12 Simple Tips When Preparing Your Home for MLS Pictures
January 11, 2012
Most times, when I meet with a seller for the first time we discuss staging for their home so that they can get the most money for their home in the least amount of time. Every now and then a seller calls and is ready to get the home on the market “yesterday”. So while having a stager come to their home is still an important conversation, there are tips I give the seller so that when I arrive to the home we can get started with some great pics right away.
If you are about to put your home on the market, here are 12 simple tips for getting it camera ready for the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).
It’s All About Curb Appeal
• Remove all vehicles from driveway and in front of the home
• Have the yard trimmed; leaves raked; bushes/trees trimmed
• Bright flowers aren’t a must, but they make a huge statement in pictures!
• Take away any distracting lawn ornaments – they might be cute, but we want buyers’ eyes focused on your home in the pictures!
• From the front of your home, see how your windows appear — if there are blinds or curtains that need to be straightened, be sure to fix those as well
• Do any of the light bulbs need to be replaced?
Inside Matters
• Make all beds
• Keep floor space as clean and vacant as possible – pick up toys, clothes, boxes, etc
• Clear away the ‘clutter’ – we don’t want the buyers’ eyes focusing on your personal items, the less you have out, the better!
• Keep countertops as clean and vacant as possible – it will make them seem larger
• Take down personal photos
• Do any light bulbs need to be replaced?
Like I said above, these are simple tips that help me shoot your home on-the-spot. It certainly does not replace the value of having your home professionally staged. Also, the seller and I will have more in-depth talks about things they can do to make their home more appealing to buyer in their market. But, if I am on my way over with a camera, this list is a great way to get started! If you would like to learn more about getting your home ready for the market, contact me today!
Should Clients Lie on Austin Lease Applications?
December 12, 2011
This week I worked with a gentleman and his wife on finding a home to lease. Things didn’t go as smoothly as it could have. There were plenty of homes that fit his criteria, no problem. The problem was, they couldn’t get approved because of a credit issue. Unfortunately, they did not share this information with me before they submitted an application. If they had divulged this information I could have saved them time and money. In this particular case it was $50 per person, which means they wasted $100 of their hard earned pay and hours upon hours of precious time.
I love being a Realtor. I find joy in helping people find a place whether buying or leasing. Part of my job includes pre-qualifying people and setting their expectations. In leasing, that means educating them on the qualifying process and making sure they understand what is required of them and what could keep them from being approved. I explain the income requirement, which is usually 3 times the rent (all adults in household’s income combined before taxes). I also make sure they know they will have a background and credit check done. I routinely ask to let me know if they have any felonies or credit problems. Being informed of a potential problem allows me to call in advance and find out who will work with my client.
I completely understand why someone would not want to divulge information, especially if it is embarrassing or deemed negative, but I have seen it backfire too many times. Having to pay multiple application fees can cause added financial and emotional stress. I’ve been in the business for years, but I’m still surprised when people tell me they didn’t disclose the information because “they didn’t think anyone would find out.”
I’m writing this blog to encourage people to lay their card out on the table. It sure saves a lot of time, money and disappointment. Some secrets are just worth telling!
Choosing Between HOA and non-HOA Communities in Austin
November 26, 2011
HOA vs non-HOA Communities
There are many categories buyers find themselves in. They can be as specific as one-story vs. two-story homes to widely different categories like high-rise condos vs. sprawling hill country ranches. Price range, location and size are more of the obvious categories. But, one of the more inconspicuous categories I find my buyers landing on either one side of the fence on is HOA community vs. non-HOA community. Though it’s not often the first criteria on my buyer’s list of preferences, the HOA/non-HOA standpoint always winds up being one of the more important factors in ultimately deciding on a community.
HOA’s & How They Affect Austin Real Estate
For example, I’ve had clients in the past who wanted to live within the Austin city limits, but have no restrictions on having their own chickens so that they could have fresh eggs for breakfast each day. I also have clients who have a very tight budget in mind, and the extra $40 a month that goes to an HOA would not fit into their monthly expenses. And, some clients just do not want a board telling them how to landscape their yard and when they can or cannot put their trash can out! In these instances, clients are happier with a non-HOA community. Some of Austin’s most popular neighborhoods in the central and south-central parts of town do not have HOA’s, such as the Zilker, Travis Heights, and Barton Hills neighborhoods.
Austin HOA’s Offer Unique Amenities to Community Residents
On the flip side, there are many homebuyers who feel strongly about residing in an HOA community. They like that the HOA holds the neighborhood up to a standard when it comes to appearances of the streets and their neighbors’ yards. Some like to live in a condo so that the HOA takes care of their yard maintenance for them. There are also usually amenities for the community, such as playgrounds and parks; higher HOA subdivisions have more amenities like pools, clubhouses and golf courses. Some of Austin’s most popular HOA communities are Avery Ranch and Steiner Ranch, which offer wonderful amenities to their residents.
