​Purchasing a vacation rental offers a unique opportunity to grow your wealth and personally benefit from the investment.  If you were to invest in the stock market, would it also offer you a comfy bed to relax in on the weekend?  I don’t think so. 

​Austin, Texas is a fun place to vacation!  We have a great local music scene, a plethora of nationally acclaimed festivals, and a vivid bar scene that’s pulling in all of the bachelor and bachelorette parties from across the country.  Hell, tons of people pay their entire mortgage for the year by simply booking out their home for the month of March to SXSW goers.  Furthermore, the Austin market is strong!  It continually ranks in the top 10% nationally for real estate appreciation.

Not if you don’t want to.  There are plenty of vacation rental management companies that specialize in short term rentals.  If you want a completely hands off investment, you can have that.  These companies will literally do everything: advertise your home across all the different platforms like airbnb and vrbo, schedule cleanings between stays, address maintenance issues, collect payments, and field 2 am guest calls so you don’t have to!

If you’re thinking about investing in the Austin market, give me a call today.  I’d be happy to guide you through the process, and fast track you to enjoying Margarita’s on the porch at your new Austin vacation home. ​

Each of these upgrades is going to affect the resale value of your home differently.  While the pool may provide an immediate value in your quality of life, the return on investment when you go to sell usually doesn’t add up.  Even if you’re not planning to sell your home anytime soon, you should consider which home improvement projects will give you the most bang for your buck when you eventually decide to sell your home.

My top tips for prioritizing home upgrades are as follows:​

1. If there are any major systems or parts of your home that are in need of repair, you should address these issues first.  I know you’ve been fantasizing about wallpapering the powder room with a trendy print, but you should really fix that leaky faucet before you get all fancy.  Look at the major home systems and components, things like the HVAC, plumbing, and roof.  If there are any known issues, get them fixed now.  Not only will buyers pay attention to these items when you eventually sell, but also, if you wait to fix these items they may lead to more costly repairs down the line.

Finally, if you want to make some upgrades to your home, do yourself a favor and think carefully about which ones will enhance your life and pay off in the long run. Getting quotes from multiple contractors to find the most qualified and economical contractor is always a good idea.  Ask a friend or contact me for specific recommendations in the Austin area.  You may even want to consider DIYing some parts of your remodel.  It’s amazing what you can teach yourself to do with the power of youtube at your fingertips.  Also, don’t forget to shop around for materials!  You can find great deals online, and I’ve found some serious bargains on brand new materials such as flooring and tiles at the Habitat for Humanity RE-Store.

Want more personalized tips on the best upgrades for your Austin area home?  Give me a call today, I’ll give you my two cents and I won’t pressure you to sell.

Well, if you really want to sell your home by yourself, i’m going to walk you through all the steps to do it!  First, you need to evaluate your home.  Is it ready to go on the market?  Are there little things that drive you crazy, like peeling paint, or a dead lawn, that you think may turn off buyers too?  If so, and you have the resources to fix them, do it.  If you were working with a competent real estate agent, he or she may call multiple contractors, provide you with quotes, and advise you on which actions will have the biggest payoff.  But, you’re not, so just do whatever is easiest and feels right.​

Next, you need to figure out at what price you should list your home for sale.  Be careful this is the most difficult part for all FSBOs.  If you price too high, you will royally f*** yourself.  Your home will sit on the market. Then, you may reduce the price, but buyers will wonder why it's been on the market for so long. Eventually, it may sell, but probably at a lower price than if you had just priced it correctly from the start.  So, how do you determine the asking price?  You could look at zillow, and realtor.com, and ask Suzie who lived across the street from you how much she sold her home for when she sold it last fall, but this probably isn’t the best method.  You need access to the sales data for the most comparable homes in your neighborhood that sold the most recently.  In a state like Texas, this info can be hard to find.  Since we are a non-disclosure state, you will probably need to enlist a real estate professional at this stage.

