My passion for real estate began when I was young. Here’s my story.

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My interest in real estate started early. When I was 10, my parents purchased a home and their first rental property. They hired an agent to obtain both, and I followed around during the whole process. I thought showing houses to people was a cool job! 

As I grew older, I went to school, enlisted in the military, and attended university. However, in the back of my mind, I never quite forgot my experience with buying houses. I was so drawn into it that I eventually became a real estate agent and investor. When I was in college, I received my license and started leasing apartments. I then built up my personal investments, which opened a new range of opportunities for me. I sold homes and became more involved in the industry. I can’t imagine doing anything other than real estate!

What’s your real estate story? Let me know by giving me a call or sending me an email. If you’re interested in a real estate career, I look forward to hearing from you.

What should you look for in buyers’ offers when selling your home?

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Should you accept the highest offer on your home? This question is more relevant now than ever because we're in a competitive market where listed homes receive multiple offers. Today I'll share my thoughts on this topic.

Price is undoubtedly important, but other factors such as terms, contingencies, additional buying costs, etc., have to be considered too. Review the closing date and decide if it matches your needs, and in situations where you have to purchase a new home after selling your current one, check if your buyer will offer a leaseback agreement. Leasebacks are commonly up to 30 to 60 days and are usually for free. 

Consider all of these things when deciding which offer to accept. If you need more help with your selling process, don't hesitate to call or email me. I'll be happy to help.

The Compass Concierge program helps you get your home ready to sell.

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As hot as the Austin market is, there are still no shortcuts to listing your home. We want to follow the best practices and make your home look as nice as possible before we sell it. One way to do that is with Compass Concierge. It’s a hassle-free way to sell your home fast for a higher price. It offers services like staging, flooring, painting, and more.

What's nice about the Compass Concierge program is that it is essentially an interest-free loan until the closing. You can borrow up to 5% of your home’s list price and use it to do repairs, modifications, or even something like a survey. 

If you have any questions about the compass concierge program, please feel free to reach out to me by phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Five tips to help you stand out in multiple-offer situations. 

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Today we want to talk about how you can win a multiple-offer situation as a buyer. The best way is, obviously, by offering the highest price. However, that’s not always possible for most buyers, so we want to share some tips to make your offer more attractive:

1. Make a clean offer. Don’t include a lot of contingencies, and don’t ask a lot from the seller.

2. Pay the seller’s title costs. This is usually 1% of the cost of the home, but it’s a way to distinguish yourself because other buyers might not think of it.

3. Ask if the seller wants a leaseback. We tell our buyers that they may want to offer a 30-day leaseback.

4. Write a letter to the seller. This is sometimes called a “love letter” in real estate. It’s a chance to tell the seller why you love their home and why you should be the buyer for it.

5. Just ask. If your agent asks the listing agent what the seller wants, you can get a better idea of how to write your offer.

If you have questions about these tips or real estate in general, feel free to call or email us. We would love to help you.

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.

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.