For the second time in the last five years Bryan and College Station have been recognized as places where real estate is selling for under what the values should be. This means that there are definate bargains here in Aggieland.  Houston was the only other city in Texas that got this designation.  With the prospects of tremendous job growth and undervalued real estate it's a wonderful market to be in.  The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M believe that our appreciation rates will be higher than ever in the next few years.

With higher than ever appreciation values will you make a mint on your property?  NO!  We are still not California with ridiculous appreciation in short times.  In the last few years our appreciaton rates have been 3-5% per year.  We're looking at appreciation rates raising to about 7%.  A stable market in the price ranges lower than 200K and lot's of first time homebuyer interest it's a great time to buy!

First time buyers please take note.  The $8,000 tax credit requires that you close on your home by December 1st.  There are programs to help you tap into some of that tax credit to help with closing costs as well.  Take advantage of tax credits, low interest rates, and an undervalued market now. 

Here's a link to the Bryan/College Station MLS

Many parents, wanting to buy a College Station home for their students, visit the idea of a condo or townhome.  As with anything there are some very positive points to consider and some other negative points on these issues.

First let's talk about what the difference is between condos and townhomes.  The major difference is that condos always have associations and the homeowner doesn't actually own the land beneath the condo, the association does and you typically only own from the studs in.  The exterior is owned and maintained by the association.  Townhomes may, or may not have associations formed to maintain community resources. With a townhome you own the land that it sits on and the entire structure. 

The down side of Condo associations is that there is a monthly fee. This fee can range, in College Station Condos, from $65 a month to over $200.  There's no set answer on what these fees cover unless you look at individual associations.  Most will cover exterior landscaping and insurance on the common areas.  A good many will cover exterior maintenance on the roof and sides of the building.  Some will have pools and a very few will cover things like internet service and water.  Each association varies.

The down side to a townhome is that the maintenance typically is not covered.  You may find yourself with the nicest property on the block with other properties to the right and left of you not nearly as well maintained.  Also many share roofs with the other townhomes so eventually roofs may become mismatched.

With a College Station home you are always going to be responsible for lawn care, maintenance of the exterior and interior and all insurance.  Keep in mind that the City of College Station conducts periodic checks of areas to ensure that residents are mowing their grass and other upkeep items.  Getting a letter from the city warning of an impending fine if the situation doesn't improve is typically the parents first indication that the property isn't being maintained as well as it should be.

Any of these options can be the right choice for you and your student.  The first thing you need to do when deciding to buy a student property is to think about what appeals to you the most.  If you're not in Texas and maintenance needs to happen on your student property a condo might be the best bet.  Also if you really want an easy care solution a condo can be a very good choice. 

Want a glimpse of all the College Station real estate for sale?  Go to my website and click on "Search Listings".  When you buy I'd love to help!

So, you've bought the house of your dreams and moved in. What's the next step? Remembering that one day, whether you realize it or not today, you'll be selling. Increasing the value of your home isn't just a blitz right before you list it. Protecting and increasing the value of your home starts the day that you write the offer.

So you've closed now. What is the number one thing to do as soon as you've bought the home? If I could tell you that in one day you could make a change to increase the value of your home by possibly up to 20%, decrease your utility bills, and reduce your stress while helping the entire ecology of our area would you be interested? You can! Quick, plant trees!

In any area this holds true, but in our area it's of prime importance. Bryan and College Station, actually all of Brazos Valley, has traditionally been used as farm land. Trees in fields aren't a great value, as they provide unneeded shade and reduce the area given for crops or livestock. Therefore many were eliminated. The remaining trees in many cases, are Post Oaks. Post Oak trees are beautiful trees and very hardy, when given a natural enviroment. They are, however, very resistant to change and to human intervention. Pouring a slab close to their root system, watering them with clorinated and processed water, putting a tree house in them or driving over or near their root systems are all huge problems for these gorgeous natives. In other words, as homeowners, we don't play nice with them. They tend to die within a year of a new property being built on, leaving you with a big empty space in your yard.

Here's some quick statistics on the value of a tree:

Dr. Roger S. Ulrich of Texas A&M University stated that "in laboratory research, visual exposure ot settings with trees has produced significant recovery from stress within five minutes, as indicated by changes in blood pressure and muscle tension."

The USDA Forest Service states "Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30 percent and can save 20-50 percent in energy used for heating"

The Management Information Services/ICMA states "Landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values as much as 20 percent."

According to the US Department of Agriculture "The net cooling effect of a young, healty tree is equivilant to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day."

"A mature tree can often have an appraised value of between $1,000 and $10,000," according to the Concil of Tree and Landscape Appraisers.

Dr. E. Greg McPherson, Center for Urban Forest Research states "if you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12%."

Wow, lower your blood pressure, decrease your utility bills and increase your property value in one fell swoop! Definately a recipe for success!!!!!!!

For more information on local tree farms and resources visit my website.

Pebble Creek is a golf course subdivision in south College Station.  Nestled within Pebble Creek boundries are an elementary school,  Pebble Creek Elementary http://mail.csisd.org/~pc/ and the attendant park/playground.  This neighborhood has homes priced from the low 200's to over one million.

14 homes sold in Pebble Creek in June.  These homes were priced from $254,900 to $929,900 and sold for $250,000 to $929,900.  This brings total solds so far this year in Pebble Creek to 50.  41 Pebblecreek homes are active on the market and range from listing prices of $219,900 to $1,300,000.