Ok, now you have a beautiful show ready home, great photos to showcase it, and a listing price.  Time to put a sign in the yard.  You go to Home Depot, get a sign and a sharpie to write your number across it.  You grab the hammer, wonder why its so hard to put a stinking sign in the Texas dirt, and then decide to reward yourself with a cold beer on the porch while you take all of the phone calls that will be pouring in shortly.  You finish one, then another, and wonder why no one is calling.  Then you remember your home is in the back of the neighborhood and no one really sees the sign besides your neighbors who already know you are selling.​

You must re-strategize. You realize that your home must be on the internet!  You put it on Zillow, and you wait.  Finally, you get a call.  It’s an agent who may have a buyer that’s interested.  She wants to stop by and take a look.  She comes over, looks around, says the home isn’t for her buyer, but asks if you would like to list with her instead.

After 15 or so of these, you finally get a real buyer who comes to look at your home.  You leave work early, rush home, and open the door for them. They think they can afford your home, but they haven’t talked to a lender so they don’t really know.  If you were working with a REALTOR, they would vet potential buyers before they came to your home.  You wouldn’t have to deal with the inconvenience of all of these phone calls and physically being at the home to show it to buyers, but you are not.  So, you stress out, and your work and personal life suffers.

After the fiftieth real estate agent calls you to list your home, you finally cave.  You are sick of wasting your time and energy trying to sell your home by yourself, and you realize that the fees may be worth it.  The real estate agent tells you about all sorts of disclosures you didn’t even know you needed. She explains that while your attempts at marketing were ok, that in order to really market your home you needed to do a lot more.  Lastly, she explains that in 2017, only 7% of homes were sold FSBO, and those that did sell for sale by owner sold for about $66,000 less than those sold with a real estate agent.  She shows you how she will do the hard work for you, marketing the home, following up with buyers after showings, making sure buyers are qualified before seeing your home, and most importantly, that she is here to protect your best interests throughout the entire process.  She is going to make sure you understand all the forms, are kept in the loop with all activities related to the home sale, and she is going to walk you through the pros and cons of every offer you receive. This way, you can make an informed decision on the best offer to accept when you sell your home, and you can get back to doing what you are good at.

Congratulations!  You have finally found a house that you want to call home!  Once you are officially under-contract (which means that you submitted an offer on a house, and the sellers have accepted the terms and signed the offer to acknowledge the acceptance), there are a few things you will need to do right away!

Before your option period ends, you have the opportunity to renegotiate.  If there were serious issues revealed in the inspection, you can prepare an amendment to state that the seller will either fix these issues, or you can negotiate money off the sales price so that you can complete these repairs.  This is not the time to ask for $5k off the sales price because you don’t like the color of the home.  This amendment should only be used to address concerns that you were not aware of until the inspector pointed them out to you. 

​If there are concerns you would like addressed, you will present your proposed solution to the seller.  If the seller agrees to fix the issues or give you money off the sales price, you will both sign an amendment to the contract clarifying this agreement in writing.  If you cannot come to an agreement, you can either back out of the contract or proceed with the sale knowing that you are going to have to fix these issues at your own expense after closing.

It’s important to schedule all of your inspections early in the option period to allow the time to review the findings and negotiate with the sellers if necessary.  While you can still negotiate repairs after the option period, you have little leverage after the option period is over since you no longer have the ability to back out of the contract without losing your earnest money.
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Once, the option period is over, there will be little for you to worry about until the closing date.  You may need to provide more documentation to your lender, and if the home doesn’t appraise that could be another opportunity to negotiate the sales price.  If you have questions about the buying process in Texas, feel free to contact me today.  I’d be honored to help guide you through the process of finding a house to call home.   

Around April 15th, you should have received a Notice of Appraised Value from the Travis County Appraisal District (TCAD).  This notice includes the market value and the assessed value for your home.  If you feel that the value is not correct, you can protest your assessed value.  It’s worth mentioning that if you feel that the TCAD provided value is less than the market value, you should not protest!  A homeowner should protest the assessed value if doing so could result in lowering your property tax bill.  You can hire a professional company such as Five Star Tax Professionals to protest your home’s value on your behalf, or you can do it yourself.

Travis county provides two ways to protest your property tax bill.  You can do so electronically by e-filing, or you can do so by mail.  Included with the Notice of Appraised Value mailed to you by Travis County around the 15th of April is the Property Appraisal-Notice of Protest Form.  While e-filing seems like the best option, I advice you NOT to e-file, and instead to file by mail.  If you e-file, you never receive the opportunity to present your case to a real person.  By presenting in person, you have a much better chance of actually receiving a reduction in the assessed value of your home. ​If you can't find your original copy of the protest form, you can download it here.

