Kopa Real Estate Blog

May Market Update

Whenever I look at the real estate market statistics I like to pick out a few interesting things you might not know simply by looking at the numbers.

It is often difficult for me to explain how dollars per square foot works when trying to price real estate. Sometimes homeowners with beautiful homes will want to take the average $/SF and multiply that by the size of their home and then add their upgrades. In reality, when using the $/SF statistic for all of Austin, the numbers will skew more based on size than condition of the home.

A great example of this is the home in Austin that sold for the highest $/SF was also the smallest home and the home that sold for the lowest price. It is counterintuitive that your home which is likely much nicer and…

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Do You Believe An Open House Will Help Sell Our Home? Who Hosts Your Open Houses?

YES, an open house will help sell your home. 72% of our homes have sold to a buyer who visited an open house.

Sometimes that means a buyer who visits the home only during the open house. It can also mean someone who came to view your home with their agent and wants to come back for a 2nd look. Other times a buyer attends an open house and then wants to come back with their agent.

One of the many things that make Austin real estate different from other areas is half the buyers are not committed to working with a real estate agent until the find a home they want to buy. If you don’t have an open house you are missing out on half the buyers in the area. Not having an open house means not fully exposing your home to the market.

Because we have…

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Will I Be Working With You Personally Or Passed Off To An Assistant?

Have you ever bought a product or service based on promises a salesperson made only to be let down when after you made an agreement the salesperson went away and you were left working with an assistant? How did that make you feel? If you are like me you probably feel like you have been tricked and aren’t getting what you paid for.

One of the reasons so many homeowners have decided to list their home with Kopa Real Estate is because of our personal service. When you hire Kopa Real Estate to get your home sold you get to work with the owners of the company.

Although we have marketing and administrative assistants working for us when it comes to communicating with our company you will have mine of Joyce’s mobile #.  After all, your home sale is very…

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I Really Screwed Up And It Cost Me $1,485

Before I started Kopa Real Estate I worked for 2 of the largest real estate brokerages in Austin for 10 years. Sometimes people who are selling their home have the impression that agents in large real estate companies attend meetings where they will all network together to get their home sold. They think there will be 500 agents from the large company who will care about you.

Despite what agents at large brokerages will tell you when they want to get hired to sell your home in my experience THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. Almost all Realtors are independent contractors.  Many people get into the real estate business to avoid having a fixed schedule and the need to attend meetings.

In my experience the only meetings that were mandatory for agents to attend…

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Market Update

“Last month, economists predicted an upwards of 5 percent growth in median home prices within the Austin area, and we have far surpassed that,” Steve Crorey, 2018 president of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, said. “This is especially evident in local markets where housing demand is strongest, such as Austin and Cedar Park. Home price increases are sharpest in these markets, while dwindling housing inventory in the lower price classes could be discouraging people from buying.” In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, home sales increased 5.7 percent year-over-year in February 2018 to 1,955 sales. The median price of single-family homes increased 3.6 percent to $299,900. Housing inventory remained flat at 2.0 months, the same as last February. “While wages and jobs in…

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3 Simple Tips To Make Buyers Love Your Home

When you’re selling your home there are all kinds of things you can do to prepare your home for a showing.  Some are complicated and expensive. Others are simple and easy. The good news is the most important things you can do are quick, easy and inexpensive.

Turn On The Lights The most common objection we get from buyers about any home is “It’s too dark.” After all; who doesn’t want a bright, cheerful home? When buyers enter your home their first impression will be what they remember. Do you want the buyers to remember your home as being bright or as being dark? If your home is being shown buy a buyers agent it will take them a long time to fumble around your home to turn on the lights. If they are in a hurry they won’t bother turning on the lights…

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Kopa Real Estate Home Buying Seminar

How To Buy A Home In Austin With Less Stress In 2018

Attend our FREE Home Buying Seminar to help you get the most money and get your home sold fast.

Reserve your seat and learn:

• How to avoid paying too much for a home
• How to be the first to know about new homes coming on the market
• Your financing options from a local lender
• Free Mortgage Pre-Qualification to learn your buying power

Saturday, April 21st
10 AM – 11:00 AM
10121 Morgan Creek Dr, Austin, TX 78717

Sign up now!

*Your information will never be shared with any third party.

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Median Home Prices in Austin Post Double-Digit Percentage Increase

The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) first market analysis of the year shows steady increases in single-family home sales despite limited inventory, signaling a strong housing market for 2018, according to the January 2018 Central Texas Housing Market data report. The solid single-family home sales growth is constant throughout the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as is the inventory crunch.

In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, the median price of single-family homes increased by 3.6 percent year-over-year in January 2018 to $290,000. Home sales increased by 8.5 percent to 1,655 sales, citing continual demand. Housing inventory of single-family homes in the Austin-Round Rock MSA stayed at 1.9 months of inventory, the same as last…

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How To Lose $31,000 When Selling Your Home

When selling your home it’s tempting to overprice your property. Of course selling your home for the most money is the goal of most people. However, what we have found is much like a baseball player who swings for the fences you are more likely to strike out than hit a home run by significantly overpricing your house.

A great example of what can happen to a seller that overprices their home recently played out in our neighborhood.

Last summer we were hired to help a couple sell their home. We suggested they price their home at market value, which was $485,000. After being on the market for 3 days we received 2 offers for the home and settled on a price of $486,500. We were also able to negotiate a free 2 month leaseback for the sellers to stay in…

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2018 Home Builder Association Housing Forecast

The 2018 HBA Housing Forecast provided US and global economic statistics and outlooks from UT Economist Dr. Greg Hallman, local economic factors and forecasts on housing from 360 Analytics’ Eldon Rude, and insight into the constantly evolving consumer from Kantar Future’s Lindsay Kunkle. Below are some takeaways from the conference, held at the AT&T Center on the UT campus on January 31, 2018.

Global and US Economy
Dr. Greg Hallman gave some statistics of what overall seems to be a healthy economy that is back to “full potential.” He predicts GDP growth of 2.5-3% in 2018 as we continue this long (101 month) period of expansion. That optimism is provided by the low unemployment rate across all levels of education, wage growth (although slow is outpacing…

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