Seller's Market in Houston metro area (Allen, Howe: house, school, closing)

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

News of nuclear reactor 1 freezing was announced on TV during the storm. Luckily I was able to watch TV to hear that tidbit of an update at that moment during one of the sessions of power at my house.

If the nuclear reactors were weatherized, the power outage would have not disproportionately affected Houston compared to the other major Texas metros. I was hoping that the Parish coal plant was generating power to benefit Fort Bend County and SW Houston, but just found out that they also froze.



The deal was signed 3 years ago and implemented on Memorial Day. The winter storm came too late to stop the transition.

STP didn't freeze. A pressure sensing line sent a false signal due to cold weather that indicated feedwater had been lost. That caused an automatic shutdown of Unit 1. Unit 2 continued to operate.

WA Parish plant has 4 coal units and 4 natural gas units. One of the coal units was offline for planned maintenance, one was already down for an undisclosed reason, and then the two remaining units went down, again for undisclosed reasons. The gas units stayed operating. NRG also lost their Limestone unit due to a frequency excursion, which is a really bad thing to have happen, and their Greens Bayou plant, which is gas.

[tewest86]

Is it really a sellers market? We listed our house 3 days ago and have no offers. We are in Clear Lake. There are only 3 active listings in our neighborhood that are 4 bedrooms. We priced ours in the middle. Our house has all of the major upgrades done. Single pane windows replaced with double pane, replaced electrical panel, HVAC replaced ‘17, roof replaced ‘19, updated kitchen and baths, hw floors. We have a 2-story with 4-bdrm s and 2.5 baths. It’s 2180 sqft. People are passing our home for larger homes with original kitchens, baths, windows, and etc. These houses were built in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

[kwr]

Originally Posted by tewest86

Is it really a sellers market? We listed our house 3 days ago and have no offers. We are in Clear Lake. There are only 3 active listings in our neighborhood that are 4 bedrooms. We priced ours in the middle. Our house has all of the major upgrades done. Single pane windows replaced with double pane, replaced electrical panel, HVAC replaced ‘17, roof replaced ‘19, updated kitchen and baths, hw floors. We have a 2-story with 4-bdrm s and 2.5 baths. It’s 2180 sqft. People are passing our home for larger homes with original kitchens, baths, windows, and etc. These houses were built in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Maybe buyers don’t view the upgrades to your home as significant enough to offset the smaller size. A 2,200 sq ft home with 4 bdrms seems small with tight bedrooms.

[tewest86]

Originally Posted by kwr

Maybe buyers don’t view the upgrades to your home as significant enough to offset the smaller size. A 2,200 sq ft home with 4 bdrms seems small with tight bedrooms.

Maybe but the larger houses are on 100-200 sqft larger. Actually our bedrooms are the same size as the larger houses. The larger homes have an additional formal living room. That's really the only big difference. We only have one living room and no extra formal living room. We just list it 4 days ago. Maybe I'm being impatient. I've been reading news about properties getting multiple offers just hrs after being active. I guess the market isn't as hot here. The only homes I've seen get multiple offers on the first day are homes with pools.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by tewest86

Maybe but the larger houses are on 100-200 sqft larger. Actually our bedrooms are the same size as the larger houses. The larger homes have an additional formal living room. That's really the only big difference. We only have one living room and no extra formal living room. We just list it 4 days ago. Maybe I'm being impatient. I've been reading news about properties getting multiple offers just hrs after being active. I guess the market isn't as hot here. The only homes I've seen get multiple offers on the first day are homes with pools.

Our house didn't exactly fly off the market either. It took a couple of weeks before we even got an offer and that was after reducing the asking price. I think we may have been priced too high to begin with.
Houses are selling fast, but buyers aren't just throwing money at any house that's on the market despite the narrative.

[Jtxg]

Originally Posted by tewest86

Is it really a sellers market? We listed our house 3 days ago and have no offers. We are in Clear Lake. There are only 3 active listings in our neighborhood that are 4 bedrooms. We priced ours in the middle. Our house has all of the major upgrades done. Single pane windows replaced with double pane, replaced electrical panel, HVAC replaced ‘17, roof replaced ‘19, updated kitchen and baths, hw floors. We have a 2-story with 4-bdrm s and 2.5 baths. It’s 2180 sqft. People are passing our home for larger homes with original kitchens, baths, windows, and etc. These houses were built in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

It's been 3 days....I don't know if you can say it's not a seller's market just based off that. All indicators are that it is still a very strong seller's market. You mentioned that you're priced between other homes available in your neighborhood. How are you priced compared to homes that have actually sold in your neighborhood? And, out of the homes that sold, what was their average days on the market?

Also - I don't think you can discount having that second living room in a post-Covid world - many people are working from home and need the extra space for a home office.

If you're priced right, you'll sell in this market. Just my two cents, having just sold a cookie-cutter house in a cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood for over asking price in 12 hours.

[tewest86]

Originally Posted by Jtxg

It's been 3 days....I don't know if you can say it's not a seller's market just based off that. All indicators are that it is still a very strong seller's market. You mentioned that you're priced between other homes available in your neighborhood. How are you priced compared to homes that have actually sold in your neighborhood? And, out of the homes that sold, what was their average days on the market?

Also - I don't think you can discount having that second living room in a post-Covid world - many people are working from home and need the extra space for a home office.

If you're priced right, you'll sell in this market. Just my two cents, having just sold a cookie-cutter house in a cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood for over asking price in 12 hours.

The home office is why we are moving. Lol. I have the option to WFH permanently. I need a dedicated office space that I can close the door. My 3 kids get rowdy.

We are upgrading in space but will probably be downgrading in updates. Most of the houses in this area don’t have updated windows and such. We are in the Clear Lake area.

[tewest86]

We are priced based on sold prices. In my neighborhood, I see worsts houses go to pending in 1 day. It’s almost as if they already had a buyer prior to listing. These houses are 100-200 sqft small and only cosmetic upgrades. No big ticket items such as windows, electrical panel, etc. All the houses here have the original paper thin single pane windows.

[Jtxg]

Originally Posted by tewest86

We are priced based on sold prices. In my neighborhood, I see worsts houses go to pending in 1 day. It’s almost as if they already had a buyer prior to listing. These houses are 100-200 sqft small and only cosmetic upgrades. No big ticket items such as windows, electrical panel, etc. All the houses here have the original paper thin single pane windows.

I do think some of the listing Realtors have buyers lined up before a home hits the market - especially if the listing agent is very active in a particular subdivision. Or they'll have a "coming soon" sign outside for like a week or two and use social media to get attention (not only to their buyers, but other Realtor friends who have buyers).

But - I think if you just be patient (I know how difficult that is), it'll sell quickly if it's priced right. There was a time (not too, too long ago) where I would see listings go in less than a month and thought that was quick. When I sold a house a few years ago, it was on the market almost 6 months.

[tewest86]

Originally Posted by Jtxg

I do think some of the listing Realtors have buyers lined up before a home hits the market - especially if the listing agent is very active in a particular subdivision. Or they'll have a "coming soon" sign outside for like a week or two and use social media to get attention (not only to their buyers, but other Realtor friends who have buyers).

But - I think if you just be patient (I know how difficult that is), it'll sell quickly if it's priced right. There was a time (not too, too long ago) where I would see listings go in less than a month and thought that was quick. When I sold a house a few years ago, it was on the market almost 6 months.

I understand. I remember when average time was almost 2 months.


I just hear of stories where people are getting multiple offers $20,000 over listing 24 hrs after hitting the MLS. I don't think I've seen any house here in Clear Lake sell like that.