Sales Documentation:  Did you recently purchase your home?  Was the sales price lower than the assessed value?  If so, bring a copy of your final settlement statement.
Bring extra copies of all documentation to the informal hearing!  At the end of the hearing you may be offered a reduction in value by the district.  If you are satisfied with the reduction, you can accept.  If you are not, you will be able to protest at an official hearing.

Before the official hearing you have the right to see all of the documentation that district appraisers will be presenting.  Make sure you obtain this information, so you can properly build your case against it.  Maybe they are comparing your home to a neighbors that you know is way nicer, has a pool in the back and is obviously worth way more than your home.  You can obtain evidence to illustrate this fact. If similar homes to yours in your neighborhood have successfully protested their value it’s a good idea to compile this information as well. You will want to bring all of this evidence in addition to the evidence you compiled for the informal hearing on a flash drive to be used during the hearing. Additionally, it’s a good idea to bring a hard copy for your reference.
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If you have any questions about fighting your assessed value in Travis County or general real estate questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

First things first, you want to fix anything that is obviously wrong with your home.  Is there a back door that the dog scratched up or a leaky faucet?  Fix or replace it now.  If you leave it as is, the perceived cost to a buyer will be far greater than the actual cost to fix it.  If there are other eye sores that make your home appear dated, you may want to consider making some changes.  Updating lighting and plumbing fixtures or changing out knobs or pulls is an easy ways to modernize your home that is relatively low cost, and you can even spray paint them if replacement isn’t in the budget. One of my favorite ways to modernize a home is to add new address numbers.  You can buy modern chrome numbers for about five dollars a number on Amazon and the difference they make in the perceived value of your home is incredible.​

The first impression is usually the exterior of the home i.e. the front door.  When a buyer arrives to see your home, the agent is struggling to open the lockbox and the buyer is looking around, taking it all in.  Make sure this area is appealing!  Spiders are not a good look-even if it’s Halloween.  Oh, and that reminds me, if you’re selling around a holiday, please don’t decorate this year.  While you may love Jesus and have a full nativity scene complete with LED lights that you put up every year, your ideal buyer may not.   Your goal is to make your home appealing to the largest pool of prospective buyers possible.  Make your entrance attractive by making sure the door is clean, the patio is swept, and a nice door mat greets your buyers.  Clean your exterior windows, and add some flowers to make your house instantly scream, this is the place I want to call home!

Selling your home is about much more than selling a place to live, you are selling the idea of a better life - and this life does not include dirty dishes in the sink.  You want your home to show it’s best self from the moment a potential buyer lays eyes on it. I once showed a home with feminine care products all over the master bed (luckily they were unused), but this did not make a great first impression on me or my client.  So, first things first you want to clean, de-clutter and de-personalize the space.  Although you may enjoy the framed photo of your grandparents that rests on your mantle, you want buyers to envision themselves living in your home, so remove all personal items.  Countertops in the bathrooms and kitchen should be cleared off with the exception of a few items to add color and personality to the space - think a luxury hand soap or a bowl of fruit in the kitchen.  I recommend my clients place bath products that are used daily in a caddy or plastic bin that can be tucked under the sink out of site when not in use.   ​

Furniture placement is key too!  First, you want to re-configure every room back to its original purpose. Have a bedroom that you use as an office?  It’s time to pack up the file folders and bring in an air mattress on a frame.  It doesn’t need to function as a bedroom, it just needs to look pretty!  You also wan’t to make sure your furniture is best placed to maximize the natural features of the home.  You don’t want a large bookcase blocking the gorgeous ten foot window, and you also don’t want bulky furniture that makes the space appear smaller.  Any furniture that is ripped or broken needs to go.  That’s not something I see in my “dream life” and it’s probably not something a prospective buyer sees either.

Oftentimes, it’s hard to figure out which items need to go, or how to arrange the furniture.  That’s why I offer a complimentary staging consultation to all of my clients.  I say offer, but really, it’s mandatory.  I want to do a good job so that you are happy!  That means we are going to work together to make sure your home looks picture perfect for buyers while also remaining functional for your life.  If that fourth bedroom really needs to stay an office while your home is on the market, we will simply make sure it is the best looking, Pinterest-worthy office, and that buyers know it could be a bedroom too.

