All Forum Posts by: Marian Smith

The listing contact with the seller gives the listing agent 6% of the sales price....which he / she agrees to split with a buyers agent.  If there is no buyers agent he/she keeps whole 6% per contract, although there are some ethics issues in the listing agent representing both buyer and seller.  That is why the pocket listings and  coming soon listings are so popular.  6% commission in a hot market.  In short, unless you put in the offer that the customary 3% to the buyers agent is rebated to the seller or yourself, you are saving no money not using an agent.

Creekview is a rebate RE firm out of Dallas with local agents.  I used them in 2007 and they are still in business.  I got 2% back.  They are on the Internet...search flat fee and creekview, I think.

Also, act fast in Austin.  Good luck.

Real estate has a cycle.  Problem is knowing if you're at the peak.  One of real estates' adages is " prices are sticky on the way down"  which makes sense because most people can't bring money to the table.  So if you refrain from investing because prices are high, who's to say they won't keep going up and when they do "correct" in a few years it will be to today's prices.  And interest rates will be higher.

So you missed the bottom. Buy a well located property that you can afford and for a price /monthly payment that you feel good about today even if prices go down 10%. And buy where you can keep an eye on it and do some repairs yourself. if your other option are cash or an REIT or bonds or stocks.....its up to you which is riskier. If you don't have 20% to put down then please disregard.

just thought I'd share.  Kitchen cabinets were ash and I was able to get a cabinet guy to drill for european hinges and I used GF Java gel stain with a final coat of poly. Used Java on interior of metal front door and mantel husband built for $15.   pre-owned corian which has a seam at the sink we were never able to blend-experiment but now that floor and decor has granite slabs so cheap I won't buy used corian (color was not the best off white I discovered after purchase too :-( )  Bath 30" vanity got pulled out to add a pony wall? behind for raised counter storage--very pleased with look.  hate the original over toilet shelf.  

when I said move in, I meant move in to do the rehab.  It isn't pleasant to live in a work in progress.  But it saves money.

a lot of people start out cleaning a place up and moving in...your rent is your holding cost.  Stay two years and no capital gains.  If it is uninhabitable, well you may need to give yourself a large margin for error.  If your scared to live there, walk.  No one else will want to live there either--I say that because I don't want to live in anything in Austin worth under 200k...probably 300k.  Suburbs, yes.

In NW Austin 10616 Mellow Meadows, 78650 was converted from apartments to condos--with, I kid you not, a coat of paint slapped on and new carpet--and sold to Primarily California investors for around 150k per unit.  come 2010 I often stood next to a guy at the courthouse auction and he would bid 35k but only for the 2/2's.  not thev2/1s.  I saw one 2/2 go to a couple for 50k at auction.  They'd list for 55-60k on the ML and sell pretty sell fast.  They were never worth anywhere near what the investors paid.  California is so expensive everywhere else seems dirt cheap.

One guy who did seminars in California sold brand new homes in two Round Rock golf course communities.  If those investors managed to hold on they are now okay because Austin didn't decline much and now Austin rents are way up.   But I saw at least a few 3000+ sq ft investments at one course auctioned off in the crash.  One California investor had financed hers as a second home and had subsequently taken out a home equity loan.  then foreclosed.  Taxes are over 3% and HOAs are 85$ month at the golf course communities.  The smaller 1600 sq ft were originally 150-165k and I only saw owner occupied short sales there--with job losses I presume.   That is what the seminar guy owned or owns,  a small one story on the golf course.  

I recommend stocks for a California twenty year old.  learn to read a balance sheet and buy micro cap stock if you want to be involved, otherwise dollar cost average in a total market etf.  

i have seen large moldings paired with craftsman style accents and sort of darker greenish beige trim and doors.  Large showers as an alternative to a standard tub as a 2k upgrade in the master.  No tub.  Lots of Quartz counters in white or grey.  Some espresso cabinets, some painted white, black or grey.  Still Shaker style  for the painted.

Just wondering if anyone is seeing some new styles emerging?  anything that hasn't made it to the Home Depot shelves?

Also, are vessel sinks out?  how about glass tile?  I just don't see glass tile as accents loosing appeal  but I am old....I guess I should ask my daughter.

Texas is closed records so the MLS has a monopoly on sales data. Other states sometimes track sales on the county tax assessors' site, which is laborious to use but free. I sometimes use the county clerk to see the loan amounts and try to guess the down payment....if there are two loans you've got it. But the MLS tracks concessions which can be as much as 10% if the buyer negotiates closing and repairs, so you are really only ballpark at best.

Gaines or Dotzur said property buyers need to be aware that foreign buyers are pushing up prices in some areas.  He specifically  mentioned Chinese buyers in areas their children are attending college.  

but population projections for the area indicate the Austin MSA is a no brainer...obviously only at the right price/location.

Texas property taxes surprise a lot of out of state investors.  Texas has no income tax, so property taxes are high.  There are MUDs.  There are mandatory HOAs.  We use the AC 8 months of the year.  But we don't get hurricanes or earthquakes, just tornados and hail.  There is also a lot of land in the outskirts and house builders could ramp up at any time, so the current rental rates in the outlying areas may moderate in the future.  

I was on the plane next to a guy with a real estate book and I asked where he was investing.  He had just bought a house in Hutto, NE of Austin, and was very pleased with the price....which was about 40-50k more than the large slew of Hutto foreclosures sold for in 2010-12.  He said it was obviously a desirable rental area because there were a lot of rental homes in the neighborhood.  He has cash flow at the moment...and maybe it will hold for a good while.  Prices are holding and inventory cant keep up with sales.