Relocating to Lubbock's Lakeridge

I'm Shelby Cotton, a REALTOR® with eXp Realty, LLC in Lubbock. I lived about twenty years on the Texas Gulf Coast before Lubbock, and I remember learning a new part of the state from scratch.

For a Lakeridge purchase from a distance, my job is to tell you what the photos don't. Is that renovation as good in person as it looks online? What's the age of the roof and the systems behind the new finishes? How does the lot sit relative to the course and the street? My background in architecture and civil design helps me answer those questions on a walkthrough and explain them plainly by video or phone.

I'll also help you understand the ground. High Plains soils behave differently from what many relocating buyers know, and mature trees near a foundation add a question worth asking during inspection.

Renovated homes photograph beautifully, and that's where relocating buyers can get caught out. A new kitchen and fresh floors can sit on top of an original roof, original heating and cooling, and original plumbing. From a distance, you need someone asking what's underneath.

On a video walkthrough I'll show you the parts listing photos skip: the water heater and its age label, the heating and cooling equipment, the electrical panel, the attic where I can reach it, and the ground around the foundation. I'll ask the listing agent what was updated, when and by whom.

What's underneath changes how I price an offer. A home that's been renovated inside and out is worth more than one that's been refreshed on the surface, and your offer should know the difference before your inspector confirms it.

The option period on a Texas contract is short, usually about seven days for my buyers, and on a larger, older Lakeridge home there's a lot to learn in that week. When you're moving from another city, the key is to plan it before your offer is accepted.

We'll line up the general inspector ahead of time, so the inspection happens in the first days rather than the last. If the home's age or the trees around it suggest a closer look at the foundation, the roof or the sewer line, we'll know which specialists to call and how fast they can get there.

You don't need to be in Lubbock for any of it. I'll attend where it helps, send you photos and notes, and walk you through the reports by phone or video. Then we'll decide together whether to go forward, ask for repairs or ask for a price change, with enough time left to act on the answer.