news from local Fort Hood lenders this morning! Late yesterday afternoon the VA rate plummeted from 6.75% to 6% and stressed buyers can, for the moment, give a sigh of relief. 
These BIG builders offer buyers "the moon" as incentive to buy their homes. They offer to"pay" closing costs, buy interest rates down, put in refrigerators, sprinkler systems and privacy fences and even more to get the buyer's business. 
Here's another idea: Consider the smaller, local builder. Could an experienced local builder possibly offer a better product for a lower price? 
Part of my job is staying informed so I can give advice to my Fort Hood home buyers and sellers. I owe it to them to be a good source of reliable information.