GCU News & Blog

Tag: Homebuyers

  • 7 HVAC Questions Every Texas Homebuyer Needs to Ask Before Saying Yes

    Texas heat doesn’t wait. It presses in early and lingers late. The air gets heavy, the windows stay sealed, and ceiling fans do their best but fall short. That’s when HVAC systems quietly takes over, often overlooked, but always essential.

    Comfort in Texas starts here. A home that cools quickly and stays consistent through the day becomes more than just comfortable. It becomes functional. It supports sleep, productivity, and every small routine that makes a house feel right.

    This isn’t just about temperature. It’s about inspections. It’s about rising utility costs. It’s about making sure the biggest system in the house is one that won’t fail when it matters most. For buyers, that means asking smart, specific questions. For sellers, that means being ready with answers that show the system has been taken seriously.

    1. How Old Is the HVAC System and What’s Its Maintenance History?

    Most systems in the U.S. last between 10 and 15 years. In Texas, constant use can shorten that window, especially if the system hasn’t been serviced regularly.

    Service records speak louder than words. A 12-year-old system with annual maintenance checks and clean filters can run better than a five-year-old one that’s been ignored. Documentation from licensed professionals provides confidence and clarity, whether you’re buying or renting a house. Not just for buyers, but for inspectors and lenders too.

    2. How Efficient Is the System According to SEER, SEER2, AFUE, or HSPF

    These ratings matter more than ever. Newer systems often come with higher efficiency scores, and that translates directly into lower monthly energy bills. In 2023, federal minimums for SEER ratings in the South moved up to SEER2 14.3, making older systems easier to spot.

    SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) is used for air conditioners, while AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) measures furnace efficiency. HSPF applies to heat pumps.

    3. Has the System Been Regularly Serviced?

    Consistent maintenance keeps systems efficient and safe. Tune-ups usually include filter replacements, refrigerant checks, thermostat calibration, and cleaning of internal parts like coils and blowers.

    Without regular care, HVAC systems lose efficiency and break down faster. According to the Building Performance Institute, neglected systems can lose up to 15 percent of their efficiency. That’s not just a number. That’s money on the table every month.

    Certified HVAC pros log service details that professionals show a system has been respected and cared for. Buyers will notice. So will inspectors.

    4. Are There Any Known Issues Like Leaks, Compressor Failures, or Electrical Flaws?

    HVAC systems are complex and expensive to repair. Be sure to ask the seller directly if they’ve experienced any major issues, such as refrigerant leaks, electrical problems, or compressor failures. 

    These types of repairs can be expensive and are often signs of larger problems. A recent repair might not be a dealbreaker, but if there’s a history of recurring issues, you should investigate further. 

    Asking for repair history helps identify systems that look fine on the surface but may be hiding deeper issues behind the vent covers.

    5. What’s the Condition and Layout of the Ductwork?

    Ducts are the delivery system. If they’re disconnected, kinked, or poorly insulated, the result is uneven temperatures from room to room and higher utility bills across the board.

    According to ENERGY STAR, as much as 20 percent of the air moving through a duct system can be lost due to leaks, holes, or poorly connected ducts. That’s not something visible on a walkthrough. It shows up later as discomfort and wasted energy.

    Duct layout also affects how air flows through each floor. In multi-story homes, poor design can create hot upstairs zones and frigid downstairs rooms. A balanced design and sealed ducts change that completely.

    6. Is the Home Zoned or Are Multiple Units Installed

    Zoning makes life easier. Especially in large homes or multi-level floor plans, separate zones or multiple systems help keep temperatures consistent without overworking the entire setup.

    In newer builds, zoning systems are becoming more common. One thermostat controls upstairs. Another handles downstairs. Each space receives attention based on use and time of day. This improves comfort and efficiency without driving up the bill.

    Older homes may have one system working overtime for the entire layout. That doesn’t always mean bad performance. But it does mean extra evaluation.

    7. Was the HVAC System Installed by a Licensed Pro and Properly Permitted

    A quick test during a walkthrough won’t tell the full story. For that, a deeper look from a licensed HVAC technician helps. They know what to check. Airflow measurements. Code compliance. Electrical safety. Refrigerant pressure.

    When a new system was installed, permits should have been pulled. Inspections should have been passed. This confirms that the work meets state and municipal standards.

    Having this documentation on hand makes the process smoother for everyone involved—from lender to buyer to appraiser.

