Would You Like To See More Waco, Texas, Real Estate? (Plus A Service I’d Like To Offer)
Y’all, the responses to my post about the flip house next door (and the response to the videos I put on Instagram stories yesterday morning about that house) have been funny, sad, overwhelming, and frustrating. So many people seemed to get a kick out my critique of the house, while so many also had similar stories of what’s going on in your own part of the country/world with real estate prices being artificially inflated by investment companies doing horrible flips on houses for quick money, which in turn, prices regular people right out of the market in their own towns and cities. But in addition to all of that, lots of people were like, “Show us more! You should do more of this!”
So if it’s something that y’all would be interested in, I’d love to show you more. It would be kind of a “what you can get for $250,000 in Waco, Texas” or “what you can get for $500,000 in Waco, Texas” kind of thing, and I would walk through and show you all of the things that real estate agents aren’t going to show you in their wide angle, carefully edited listing photos. I just looked, and there are at least five open houses this weekend in Waco, and Woodway, with prices ranging from $274,000 to just under $1.4 million, including the awful flip house next door. I’d personally love to see them (beyond the listing photos). How about y’all?
I know with Magnolia/Fixer Upper being located in Waco, and Waco getting so much attention because of it, people are kind of fascinated with this little city. But I also think that Magnolia/Fixer Upper gave people a very unrealistic view of what your money could buy here. The people on that show got their remodels done at cost — a privilege not extended to a regular homeowner who isn’t being featured on a national TV show. And while they would feature some dirt cheap houses and fix them up very nicely, what they failed to show was the neighborhood where that newly remodeled house was located.
I’ll never forget one particular Fixer Upper house (probably the smallest one they ever did) that was put on the market for just under $1 million a few years ago. I was shocked, especially knowing the location. Everyone was shocked. It was the talk of the town, especially among local real estate agents.
So I got in my car and drove over there to see the house in person. The photos in the real estate listing looked amazing. The photographer did a wonderful job, and clearly used a wide angle lens to make the tiny house look much larger than it is, and focused in tightly on just that house and the property it sat on . But the main issue was the neighborhood. It’s sandwiched between an interstate highway and a government building that employees hundreds of people with a parking lot that can’t hold all of the cars. Plus, it’s two blocks from Magnolia Market, which brings in 200,000-300,000 visitors each month during busy summer months, and all those people have to find parking as well. So those streets in that area of town are always lined with cars that are coming and going all day, every day.
But as far as the immediate neighborhood went, the other houses on that street couldn’t have been worth any more than $60,000 at the time…if that. Most of them were in severe disrepair, and the house right next door had been so neglected, with dead and dying trees filling up the lot and covering the house that you could barely make out the dilapidated house through the dead limbs just from the street, and these aren’t big lots. And yet, the owners put a $950,000 price tag on that house (the “shotgun house”). I laughed. Everyone laughed. Needless to say, they didn’t sell it for that.
So while Magnolia makes it look like anyone can move to Waco, buy a house for $100,000, put $75,000 into it, and have an amazing house in the end, there’s a whole lot that they don’t show you.
But that brings me to a service I’d like to offer.
I know the market for this service is small — it includes people who live out of state and are planning to move to Waco, Texas. That’s a pretty narrow target. But I’ll offer it nonetheless.
The idea for this came together over the last few days and after several different interactions with various people.
First, I had dinner with a friend on Tuesday night, and she was talking about her experience buying a house in Waco. She and her husband moved here from California, and because of work and other things, they couldn’t make trips here to look at houses. So they bought a house sight unseen (well, other than the real estate listing photos) and relied on their real estate agent to steer them in the right direction.
The photos on the listing were obviously taken with a wide angle lens, because when they got here to see their new house in person, the rooms were smaller than they had expected. Also, there were other issues that hadn’t shown up in the photos, like kitchen cabinet doors that opened into obstacles, and other quality issues.
So I left our dinner thinking about her situation, and then started getting responses to my video of the flip house next door like, “Kristi, do more of these!” and, “Show us more overpriced houses with your critique! This is hilarious!” and things like that.
