sellers: Sell Home Now Before Spring Rush - 02/20/24 06:10 AM
If you are thinking about selling your home in 2024 selling your home early in the year may work to your advantage. Timing makes a difference because home prices rise and fall like stocks.  Following are a few thoughts to consider when making your decision:
Mortgage rates – In the past year sellers have been reluctant to sell because they would be paying a higher interest to replace their existing home.  Recently mortgage rates have begun to fall, and predictions are expecting interest rates to settle in the mid-6% range during 2024.  This means sellers will not lose as much when they … (0 comments)

sellers: Ways to Buy a Home with Cash - 01/30/24 06:22 AM
Buying a home in today’s market can be frustrating due to the highest interest rates in recent years and lack of new listings.  Buyers are wondering how they can make an affordable offer to sellers that will be attractive.  One way to make an attractive offer to sellers is an all-cash offer.  This ensures a faster closing date and lower closing costs.   We all know that most buyers do not have the extra cash needed to purchase their new home sitting in their checking account.  Also, some buyers prefer to buy their new home prior to selling their current home due … (1 comments)

sellers: Important to Price Your Home Right - 09/13/23 08:21 AM
Currently homes are not selling fast as we have experienced in the past, but homes that are priced right are selling.  Many of these homes are selling quickly and some are receiving multiple offers with a few selling above-listing price.  Your listing agent is the person who can give advice on where to price your property.  If priced too high this causes buyers not to tour your home and eventually forces sellers to reduce their listing price.  The first 2 weeks after listing your house attract the greatest number of buyers.  This is why it is important to get the price … (2 comments)

sellers: Lesser-Known Fees That Factor into Buying a Home - 02/15/23 06:32 AM
Many home buyers are not aware of all fees charged that makeup the total cost of purchasing a home.  Some of these fees are normally paid prior to closing while others are paid at closing.  Fees paid at closing will be itemize on your closing statement which you should receive a copy to review prior to closing.  The fees that are lesser known to the general public will be reviewed below:    
Inspections of property – As a home buyer who is hiring an inspector to perform an inspection on property that you recently signed a written contract to purchase, you need … (2 comments)

sellers: Home Buyers Should Negotiate - 01/17/23 06:30 AM
Home market shift has cause home buyers to focus on price as well as other things to make their home buying experience more attractive.   Buyers need to better understand the parts of the contract to create a win-win environment for themselves. Buyers now have more inventory and less competition when purchasing a house which means they have greater opportunity to negotiate with sellers.  Things buyers should consider negotiating with sellers:
Closing cost – These are fees buyers pay to close a real transaction. These fees are lender, appraisal, title search fees, taxes, etc. The amount of fees may arrange between 3-6% of … (1 comments)

sellers: Tips When Buying a Home - 12/12/22 07:25 AM
Buying a home is stressful, whether you are buying a starter home, upgrading, or downsizing.  In a sellers’ market this can be extra stressful.  During that cycle, buyers compete in a multi-offer environment.  For some buyers it may be advisable to wait for the market to cool off. On the other hand, there may opportunities where buyers can purchase a home that meets their needs and desires.  Now let us define types of real estate markets:  a balance market is where supply of houses available to purchase is equal to the demand for homes.  Housing prices are stable, and houses sell … (3 comments)

sellers: Unusual Housing Market - 07/07/22 09:51 AM
National Association of Realtors (NAR) says in a report that we are in an unusual housing market.  Existing home sales have fallen recently, but buyers are still anxious to purchase a home.  Mortgage rates and sales prices are higher, and currently experiencing low inventory of existing homes for sale.  This leads to an affordability issue with many home buyers.  Number of homes for sale are rising, but homes sales are slowing down recently.  With higher home prices and mortgage rates, number of sales may continue to decline.  Recently, NAR published indicators in their housing report:  
Home prices – Home prices are … (1 comments)

sellers: Competition of Faster Rising Home Prices Versus Seller Power and Wages - 04/26/22 06:25 AM
Income required to meet the new home affordability standard is growing at a faster rate.  This is resulting in less potential home buyers being able to afford higher median home prices and high mortgage rates.  At same time, there are sellers that are recognizing some buyers are being priced out and their listing price is too high therefore are dropping their price.  Affordability is determined by the amount income needed to cover homeowner expenses which includes mortgage, property taxes, maintenance, and insurance for median-priced single-family house.  The past few years low mortgage rates and increase wages helped to offset rising home … (2 comments)

sellers: House Hunter Tips for Current Market - 11/18/20 07:38 AM
In todays’ market, home buyers are becoming more creative with their offers to make it stand out to sellers.  This is due to increase number of homes sold causing home prices to rise.  This may be good news for non-sellers who are not in the housing market, but not great news for buyers with modest means.  Many buyers are turning to the new home market since there is a shortage of available resale houses.  Buyers with modest means are finding new home builders focusing on creating higher-priced housing which tends to shut out the lower-end buyers.  Based on the above events … (0 comments)

sellers: Ways to Avoid Remorse When Buying a House Virtually - 05/19/20 05:24 AM
The pandemic fear of COVID-19 has changed our environment on how we live our daily lives.  There are people that either want too or must purchase a new home during this time.  Buyers are learning new skills and developing a willingness to purchase a house either doing minimal physically touring or no touring of the inside of houses.  This is being accomplished by using virtual tours, detail photos, and video walkthroughs.  Real estate agents are adopting procedures to help buyers gain knowledge of houses as a substitute for physically touring the property.  In addition, real estate agents are helping home buyers … (3 comments)

