Repairs

Your a buyer of your homestead and you just found the perfect home and wrote up an offer with the guidance of your Realtor.
Your Realtor just called - your offer was accepted!!
This means you just started asking "what is wrong" with this property????!!!!!

You like the home the most before you have your offer accepted. Once it is accepted, you wonder what you did wrong.
Welcome to every case of Buyer Remorse or my personal definition of it. You still have wiggle room unless you are in an extreme seller market. You will have an option to terminate (in Texas) if a surprise pops up within a time period. This period allows inspections and follow up inspections. These inspections should offer a good amount of information on the condition of the property you are buying. Will it offer everything? NO.
Are you building brand new? buying a resale that is 80 years? found a total remodel? Does any of this matter to the fact you won't get ALL your conditions answered before taking ownership? NO.
Be reasonable to the condition of the home you are inspecting to other homes in the area. Listen to data and ask questions directly to the professionals that are doing the reporting on condition. Be physically at the general inspection (which could be an inspection of code violations more than repairs) with out any additional distractions. Ask the inspector directly these questions,
1. "what would you want further information on from specialized contractors?"
2. "what would you fix/repair/tweak if your mother was buying the home"?
3. "are these repairs consistent to other homes in the area"
You likely discussed pricing, condition (upgrades or lack of upgrades), location (you have seen other homes in the area) with your Realtor so now take the report and re visit that discussion. Is the importance "location location location" or "condition condition condition"? What does the rest of the market think?

I hate that one!

Know what you don't like for your housing decisions. You will know what you like when you see it, but what if that takes some time? As you are answering the question of what you like in the market your looking in (which could be a new regional area or area of town) establish a list of what you hate. Second+ buyers know this because they know they want to sell and why they are moving. First time buyers are often overwhelmed and this could be a good place to start. Share it with your Realtor. Action of any kind could help reduce the frustration. Take the frustrations out on a list of "dislikes".
This way your Realtor can listen to your objection and take action, applying your feedback to new areas or ways to tweak the search. This new list will help when the previous home or list of homes did not meet the standards you were expecting AND this will get you closer to the type of home you want which the market will provide. Cast a wide net! It might be the aid in negotiating with yourself over your own set of expectations. Learning the market your in is key, trust your 'gut' and enjoy the process as best you can.

What is clay soil???

Since coming into the business of selling homes in 1993 I have always thought of the issues with clay soil under wet conditions. Now with this 100 year drought it is fascinating to see similar issues with dry conditions.
Clay soil swells with water. The soil literally is like a sponge and expands. This action of swelling will push a house up and move a foundation to points of damaging pipes inside the cement foundation. Corrections can include foundation repair but not usually and not always. Adding gutters, running a sprinkler system, landscaping a certain way with a good amount of caliche dirt as base are some of the remedies.
With the lack of rainfall our clay soil is turning to dust. This dust is compacting and moving as well, going down and shrinking. This shrinking has the same affects of damaging pipes and the outside cement fascia plus interior sheet rock (usually just the tape n float seems). Water rationing is part of restrictions during a drought which ends up affecting the sprinkler system being a tool. This is new to me since I have only been in the business around 18 years and this drought is a 100 year cycle.
My point is don't panic. Don't immediately think you have a major issue requiring a foundation company. Exterior cracks in a home can typically demonstrate soil influence. Interior cracks could also mean settling but could mean a plumbing issue. After turning off your water from the street and watching the usage on the meter, a plumber could be the first and best call to test the water pressure. Then you call a structural engineer, then you get referred to a foundation company.
Regardless of wet or dry conditions you don't start with a foundation company. You systematically run through a check list that could include a foundation company.

Days on the market, like those showings

Here is the scenario; you decided it was time to sell your homestead (not an investment property but where you have been living). You consider this decision and implications for months (3 months for the sake of this entry). After 3 months you talk with your preferred Realtor and eventually get the home listed 1 month later after a "make ready"/staging list. At this point you are 4 months into this process and likely a little exhausted but MOST IMPORTANT the general public/market is within days of knowing about your property/home for sale. It is a marathon so pace yourself.
If the average time to sell is 92 days, this could result in almost 7-8 months from when your mentally decided to sell to getting an offer. My point is to hang in there. When your tired of cleaning and showing and all messages from Realtors just hang in there with your faith. You likely have a very sell able house and just need to be patient, breath deep and be excited for sales activity in your market. Know your average days on the market (your Realtor will tell you), keep up with pricing (again your Realtor) and trust in the feedback from your own Realtor. There are way too many homes on the market to expect feedback from each showing.

Lease it if you can't sell it (for Austin,Tx.)

(This is a repeat)If you have had your home on the market and it is not selling consider leasing it. Live to sell another day. In Austin the leasing market is about as opposite of a market as you get from sales. Full price (maybe over list price at times), short days on the market (less than 25) and good candidates describe the leasing market. Nothing wrong with adding a property to an investment portfolio. The lease agreements will cover numerous aspects like; pets-guests who visit & number of days allowed for them to stay-number of cars-smoking/no smoking-yard care-repairs-access-renters insurance. If buying another home is important then talk with a great lender to see if you can qualify without selling. My market area (Austin Metro) is experiencing a high volume of newcomers and the leasing market is very busy. If your currently a seller who is frustrated with over 150 days of being on the market consider the "leasing option". It provides one more option along with price reductions, repairs or upgrades when selling.

Air Filter and Weeds for your cooling system

For those of us not in Colorado or other cooler climates do the following for your cooling system. Change out the filter for better air flow, cooler air and little reduction in your electrical bill. Go outside to check the big metal box associated with your cooling system (condenser)for grass & weeds growing around it. Since it is so dry and your system puts some condensation around this area there is a good chance the grass/weeds are growing happily. Remove this growth so nothing obstructs any part of your condenser. If the exact opposite is going on outside near this condenser with just dirt (so these days dust) you might consider having your condenser cleaned. All this improves the systems functions, reduces a little on bills. If you have questions, call Moody's here in Austin or your preferred A/C & Heat person (your welcome to call me I just defer to Moody's).