And I thought, “What if I combined those things?” In other words, what if I offer my services to people looking to move to Waco from out-of-state (or even from out-of-town…Texas is huge, so even lots of out-of-towners can’t easily drive to Waco to look at houses), and I act as their proxy in looking at houses that interest them?
I would not be acting as a real estate agent. I’m not licensed for that. And I wouldn’t be acting as a house inspector who’s looking to tell you how much life you have left in your shingles, or what kind of wiring is hidden behind the walls, or if you need more insulation in the attic. Nothing like that.
But I would simply walk through the houses with a critical eye of a proxy for potential buyers to see the things that the real estate listing photos aren’t telling. And I would be doing so as a neutral party who doesn’t have a horse in the race. I don’t stand to gain a commission upon the sale of the house, so I have nothing invested, and I have no reason to try to skim over issues with the house, or try to convince a potential buyer that kitchen cabinets from the 1950s are “charming vintage” cabinets when they’re not working properly.
No, instead, I would go in as a proxy for the buyer, looking at the property with a critical eye. Does the listing say that the kitchen is “newly remodeled”? If so, did they use cheap cabinets that will fall apart in the first year? Or did they use quality products? Does the house flow nicely? What is the neighborhood REALLY like? Are the rooms as big as they look in the real estate listing? Or is that living room that looks huge in the listing actually too small to fit a normal sized sofa?
As a native Wacoan, as a person who has been an interior decorator and has decorated many houses in Waco, and as a DIYer who has bought and fixed up a condo and a house in Waco and knows what quality work looks like, I think I could help a lot of prospective buyers looking from out-of-state, and help them weed out the houses that aren’t quite what they seem to be in listings, or at least avoid major disappointments once they finally see their house in person.
I asked my friend if she thought that would be a useful service, and she said, “Oh, yes!! Definitely!” So I’m offering. I’m not offering my time for free. My time is valuable. 🙂 But I do want to offer. So if you know anyone looking to move to Waco or areas around Waco, let them know that I’d love to help them.
Again, I know this is a very narrow group of people who can use my service. People moving specifically to Waco, Texas, is a very small percentage. I know if I could offer this service for any part of Texas, my inbox would be filled up in an hour. Unfortunately, I can’t. Or won’t. I’m just not willing to travel too far from home. But I’d happily be a proxy for any buyer looking specifically in the Waco, Texas, area.
If you or anyone you know could use this service, send me an email at [email protected] and we can work out the details.
In the meantime, I’ll entertain myself (and maybe you) be visiting some of these open houses and seeing just what’s out there.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Your blog posts regarding the price of homes in Waco and Woodbury are very interesting. I live in upstate New York and the price of homes (not new construction) that are for sale is about $200/sq. ft.
In checking the listings for 1/22 all but one fits this dollar amount.
Your home is probably worth much more than you think it is. A tremendous amount of inflation, for a variety of reasons, has taken place in the last few years.
A GREAT IDEA!!!!
Sooooo many thought. Realtors market houses just like Amazon markets items. Buyers need to make an informed decision. If buying a house sight unseen, it is their responsibility that they are not buying what they think. Please be very careful because people will rely on you as an inspector. If you run it as a ‘design’ business you might be ok but you know too much about mechanicals to not give an opinion and that’s where you might step over the line. Realtors have to be very careful too because what we say can be turned or twisted too. I think people are making very unwise decisions in this market. But that is on them. And as far as wide angle shots go, I get it. It’s not ideal. But taking a one dimensional picture of a 3 dimensional room isn’t easy. It’s actually easier to hide flaws with a close up picture than a wide angle. People that buy houses unseen are always going to have regrets. Always. I love your blog but am feeling that all Realtors do not deserve your wrath. Don’t assume we all do business the same way. Just like all bloggers. All electricians. Etc. lastly, if everyone doesn’t understand hgtv’s rehab shows are not realistic yet… well, I have a shotgun house to sell you for 1.m. Lol. Keep up the good work on your house. I love that you are not a black and white decorator.