Last, but certainly not least, photographs are incredibly important!  Almost every buyer who visits your home decides to because they saw the photos online first.  That is why these photos need to be top notch.  I know, you think that you can take wonderful photos with your iPhone 10 and its fancy camera, but this will not cut it.  You need a professional photographer to make buyers fall in love at first sight.  This is why I always provide complimentary professional photography for my listings- the pro has crazy lenses and tripods and a boatload of experience in photographing houses.
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This may seem overwhelming at first, but it’s really not that difficult.  Just put yourself in a buyer’s shoes and use that process to guide you as you make your preparations.  Still feeling like you don’t know where to start? Contact me, and I’ll walk you through the details step by step.

If you’re looking at buying a brand new home, you may think you don’t need a REALTOR.  In fact, you may even think that buying a new construction home without a real estate agent will save you money.  However, new home communities usually have a marketing budget for the entire community and REALTOR fees are paid out of this budget.  This money has already been allocated by the developer whether you choose to have representation or not.  Using a real estate agent to help you purchase a home in a new construction community will actually save you money and make sure your best interests are protected.​

You may also think that the sales agent at the community is working for you.  This is not true!  The sales agent works for the builder and is looking to represent the builders best interests.  He or she may be very nice, incredibly friendly, and offer you snacks and drinks while you peruse their inventory; however, at the end of the day, the sales agent is looking out for the builder’s best interest.

The Texas standardized resale contract is written to protect the buyer.  There are more than twenty “buyer outs” or ways the buyer can get out of this contract and still get their earnest money back.  However, new home communities almost always have their own builder contract, and as you might have guessed, this contract is designed to protect the builder’s best interest.  It’s important that you have a professional by your side that can make sure you know exactly what you are signing.

When you sign a contract to purchase a brand new home, the sales agent is usually going to offer incentives for using their lender and or title company.  A good real estate professional will recommend that you look into their preferred lender option, but also, check in with a few others too.  Going with the builder’s recommended lender may offer you $2 K off the sales price, but what if his interest rate is a point or two higher than another lender’s or the origination fees are so high it’s criminal.  It’s important to check the fine print on these “incentives” and make sure they are really helping your bottom line.

Throughout the building process, a REALTOR, has one job - to look out for your best interests. Whether that’s making sure you’re informed of the current timeline, pointing out imperfections that need to be addressed, or recommending an inspector - a REALTOR ensures peace of mind when buying a home.

Thinking about buying a new construction home in the Austin area?  Contact me today to start looking at communities that meet your needs.   

Feeling overwhelmed with all this information? Don’t worry, I’m here to make things as simple as possible. If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home in the Austin area, contact me today.  I’ll make sure you are well-informed of all the steps in a real estate transaction, at the right time, so you can make informed decisions every step of the way.

As we approach the high season in the land of real estate, more and more properties are experiencing multiple offer situations.  When two or more parties have submitted an offer on the same piece of property, it becomes a multiple offer situation.  This is often referred to as a bidding war.  However, it’s not always the party with the highest offer price that wins. ​

Many different variables affect the offer that ends up being selected by the seller.  It’s important to understand these variables, so that you can craft the strongest offer.  First, it’s important to understand what the seller wants. Has the seller already vacated the property? If so, they most-likely would appreciate a quick close.  If they are still living in the home, you should inquire as to the seller’s ideal closing date, and craft your offer accordingly.

One of the most common oversights I see in offers submitted in a multiple offer situation is in the third-party financing addendum.  The third-party financing addendum is required with any offer that involves financing.  The first oversight I see is in regards to the term of the loan.  The addendum spells out the limits for the interest rate and the origination charges.  It puts a maximum value on these terms.  For example, say your lender has quoted you a 4.4% interest rate, and 1% origination charge.  In the third part financing addendum, you enter these same figures.

What if the interest rate changes, and now you can only obtain a loan with a 4.5% interest rate?  You would have an out from the contract.  This is good for the buyer, but the seller is looking for the buyer with the highest likelihood of purchasing their home.  Would you still purchase the home if your interest rate went up to 4.5% or 4.6%?  If so, you should make sure the third party financing addendum reflects the maximum interest rate and origination fee that you would pay.​

The third party financing addendum also specifies the amount of time, if any, needed for buyer approval.