    Quick Tips for Buyers and Sellers

    HVAC is a consideration when buying or selling a home that often remains hidden. But don’t sleep on it – here are some quick tips to follow to get clarity around your home’s HVAC:

    Buyers

    An older system isn’t always a dealbreaker. But when inspections reveal outdated components or spotty maintenance, that becomes an opportunity. Leverage those findings to ask for credits, repairs, or price adjustments. Solid HVAC insight turns into negotiating power fast.

    Sellers

    Schedule a professional tune-up before listing your home. Having inspection paperwork and recent service records on hand can help build buyer confidence and make the transaction go smoothly.

    Final Thoughts

    HVAC systems are one of the most important and expensive components of a home, especially in climates like Texas! 

    Taking time to ask these questions and gather the right documents helps avoid the last-minute panic that often creeps up just before closing. It also shows that the home has been taken care of. Thoughtfully. Responsibly. Intentionally.

    Knowing how a system runs and confirming it’s up to standard means fewer surprises later and a lot more peace of mind. Especially once those triple-digit days start rolling in.

  • Survey Reveals: TV Shows Have Homebuyers Expecting Open Houses With Popcorn and Plot Twists

    DALLAS, TX — The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Research Group just released a new report based on their 2025 survey. It looks at how home staging is affecting real estate deals from both the buyer’s and seller’s point of view. The study also digs into how TV shows are shaping what buyers expect, along with other trends in the home buying process. The findings come from 1,266 REALTORS® who responded out of nearly 50,000 surveyed, giving a response rate of just 2.5% and a margin of error of ±2.75%.

    For years, home staging has been touted as a secret weapon for sellers. Now, hard numbers back up its reputation. According to NAR’s findings, a striking 60% of buyers’ agents said staging affects most buyers’ perceptions of a home “most of the time,” while an additional 26% said it sways buyers, albeit not always. Only a small minority 12% believed staging had no impact at all.

    “Staging isn’t just about pretty pillows and fresh flowers,” explained Dr. Jessica Lautz, NAR’s Deputy Chief Economist. “It’s about helping people see themselves living in that space. Our research shows 83% of buyers’ agents agree—it makes it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home.”

    Source: nar.realtor

    When it comes to which rooms matter most, the hierarchy is clear. The living room tops the list, with 37% of agents calling it the most important space to stage, followed by the primary bedroom (34%) and the kitchen (23%). Guest bedrooms and children’s rooms, by contrast, barely register.

    The impact is financial too. 17% of buyers’ agents reported that staging nudged offers up by 1–5% compared to similar unstaged homes. While 41% saw no effect on price, the potential upside is enough to keep sellers investing.

    On the seller’s side, the commitment to staging varies. Just 21% of sellers’ agents said they stage every listing, while 10% reserve staging for hard-to-sell homes. A majority—51%—prefer to recommend decluttering or minor repairs rather than full-scale staging. For those who do stage, the median spend is $1,500 with a professional service, but drops to $500 when agents roll up their own sleeves.

    “Quality of design and price are the top factors when picking a staging company,” noted Brandi Snowden, NAR’s Director of Member and Consumer Survey Research. “It’s a business decision, not just an aesthetic one.”

    Staging can even help homes sell faster. Thirty percent of sellers’ agents noted a slight decrease in days on market for staged homes, and 19% reported a significant drop. Only a handful (4%) saw staging actually slow down a sale.

    TV Shows and Family: The New Influencers

    But it’s not just fresh paint and throw blankets shaping buyer behavior. The media—especially home-buying TV shows—now wields outsized influence. Nearly half (48%) of agents said their clients expected homes to look “like they were staged on TV,” and 58% reported buyers were disappointed when reality fell short.

    “TV has set a standard that’s often unattainable,” admitted one survey respondent. “Buyers come in with expectations that just don’t match the real world.” In fact, 73% of agents said TV shows had impacted their business by setting unrealistic or heightened expectations.

    Yet, despite the media’s sway, 77% of agents say they aren’t influenced to stage homes exactly as seen on TV. “We have to balance what sells with what’s feasible,” said another agent. “Not every home can—or should—look like a set.”

    Family dynamics also play a growing role. A median of 23% of buyers brought non-purchasing family members to viewings, and 40% consulted family during the process, even if relatives wouldn’t live in the home. “It’s a multigenerational decision for many,” Lautz observed.