Nooooo!!! I have no wrath against realtors. 🙂 If I feel wrath, it’s towards house flippers, especially like the ones who did the house next door to me. And then they expect a real estate agent to sell that thing for them. And the agents do have a duty to their client. So there’s no way that agent can write in the listing, “The owners tried to do a kitchen remodel, but did a crappy job with cheap materials that don’t fit the space, so this will have to be ripped out and redone at the cost of probably $30,000 at the absolute minimum.” That’s just not something an agent can do, no matter how bad the “remodeled” kitchen is. So what do they put in the listing? “Stunning completely renovated home with 4 bedrooms in an established neighborhood with a convenient location in the heart of Waco sitting on nearly an acre of land! Care and attention have been given to every detail including …new appliances, new kitchen cabinets…” They have to do that because it’s their responsibility to represent their client. The buyer’s agent might be a bit more critical, but they still have a horse in the race and would like to make a sale. That was my only point. With no horse in the race, and nothing to gain from a sale, and with my experience, I can be the eyes of the buyer who can’t be there in person.
But no, no wrath at all towards real estate agents. I know they’re often put in very challenging situations to sell less than ideal properties, and have to very often work with unreasonable owners who think their properties are worth a whole lot more than they really are.
I think you will be balancing on a thin line. Talk to a lawyer first. The seller could sue you for slander, the real estate agents are going to tell their buyers to beware of you. They will tell white lies about to make a sale. This world today is everybody is watching their back and will throw you under bus for anything. It would be wonderful if it was 20 years or more, but people are not the same. They will sue you and your family without blinking an eye. I have worked for the public for 40 years, i have seen people change and I live Texas in a very small county. Smaller than Mc Lennan.
I agree with the above, it was my first worry. I completely understand what you WANT to do but I’m not convinced you SHOULD do this. I feel you are opening yourself up to way too much backlash. I don’t believe it’s worth it in the end.
Talk to an attorney before opening up for business. One good lawsuit, and your personal finances are toast.
It’s one thing to help a friend with a virtual walkthrough. It’s another to be in business, offering your professional services and potentially impacting sales.
Make sure your personal finances are protected if things do go south.
That would be a great service in any area!
I would love more art like you speak of. Really enjoyed the one you did.
I think this would be a great service because often these houses are now going for thousands over the listing price and the bidding wars are crazy and sometimes the winner has no money left to “fix” the flipper mistakes or cheap remodels.
As someone who knows what the cost of remodeling looks like your thoughts on what it might cost them to improve their purchase sight unseen would be worth more than money can buy.
Good luck.
Great idea Kristi! Folks moving to Waco will appreciate an objective eye and critical opinion about coming to the area. I live on the west side of Cleveland and we’ve also seen crazy inflated prices for houses that are nothing special. Our area was hard hit by the mortgage crisis years ago and there were many underwater houses available that were gobbled up. Ugh.
I love your posts and you’ve inspired my own confidence in my and hubby’s DIY skills. We’ve done a bathroom with new tile and backsplash and are planning a gut of our kitchen.
I look forward to future posts as you continue your DIY adventure!
I was totally looking yesterday at that area! Palestine, Tyler, etc. We’re in Utah now and need a change and Texas keeps coming to mind. My husband needs to be within an hour of Fort Worth (or close to an hour away).
Palestine and Tyler are about 3-4 hours from Ft. Worth. I live in Waxahachie, which is an hour or less from Ft. Worth. Unfortunately the same thing is happening here and in the surrounding towns, home prices are just going out of sight. We bought our home 8 years ago and it has probably increased in value by about 50%. Thankfully we are senior citizens so our taxes are frozen.
While it seems like a good idea and would love to see this type of project I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble from the Realtors who are trying to make a sell. Just be careful if you decide to do it.
