Found 67 blog entries tagged as eric peterson.

Lance Lambert, real estate editor at Fortune Magazine, called Austin the most interesting real estate market in America.

Prices went up like a rocket and came back to earth, but still up 43% since March 2020. Some people can’t get over missing out on timing the market. The truth is few people did because even those who sold at the top had to buy in the same market at the top.

If I told you in March 2020 your home would be worth 43% more in 3 years you would have been over the moon happy about that. If you’ve allowed yourself to get stuck because you missed out on the peak perhaps a change in perspective to thinking about how much better off you are than 3 years ago will help you get unstuck. Otherwise using 2021 and early 2022 as your baseline…

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Does the school tax ceiling transfer when a person who is age 65 or older or is disabled or is the surviving spouse (age 55 or older) of the individual moves to another home?

A percentage of the school district tax ceiling may be transferred.

The ceiling on the new residence homestead would be calculated to give you the same percentage of tax paid as the ceiling on the original residence homestead. For example, if you currently have a tax ceiling of $100, but would pay $400 without the ceiling, the percentage of tax paid is 25 percent. If you move to another home and the taxes on the new residence homestead would normally be $1,000 in the first year, the new tax ceiling would be $250, or 25 percent of $1,000.

To transfer the school district…

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It’s hard to believe, but summer is already around the corner. Here in the Austin area, our home-selling “season” kicks off in spring and reaches its peak in the summer. It’s our busiest time of year, although this year things will be a little different.

With interest rates up, demand has slowed compared to last year. Prices remain high and sellers still have the upper hand, but buyers have a bit more leverage and homes are taking longer to sell on average. This season, homes that are attractive to buyers and marketed aggressively will sell fast and high. Here are the strategies we’re using to position our summer sellers for the best result possible.

I have to give myself a little grace here because I haven’t gotten much sleep lately and I’ve…

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After 497 people told me they were going to wait to move until the market is good again, I realized I wasn’t doing a good job. 

You see, I am a “Professional Mind Maker Upper” and people count on me to consult with them so they can make the best decisions for their lives and their families. There’s a saying “Garbage in and garbage out” meaning if you don’t use accurate information, you won’t make good decisions. I was letting people use bad information without taking the time to ask more questions and explain some of the data that’s available about the real estate market. 

I have to give myself a little grace here because I haven’t gotten much sleep lately and I’ve changed a lot of diapers over the last few months so it’s possible I simply…

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I'm primarily a listing agent so I'm seeing buyers every weekend at our open houses. I'm also talking to agents and I'm seeing the offers that they put in every day. These are the four mistakes that I'm seeing buyers make in March of 2023.

Making Bad Offers

The first mistake I'm seeing is putting in “bad offers”. What I mean by that is a lot of buyers are out there and they're thinking they're going to make low offers. And you know what? A lot of sellers are actually negotiable right now.

Sellers are willing to come down on their price if they see that it's a good deal and you're a solid buyer. However, I've noticed that many buyers are submitting offers at a low price with unfavorable terms that are unrealistic to both myself as a listing…

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The other day I saw someone describe the real estate market as being scary.

We are heading towards something nobody has ever been through. There’s never been a time with so many events happening all at once. We have both headwinds and tailwinds for the economy so in near future things are murky. It’s understandable some people will think it’s spooky out there in the real estate market.

Perhaps that’s true in the short term. In the long run the thing I know is people will always be buying, selling or renting real estate.

Part of the reason things seem spooky is with social media there are so many people trying to make a name for themselves or trying to get clicks by promoting that we are approaching doomsday.

Here are some of the things the…

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If you have been shopping for a home there are 3 important things you should know about mortgage interest rates today.

Fed Raised Rates And Mortgage Rates Went Down

You probably heard the Federal Reserve raised interest rates .75% in July. The Federal Reserve does not control mortgage interest rates. It seems counterintuitive, but when the Fed raised their rates mortgage interest rates actually went down. Mortgage interest rates had been over 6% back in June. As of August 2nd, we were seeing quotes for 30 Year Conventional rates near 5%.

Jumbo Rates Are Lower Than Conventional Rates

In the Austin area the loan limit for Conventional mortgages is $647,200. If you are borrowing more than that you would be getting a “Jumbo” mortgage.…

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Your property tax value is low. I’m Eric Peterson, Owner of Kopa Real Estate. I have good news and bad news depending on how you look at it. Just before you received your 2022 property tax assessment, we already sold a house for $268,000 more the 2022 assessment. To put it in perspective that’s a 38% increase over the 2022 value and we have another home under contract for 42% over the 2022 tax value…and we are only in the first week of April.

That means 3 important things to you right now.

#1. Here’s the good news. Your home is worth a lot more than the tax value and more than you think. If your first thought when you opened your notice of value is that you could never sell your home for that much you will be surprised. Chances are you can…

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65 offers for 1 home! In this Austin housing market update we’re going to talk about how to get 65 offers on your home, the most recent real estate statistics for Austin, Texas, rising interest rates and what all this means for you as a buyer or seller of real estate in the Austin area.

First, let’s review the statistics for the January, 2022 Austin real estate housing market.

The number of homes sold in January, 2022 was 2,116 which was down 11.83% from 2,400 sales in January, 2021.

The average sold price in January, 2022 was $578,554 which was up 25.84% from $459,760 in January, 2021.

The average sold price per square foot in January, 2022 for Austin was $292.83 which was up 26.3% from $231.72 in January, 2021.

The median sold…

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Because the real estate market has become so competitive many buyers are waiving the right to terminate the contract based on the lender’s appraisal. The appraisal is typically done after the buyer’s termination period has ended. If you are waiving your appraisal contingency you will not be able to terminate the contract and receive a refund of your earnest money if the home appraises for less than the sales price. If you are waiving this contingency here is an explanation of how that might affect the amount of money you will need for a down payment.

Please let us know if you have any questions before making an offer on any property.

Example

Contract price $400,000

Appraised value $380,000

If the home appraised value was…

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