I often get asked by buyers first starting their Austin Home Search whether they should buy a home with a master upstairs with the rest of the bedrooms or on the main level. The answer lies in the buyer based on where he is in his own individual timeline. Sure, there comes a point when you may not want to be on the same floor as the kids – or maybe even in-laws. On the flip side, buyers who are just starting to plan to have kids or have young children often prefer to be on the same floor. The boogie man typically doesn’t make a presence until about 2am, so parents often want to be nearby to deal with late night trouble shooting without being a flight of stairs away.
Search Listings for Homes for Sale in the Austin MLS
A Custom Home Search for Austin MLS listings can be created to search for homes with the master on the first floor or upstairs only.
Sure, a master on the main level can be helpful in the later years, when the kids are gone and the steps become cumbersome. Understand, though, as much as we think this is going to be the last house we will ever buy – this little thing called life often gets in the way, which leads to a move.
What my clients are often concerned about when purchasing a home with the master up is how that might affect re-sale. What is important to remember is that buyers more often than not, reflect the seller at a given moment in time and that is when they are shopping for a home. When you are selling the buyer is going to choose your home, for the same reasons you decided to buy it. Also, there are many neighborhoods where is master is always up, just because that was the trend at the time. So, in certain neighborhoods – that is the design you are going to be choosing from regardless.
My advise – choose a house that is going to work with your lifestyle for the next 7 years. If you stay in it longer – great, but after 7 years you generally start getting the itch to move or need to move. If we all had crystal balls the world would be a much different place.
I have seen many Austin properties for sale. Lots of things about a house can be changed including the paint, flooring, fixtures, even the kitchen cabinetry. The one thing that can become cumbersome, expensive or nearly impossible is the floor plan. Floor plans play a key role in determining how fast a house will sell and may ultimately affect what it will sell for. A house needs to have a certain flow to it, which reflects how people live within it. People often prefer the master bedroom on the main level to provide some separation and privacy. Others like having a living area on the upper level. A backyard door from the kitchen often makes for a better transition with pets and small children then directly into the living room. Make no mistake, there is no perfect floor plan, everyone has slightly different routines when they enter a home and live within it. 
The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is no truer than referring to marketing properties for sale in Austin. If an agent gives no written description about a property, but offers great pictures – buyers will come in droves. On the flip-side, if an amazing story about a house is advertised, but with no pictures, people will question the validity of the story. The more pictures that can be shown to market a property – the better. I’m sure you have seen listings that only show the front of the house. The instant question that comes to mind is: what’s wrong with the inside? The only time that it is customary to only show the outside of a house is when you have a tenant living in it.
Northwest Central Location Open House Saturday March 3rd from 11:00 – 2:00
Austin is hot and I’m not just talking about the weather, though we did have the nation’s high temperature last week with 92 degrees! Residential houses in the greater Austin area saw an increased volume of sales, with an increase of 10 percent in January compared to 2011. According to the Austin Board of REALTORS®, the average time a home remained on the market was 85 days in January, which is eight days less than the same month in 2011. As I have mentioned inventory is low. How low? There were 6 percent less new listings added in January 2012, than in January of 2011. January of 2012 also saw 19 percent fewer active