That sounds like a interesting idea. Two years a go I was looking to move closer to my grandson in Kyle or Buda, Texas and never found a home that I could afford that was a nice decent home. The realtor showed me homes that were new and small and over priced, or homes that were not suite able.
Good luck on your new venture! Please let us know how it goes. Also, keep up updated on the house for sale next to yours – how long it takes to sell it and what price it sells for.
I love this premise, but I wouldn’t want you to get in Dutch with the licensed realtors or other tradespeople, and with certain people with deep pockets that live in your town. I don’t understand how people could buy a house sight unseen so perhaps there would be some narrow niche with defined limits for your services. It sure would be fun to see what you find though!
Please don’t stop your blog on what you do to your house. I look forward to your house. I don’t care about housing in Waco. Unless you work on another house.
No plans to stop my blog. Or my projects. 🙂
You go for it Kristi. This is all about truthfulness and being a truth teller. Real estate needs your services. I could have used someone like you in our last move to Pennsylvania.
As a licensed real estate broker, the service that you are offering should actually be the responsibility of the buyer’s agent. As in any profession, there are good and bad players. As Realtors, we are required to act in an ethical manner. I believe that a good realtor would encourage their clients to look at properly priced properties and act and advocate for their clients even more considering the clients’ lack of knowledge of a particular area. Anytime I ever work with an out of town buyer, I will personally at the minimum, drive by the location to see the surrounding neighborhood. If it doesn’t pass my initial drive by overview, I’m less likely to recommend this property as a good investment. Also, homes will ALWAYS look better in pictures. I’m not trying to bust your chops, but I’d guess that the photos that you post of your home, do not tell the whole story either. I think it’s human nature to paint a rosier picture. I believe that real estate photographs are meant to draw in a buyer with the hope that once there, other features of the home outweigh the incomplete portrayal that pictures tell. Bottom line here is that buyers must know who they are working with prior to putting their trust in that person. I would never attempt to sell a home that I myself would not live in.
As a home buyer in SE Seattle suburbs I have to say that “should be” ethical realtors for buyer agent needs to be fine tuned. We have bought two homes in 30 years, both times with Realtors representing us. They showed us homes we could not afford, were not willing to fight for our needs in the sale and worst of all….sold us a house under a flight path for an airport! That was number one on our list since we were leaving the major airport area due to nice and contaminated air quality. His experience in this area was 25 years of selling homes. His response when I was at our new home cleaning so we could move for our sons to start school. I am seeing and hearing a 747 flying over our house, “News to me!” Neither realtor talked with us after we closed our homes. Everyone we know their realtors visited them in their new home, brought a card and ir welcome basket, ours were silent. So, yes realtors should be ethical and represent the buyer but our experiences were not that way. Our sons bought homes and had great realtors. They remember ours were not the norm.
Kristi is knowledgable and has experience working with clients for her home decorating business so her skills would be a great help for buyers in general. We are homeowners who like Kristi do our home improvements and expect quality work done. We bought our first home with little knowledge and worked our way up the home buying ladder. Prices are so crazy and we feel for young couples trying to get a foot in the home buying dream. I could go on but I will step off my soapbox now…
Kristi you have a a great tool that buyers could use. Go for it!!
With your eye for detail and all the knowledge you have think it would be a wonderful idea!
That’s a very tricky sticky situation. You could get in a lot of trouble doing that as an outsider for pay. I’ve seen lawsuits over things like this. Not sure that’s a good proposition. JMHO!!
Do it! That would be a great service to people. I have a friend who sold her home here in Alabama to a man in Colorado sight unseen. It is a beautiful, secluded log & stone home in a rural area. She sent him extra photos & videos of the surrounding countryside (no neighbors), so he knew what he was getting. And he paid her full price, in cash, without batting an eye.
I watched that episode about the LITTLE shotgun house & was floored when they listed it for that price! Ridiculous.
