The Williamson County Appraisal District just mailed out the Notice of Appraised Value for 2021. Look for your notice in the mailbox or search your address on the WCAD website.

Prepare yourself before you open the envelope because you are going to be shocked by the value. Especially for those who own rental properties with no Homestead Cap you will see huge jumps in the value you will pay taxes on this year.

When you see your value if you think to yourself “If someone would pay that much for my home, I would sell it” let me tell you something even more surprising…Your tax value is probably $125,000 or more below what your home can sell for in today’s market. That’s a conservative estimate because there’s a home we will be selling that I…

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I’m going to review some of the important housing statistics for the Austin real estate market for February 2021. 

Before I get into the stats there are a couple things I want to talk about. Because real estate prices have been appreciating rapidly when I talk with sellers some will often make statements starting with “The market is so hot that XYXZ.”

"The market is so hot I can sell off market."

"The market is so hot presentation doesn’t matter."

"The market is so hot the Broker I hire doesn’t matter."

It’s as if there has been some government executive order that says you can only sell your home for $600,000 no matter what you do.

In reality, we are seeing sellers sell off market telling me they sold for $50,000 above the…

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If you own a home you probably have looked at some type of online home value estimate. Even I like to look at mine as a curiosity to see how far off they are from reality.

I’m the type of person who orders the exact same meal every time from restaurants so I own 2 of the EXACT same houses right around the corner from each other.

Here are the online home estimates I received on the same day for the 2 homes. These homes are exactly the same with a $36,000 difference is estimated value. How can this happen? I have no idea. The homes are the same size, same finishes, same builder, same floor plan, same schools with the same neighborhood amenities.

        

I can’t explain the $36,000 difference with these homes. In general, we don’t…

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We’re coming out of the worst storm I have experienced in over 30 years of living in Texas. We are hearing of pipes bursting and water leaks all over the Austin area.

Many homeowners will be worried about home values being affected when selling a home with previous water damage. Whether you are planning to put your property on the market next month or in 5 years here are a few helpful tips to make your real estate transaction easier and let you sell for top dollar.

No Discount For Homes With Water Damage In Today’s Market

When you search for how to sell a home with water damage, you’re going to find hundreds, maybe thousands of blog posts written by companies that want to make a low-ball offer for your home.

For anyone planning…

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Everywhere I go people want to tell me the housing market is about to crash. Maybe the market will crash, maybe it won’t. If it’s true we are in a bubble and we will see a crash here are some of the reason we may see real estate prices pop.

Inflation and Interest Rates Going Up

There’s no doubt homebuyers are motivated by the historically low mortgage interest rates we are seeing. Many buyers are able to lock in 30-year fixed rate mortgages at 2.5% or better allowing them more buying power to stretch the price range of their home search.

Interest rates typically rise when inflation increases. With all the money being pumped into the economy it isn’t not hard to imagine we will see inflation once we see the pandemic coming to an end.

…

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The #1 question people ask me is “How’s the market?” Real estate statistics mostly tell you where the market has been. It’s like driving while looking through the rear-view mirror. If you want to know where the market is heading and drive while looking through the windshield you will want to follow the 4 most important housing market indicators. These are the statistics I look at when talking with someone about buying or selling a home.

Months Of Inventory

Months of inventory tells you how long it would take for all the homes that are currently on the market to sell if no additional homes were listed. A market with 4-6 months of inventory is generally considered a market balanced between buyers and sellers.

When the months of…

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Between Covid and all the people relocating to the Austin area we are seeing an increase in offers on our listings from buyers who are making offers sight unseen. First off let me explain when we say sight unseen that means the buyer has not seen the home in person.

Whenever we have an offer on a home from buyers where all the decision makers have not seen the home in person our clients ask me what they should do. Sellers are always worried a buyer will make an offer sight unseen and then back out prior to closing.

When we are giving advice about sight unseen offers there isn’t a simple, one size fits all answer and here are some of the things we talk about with our clients to help make a great decision.

Is Anyone Else…

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99% of the time being a Real Estate Broker specializing in an area is a huge positive. Understanding the different buyer profiles in our area, differences in the types of homes and what buyers are willing to pay for is an advantage to both myself and the clients I represent.

1% of the time it works to my disadvantage because I know something about a home that will be seen as a negative to buyers. I always want to be upfront and honest with our clients. Over the years I have found I attract savvy clients who appreciate being told the truth.

When you are interviewing Brokers to be your listing agent you will be tempted to hire the agent who recommends the highest price. It’s human nature that you will like the agent who tells you the highest…

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