I know we don’t do a lot of surfing here in Central Texas, but I’m from Jersey so indulge me for a minute here on my analogy. Catching a wave is a lot like buying a house in Austin right now, you paddle really hard, wait, ride the wave and then do it all over again. Buyers need to hurry up when a house comes on the market and then wait for the next one if it’s not the right house or if they lose one due to multiple offers. Understand, there is a bit of rush and then waiting in any market because once you are under contract time is of the essence during the option period. Once the option period is over, much of the time is spent waiting for the lender to get things in order for the closing.
Searching for Homes in Austin
Waiting for the next house or the right house to hit the market can be very frustrating for a buyer right now. The housing inventory in all of Central Texas is very low and that includes Elgin, Manor and even Georgetown. I have clients on custom home searches from Kyle to Georgetown and everywhere in between with price points ranging from $125,000 to $1 million. Out of the 40 custom searches I have created for my buyers, about 10% receive an email on any given day which lists a new home in their inventory. I have some buyers who only get a new link once every 2 weeks, which is why everything is going so fast and into multiple offers. There are a lot of ‘Evan’s out there and ‘Lisa’s looking for the exact same house.
About 150 people move into the greater Austin area every day and about 50 people leave
Although it can be somewhat daunting, the clients that I have been working with for awhile have settled into the pace. We do a lot of waiting for the house, then we hurry and then we wait again. These clients are going to be great surfers. For a new buyer, it’s hard to believe until you have experienced it first hand. In the beginning I get a lot of “what do you mean it’s gone? – it’s only been 3 days!”. Yes, Evan #1, Evan #5, or Lisa #10 bought it. So, we paddle out and wait for the next one. When it’s meant to be – it will be. Just like a wave, when it’s the right one – we’ll take it all of the way to the closing.