    Buyers are also coming to the table with clear ideas—79% know where they want to live, and 76% have an ideal home in mind before starting their search. But the process itself remains daunting: 42% expect it to be difficult, and 38% find it even harder than they imagined.

    Other Noteworthy Findings:

    • 27% of agents report that more buyers are planning to flip homes, and 42% say there’s an increase in those looking to remodel.
    • 61% of buyers don’t have a set number of homes in mind, but for those who do, the median is eight in-person showings and 20 virtual tours.
    • 55% of agents say buyers’ expectations around how many homes they’ll see before buying are aligned with market realities.

    Staging remains a powerful tool—especially for the living room, bedroom, and kitchen—but today’s buyers are also guided by television, family, and a growing desire for customization. For REALTORS®, the challenge is clear: bridge the gap between fantasy and reality, one open house at a time.

  • Insurance Emerging as Home-Sale Dealbreaker Across the U.S.

    While homeownership has always come with its challenges, real estate agents are now facing even greater obstacles as skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs make closing deals more difficult.

    Nearly 47% of agents surveyed reported experiencing more problems with home insurance during transactions over the past year compared to the previous one, based on Redfin Corp.’s 2025 Industry Survey.

    Some Regions Have a Tougher Insurance Market

    California and Florida are really feeling the impact. In California, about half of the agents surveyed said they’ve had a lot more trouble with homeowners insurance, and another 25% said things have gotten a bit worse compared to last year. Down in Florida, where hurricanes are common, 41.5% of agents said that insurance issues have gotten a lot worse, and 31.4% said they’re seeing a bit more trouble than before.

    Insurers have suffered hundreds of billions of dollars in losses in California due to wildfires at the beginning of the year, while Florida has seen comparable claims from recent storm damage.

    To help homeowners affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, California enacted a one-year ban this year preventing insurers from canceling or refusing to renew policies, after many homeowners were dropped in the months prior to the disaster.

    Florida also experienced a wave of insurers leaving the state last year after a series of hurricanes and a recent study found that up to 20% of Florida homeowners may now be uninsured. The rising frequency and intensity of hurricanes has caused homeowners insurance premiums in Florida to soar to nearly five times the national average, mainly due to the increased risk of climate-related disasters, according to Devonta Davis of the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

    This problem isn’t just happening in Florida. Across the country, a survey by ValuePenguin, an insurance company owned by LendingTree, found that two-thirds of homeowners saw their insurance premiums go up in 2024. Even more concerning, 25% of homeowners said their insurance company dropped them, which is up from 19% last year.

    Other states are also raising red flags, with worries about rising insurance costs and nonrenewals growing in Maine, Colorado, and Arizona.

    Homeowners in Texas—especially around Dallas—are facing their own set of challenges. With all the hailstorms and tornadoes lately, insurance claims have shot up, which means many insurers are hiking up premiums or becoming much pickier about whom they’ll cover.

    Local real estate agents say more deals are falling through because buyers can’t find affordable coverage, and a few insurers have even pulled out of the Texas market. That’s left a lot of Dallas homeowners worried about rising costs and the possibility of losing their insurance, just like what’s happening in other high-risk states.

    A lot of homeowners are making some tough choices to get by: 34% say they’ve cut their home insurance coverage to save money, and 31% have even thought about dropping it altogether. On top of that, half of homeowners are now worried their homes might not be insurable in the future, and 75% think rates will keep going up in 2025.

    Industry Consolidation Means Disasters Have a Broader Insurance Impact

    Years of consolidation in the reinsurance sector—basically insurance for insurance companies—have left just a few providers covering the entire country. When these companies take big losses from catastrophic disasters, it affects how they price coverage across all their policies the following year.

    A 2024 working paper from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Wisconsin School of Business found that average premiums had already jumped about 33% from 2020 to 2023—or 13% after inflation—according to Medici’s earlier reporting.

    The pandemic has really turned the real estate market upside down, with 63% of lenders saying it’s gotten tougher to get home insurance. Buyers are now paying a lot more attention to climate risks, especially with all the extreme weather and flooding lately.

    Home prices have shot up too, with the median price jumping 35% from $327,100 in 2019 to $442,600 in 2022. Insurance companies have raised rates, stopped taking on new customers in risky areas, and even dropped some existing ones, making home insurance tougher to get and a lot more expensive. All of this has caused home prices to level off in 2024.