Sometimes HOA’s take it to a whole new level with their amenities and the exclusivity they provide, offering chaueffered car service, dry cleaning pickup, 24-hour concierge services, and much more. There is even a proposed high-rise condo in Miami where a glass elevator takes residents to their front door without them ever getting out of their car! I would imagine that monthly HOA payment is going to be quite high! But, there will be buyers who see the value in paying for this unique amenity.
Do Austin HOA’s Increase Property Values?
A lot of Austin buyers are of the opinion that an HOA community holds their values better than a non-HOA community, and sometimes that is true. Sometimes an HOA can make it difficult to sell your home, especially if you’re in a condo community and the HOA isn’t managed properly, or isn’t holding the proper insurance or reserves. Perhaps that should be a good topic for my next blog.
If you know that you want to live in an HOA community, it’s a good idea to obtain as much information on the HOA as you can before you go under contract. If you’re considering an HOA community in the Austin area, send us an email and we will help you obtain some documentation to review while you’re doing your home search.
Feel free to share any thoughts or comments on what your thoughts are on HOA’s. Do you prefer to live in an HOA community or do you prefer to live without an HOA?
Why Buyers Should See Austin Neighborhoods During Day and Night
January 6, 2011
When buying a home, most buyers typically see the home and the neighborhood during the day. Daytime showings are ideal so that you can utilize the sunlight to see the exterior of the home and the yard.
However, it would be wise for buyers to also visit the home and especially the neighborhood at night. This isn’t to say visiting at night will help you see if there is crime in the area – crime happens day and night and the most valuable tool for learning about crime rates in a neighborhood you are thinking about buying in is available on the city’s website located here.
Why I suggest this is because a neighborhood’s character can change at night – by visiting only at day you are missing out on good and potentially alarming things.
Take downtown Austin for example. At night the streets light up in what I consider quite a beautiful way! The stores along the 2nd Street District seem to come more alive and so does the atmosphere on West 6th Street. If a buyer is looking to live downtown, visiting at night will certainly help motivate them!
There are many other Austin neighborhoods that you wouldn’t notice the commercial and retail space until you drive by at night when all the signs are lit up. A seemingly boring neighborhood during the day can come alive at night!
At the same time, driving up and down the street of the home you are considering purchasing will help give you a good idea if there are many families in the neighborhood with children that play in the yards when they come home from school, and the presence of joggers in the neighborhood at night will be another great indication of the area.
Driving the neighborhood at varying times of the day will also help you learn about the area’s traffic patterns and will tell you if it will be a convenient drive for you each day to and from work.
If you are looking to buy a home in the Austin area, don’t go it alone, call us and we will help walk you through the steps and provide you with many tips like this so that you can make an informed purchase!
Why Staging Matters When Selling Austin Condos
December 31, 2010
Staging can mean everything when you are selling your home. Don’t believe me? Listen to this scenario I recently had when I was showing some buyers condos near Lake Travis.
We enter the first condo of the day. It is located in a building they already love and these buyers know what they are looking for in a condo. There are only four floor plans we are seeing in the building – although we are seeing several units with the same floor plan. The first condo is vacant but supposedly staged with outdated living room furniture and no dining room table. In these small lake front condos, it can be hard to visualize where your dining table will go – and the lack of one in this unit certainly left my buyers puzzled. The master furniture was nice, but the second bedroom seemed too specific with two twin-sized beds. The walls were white throughout the condo and there weren’t many decorations or paintings. Overall, the condo seemed clean and but lacked warmth and the furniture style and layout were not ideal. Being the first condo of the day, my buyers liked this unit and the overall square footage…they aren’t wowed, but it is left on their “list.”
We move on to a few of the other units with different floor plans, but each seem to have a flaw and do not make the “list.” Next, we enter a unit with the same floor plan as the first condo my buyers liked. This unit is occupied and has been professionally decorated. Almost immediately they notice the dining table and they love the placement of it in the condo – it adds value, a whole other room. Right then, they knew they liked this condo better than the first because of the layout….the funny thing is that both units are identical in square footage and floor plan. Both units when bought will be cleared of its furniture and the buyers will bring in their own touches…but already one unit is ‘winning’ over the other because they are showing the buyer where they can place the table. One would think the two units should still be equal, but the psychological effect one dining table has made all the difference in the world to these buyers. As we move throughout the unit, we notice the different placement of the living room furniture and the warm colors throughout. They even forgive a few of the accessories because the overall feel of the unit just felt right to them. Even the bedroom furniture placement made them think more about what they’ll do with the rooms and which family member will spend more time in the secondary bedroom versus the balcony. Again, this is the identical unit to the first, but the staging evoked so much more in these buyers and they were sold.
