Real Estate Tips

How do we count the number of days for contingencies in home purchase & sale contracts? it's not too terribly complicated to answer, but misunderstandings regarding the "Computation of Time" in real estate contracts are unfortunately very common.

While all contract contingencies are important, arguably, the most critical contingency in any real estate purchase and sale contract is the Financing Contingency, which is typically 20-30 days. All parties, especially the home buyer and their real estate agent, need to accurately count the number of days - and to adhere to any related terms of the contract. The inspection contingency is just as important. Wait too long after the inspection to negotiate any repairs,...

Are you in the market to buy a home this spring? Join the crowd! In many areas, the market is red-hot; inventory is low and buyers are plenty. In these times, hopeful home buyers must quickly educate themselves regarding the buying process and current market conditions. How can you increase the odds of winning your dream home in a seller's market, especially when competing with multiple offers? Develop a winning strategy by follwing these tips, and avoiding common home buyer mistakes.

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Be Clear About Your Priorities...

Buying a home during the holidays - sounds crazy, right?

You have about a million tasks on your to-do list and none of them checked off. You have relatives coming into town, the local bake sale needs more holiday cookies, and the cat just crawled-up the tree - again. In the midst of all this holiday chaos you may think the last thing you really want to do is search for your new home. However, you might be missing out. The holiday season can be a fantastic time to buy real estate!

Sellers Want to Sell - Especially at Holiday Time

Listing inventories tend to drop during the late fall and winter in the Austin market - not only due to the holidays, but also due to the weather. Often, the darker and rainy days are...

When selling a home, the number one complaint of homeowners is the lack of communication & follow-up from their real estate agent - after the agent has listed the home for sale. In fact, a quick scan of popular websites reveals the most common grievances such as "My agent never returns my calls," or "My agent went on vacation and didn't tell me." it's a very common problem for sellers, and a source of great frustration.

We call this the "List & Leave Syndrome" - a phrase I personally coined after experiencing a similar circumstance several years ago, which ultimately promted me to fire my agent.

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Definition: An Inspection Contingency is a clause in a home purchase & sale contract which provides the buyer an opportunity to conduct a home inspection, with the right to either terminate the contract, or attempt to negotiate repairs and/or terms of the contract, based upon the results of an inspection report.

Contingencies for home inspections vary from state to state, and the methods of negotiating issues can also vary by "local custom" depending on the market area. For example, in Texas, inspections are handled during the "Option Period" - typically a 10-day period in which the buyer pays a nominal fee in exchange for this option. In some...

Fact: Choosing a real estate agent will be among the most critical decisions you make during your next home purchase or sale! Think real estate agents simply open doors, show houses, and fill-in generic real estate forms? Think again.... This is the first a series of posts on hiring a real estate agent to serve your interests.

Part One: Hiring Friends & Family When Buying or Selling a Home - We all love to work with friends & family (okay... well, maybe not "all" of us). According to a survey by the National Association of real estate agents, it's not surprising that over 50% of home buyers & sellers choose a real estate agent either based upon referral from friend or family member...

Happy New Year! What is on your list of resolutions this year? Lose weight? Get in shape? Go back to school? Take up ice fishing?

If you've been thinking about a real estate purchase, consider these New Year's resolutions for home buyers, which could potentially save you a lot of time, frustration and heartache.

Avoid making these common mistakes, and be fully prepared before going on the house hunt.

#1 Decide What You Want in a Home Before Seriously Looking

What is a greenbelt? We get this question a lot - and it can have a different meaning depending on the circumstances and location of the home. More importantly, too many buyers become enamoured with the view & privacy - assuming it will always be that way. Home buyers coming to Texas from other parts of the country understandably may have preconceived notions as to what a "greenbelt" actually is... but they may be mistaken.

In Texas, a greenbelt or buffer-zone is generally considered by most homeowners and buyers alike, to be a vacant patch or parcel of forested land, behind, or to the side of a home. Typically, depending on the location, greenbelts can be partially forested with trees, but the landscape can vary - some may contain large open spaces, public parks or grassland....

When looking to buy (or sell) a home, some of the terminology can get confusing.

While it's of course your real estate agent's job to know the ins and outs of all things real estate, it's also very helpful to the Austin home buyer during the search. With all the different terms and acronyms, property listings and real estate jargon, it's hard to focus on what's important. Below is a list of a few important terms you are likely to hear during your house hunt.

Sale-to-List Ratio

More commonly used by sellers, this is potentially an important number for home buyers too, as it may help them quickly decipher the pace of the current market when deciding what price to offer on a home.

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Updated Introduction: A few agents have already commented in various places that this post may not be "a good idea." IMO, that's likely because they think an agent's Number One Priority is "lead generation" - and some believe it's "aggressive" lead generation. I completely disagree - I feel our Number One priority is "client service."

It is my belief the reason an increasing number of buyers are behaving in the ways I describe in this post, is because real estate (as an industry) has forced them to. Particularly due to internet marketing, buyers have been forced to lurk anonymously in the shadows, because they fear that the moment they give an agent their information, they won't be able to get rid of the agent - like an irritating skin rash.

And can I blame the home...

We're all human - we all make mistakes.  Selling a home can be one of the most stressful events in our lives - we're most often dealing with people we don't know, while complete strangers are touring and judging our home, and they're often arriving on short notice. Trust me... we get it. We really do.

Part of our job as real estate agents is to mitigate our client's stress level while their home is on the market. In this stage of the home selling process, we're more often 40% agent, 60% psychologist. As you can imagine though, this is easier said than done. With emotions often running high, it's understandable that home sellers can make a few mistakes along the way.

So... this blog post begins our Seller Series - "Big Mistakes - What Not to Do When Selling Your Home."

Big Mistake #1 - Staying...

If you're preparing to list your Leander home for sale, please resist the temptation to make major home improvements. Major home improvements can end up costing you more than double your original budget. Additionally, you will be dealing with the mess yourself, and more importantly, delaying how soon your home is shown to potential home buyers in Leander. Rather, for a better return on your time and money, focus on minorprojects instead - especially your "honey-do list." It's the smaller projects that tend to have a bigger, long-term payoff.

Start Thinking Like a Home Buyer!