Hi Kristi! I love this idea. I have bought two houses (successfully) without ever seeing them in person. *My husband saw them, and I told him what to look for*. I’m getting ready to do this again, but this time I’m renting. I really suggest you include that in your services. I’m moving to a market we can’t afford to buy, and we don’t plan on staying for more than 4-5 years. (California) However, I’m invested in finding the right home for the time being. I definitely would want a personal “shopper” of sorts to help. It is a niche market, but there are people like me out there! Just my 2 cents! And, I did like your analysis of the flip next door! 🙂
While this sounds like a wonderful service that most people could use and appreciate, you should just watch out for liability. Could someone think you bad-mouthed their house? Could a potential buyer think you steered them wrong (toward or away from purchasing) with your photos or description of the house.
You just don’t want this to back-fire on you. Sorry to be cynical, just potentially looking out for you and it’s something to be aware of.
In the immortal words of Oscar Wilde, “Let no good deed go unpunished.”
How I hate that saying…but unfortunately it has come true for us several times. Sometimes you just want to help and it ends up a nightmare. That’s when that saying comes to mind. I’m not sure if this is good or not for Kristi. I know if I were moving there I would LOVE to hear what she thought about any particular property. But I do understand the point some are making. If that flip next door is any indication of what is offered there, I guess everyone will NEED someone like Kristi – what a mess that house is! I think it could be fun, and even a lesson to see what Kristi finds, but I just don’t know about the service. I do not want to see anything negative happening to her and Matt. PS) I sure didn’t get any negative vibes about realtors from Kristi….those who misrepresent in the photos and the descriptions are responsible Not sure why they can’t just be totally honest!
I love this idea. Showing the naked truth behind a lot of lipstick on pigs out there will be both entertaining and informative. My daughter just bought her first home and couldn’t be more disappointed despite her best friend being her buyers agent. Seems the appetite for commissions trumps many moral compasses. Her friend glossed over every issue she brought up and assured her this or that could just be ripped right out and updated without having ANY knowledge of construction or current prices. Sure, it’s a buyer beware situation, but she a made $17,000 commission for roughly 10 hours of work while my daughter spent the next 6 months trying to rehab a master bath, paint, move appliances, etc for 4x what her agent glibly told her. Now, she’s learned her lesson, but at quite the price.
Oh, I knew all about the Fixer Upper houses. My daughter lived in Wichita Falls and San Antonio while her husband was stationed there, and they had visited Magnolia and Harp Design. They also managed to find many of the houses that were on the show. So when we went to visit one year, we detoured on the way for a quick look at Waco, Magnolia, etc. She gave us directions to get to Harp Design from Magnolia, and several addresses of houses they saw. The “Harp House” was right next door to the Woodworkers store, and was smaller than we expected. I could see why they had to move from it (and possibly WHY they wanted to move.) Across the street was an old man sitting on the porch of this house that needed lots of help and junk cleaned up, a front yard of dirt, and a dog that constantly barked at all the people coming and going. We drove down some other streets that had “fixer” houses, and the neighborhoods were pretty much dumps. We wondered how many more people quickly moved, even though their homes were gorgeous. As for you going to preview homes for buyers, I would worry you could get sued by sellers or even agents if you “truth tell” on listings. Unless you are “friends” and would be able to convince them you are looking for a “friend” I would proceed with caution. But I spend hours looking on Zillow at different towns, so would love to see what you discover!
I was never a big fan of the show. I’m glad I’m not the only person noticing they didn’t show the neighborhoods. A couple of times I thought I glimpsed some unsavory aspects in perimeter pics. However one thing that drove me nuts was when they showed the exterior doors I often saw daylight under the doors 🙀. Couldn’t understand why they didn’t correct that, simple fixes 🤷♀️
I agree it would be a great service— but also worry about liability.
I love what you will sharing with us! Have you gotten back to work in your bathroom?
I have a lot of things on order that I’m waiting for. I still have a plumbing part on order for the shower. It’s been on order for about two months, but it’s just one of those supply chain issues. So I wait. I have the items on order so that I can build the vanities. In the meantime, I plan to start back on the floor next week so that I can get the tub installed. I’ve had a lot of other things I’ve had to attend to at the start of the year, but I’ll get back into the full swing of things (bathroom and gym) starting next week.
what a wonderful service. There aren’t too many honest trustworthy people out there. Every has a motive. This service would maybe even out the prices.
