Austin MLS: All-But-Indispensible Marketing Tool

If you are selling a home in Austin this year, even in the improving market you certainly know there is a great deal more to it than sticking a sign in your front yard. It will be a competition between like-minded homeowners — some with very competitive properties to offer. This is where the help of a trained professional and the network that is the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) can make all the difference. You’ve probably worked with it before: the MLS is a central online database hub where licensed real estate agents representing available homes list and promote them. It’s a central marketplace in the same way that the New York Stock Exchange is (only without a NASDAQ to compete for customers). The National Association of Realtors® found that the great majority of all properties sold last year were listed through an MLS. From a seller‘s perspective, there are ample reasons why this is so. Listing a property through the MLS means that you are doing better than assigning just your agent to do your marketing for you. Instead, you are enlisting all local agents to sell your property to their clients. When you think about it,that means a lot of agent fees saved! By hiring just one agent, you gain access to the network of hundreds (potentially, thousands) of qualified professionals working for a portion of the same fee you already agreed to. Apart from this expanded workforce, you gain an almost unimaginably wider reach to consumers. Many prospects view Austin‘s MLS listings directly through their agent, but many in other areas see them via the many websites to which our local MLS syndicates its listings. Exposing your listing to millions of potential buyers means accessing a much larger purchasing pool. To have your property appear in the MLS, you need only enlist an agent or pay a licensed service to do it for you. If you are considering listing your home, contact us to discuss how the MLS plus our other marketing tools can make your home sale one of this summer’s success stories!

Austin, TX Homes for Sale Search All Homes For Sale What is Your Home Worth? Austin Real Estate Goldwasser Real Estate 512-470-2277 info@gretx.com

AUSTIN REAL ESTATE NEWS

The good news for the Austin real estate market continues to roll in. We are now seeing multiple offers on homes, condos and investment properties market wide. Many properties are going for tens of thousands over the asking price after just hours on the market. Some properties are even selling with just a “Coming Soon” sign out. The downside is that many appraisals are not meeting the contracted price, which is troublesome for both buyers and sellers. The new appraisal rules in place (since the mortgage meltdown) have constrained how fast a market can move up. Realtors are adjusting to these rules by requiring that buyers bring additional cash to closing to make up for the difference between the appraised value and the contract price.

Cathy Coneway, 2013 Chairman of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, explained, “Strong demand for Austin homes continues, but the number of listings on the market remains consistent. This has led to steady increases in price while keeping housing inventory at record lows.” In February 2013, the median price for Austin-area homes increased to $208,500, which is seven percent more than the same month in 2012.

Additionally, the market featured 2.6 months of inventory in February 2013, which is 1.6 months less than February 2012. The market also featured one percent more new listings, 25 percent fewer active listings and 15 percent more pending sales in February 2013 compared to the prior year. On average, homes spent 71 days on the market, which is a decrease of 15 days from one year prior.

February 2013 Statistics

1,626 – Single-family homes sold, 26 percent more than February 2012.

$208,500 – Median price for single-family homes, seven percent more than February 2012.

71 – Average number of days single-family homes spent on the market, 15 days fewer than February 2012.

2,574 – New single-family home listings on the market, one percent more than February 2012.

5,121 – Active single-family home listings on the market, 25 percent fewer than February 2012.

2,223 – Pending sales for single-family homes, 15 percent more than February 2012.

2.6 – Months of inventory* of single-family homes, 1.6 months less than February 2012.

$430,324,152 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 32 percent more than February 2012.

The spring selling season is fully underway, so if you have been thinking about selling your home, get the process started now. There are serious buyers in the market looking for the right properties. If you are interested in selling, call me now with your details, and I will be happy to provide a competitive market analysis of your home’s value. And remember that with the Goldwasser Advantage Home Selling System™, we are selling homes faster and for more money than all the other major brokerages in Austin. In fact, many properties are receiving multiple offers and selling for over list price.

If you are thinking about buying a home, this is still one of the best times in generations. Mortgage rates for 30-year mortgages are still below 3.5%, but are expected to rise. Until
rates rise, later this year, you can still save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage by buying today. Also, more and more people are opting for a 15-year mortgage since those rates are still below 3%. If you would like to buy a home then call me with your criteria so that I can set you up with a custom search of the Multiple Listing Service which will send you properties that meet your criteria as soon as they come on the market.