Oftentimes, I see “21 days” in this paragraph.  That means that you, as the buyer, have 21 days to be fully pre-approved by the lender, and you have an out from the contract for 21 days after the execution date.  This is a really long time!  If you, as a buyer, are fully pre-approved, and the lender has had all of your personal financial documentation go through underwriting, you can enter a much lower number here! Try to make this number less than or equal to the number of days in your option period, and the offer will be much more enticing to the seller.​

Increasing the amount of earnest money you will pay also strengthens the offer.  The earnest money is held by the title company, and ultimately applied to the sales price.  If you have the funds to do so, consider putting a larger amount here.  If you back out for any reason, this money will be refunded to you.

Similarly, consider the amount of money you will pay for the option period, and the number of days you will need for the option period.  In contrast to the earnest money, the option money is not refundable.  If you decide to back out of the purchase during the option period, you will not get this money back.  However, if you are really serious about the home, and don’t think you will back out, consider increasing the amount of option money.  You can, and should, make sure that if you do purchase the home, the option money is applied to the sales price.  Additionally, consider how long you need for the option period.  How long will it take for you to get an inspection done?  The shorter the option period is, the more appealing the offer is in the eyes of the seller.

Traditionally, in Texas, we see the seller paying for the owner’s title policy. If you want to make your offer super strong, consider paying for the title policy.  Also, think carefully about any other concessions you may want to request.  Asking for contributions to closing costs or home warranties negatively affects the seller’s bottom line.

Crafting a personal letter to the sellers sometimes works.  If you’re in a multiple-offer situation, you might as well give it a shot.  Tell the seller why you want to purchase their home.  Compliments, and a personal back story often go a long way.  Sellers sometimes choose an offer not because it is the highest, but because they can envision you living in their home.

Lastly, choose an agent who is experienced, professional, and knows how to write a clean offer.  As a listing agent, I have advised my client to consider accepting an offer that was lower than the highest offer, simply because the offer was well-written. I can tell a lot about an agent from the way the offer is presented.  If there are mistakes and oversights in the offer itself it makes me doubt their ability to do their best to get the offer to the closing table.
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If you’re looking for an agent in the Austin area, contact me today.

When I got home, I ran some numbers.  I looked at the median sales price annually from 2009-2019 for condos in the following central Austin zip codes:  78701, 78702, 78703, 78704, 78705, and 78751.  I then calculated the appreciation rate for condos in each zip code between 2009-2018.  The median sales price for 2019 would not have provided accurate data since we are only a few months in to 2019.

As I suspected, condos in 78704 appreciated more than condos in Clarksville (78703).  In fact, condos in 78704 had the highest appreciation rate out of all of the central Austin zip codes.  In 2008, the median sales price for condos in Austin’s 78704 zip code was just over $169k.  In 2018, that number shot up to $376K.  In 78704, we are seeing a lot of condo regimes.  A condo regime happens when a developer takes a traditional single family lot and constructs two new units on the lot.  Often times these units are not attached and live like single family homes.  However, they are technically condos and sell for much more than a traditional condo. Thus, I am not surprised by this appreciation rate.

In 78703, which consists of Tarrytown, Clarksville, and Old West Austin the median sales price for condos in 2009 was a little over $347K, compared to $460K in 2018.  Out of all the central Austin zip codes I looked at, 78703 had the lowest condo appreciation rate at just over 32%.

As would be expected, condos in East Austin appreciated well over the last 9 years. In 78702, the median sales price for condos in 2009 was about $168K.  Last year, that figure jumped to 325K.
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Condos in downtown Austin appreciated about 78% between 2009-2018.  In comparison, condos in 78705, which encompasses the UT campus area, appreciated about 57%.

Overall, condos in central Austin have appreciated well.  If you talk to anyone who purchased a condo about 10 years ago, they will usually tell you one of two things, “I wish I bought more” or “I wish I hadn’t sold 5 years ago, even though I thought I was making a killing when I sold.” ​

If you are considering buying a condo in central Austin or are curious how much your condo is worth, contact me today.