DALLAS — Homes now on the market at or about $750,000 come in a wide range of sizes, ages and conditions, says Ben Caballero, founder and CEO of Dallas-based HomesUSA.com.
Active listings at that price currently available in Collin County range anywhere from 3,500 to 5,800 square feet, he said.
In Dallas, Caballero found a 1,200-square-foot home built in 1935 and a 5,300-square-foot home built in 1985 priced at or about $750,000.
Click here for a look at homes compiled by HomesUSA.com of the options around $750,000 currently on the market.
This is the second of several stories the Dallas Business Journal will run on DFW housing options at various price points.
Last week, we looked at homes priced at about $300,000. You can see examples of homes available in that price range by clicking here.
Right now, there are 132 new and pre-owned homes for sale in North Texas counties priced between $740,000 and $760,000, Caballero said. Thirty-eight of those are in Dallas County, 27 are in Collin County, 23 are in Tarrant County and 13 are in Denton County. The rest are spread throughout other areas including Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall and other counties.
In the past year, 108 homes sold in the $740,000 to $760,000 range in North Texas.
The number of sales at the price point and the number of listings works out to a 14.7-month inventory of homes on the market, Caballero said.
“It’s a buyer’s market,” he said.
The average $750,000 house on the market in Collin County is 4,301 square feet, compared to 2,956 square feet in Dallas County, 4,226 square feet in Denton County and 3,551 square feet in Tarrant County.
In terms of age, the average year built for a home in the price range in Collin County is 2007, Dallas County is 1983, in Denton is 2011 and in Tarrant County is 1996.
The homes selling the fastest in North Texas for about $750,000 are contemporary designs, said Lynn Beaurline, a real estate agent with HomesUSA.com.
“It used to be that Old World charm look, but it’s getting away from that now,” Beaurline said. “People want the cleaner, straighter lines and crisper looking homes.”
Some builders at the $750,000 level are adding touches such as a window in the pantry so homeowners can grow herbs there, she said.
At the higher price points, there are fancier finish-outs, including such things as exposed beams and copper ceilings, Beaurline said.
“The further you get away from the city, the more value you get,” she added. “You’ll get more house and more yard and a newer home.”
Beaurline advised buyers to get a home inspection whether they buy a pre-owned or new home.
Sellers, meanwhile, should declutter and learn to let go, Caballero said.
“There’s four things that buyers are going to look for: Size, location, price and condition,” he said. “You can’t do anything, within reason, about the size or the location. So that leaves you price and condition. You have to price your home properly to the condition that it’s in.”
Sellers whose home needs work should remember that buyers typically discount the home two to three times the amount it would cost the seller to make the repairs, because the buyer factors in the inconvenience to have to do it, Caballero added.
Sellers should also remember that selling a home is a business transaction and think with their head, not their heart, he said.
“They need to realize that it is not their home anymore,” he said. “It’s somebody else’s but we just haven’t found who the new occupant is going to be. The buyer doesn’t care about the sentimentality and this being the place you raised your family and so forth.”