There are currently 8 pending sales in Pebble Creek.

For more information about this wonderful neighborhood or to see listings go to www.ChrisTesch.com or call (979)574-1084.

Whether buying or selling, call Chris, your neighborhood specialist!

Alexandria and Shenandoah are in south College Station off Barron Road and Highway 6.  These neighborhoods show great value for the money with homes ranging from the low 100's (not common) to 200K. 

Eight homes sold in Shenandoah and Alexandria in June.  These ranged for a list price of 105K to $154,900 and sold for 108K to $154,900.  The lower priced home was a 3/2 that was 1189 square feet and was active on the market for 56 days total.  The higher price home was 1,655 square feet and was a 3/2 that was on the market 55 days total.

Year to date 51 homes have sold in these twin neighborhoods with prices from $108,000 to $197,800.

Shenandoah features a park and community pool. 

For more information about homes in this great area go to www.ChrisTesch.com or call (979)574-1084.  Whether buying or selling call Chris, your neighborhood specialist.

Raintree subdivision is located off Hwy 6 and Southwest Parkway in College Station.  Raintree is prized for being close to everywhere you want to be in College Station and has an awesome wooded park.  Most of the homes were built in the early 1980's and offer good values for your money.

There are currently 4 homes on the market in Raintree.  These range from $134,900 to $164,900.

Four sold in June as well and these were listed from $129,900 to $172,500.  They sold for $129,400 (1679 square foot patio home) to $165,000, which bought a 2331 square foot home.  Year to date Raintree has had 10 sales.

There is currently one home under contract in Raintree.

For more information about homes in Raintree, or other great neighborhoods, go to www.ChrisTesch.com or call (979)574-1084.

Whether buying or selling call your neighborhood specialist!

Emerald Forest, a charming subdivision central to Bryan and College Station right off Highway 6 and minutes away from the University currently has 4 homes for sale.  These homes range from $269,900 to $575,900, though homes in this great sudvision range from around 140K to 600K.

The neighborhood has older sections as well as newer sections and offers a pool ad community center as well as walking trails and Sandstone Park right nearby.  New neighborhoods are being built nearby currently as well.

In June Emerald Forest only had one sale and that was a home that was built in 2005 and was 2441 square feet.  It was listed for $244,900 and sold after 100 active days on the market for $240,000.

For more great homes go to www.ChrisTesch,.com  Whether you need to buy, or sell, your Emerald Forest Home call me, your neighborhood specialist.

You've seen the web sites.  Find your market value from here!  Know what your home is worth today!  If only it were that easy!  Relying on these mechanisms can make you give up huge amounts of equity or have you market your home for too much money which results in longer market time and typically a lower price.

Market value depends on many parts to an equation.  Square footage, finish out, location, existing roadways, floorplan of your home and the effective age of the property all figure into the analysis.  Even appraisals can be off, so anyone promising you a "instant valuation" of your home over the net isn't doing you any service.

To get a market analysis have an experienced agent come over and do a walk through of the house discussing age of air condition, appliances, roof, flooring and countertops.  The agent will examine the house from a perspective buyers perspective and make several recommendations regarding your home.  Some of these might be wallpaper removal, painting, fixture replacement and updating (always get your agents opinion before spending money, they might have better ways around it or feel that the money would be better off in buyer incentives or lowering the price if you are on a significant pricing cut off.

Don't cheat yourself out of valuable equity by thinking you will get an "instant valuation" over the net.

For expert real estate advice go to www.ChrisTesch.com or call (979)574-1084.

Caldwell Texas, about 35 miles away brom Bryan-College Station is known for three things; kolaches, the Czech Heritage Museum and an awesome school district.  This small town has an approximate population of 4000 people and is the county seat of Burleson County. 

For the seven months of sales encompassing 1/1/08 through 6/30/08 Caldwell showed 23 sales in the Bryan-College Station MLS.  The lowest sale was listed at 86K.  It was a 3/2 home 1304 square foot older home that was active on the market for 116 days and sold for 84K.

The highest sale recorded in our MLS for Caldwell was listed at 495,000.  It was a 5/3.6 home built by Southwest Homes in 2004 that was 3500 square feet.  The homke sat on 20.25 acres and was active on the market for 176 days.  It sold for 455,000.

These statistics are only down slightly from the same time frame last year where 25 homes sold.  There are currently active in the Caldwell area 27 homes.

My assistant, Coti Freeman, hails from the Caldwell area and would be happy to give you a private tour!  For more information about Caldwell visit my web site at www.ChrisTesch.com or call Coti today at (979)575-7765.

Bryan showed a steady 93 sales in single family homes, patio homes and new builder homes in June, 2008.  During the same timeframe last year 109 sales were made.  This last month sales ranged from a property listed for 585,000 to a property listed for 32,500.

The 585,000 property was a 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home active on the market for 87 days.  It sold for the asking price (which had been lowered during the 87 days).  It was 4,105 square feet.

The 32,500 property was a 2 bedroom/1 bath that was on the market 8 active days. It sold for 25K.

Sales are still strong in Bryan, Texas.  For more information about the Bryan Market please visit my website at www.ChrisTesch.com or phone (979)574-1084.