I am looking to buy a home in B/CS between now and August. Any suggestions or advice are welcome (realtors, builders, ect.).

Are Stylecraft homes any good? They seem to be the cheapest anywhere.

I'm also in the market between now and August- and I'm in the same boat as far as knowing jack about the process. I do know, though, that Stylecraft is cheap for a reason. Take that for what it's worth.

Our Stylecraft home is just over a year old and we love it. My first recommendation is to get yourself a buyer agent. I would recommend John Flynn at Classic GMAC Realty.

Since Randy French took over Stylecraft, the quality and reputation of Stylecraft has improved drastically. They offer various styles at very affordable prices.

BTW-the reason they offer their affordable prices is because they buy large amounts of lots at a time, in various subdivisions. They are able to offer reasonably priced houses because of the lower amount of lot prices they pass on to the home buyer. I'd suggest you go to the Stylecraft offices on the Hwy. 6 feeder road between Rock Prairie and Greens Prairie. They'll answer any questions you have. If looking for custom home, I'd highly recommend Randal Pitcock...he was great for us. For a realtor, Laurie Follis of Ashford Realty has been great for us also. God luck. BTW-we are selling our home in Castlegate. it's only a year old. L. Follis is our agent.

I have a stylecraft house. It is "cheaper" than some other houses, but its lower price allowed me to own a great home much sooner than if I had held out for a similar house of higher quality. To me, that was more important.

I highly recommend Tom Rike. He used to be with Stylecraft and is now building and selling houses on his own. A great, forthright family man I would love to give business to.

Try and find a place to live that has an HOA because it will really help you retain your home's value in the long run and keep your neighborhood from becoming College Station's next ghetto.

I've done business with Classic Realty GMAC here since 1996 and they are a good bunch of folks. I used Brent Riethmayer and he is just a great guy and we've become friends. He was pretty much always available when we needed him and really cared about helping us get the best place for us based on our needs and requirements. He is not only a realtor but a broker/owner of the place.

Their website:
http://www.classicgmac.com

Brent's info:
http://www.classicgmac.com/cgi-bin/classicgmac.com/realtors/realtors.cgi?db=default&uid=default&view_records=1&ID=*&nh=4&mh=1

I heard bunches of negative crap about stylecraft when we bought our first home and, when we bought our current home last year, wasn't hearing the same thing, so the idea that it turned around is possible. The best builder in the area, or so I've been told, is Marriott Homes, but they are also rather high. There are a TON of houses that are already built for sale here right now as the homebuilding market has continued to move forward during the recession due to the really low unemployment. This has led to folks here still moving to better homes despite the recession and left a lot of homes empty.

What are your requirements? I can help you think about a given area as well...I had a friend just sell and another just buy, so I have been involved in the market a bit lately.

Our house is just a year old. We had Charles Thomas build our house from the ground up (i.e. we didn't buy a spec home). He was recommended to me by Larry Mariott (Mariott homes).

All I can say is, he builds a nice, solid house. HOWEVER, his customer service after the fact of signing the contract is less than best. Once you sign, you are his. He will do what he wants with you. We have had major drainage issues in our house since buying it and he "tried" to correct it once by laying some extra grading sand and a little bit of new sod, but now the issue is away from our fence and where the old sod is (right next to the foundation).

Once you sign, he doesn't really like to hear about problems. Oh, and you will hear all the time at how such a great deal you are getting and how he is losing money on the deal. (Right...making $20K on a house is losing money).

Anyhow. Be extra careful when picking your development to build in. He also lied to me on our development, which has pissed me and my wife off.

Oh well. Welcome to home ownership. It's great.

Beyond the service (sometimes) he still builds a great house and it is loaded with features.

My 2 cents.

I second the recommendation for Charles Thomas. He has been very helpful in correcting little problems in my house after the purchase.

If you are interested in your mortgage options, send me an email at eric@firstclassmortgage.net Good luck.

Thanks for all the advice, y'all.

Texarkana: I am looking for under $120k, no kids, prefer rural, don't care whether it is Bryan or CS.

You are not going to find anything "rural" for under $120,000, at least not in Brazos Co. You may want to try to find something in Grimes, Burleson, or Robertson Co. It is amazing how much cheaper property/homes are once you cross the rivers/county lines.

I'm a Realtor here in B/CS.

Whoever said that about Stylecraft and Randy French is correct. Their reputation has improved, as has their service. I've had several "after the sale" dealings with him and have been very pleased. In fact, he's even helped out people who have been the "second owners" of Stylecraft homes. IOW, Stylecraft got nothing out of the deal other than a pat on the back.

As far as what you're looking for, I just pulled up everything fitting your "wants" and came up with 20 properties, with only two being in Bryan. Everything else was Jewitt, Sommerville, Centerville, etc.

I bumped the price range up to 150K and came up with 11 more properties, with more options in Bryan (OSR area). I noticed at least one decent option that was $129K.

If you'd like, shoot me an email and I'll let you know what I've found. I can email you the entire list so you can flip through and get some basic descriptions with pictures. duckag01@netscape.net

This is who I'd use.

http://www.bcsdreamteam.com/index.php?action=sarah

Emeril, email sent. Thanks.