Here are four tips to help you get the most out of your home sale. 

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Are you looking to sell your home? If so, it might be tempting to take shortcuts. However, we believe it always makes sense to be thorough and get the most out of your sale. Today we want to discuss selling best practices in this market. 

Selling your home is a business transaction, and you should approach it as such. Here are a few things you can do to make sure you get the most out of your sale:

1. Hire a full-time, professional real estate agent. Your agent should understand the market like the back of their hand. 

2. Stage your home. Staged homes look better, attract more buyers, and sell for more. 

3. Use a professional photographer. If you pick a good agent, they should provide you with one. 

4. Get a pre-inspection. When you go under contract, you lose most of your leverage. A pre-inspection will help you avoid any hiccups at that point. 

If you have questions about today’s topic or anything else, please call or email us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Four photography tips that will level up your real estate photos.

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An agent needs to use a professional photographer for real estate photos. Gone are the days of handheld camera photos or even iPhone photos—they can't replace a DSLR camera. Here are four more real estate photography tips:

1. Check the weather. You want to take pictures on a day when the sun is out because that will give the home a beautiful look.

2. Pick a time of day. Some of our clients, especially those with luxury properties, opt for twilight photography. It’s a beautiful time of day that makes a home looks its best.

3. Clean the home. The camera doesn't lie. It'll pick up every good and bad detail in the home. You want to present it in the best way possible.

4. Consider drone photography. This is fairly new to the real estate market, but it gives the home a grand appearance and makes the buyer feel as if the house is larger than life.

If you have any questions, reach out to me by phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Here’s how you can buy and sell a home at the same time in today’s market.

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How can you buy and sell a home at the same time? This is a common question in today’s market, but fortunately, you have options if you’re in this position.

The first thing to remember is that you have leverage as a seller right now. We’re in a strong seller’s market, so you should be able to negotiate a lease-back agreement. Usually, you negotiate to stay in your home for 30 to 60 days after closing for free. Since it typically takes around 30 days to get from signing the contract to closing, you can have around three months to look for your new home from the comfort of your old one.

"You don’t want to get ready to buy a new house only to have your sale fall through."

You should also make sure that you pick a buyer who is well qualified. You don’t want to get ready to buy a new house only to have your sale fall through. For a similar reason, I suggest getting to certain milestones in your home sale before looking for a new place to live. For example, try to get to the option period and make it through the appraisal before beginning your search.

Buying and selling at the same time can be tricky, but it’s possible. I help people do it every day, so reach out via phone or email if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

This is the best way to find out the value of your property.

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How much is your home worth? Many people either want or need to know. The best way to find out is to perform a comparative market analysis, or CMA. It’s a tool that real estate agents use to estimate the value of a specific property by evaluating others that have sold in the last six months, are of similar size, similar age, and are in the same area. However, in a constantly changing real estate market like ours, agents may change the timeline to similar homes sold in the last 60 to 90 days to get a more accurate estimate.

If you have any questions about home values or want me to do a CMA for you, please feel free to reach out to me via phone or email. I would love to help you.

Three reasons why right now is still a great time to purchase a house.

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Today we’ll answer the question, “Should I still buy a home?” Because the market is very competitive, people are sometimes reluctant to make a purchase or will back out of the market altogether to avoid it. We advise against this for three main reasons:

1. It's a good time to buy. We often hear people saying that they plan to buy after the market slows down and prices decrease. That isn't statistically likely to happen any time soon. Prices are much more likely to rise. I'm not so sure we'll see another 30% increase like last year, but you can still expect prices to increase.

2. Financial benefits. The tax benefits homeowners get are useful to someone who's looking to purchase a home. Moreover, if you're renting, the money that you'd be spending on rent is very close to the same amount of money that you'd be using to purchase a home.

3. Interest rates are low. This looks to be the case for the near future. However, interest rates will rise eventually, and then you'll have missed out on how great they are right now.

If you have any questions about the benefits of homeownership or today’s market, reach out to us by phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Here are ideas for home sellers who want to sell for a higher price in 2022

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Homeowners ask me all the time about what they can do to increase their properties’ value and appeal to buyers. The answers are pretty simple:

1. Kitchens and bathrooms. This is the most common answer I have. Any improvements you can make in these areas of the home will give you a great return; it’s no secret.

