Properties for Sale Can Be Good Homes, Investments, or Both!

What’s the difference between any home and what is called an “investment home”? Generally speaking, they are properties for sale that are purchased in the expectation that their underlying value will appreciate. Whether you choose to live in an investment home or rent it out, the prospect of growth in its value is the determining factor. (You’d be right to notice that if you can rent it for more than its cost, it’s also a good investment – but kindly forget about logic, we’re talking real estate lingo here). For purposes of this discussion, an “investment home” is one whose underlying value grows over time. Next question: how do I find one of those? While there is no fail-safe way to isolate Austin area properties for sale that will guarantee you can just sit back and watch it increase in value, there are rule-of-thumb characteristics that point to homes and neighborhoods that can help investors predict the direction of future value. Some of them are – • Look at homes in an area that shows steady population growth • Look for above-average rental prices • Pay attention to the infrastructure in the area (and avoid properties in under-maintained neighborhoods) • Avoid homes in the top 10% of the price range • Build a lasting relationship with a good real estate agent who will ultimately be able to help you decide when to sell • Choose a home that isn’t in need of major structural repairs About that last point: when you are searching for properties for sale in Austin, you should expect to do some maintenance and renovation work. An investment home’s value can take the biggest leap when a new owner applies a bit of smart fixing-up to enhance its livability while forestalling long-term maintenance issues. Not all properties for sale in Austin are good candidates to qualify as investment homes – even those that would provide excellent accommodations for your family. However, when you target investment value from the start, the financial rewards can be well worth the scrutiny. So…how else can you find one of those? Short answer: call us today!

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

Real Estate Listings Hint Return of McMansions

Last week’s jobs report met familiar disagreement about the progress of the nation’s economic recovery: more new jobs, yes; too many of them part-time: yes; economy improving: sort of; enough? barely- if at all…etc. etc. etc.
What is less controversial is the resumption of the nation’s home-buying preference for ever-larger homes. The price of real estate listings in Austin might have risen whether or not that trend surfaced in our area, but it stands to reason that if people are reversing their decision to downsize, that’s at least one reason why average real estate listings prices would register an increase. The tilt toward more square footage isn’t confined to existing homes, either: reports from the Census Bureau show that the median size of new houses is growing as well (about 8% since 2009).
Seen another way: McMansions may be on the way back.
During the recession, most experts opined that the McMansion days were over. As the stability of the economy faltered, young buyers had grown cautious, taking care not to choose more house than they needed. This as baby boomers downsized to match their shrinking nest eggs. Larger houses — especially the new McMansions — fell out of vogue. The popular press leaped in, portraying spacious residences as energy-sucking, less-than-green artifacts of unsustainable prosperity. It’s small wonder how some leading experts concluded that a new housing era was upon us.
But now it is increasingly evident that consumers didn’t actually want less space. Many just couldn’t afford more (or feared a less certain future). The trend toward more multi-generational living arrangements may have something to do with it – but whatever the cause, the character of real estate listings in Austin is changing once again. More prospective buyers are looking at bigger homes and demanding more living space. So don’t be surprised if you find more area real estate listings that emphasize their larger square footage. They may not be McMansions, but spacious residences are renewing their popularity. In any case, should you consider buying or selling in Austin this fall, call us today to talk about the market in your neighborhood.

 

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

Part 2 —Listing Your Home Miscues

Previously, we cited three of the most common mistakes sellers make after listing their Austin property for sale. Here are three more: Proper Insurance When you have an Austin area property for sale, it’s more important than ever to see that your homeowners insurance is up to date. It is highly unlikely that someone will have an accident on your premises, but the increase in the number of visitors makes it prudent to be well covered. Of course you will want to mitigate obvious potential hazards like broken glass or exposed nails — but should also have a foolproof system for making pets a non-issue during showings. Contractual Terms With your Austin property for sale, it’s only natural for your primary focus to be on the bottom line: the sale price. When an offer arrives with the right number, it’s tempting to sign on the dotted line and be done with it. But there is more to a purchase offer than just the price. An offer is a contract, and as such, all its terms are equally binding. For instance, there is the matter of the closing date: sellers who accept an offer without paying enough attention to it can be left scrambling for temporary housing when that date arrives. Contingency Removal Removing the inspection and loan contingencies on time are key events in the buy/sell timeline – yet these deadlines can easily slip by unnoticed. The wording of the clauses is important, too, because a buyer can have the right to withdraw an offer if he or she is not satisfied with the outcome of an inspection or a loan rate they deem acceptable. Failure to make sure a buyer removes contingencies on time can turn a ‘sold’ property into a property that’s still for sale. Aligning yourself with an experienced agent is the simplest way to remain aware of these and other common legal miscues — and how to avoid them. With your property for sale, you become a single-purpose business enterprise, and your agent’s knowledge should be a key business asset. Contact us anytime for that kind of assistance!