Good luck
That sounds entertaining to me… I’d really enjoy that! 🙂
What a great idea Kristi!
I think you’re offering a valuable service! Good luck in this endeavor.
A wonderful idea, and the comprehensive talent of design and experience to pull it off.
But : the trouble that could cause you may not be worth it, unless you took it on as a professional service.
I keep thinking of the old saying : No good deed goes unpunished.
All the best luck in the world if you decide to do it, and were l going to move to Waco, l would not hesitate to employ you!
As a UK resident I love ‘fixer upper’ and many of the US house flipping programs and remember the shotgun house AND the dilapidated house next door. Most of us know these shows are not ‘reality’ (we lived near a ‘60 minute make over’ home that took 20 hours in real time lol) but these shows do offer escape and inspiration. I have followed you since you bought your home and love what you do but I am concerned about your idea from a legal view. As an estate agent myself I would not allow a viewer to video a home without the owner’s permission… be careful but I love your passion for keeping it real
I think it’s a great idea! If I were moving somewhere, say Waco, I would love for your input. You are honest, caring and know what needs to be done. I am still thinking about that kitchen in the house next door to you. It needs to be gutted and someone who knows what they’re doing could make it very functional. As it stands, it is not useable, it still makes me so mad that someone would slap up a few cabinets and then put an outrageous price on it. These are the people you wonder how they get dressed in the morning!
I think it would be a wonderful service as long as it’s looked over by a lawyer and definitely a contractural (sp?….lol) thing. My daughter bought her 1st home just over a year ago, a small bungalo, she was 21 yrs old at the time and qualified for 1st time home buyer grant so the home needed 2 separate inspections, great! It passed. After moving in she decided she wanted to remove the old 70’s style paneling from the basement walls only to discover the block wall had a huge, like 6 inch wide crack that ran along the entire length of the wall and it had been shored with metal poles from floor to ceiling but the gapping crack was still there! She called her real estate agent to see what recorse she had since it had been inspected? NONE! The inspectors are NOT allowed to remove any wall coverings? So because the former owner didnt disclose this and the inspectors passed the home ….. she is now stuck with this home with a huge cracked foundation!! UGH!! My point is just be sure that somehow in your new endeavor that you dont fall into a middleman type catagory where you could possibly be held liable for something of this nature? Like oh blame her, she should have seen this, you hired her to look around, she should have seen THAT!! But you would be sumblime at this, I would totally trust your eye if I were not able to go and look for myself…..Call Kristi!
That’s awesome! As I mentioned in my last comment we are in California and (at this point just casually) looking at houses in MO with the intention to move there in 1-2 years. I was thinking how much I would love this exact kind of service. We do have a friend just about to move there and I’m hoping when the time comes I can get her to facetime me through local to her open houses if they are close enough. I imagine whatever realtor we use can do similar but it’s not quite the same when they are hoping for a commission on something.
I love your idea. Good luck with the new venture!!
Kristi
What your offering maybe interesting to some people but the main reason we come to your blog is for the things you do to your home that are inspirational. You could be opening yourself up to loosing a lot of your following if you change that and post more Real estate things. It’s just a thought and it’s coming from someone who isn’t interested in Waco real restate – said with the best of intentions.
IMHO this would be way more headache than it’s worth. But teaching a class online on what to look for when looking at a house so you don’t get ripped off by the seller would be nice. But my real advice to you is to buy a lot and put up a parking garage. I mean 200,000 to 300,000 people a month is a lot of parking. Again IMHO.
From your post I see I’m not the only one that noticed Foxer Upper never showed the neighborhood. Being a Waco native with family still there I could usually identify the area, and many of the homes were located in somewhat questionable areas. I think your idea is really good; anything to keep unsuspecting people from making a potentially ruinous decision.