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In the News: 5 Biggest Real Estate Myths

January 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The 5 Biggest Real Estate Myths:

  1. Sellers are desperate
  2. Don’t buy before prices have bottomed
  3. You can’t buy a home unless you have 20% down
  4. Now’s the absoulte worst time to sell
  5. Before you refinance, shop around

There are great deals to be had out there right now, but it doesn’t mean that every seller is desperate just because their house is on the market now.  Financing is still out there for consumers, it’s corporations who are feeling the crunch.  Unless you are a very high risk, sub-prime lendee, you should have no problem getting a loan.  Selling now doesn’t mean you’ll have to take a huge hit, especially in Austin.  And waiting for prices to bottom is like waiting for a stock to be at it’s absolute lowest.  You can never know for sure when that will be, but if you look at Austin’s numbers, that time has already passed you by.  All numbers are on the up including average sales price, sales volume, median sales price… except for months of inventory, which is now approaching the 4-5 month range (same we saw in 2005).

Although homes are taking longer to sell, sales are up, and the average sales price in Austin is also up (see statistics).

So if you are STILL waiting and STILL on the fence, stop waiting and fulfill your goals before this opportunity slips away.

Thank you to Ines Hegedus-Garcia at Agent Genius for bringing this video to my attention.

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Keep It Simple

July 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Keeping Austin’s Real Estate Simple

“There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”

Warren Buffett

keep austin's real estate simpleI was reading some Warren Buffett quotes today and this one caught my latest thoughts on the world beautifully.  It is always with the best of intentions that we inadvertently outsmart ourselves, leaving us to feel the price in the end.  With a heavy science background, I always try to keep the KISS principle in mind.  ‘To paraphrase, The simplest solution is usually the best.’

How do we apply the KISS principle to buying, selling, and understanding real estate?

  • Hire a professional if it’s not your dig.  If you’re an accountant, do your own taxes, it is a good use of your time.  If you are an accountant who needs plumbing work done, hire a plumber.  If you are an accountant who needs some real estate work done, hire a real estate agent.
  • Sellers, clear your clutter.  It may but be clutter too you, but KISS your property for buyers.  They are busy looking at many, many properties (too many if they have an inexperienced agent).
  • Sellers, clean, clean, clean!  KISS your property by cleaning way more than you usually do, even the corners of your ceilings, baseboards, and doors.
  • Buyers, make a straight forward offer.  KISS you contract by keeping confusing terms out of it.  If you want to offer $465,000 for a home listed for $475,000, don’t offer $475,000 with the sellers paying your closing costs and for extensive repairs.  Just offer $465,000.  Your offer is much more likely to be taken, and your closing will run much more smoothly.
  • Sellers, so your home is in sale-ready condition.  Make a routine to make your home both functional and show-ready.  Close the curtains and get out the kitchen utensils or toiletries at night, but take 5 minutes in the morning to put these items back to their show-ready spot.  Don’t make it hard on yourself, find convenient places that are out of sight for commonly-used items.
  • Buyers, don’t let your agent show you 20 homes in a week or two.  Sit down with your agent, make them make the phone calls, do the previewing, and select your 5 favorites based on your agent’s preview, descriptions, and photos.  If you are shopping in more than one area, pick your 2-3 favorites for each area.
  • Agents, don’t waste so much time and money on what the vendors tell you that you need.  Each agent works differently and will attract different clients.  Focus on your strengths and hire only help for tasks that you can’t or do not like to do — and only those that you truly need.  Not just the ones that might make you look good but that you cannot follow through on.  With my background, I focus on internet marketing and graphic design which leads me to primarily sellers with the same anal-retentive attention to detail.

Keep it simple and enjoy the rest of your week!

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