Kopa Real Estate Blog - home selling

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

I’m not talking about the classic 80’s song from the London band The Clash.

Instead, this is a question I get asked by homeowners 2-3 times per week. For the most part it’s not a real estate question, but I thought I would share some of the things I would think about if I were asking that question myself.

The Part That Is A Real Estate Question

If you ask me if you should stay or go, I think what you’re really asking is if you decide to move today and sell your home will you miss out on a huge home price appreciation that’s coming right around the corner.

It’s understandable to have some anxiety about that because who would want to miss out on you home being worth 20% more next year?

Nobody would like to…

671 Views, 0 Comments

NAR Commission Settlement

What It Means And What It Doesn’t Mean

By now I’m sure you’ve heard that the National Association of Realtors announced a proposed settlement to address the broker compensation lawsuits that have popped up across the country. The settlement has generated a lot of media attention and unfortunately a lot of what has been reported is misleading so I wanted to give an explanation of what has happened.

Before I even start, this is a proposed settlement that still needs court approval and none of the changes will go into effect until July at the earliest. However, I do expect it will be approved whether in this format or something similar and we are already putting systems into place to guide our clients through any possible changes and give you the…

1088 Views, 0 Comments

Selling Your Home This Summer? Start Now!

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…

679 Views, 0 Comments

Austin Real Estate Housing Market Update September 2021

 Let’s get to the statistics for August, 2021. We are still seeing huge increases in the year over year statistics. The big story is the huge month over month increases in average and median sales prices has dipped for the first time this year.

As a reminder these statistics cover the entire Austin MLS area. If you’re interested in a particular area you may want to check out one of our other blogs and videos or contact me directly.

Let’s start by looking at the listing inventory numbers. In August there was a total of 3,969 sales which is down 9.6% from last year and slightly up from 3,846 sales in August, 2019. The number of new listings is up 15.3% to 4,873 and the number of pending sales is down 34.9% to 2,877.

The months of…

1068 Views, 0 Comments

How To Sell Your Home In A Bidding War

 
There are several advantages of selling your home in a bidding war. You will get the highest price, you will get the best terms in the original contract and you will have leverage if the buyer tries to negotiate too much after an inspection.

26 of the homes we have sold this year have been sold with multiple offers. That doesn’t happen by accident. Here are some tips that will make it easier for your home to sell in a bidding war.

Appeal To Emotion Not Logic

To get into a bidding war you need the buyers to act quickly. We need the buyers to fall in love with your home and ask how much over asking price they need to pay. We need to remove anything that will keep a buyer from wanting to make a great offer. In marketing this is called…

1247 Views, 0 Comments

How Your “Friend In Real Estate” Is Costing You Money

Almost every time someone invites me to their home to talk about putting it on the market, they say they have a “friend in real estate” they are considering hiring as their listing agent. It’s not surprising; with 13,160 members of the Austin Board of Realtors everyone knows several Realtors. In fact, if you don’t have any friends in real estate, I’d be worried you didn’t have any friends.

As one of my friends says it’s called Show Business not Show Friends for a reason. Here are a few ways hiring your friend to sell your largest financial asset can cost you big money.

Understanding The Contract

Would you believe the average real estate agent may only sell 2-3 homes per year? This is why before you hire any agent you should ask how many homes…

843 Views, 0 Comments