To top this story off, there was quite a difference between the list prices in the identical condos as well – the second priced higher. That price difference seemed justified to the buyers (though, we did change that up in negotiations of course!) simply because the way that condo made them feel over the other.
So, if you did not think staging made a difference before – I hope you see it now. My clients went from liking a condo but wanting to see more to falling in love with an identical unit, which was priced higher, all because of the staging.
If you are thinking about selling your Austin condo, contact me today and let’s discuss how we can wow the buyers and bring more money to your pockets at closing.
Why Meet The Competition Before Listing Your Austin Home?
December 27, 2010
When you are considering placing your home on the market, there is one vitally important step that is often overlooked, but will tremendously help you and your Realtor decide on proper pricing: a face-to-face meeting with the competition.
Now, of course you will want your Realtor to provide a Comparative Market Analysis for your home so that you can see at what price homes have been selling that are similar to yours, and to get a snapshot of the competing active listings. There’s no question that it’s a great tool, but, a CMA is just numbers on a piece of paper (and sometimes a picture or two).
What I like to do is take it a step further and actually take the seller out with me to tour the competing homes that are actively listed or have recently went pending.
Why is this important? Because it is so easy when looking at things on paper to think, “My home is better than that home,” or “I have 50 more square feet than that home, so mine must be better.” By not seeing these homes in person you may not be able to realize that the competing home may show better than yours or that, even at 50 square feet less, the floor plan flows better than your home. What if your home is 50 or 75 sqaure feet larger, but your floor plan has oversized hallways or a slightly wider 4th bedroom? What if your master bedroom has a sitting area or your kitchen has a butler’s pantry that is not currently in demand by buyers in your current market? How should that affect your pricing decision?
Sellers can be biased toward their own home, and they usually are – which is only natural! Even when touring the comparable homes, I will still hear comments like, “Our home is better that this home because ours has ___ and this home has ___ ,” which may be true in your opinion…but the key here is to listen to your Realtor and learn what they are hearing from their buyers. As buyer demands and tastes change through time, it is essential to hire an experienced Realtor who has their ears to the ground and knows exactly what buyers are looking for. This information is crucial to preparing your home for the market, and for effectively pricing it.
If you are considering selling your Austin home, contact me today and let’s talk about finding the right value for your home. Rest assured that you will get an opportunity to meet your competition, and you’ll be glad that you did when we’re under contract and they’re still racking up days on market!
How Are Mueller Home Sales Affecting Surrounding East Austin Areas?
December 16, 2010
Is the new community of Mueller positively affecting home sales in the surrounding East Austin communities?
Lot sales have been slow in the MLS area 3 – in the last six months only one lot has sold and 20 lots remain on the market, with the average cumulative days on market at 353 days.
This is quite a change from a few years ago when lot sales were super hot in the East Austin areas. I remember the days when multiple offers would be on a property within hours of it hitting the MLS. Builders and investors were eager to get in on the east side with its new trendy reputation.
When I take a look at home sales and compare them to lot sales in the MLS area 3, it makes me wonder if times are about to change again. (To explain, MLS area 3 covers East Austin north of Martin Luther King Blvd, south of the 183 and in between the 35 and 183.) Homes sales in area 3 have been steady – 130 homes have sold in the last six months (according to MLS data) – that’s nearly one a day.
And, with the Mueller development located in MLS area 3, one can assume that these sales will help bring more interest to the area. Certainly, the commercial developments and the parks near & in Mueller have helped the surrounding neighborhoods and areas. New home sales in Mueller have ranged from the high $200’s to $499k in the last six months of MLS data.
Are smaller builders and investors going to start hoping they can build in nearby neighborhoods, like Cherrywood, and get similar prices on their new homes? There is a difference being in a diverse neighborhood with a mix of new and old homes (like Cherrywood) vs. a new subdivision like Mueller and prices will reflect that, but the prices may begin to affect one another because of proximity and buyer desire to live in this area.
If you would like more sales information on the East Austin area, or want to know more about investment property in East Austin, contact me today.
Do you have an opinion on whether Mueller has helped the surrounding East Austin areas? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
Tips When Buying or Selling Austin Homes With Foundation Problems
December 15, 2010
There are many pockets in Austin where homes with foundation problems are regularly found. I’ve learned from inspectors that this is mostly due to the type of soil we have, but it can also be attributed to uneven watering of your yard (or the lack thereof).
Selling My Austin Home With Foundation Issues
Sellers who are aware of the competitive market they face usually opt to repair the foundation before putting their home on the market. Although, homes in need of foundation repair are quite numerous on the MLS.
