8214 Gallatin Drive, Austin
Investor, remodel or just live in it as-is. No HOA. 1980’s finishes. Ceramic tile flooring throughout main living areas. HV/AC (2009). Southwest Austin home located on neighborhood street, less than 2 miles to Oak Hill shopping including HEB and eateries. Less than 4 miles to Seton, AMD and NXP. Fenced backyard. Windmill Run neighborhood park features nature trail, picnic tables and playscapes. Continue reading
2120 Williston Loop, Austin TX 78748
Single story home for sale in Bridges of Bear Creek. Beautiful inside and out! 4-sides brick, center island kitchen w/ ext. buffet, under cab lighting & stainless steel appliances. engineered hard wood and tile floors. crown molding in all rooms, 8’ doors, 10’ ceilings, 5” baseboards, ceiling fans galore, whole house filtration system, radiant heat barrier. Continue reading
House for sale….Remodel. Invest. Enjoy as-is…plenty of options for this South Austin home with a 70’s vibe. Updates include: roof (2016), hot water heater (2013), HV/AC (2011), gutters & rainwater collector (2013) & disposal (2018). Continue reading
Swimming pools are an instant source for entertainment, relaxation and exercise. They provide a backyard retreat, a tranquil view and a luxury marker some buyers dream about having. For those Austin home buyers who want a pool, houses with them are much easier to sell. Forget the condition of the house– that oasis in the backyard, especially on a hot day kind of sells itself, doesn’t it?
Pools can often be a hindrance more than a help when selling. Not everyone wants a pool. In fact, I would say 70% of people don’t. Pools cost money and time to maintain. In addition, there are safety concerns for people with small children and pets. They can also take up a lot of yard space.
•Maintain and update your pool. Nobody wants to buy a money pit (literally).
•If you can afford to switch to saline – it is a selling feature.
•If you own in a subdivision where most homes have a private pool…buyers will be comparing your ‘pool’ appeal.
•Make sure the pool area looks clean, maintained and inviting.
•A general inspector will not inspect a pool, but many pool companies do. Have a pool inspection – they can be costly to fix.
•If you want to know how much it costs to maintain a pool including chemicals, electric and water, the answer is: you don’t want a pool! They can be costly, and if you are already watching your budget — a pool is going to blow it.
•Remember, pools limit your potential number of buyers, so they can take longer to sell when the time comes.
Austin Texas has a variety of options for people who want to enjoy a pool, but don’t want to maintain one. Many planned single family home communities in Austin have pools that are included with HOA fees or may require a nominal additional fee. Condominium communities in Austin often have a private pool as well for residents. An automated home search can be customized to only include properties with pools and/or community pools.
There are many public pools in Austin as well. There are 29 neighborhood pools and 6 municipal pools in total. The most well known pool is Barton Springs, located in Zilker Park. Centrally located in the neighborhood of Barton Hills, Barton Springs Pool is spring fed, just over 900 feet long and maintains a consistent temperature of 68 degrees year round. Hamilton Pool Preserve is a unique, historic swimming hole located just outside of Austin in Dripping Springs. The canyon, grotto and waterfall provide a picturesque and popular summer attraction within the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
The sellers’ market Austin is experiencing is showing no signs of slowing down. Statistics from March 2016 in by Austin Board of REALTORS® show Austin-area single-family home sales up 9.3 percent totaling 2,552 home sales compared to March 2015. A sellers market indicates inventory is low and demand is high. There is still competition within specific markets and there are still buyer certain expectations when it comes to condition.
When you have owned a home for a while, things tend to disappear. The do-it-yourself crown molding project that stops half way across the wall is now invisible. The trim around the replacement window from 5 years ago that never got repainted is just a distant memory. You don’t see them anymore, so they have been removed from the perpetual to-do list. Now you want to sell your house and the memories come rushing back of how you couldn’t cut the angle right or find the paint color.
Unfinished projects disappear two ways. One way is to pay a professional to come in and finish or redo the project. Yes, there is a cost here, but it eliminates the question in the buyer’s mind of what it will take to finish it. The second way to deal with an unfinished project is to make it go away again.
Money can have the magical power of making things go away and may come into play even in the Sellers’ market Austin has. If a seller does not have the money to finish a project before putting it on the market, making a price concession either on the home’s sales price or even offering some closing costs will help.
Unfinished projects tend to haunt buyers just as they may have weighed on a seller at one point in time.
The truth is that not all unfinished projects ever get finished. That little thing called ‘life’ happens and often gets in the way. They are often in a constant state of either being the elephant in the room or invisible. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Leander Home For Sale: Country setting, 3355 County Road 279 Leander Texas on 5+ acres w/ horse barn & garage/workshop for the auto enthusiast. Home features mother in-law plan, all good-sized rooms; one bedroom would work well as an office. Granite in kitchen, large wood burning fireplace in living room, 2 central heating and air conditioning units, 2 hot water heaters, main roof replaced (’14), energy efficient windows (’13) and horse stalls.
The main house has 4 spacious bedrooms, 2.5 baths with 2,893 square feet of living space (appraiser). Other details include covered patio, 2-car carport, parking pad & dog run. Fenced yard. No Carpet. No home owners association. 5 miles to HEB Plus, MetroRail, 183/183A.
MLS# 5750957
It’s that time of year again when homeowners start to question whether to sell now or wait. The answer lies in the advantage for each individual seller. If the goal is to sell for the highest price, that number is determined by what the market will bare. Remember the real estate market when you are selling is centered around the price, condition and location of the home in question.
The only thing that matters is how the market specific to that home is moving. If there are a lot of similiar homes currently on the market (competition), then it may best to wait. If there is hardly any inventory out there, you are in a good position to sell now. Waiting for more competition to hit the market doesn’t make much sense when you ideally want scarcity.
The holiday season is upon us and if that means to a potential seller that friends and family are coming every weekend making it hard to show the house – wait until January. After all, it is hard to sell a home that can’t be shown. If a seller is not ready and willing to sell a home, it is best not to introduce potential buyers to it prematurely.
We don’t have magic potion to predict the future. What a specific real estate market is going to look like for any particular seller in January or even April is dependent on what the competition looks like at that particular time. The market now, combined with the owner’s willingness to show it during the holidays, will help determine whether it is the right time to sell.