All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

We have a very strong market here in Austin and most homes are sold before the slab is poured. My neighborhood alone has a 200 person waiting list for each of the 5 builders here. But yes, they are still flexible. If you don't have a realtor GET ONE! Many people think buying new they don't need one or it will hurt them. On the contrary a realtor might know what incentive the builder is offering. 9 times out of 10 they are going to be able to negotiate a better deal. Keep in mind that the sales person works for the builder, not you. Even though the market is hot hear most of these builders are in other states where it's not so hot so even thought they are making money here the whole corp might be bleeding. It's all negotiable.

I couldn't agree more. RUN THOSE NUMBERS! then run them again. and always budget for more time and money in repairs. That is the number one reason why I have seen people get over their heads and lose money on the deal. Also, make sure this is a good deal. Where I am in Austin is one of the hottest markets now, however, there are places here in town where there are so many REO's that values have held steady and gone down. Just because it is an REO doesn't mean it's a good deal. This is a common misconception. Try to find neighborhoods where there aren't too many of them, this will give you a better chance of being in a pocket area where the prices will stay stronger. I know in Austin if you had the time to post this and wait for answers it's already gone if it's a good deal so do the numbers for the whole area, find out what you want, watch the MLS daily and then pounce on it before anyone else and figure it out in the option period. That's what you have to do here to get a good deal but don't get discouraged, it might take a couple of trys but I think that's the safest play.

I would have to agree, based on their current situation with the divorce and the downturn a short sale sounds like the best option for them. These can be tricky and are paperwork intensive. Your broker should be able to help walk you through it. It's good to know how to do them and they will broaden your marketablility.

As the above post says, there are programs that you can enter values into for pros and cons to the property to adjust the price based on the comps, however, most of it is just by experience and knowing the area, what type of buyer is in that area, and what they are going to be looking for in a particular home and adjusting the price based on what that home does or does not have.

Right now we're seeing a great amount of appreciation in the Southern Travis County and Northern Hays County in the Austin Area. Austin is growing extremely fast. Just last week The Wall Street Journal and Moody's Economics named it the best city in the US for its economy. Builders are making money here so as Austin expands land values are increasing. I could send you statistics if you would like.

As I'm sure many of you know real estate is strong here in Austin. We work a lot with investors, everything from land deals to cash flows and flips. Just wanted to see if anyone was interested in the area and needed questions asked. For agents.......30% referal. And if you just want to check out our website it is very informative as well.

Thanks

be carefull using Zillow as any type of accurate base to make investing decisions on. Here in Austin I have seen homes off by as much as 100% from their true value. I have even had clients pick up FSBO's way undervalued because they used Zillow to price their home. At the same time I've seen FSBO's unrealistic about the value of their home because they based it on Zillow. I know it's more accurate in other cities but here in Austin it's more of a fun toy.

If you are going to do that then just get a LOC based on the equity of the home instead of a mortgage. Also, think of the home as a share of stock. The rent is dividends but you don't get the cash out and the appreciation (growth) until you sell it.