Tag Archives: Buying a home

Looking to purchase a home in Austin? Doreen Zelma is a real estate professional ready to help, whether you are a first time home buyer or seasoned second time or move up buyer.

Buying a house can be like buying a car when it comes to resale

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I taught the Buyer Consultation class to new agents this week. When you are buying a home, especially in an area where there is still building going on, you need to be mindful of reselling it. If you are planning on selling in less than 3 years, you may very well be competing against new construction. One year young – is not new. You will not be able to price your home equal to a new build, if all other things, like lot location, are equal. This is why certain areas have excess inventory right now.

The Resale market slowed down in price points over $500,000, especially in areas where new construction going on. Why buy used, when you can buy new? If your home is listed for resale in these areas, you need to be competitively priced. Its like picking a car off the lot, instead of ordering one. I always say money has a way of making things disappear. So, maybe you can’t ‘pick your colors’ as with new construction, but if a buyer can save some money on your resale…you may be able to make that existing paint color vanish.

Time Travel

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There are certain areas of Austin that cannot be ignored when it comes to attracting families, and Circle C is certainly one of them.  The top reasons it remains one of the most family friendly master planned neighborhoods are its well rated schools, easy access to the highway for commuting, great recreational area and a golf course.  Did you know it has the only heated Olympic sized pool in Austin?

I pointed these fun facts out last week on a listing appointment, because sometimes owners forget what they have when they are selling a home.  Remembering why they bought the house from the inside is usually easy. The area amenities are often forgotten though, and are just as important.  Sometimes, it’s just like anything else – you’ve been driving by that recreation center for so long – that you just kind of forget it’s there.  The same holds true with the pool; no one in the family uses it anymore; so again, it’s just not important.

I even went on a listing appointment last year at a house on Lake Austin and I mean with a 180 degree view of the channel.  Do you know the owner said to me, “you know Doreen; I don’t even see it anymore”.

Amenities, like everything else, are often desired more at certain times in your life.  You tend to gravitate to these things as a Buyer, more than you do when you are a Seller, because you are buying into the lifestyle that the amenities are going to afford you.  When you are the Seller, those same things just aren’t as important anymore, because other things are more important. This is where time travel comes in.  At the closing table the buyer and the seller are typically very similar, but just at different points in time.

I support local Austin; after all I think it’s only neighborly.

Safety First – for Buyers

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As the year comes to a close, I thought I would take a minute to point out some safety tips for Buyers:

#1 – When you are going to an open house, act as you would if you were going to a store – lock your car door, even if you plan to be in the house for a minute

#2 – If you are looking at a house do not go into a backyard without your agent present.  Without you agent – this is called trespassing.  Additional concerns are letting an animal out that may be confined to a backyard, or getting bit by one.

#3 – If you are at a house and you find the front door to be unlocked.  Do not enter – wait for your agent.  Again, this is trespassing, not to mention, there may be safety concerns your agent is away of, which you may not be.

#4- If you are looking at homes that may need remodeling, where the condition is questionable – leave your high heels home.  Many times, there is nothing more than sub-flooring in these houses, and getting your $400 pumps caught in the floorboards is no fun.We all like to think the world is a safe place.  The truth is it can be a safer place if we all just take some precautions.