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

It’s Not Monopoly Money: Your Refund & Your Property

Remember playing Monopoly? After another player had put up a hotel on a pricey property like Boardwalk or Park Place, remember that feeling of relief every time you got past without landing on them? Whew! That’s the way many of us feel now that Tax Week is over. If you’re one of the millions who will soon be checking the mail for your refund check, you’re are probably also pondering the best use to put it to.Especially if you’re thinking of selling your Austin property any time this year, you might do something that’s less than obvious: put some of that check to good use by making one or more simple property improvements. After all, your Austin property is your biggest investment — and the payoff when you take good care of it won’t be in play money. If yours is an average refund  (most are somewhere north of $2,500), it can be pretty painless to direct a modest chunk of it to your property. I’ve come across some simple ideas that should also reserve most of the refund for other purposes. One idea that few people act upon is to order a professional energy audit. This can cost between $400 and $600 for a full diagnostic inspection. By revealing gaps (even small ones) around doors, windows, and recessed lights, it can reveal energy-wasters that ultimately lower utility bills year-round. An even less expensive utility bill-saver is available in the form of the latest sophisticated low-flow showerheads. They are simple to install, and can save up to 50% of the water used by even some of the newer showerheads. The best ones feel nearly as if you are showering with the same amount of water. One of the last things likely to leap to mind once your refund check arrives is insurance. Basic homeowners insurance isn’t fully comprehensive, yet for a small additional amount — generally about $300 — you can buy a million dollars’ worth of added liability coverage with an ‘umbrella’ policy that also covers your cars. It will feel like getting past Park Place and Boardwalk all year long!

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 Housing for Sale Benefits from Yards with ‘Destinations’

As an Austin homeowner prepares a property for sale, he or she faces the inevitable series of tradeoffs. One of the major ones is the decision about how much time and budget to devote to interior vs. exterior renewal. In cases where the inside is going to get the lion’s share of attention, it’s good to remember that there are ways you can make simple changes to your backyard that can markedly raise the whole property’s overall appeal. As with all Austin housing for sale, this can mean the difference between a so-so and a great outcome.

One inexpensive idea for larger yards is to install simple gravel or bark pathways. Austin housing for sale boasting gently curved pathways around the edges of the lawn look more interesting than plain yards — especially those with predictably straight-edged planted areas. Landscape architects think in terms of destination areas: even in smaller yards, a bit of imagination can sometimes create interesting ‘destinations’ for the eye!

Many yards have a corner or two that are just plain eyesores. A Western idea that works for any climate is a variation on the architectural rock garden. Choose rocks that blend well with our natural landscape, but which bring out the surrounding colors; then the addition of brighter flowering plants will convert that eyesore into a ‘destination’ — one with pleasantly natural charm.

In all of your backyard landscaping decisions, it’s important to strive for a balanced result in terms of ongoing maintenance requirements. While you want your yard to look attractive, you also want to avoid turning it into a high-maintenance project for the next owner. Housing for sale in Austin that features spectacularly elaborate lawn designs may well turn off some prospects (particularly those with children or pets). By keeping your landscaping relatively simple, you can establish a yard that looks good without evoking thoughts of overly-challenging upkeep requirements.

Are you about to prepare your home for this season’s spring and summer market? Then why not call me so we can start with a consultation on how to boost your Austin property’s value using some tried-and-true cost-conscious techniques.

 

Austin Investment Properties Offer Long Term Potential

Never mind what those TV get-rich-quick infomercials would have us believe: building long-term wealth requires focus and patience. Patience, because a steady growth is a more reliable strategy than flashier single investment ‘wins’ — and focus, because opportunities slip past when daily demands soak up all our attention.

For financially secure individuals, current real estate trends deserve some attention. Right now we have an environment that may be unique in our lifetimes — one that calls for seriously considering the long-term potential investment properties offer. If you agree that investment properties in Austin are worth investigating further, you will discover multiple financing alternatives:

• Finding a mortgage for Austin investment properties is the choice most people think of first. However, since the lending market is still in recovery mode, it may be a while before most down payment requirements drop below 20%-30%
• By setting up a self-directed IRA, you may be able to make investments through your existing savings. Such investments come out of your IRA, and the profits generated remain there and grow tax-free until you retire. There are limitations to this method of financing: don’t rely on this route until you have sought the advice of a qualified financial advisor or your tax attorney.
• For anyone 62 or older, an idea that is not often considered is the reverse mortgage. The object is to allow you to access equity from the property you currently own without having to sell it. Unlike a regular mortgage, the equity released need not be repaid until the mortgaged property is sold or the borrower dies; but it may be repaid with the interest accrued without penalty at any time.

To be sure this or any of the other financing paths work to your advantage, you’ll need a sharp pencil — and guidance from a reliable licensed financial counselor. If you’ve already been thinking that the time is right to start or grow your investment portfolio through the purchase of real estate, contact me for hot leads on some of today’s best investment properties in town.