2. Hard-flooring improvements. Whether that means replacing carpet or tile with real or engineered hard floors, adding new flooring is smart. There are more pets out there these days, and hardwood or imitation hardwood floors are a cleaner option in a warmer environment like Austin.

3. Create additional space. Whether it’s by turning a room into a home office or a flex room, extra space is important to today’s buyers.

4. Add an extra bedroom. If there’s any way you can add more bedroom space, that will help you increase your home’s value. One thing I think we’ll see more of in the future is multigenerational living. It’s great to have that extra space for buyers in that kind of situation.

What about some things you shouldn’t do? If you’re looking to sell in the near future, I wouldn’t recommend adding a pool or solar panels. Buyers aren’t looking for these things, and you should only invest in them if you plan to enjoy them yourself.

If you have any questions about improving your home, selling your home, or anything else related to real estate, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

There are two main benefits to pre-inspecting your property.

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Are you looking to sell your home? It may sound weird, but you should probably get a pre-inspection. What are the perks of inspecting your home before you put it on the market? There are two main benefits:

1. Pre-inspections give you an accurate picture of your home’s condition. If you find any issues with your house, you can address them before you head to the market. This way, buyers can’t use minor repairs as negotiating points.

2. Pre-inspections set your home apart from the competition. Most homes are not pre-inspected, so it shows confidence in the quality of your property. Buyers can walk into your property sure that there are no major issues, and you could get a better deal.

If you have questions about pre-inspections or anything else, please call or email us. We’d love to help!

These are the benefits of staging your home when you’re ready to sell.

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If you’re planning to sell your home, we suggest staging it as one of our best practices. Some folks have resistance to staging, while others are welcome to it. It's beneficial to stage your home in nearly every situation.

Staging your home gives it a crisp and clean look. This attracts more buyers, and they’ll be able to see themselves living in the home. You won’t get this effect from a vacant home or a cluttered home with furniture that might not suit their style. Additionally, studies show that for every $1 you spend on staging, you get $4 in return.

We’ve found staging to be very beneficial to our clients in this competitive market. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us by phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Here’s why you should never waive your home inspection as a buyer.

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In this competitive home-buying market, buyers are doing whatever they can to stand out. One of these things is waiving their home inspection. We never recommend that our buyers do this at any time. Here’s why:

Whenever you purchase real estate, you should always get the home inspected. Even if the home is brand-new or has been inspected by the owner, you should always have your own inspection done as well. 

"Don’t waive your inspection under any circumstances."

Homes are big, complicated, and expensive. We want to make sure that we’re inspecting the interior, checking the foundation, looking for any termites, etc. Wood-destroying insects are common here in Texas, and homes west of I-35 have rocks that cause foundations to move. There’s a little bit of settling going on in the homes on the other side of the interstate as well.

Even if you're ready to buy a home that has repair issues, it pays to make sure you know what you're getting into. Always have your home purchase inspected. Don’t waive it under any circumstances

If you have any questions for me about inspections, buying a home, or real estate in general, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here’s why I don’t think we’re headed for a housing market crash.

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Today I’m answering a question that I’ve been hearing a lot: “Is the real estate market going to crash here in Austin?” The short answer is no, but here’s a more in-depth explanation of why.

The last time that the market crashed was in 2006 and 2007. We saw a nationwide dive in the housing market, but it didn’t affect Austin too much. Our worst year saw just a 1% negative growth rate in home values. 

"We’re seeing aggressive purchases all over"

There were a myriad of reasons for that. First of all, most of the homes I sold back then were heavily leveraged, with most buyers having 95% financing and often up to 100%. There were also stated income loans that approved you based on what you said you made.

What we’re seeing now is quite a departure from that. Mortgage lending has become much more strict. The amount of equity in homes that are being purchased is far greater than it was back then. In 2020, over half of all my transactions were in all cash. That’s a lot of homebuyers with equity entering the market. We’re seeing aggressive purchases all over right now, which we weren’t seeing back in 2007. 

I think people misconstrue what’s going on in the market right now. One-third of all mortgages are owned outright. Even if the market were to see massive cash, a third of all homes are owned outright already.

The factors that contributed to our previous crash are simply not present now. We’re in a healthy environment, and we can expect that going forward. Hopefully, we see more inventory come on the market resulting in some stabilization. Right now, Austin’s affordability is low, and some relief would be nice.

If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.