Allen Markel, REALTOR® · Texas Premier Realty

Buying

Buy now or buy later

Today's payment and cash to close, what the home could be worth in a few years, and buying now and refinancing side by side with waiting.

A typical recent 30-year rate. Edit to your lender's quote.

Wait how long?

2 years

Starts at the local figure below. Edit it — negative means falling.

+0.8% a year — Harris County figure, based on the last 12 and 24 months of resale home sales in Harris County (32,886 resales in the last 12 months). The last 12 months: +0.4%; the last 24 months: +1.4% a year.

How: typical resale home price change, same neighborhoods year to year (new construction excluded) — two-thirds the last 12 months and one-third the 24-month rate. Context, not a forecast.

A what-if, not a forecast. Starts half a point under today's; nobody knows.

Paid in year N on the buy-now path, only if the rate is lower.

Property tax: 2.25% typical in Harris County. Typical total rate for the 17,904 homes for sale in Harris County (median of their certified 2025 tax bills; most are between 2.13% and 2.51%). Add your ZIP for a closer figure.

Typical in Harris County: $80/mo (74% of homes for sale there list an HOA). Set 0 if yours has none.

Today's numbers

$3,659 /mo, taxes, insurance, PMI & HOA included

Purchase price
$400,000
Loan amount (5% down)
$380,000
Interest rate
6.69%
Principal & interest
$2,450/mo
Property tax (2.25%) & insurance (est.)
$934/mo
PMI (est.)
$196/mo
HOA dues
$80/mo
Cash to close (est.)
$33,462

Cash to close = your down payment, about 2% of the loan in lender and title fees (an assumption), and prepaid insurance, escrow and interest.

Home appreciation — projected value

$406,426 in 2 years

Value today
$400,000
At 0.8% a year
+$6,426

Buy now + refi in 2 years

Price paid
$400,000
Loan in year 2 (balance)
$371,524
Rate from year 2
6.19%
Total payment from year 2
$3,551/mo
Equity in year 2
$34,901
Refinance costs
$5,000

Refinanced on the 28 years left, so the payoff date doesn't move.

Buy in 2 years

Price paid
$406,426
Loan amount (5% down)
$386,104
Rate
6.19%
Total payment
$3,590/mo
Equity on day one
$20,321
Cash to close (est.)
$33,920

A new 30-year loan starts the day you buy.

The cost of waiting 2 years

Waiting means a payment about $40/mo higher and about $14,580 less equity in year 2 than buying now and refinancing. Buying later also takes about $458 more cash to close.

Rent paid while you wait isn’t in this comparison — it would add to the cost of waiting.

Live listings across our six counties.

We’re not a lender, and nobody can forecast rates or prices — the future rate and the appreciation here are what-ifs you control. A refinance needs a new approval and depends on your credit, income and equity at the time. Payments are principal & interest on a 30-year fixed plus the typical 2.25% property tax for Harris County, budgetary insurance, estimated PMI while the loan is over 80% of the value (Freddie Mac: about $30–$70 a month per $100,000 borrowed) and your HOA. A lender will run your exact numbers — we’ll introduce you below.

Talk to a lender

These are the lenders Allen works with. For any lender you’d like to talk to, tap Make introduction — we’ll make the introduction for you.

Allen Markel is a licensed Texas REALTOR®, not a mortgage lender or loan originator. He does not quote rates or terms and does not decide whether you qualify — only a lender can do that. Introductions are a courtesy; you choose who to work with.

Numbers raising questions? Walk through them with a person.

Schedule time with Allen