Kopa Real Estate Blog - austin realtor

How Some Big Real Estate Brokerages Are Conspiring Against Home Sellers

 
When you hire a real estate agent to sell your home you have every right to expect the brokerage the agent works for has your best interests in mind at all times. How will you feel when you find out that might not be true? 

It’s basic Economics 101 that you will receive the best price for your home by advertising it with the widest net. You want to advertise your home to all the real estate agents in your area and as many buyers as possible who are in the market for a home like yours.

What if I told you we are hearing about more and more real estate brokerages that are trying to sell their listings by only advertising them to the agents that work for that specific office?

Why would they do that?

In some instances, it’s because a…

1374 Views, 0 Comments

Why Home Staging Is Even More Important In Today’s Market

In Williamson County, real estate is still an essential business and many sellers have chosen to continue showing their homes. As you might expect we have seen the number of in person showings dramatically decrease over the past few weeks.

My expectation is once the shelter in place ordinance has been lifted, we will see showings increase but likely not to the same level as pre-Coronavirus. The reason I say that is I expect buyers will be choosier about taking a perceived risk to enter your home. Previously our goal for our listings was to make it into the top 5 homes a buyer would want to visit. Going forward I anticipate buyers will reduce the number of homes they visit in person from 5 to 3. What that means for you if you are selling a home is…

1042 Views, 0 Comments

5 Things To Think About Before Renting Your Home

When it’s time to move you might think about renting your home. Because we sell so many homes that were turned into rental properties, we’ve gathered insight into some of the things homeowners don’t think about before converting an owner occupied home into a rental property. Here are 5 things you should think when deciding between renting or selling your home.

Do You Want To Be A Landlord

I’m always willing to help anyone look at the rent vs sell figures so you can make the best decision for yourself. But before we get that far I will ask you if you really want to be a landlord and if you didn’t own the home would you buy it as an investment property.

I will also ask if you like working with people? What will you do when the rent is…

1334 Views, 0 Comments

How To Buy A Home At The Top Of The Market?

 
It’s a tough market for buyers. Many feel they are buying at the top of the market and that makes them feel nervous.

Of course, people have been telling me it’s the top of the market for 5 years and so far that’s been a losing bet. However, we know real estate moves in cycles and at some point there will be a downturn in the market. Here are a few tips to help protect you from a downturn when it inevitably happens.

Avoid Homes Missing Important Features

Something that makes real estate challenging is comparing homes that aren’t exactly the same. Many buyers get so focused on the size of the home and $/SF they don’t remember you live in the floor plan and not the size of the home.

Yesterday I met clients at a very nice home. From a…

1175 Views, 0 Comments

Should I Use A Realtor If I'm Buying New Construction?

I’m often asked, “Should I use a Realtor if I’m buying new construction from a builder”.  The answer is only if you want a solid home built that will great for resale value when it comes time for you to sell. Here are just a few of the reasons why you should have a Realtor help you when buying or building a new home.

Representation – The salesperson represents the builder and their interests, not yours. In most cases the builder’s salesperson does not hold a real estate license. That means they aren’t held to the same standards of treating consumers fairly you might expect. A Realtor will represent you and look out for your best interest.

You May Not Get What You Think You Are Getting – When you walk into a model home it’s easy to fall in…

3178 Views, 0 Comments

What You Need To Know About Property Tax Protesting Companies In 2020

It’s only January and we are already seeing hand-wringing in our neighborhood about property taxes and the companies that will protest on your behalf. Protesting your property taxes in Williamson and Travis Counties will be even more challenging this year.

Just a reminder, if you engaged one of the tax protesting companies last year you probably signed a form giving them authorization to protest for you every year. That means if your plans are to protest on your own this year or you plan to hire a different company you will want to cancel the service with the company you previously hired. Otherwise they will protest on your behalf and you will get billed if they are successful.

Something new this year is at least one of the protesting…

1729 Views, 0 Comments

When Buying A Home Perspective and Advice Are What You Need From A Realtor

Because we hold so many open houses, we see the same potential buyers over and over. They often tell me their struggles and frustrations about their home buying process.

Many of these struggles and frustrations are self-inflicted due to how they choose their Realtor. Buyers often think all Realtors are the same. As a result, when buying a home they will work with their friend (everyone has a friend in real estate) or hire an agent based on which agent gives you the largest rebate.

Especially in a low inventory real estate market like ours this is a huge mistake because you are not getting the most important things you need from a Realtor which are perspective and advice.

The average Realtor only sells about 1-2 homes per year. As a…

805 Views, 0 Comments

Is Your Property Tax Value The Same As What Your Home Can Sell For?

This is a popular question whenever we do our home selling seminars. The short answer is no.

When estimated a sales price for your home we want to compare your home to other similar homes that have sold recently. From there we want to make adjustments for specific features and benefits about your home and add in market knowledge from our side and where we expect the market is going.

The reason a tax value may not be accurate is the value of your home is established early in the year based on sales largely from the previous year. As I am writing this message some of those comparable sales are close to 2 years old and since we are in an appreciating market they may not accurately reflect what is happening in the current market.

If you…

828 Views, 0 Comments

Cancel At Any Time

If you are like me whenever you are buying a product or service you want to know what guarantees you will receive and how you can cancel the agreement. For some reason when people are selling their home they don’t think about getting a guarantee. Perhaps it is because some people think the real estate market is so good that every home will sell quickly.

In reality, about once a week we receive a call from a person trying to sell their home. Their agent isn’t performing and the seller isn’t happy. Their home isn’t selling and it seems like promises were made by their agent and not kept.

The seller wants to hire us to sell their home but unfortunately in most cases the seller has signed an agreement with the agent that doesn’t allow for the…

887 Views, 0 Comments

Can’t Decide Between Selling Now Or Next Year? Consider A Delayed Entry Listing

If you can’t decide between selling your home now or waiting until next year let me give you a 3rd option…what’s called a delayed entry pocket listing.

We are contacted almost every day by buyers and other Realtors asking us what homes we have coming on the market soon. Often a buyer will see one of our homes that isn’t a good fit and ask us what we will be selling that would better work for their family. A pocket listing allows us to keep your home in mind in case someone contacts us that would be a good fit for your home.

What if we had a cash buyer for your home or someone with a flexible move in date? Would you be willing to sell now if they paid the price you want for your home?

A delayed entry pocket listing means we have an agreement…

696 Views, 0 Comments