When a seller has had the foundation repaired, a warranty, in most cases, is attached to the property and can be transferred to the buyer at closing. However, one thing buyers need to be made aware of is that many of these foundation companies impose a transfer fee in order for the warranty to be valid.
Buying an Austin Home With Foundation Repairs
If you are buying a home in Austin that has had foundation work, request to see the warranty paperwork and find out if you will be required to pay this fee.
There are many surprises along the way when you are buying a home. Being represented by a Realtor helps prepare you and will make your home buying experience much smoother. If you are looking to buy a home in the Austin area, contact us today and let us help you into your next home.
Top 25 Newest Listings in 78704 Zip Code in Austin, TX
May 10, 2010
Below are the 25 newest Austin MLS listings in the 78704 zip code. 78704 is Austin’s “hip” zip code — located just south of downtown — with its funky boutiques, shops, and people-watching! Let us know if you have any questions about South Austin real estate — we know it well, because we too live in 78704!
Showing properties
1 - 25 of 251.
See more 78704 zip code real estate.
(all data current as of
2/7/2012)
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$900,000 : 2206 Schriber ST, Austin0 beds, 0 baths
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$1,090,000 : 1704 3rd ST, Austin4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
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$974,900 : 2317 Kinney RD, Austin2 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
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$3,400 : 210 Lee Barton DR, Unit 204, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$2,800 : 508 Powell CIR, Austin2 beds, 3 full baths
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$1,995 : 1702 Lamar, Unit 5, Austin2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
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$1,600 : 2303 EASTSIDE DR, Unit 121, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$1,475 : 1502 Bridgeway DR, Unit 1, Austin1 bed, 2 full baths
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$749,000 : 1400 Bouldin AVE, Austin3 beds, 4 full baths
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$324,900 : 1300 Folts AVE, Austin3 beds, 2 full baths
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$284,900 : 1500 Eastside DR, Unit 108, Austin2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths
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$2,600 : 1509 Juliet ST, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$1,395 : 2606 Carnarvon LN, Austin3 beds, 2 full baths
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$1,950 : 1112 Robert E Lee RD, Unit A, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$617,700 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, Unit 6206, Austin3 beds, 2 full baths
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$539,600 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, Unit 3204, Austin3 beds, 2 full baths
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$529,000 : 210 Lee Barton DR, Unit 613, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$396,535 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, Unit 5209, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$2,200 : 2007 Arthur LN, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$699,000 : 1600 Barton Springs RD, Unit 2505, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$349,000 : 501 Lightsey RD, Austin3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
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$224,900 : 1135 Barton Hills DR, Unit 123, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
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$1,850 : 1011 Brodie ST, Unit 15, Austin2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
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$349,900 : 2705 5th ST, Unit A, Austin3 beds, 3 full baths
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$319,900 : 3521 Marcae CT, Austin2 beds, 2 full baths
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.
How to Get Austin Condominiums FHA Approved
May 8, 2010
If you’re an owner of a condo in the Austin area and are about to list your condo to sell, you may be surprised when you find out that your condo building isn’t FHA Approved. What does this mean to you as a seller? It means that any buyer who is looking to obtain FHA financing will not qualify, leaving you to only be able to sell to conventional buyers who have to make a large down payment (usually 20% or greater). This could seriously shrink your pool of potential buyers, making your visions of a quick sale slowly wither away.
What Can You Do To Get Your Condo FHA Approved?
You can contact your HOA and ask them to start filing the paperwork, but this probably isn’t the fastest approach unless you are on the board. Mortgage lenders also have the ability to file the necessary paperwork to apply for FHA approval for your building, but you’ll have to have your place under contract for the buyer’s lender to start the process. What if a buyer isn’t willing to write an offer on your non-FHA condo and “hope” that his/her lender can get it on the list in time for closing? You could pick up the phone and try calling a few lenders and ask if they will help you. But with nothing in it for them, there’s no reason for a stranger to do all of this legwork. Your best bet is to hire a Realtor who has a great working relationship with a lender who can handle this type of unique situation.
We have one of those great relationships with one such lender: Eric Silvas at Envoy Mortgage. He filed the initial paperwork for FHA approval for an older condominium complex in Central Austin for us (we are representing the seller), and after he jumped through several hoops, we are happy to say that the complex is now approved!
FHA approval helps everyone in the building, not just our listing. It’s the kind of value that hiring the right Austin Realtor and Austin Mortgage Banker can bring to the table.
We are fortunate to have a great relationship with an Austin mortgage banker like Eric Silvas. There aren’t many lenders who would be willing to put forth the efforts of doing something like this, especially on a complex that is already developed. Thank you, Eric!