sellers: Explanation of Home Closing Costs - 02/06/20 06:35 AM
When buying or selling your home all buyers and sellers incur closing cost associated with the transaction.  Normally, closing cost (need to include commission and if 5% down payment) are about 8% to 12% of the property purchase price depending on the type of transaction, other than full cash transaction which may be less.  Shortly after signing a contract between a buyer and seller of property, many lenders are willing to provide a good faith estimate of proceeds involved in the transaction.  Your real estate agent should be making that request for their client.  The final closing disclosure of cost should … (1 comments)

sellers: Home IBuyer Programs Provide to Real Estate - 10/30/19 06:17 AM
Homeowners who wish to sell their home has a choice to take an instant offer (usually must make a decision in mere days) or sell their home the traditional way.  Selling the traditional way using a real estate agent may result in greater return on your investment.  More companies are investing in technology; therefore, this is playing larger role in helping buyers and sellers satisfy their real estate needs and desires.  As time passes there probably will be fewer realtors; therefore, people will need to develop new skills that will be of value to the consumer.  The IBuyer programs offer greater … (0 comments)

sellers: Home Sellers - Traditional Selling Versus Selling to IBuyers - 09/05/19 05:36 AM
Now we are seeing a rise in homeowners selling their home to iBuyers versus selling their house on the open market.  Selling to an iBuyer offers more convenience and allows the seller to plan their physical move with less stress.  Since iBuyers may help make your move less stressful, but which method is more profitable to the seller?  Often a seller who sells directly to an iBuyer pays higher fees versus selling the home the traditional way using a real estate agent.  At the same time, iBuyer approach may allow seller to receive his cash quicker, and create more certainly on … (0 comments)

sellers: Home Staging Tips Prior to Photo Shoot - 05/17/19 06:25 AM
Usually, the first impression you make on a potential home buyer is the quality of the photos used in your listing.  Both home buyers and realtors make decisions to the property based on this first impression.  Understandable, it cost money to have professionally taken photos, but this normally this gets the seller a premium when the house sells.  Realize our society is a visual society, people react positive when products and/or houses are displayed at their best.  Following are a few suggestions how to prepare a home for a photo shoot:
  Make sure all mirrors, floors, and surfaces are spotless.  … (3 comments)

sellers: Upgrades Desired by High End Home Buyers - 01/25/19 06:02 AM
Home sales appear to be slowing down within the high-end home market.  Sellers are realizing they need to invest in upgrades to their home prior to putting their home on the market.  Now that there is a larger inventory of these types of homes on the market, this gives buyers more choice to choose from.  In order for sellers to meet the demand of buyers, many sellers are being forced to update their home.  Following are some upgrades a seller can make to their home to improve their chances of quick sale:
High ceilings – Many buyers are asking about and desiring … (1 comments)

sellers: Recognizing A Qualified Buyer - 03/28/18 06:50 AM
When home sellers receive an offer to purchase their home, one of the first questions they should ask, has the potential buyer been pre-qualified or pre-approved for a loan.  A letter of pre-qualification or pre-approval should accompany an offer to purchase a home.  If there is no letter, this is a red flag.  At this point, need to determine why there is no letter and if a letter is fore coming from a financial institution.  The letter should state how much the potential buyer is approved for and some financial terms.  If buyer is a cash buyer, then the home buyer … (1 comments)

sellers: Considerations When Accepting Home Offer - 01/11/18 07:13 AM
Living in a popular neighborhood where houses are selling at a fast space can give a seller the big head that their home can sell above market price.  This may or may not be true.  Remember, buyers may not have the same high opinion of your home as the homeowner does.  Seller’s home probably has met their needs, but it may not be the most desirable house for other people.  A home that has met your needs and desires, is also subject to contingencies that are contained in a sales contract.  Fewer contingencies within contract improves odds of getting faster acceptance … (3 comments)

sellers: Steps Towards Preparing to Buy Home - 05/19/17 06:07 AM
When preparing yourself to purchase a home there are numerous things you need take into consideration.  Probably one of the most import things to do is to make an effort to plan for the future.  You probably have a good handle on your current needs and desires, but looking into a crystal ball to understand your future needs and desires is a greater challenge.  This is important to help prevent making a bad long-term decision which may be difficult to reverse in the future.  Following are some steps to take when preparing to buy a home:
Visualize your future needs and desires … (1 comments)

sellers: Do Knots That May Cause Your Home Not Too Sell - 09/07/16 02:50 AM
When selling your home, it usually has its challenges, such as, preparing the property to show, selecting the proper realtor to sell your house, and timing the sale of your current property to correspond with your move into your new home.  Whatever your circumstances are, you need to have a smooth sale, and the sale occurs quickly.  In order for this to happen, there are few things you should consider not doing:
Taking your own photos -  Have professional photos taken and many homes should include a virtual tour.  Most home buyers are looking online first, which makes this is extremely important.  … (1 comments)

sellers: Smart Home Buying Strategies - 06/06/16 11:06 PM
Home buyers need to be prepared and understand how to approach house buying under different market conditions.  First, buyers must be able to recognize when the market shifts.  If houses are selling quickly, probably house prices are rising, this is a seller’s market.  If there is large inventory of homes, and/or houses are selling slowly, this is a buyer’s market.  In a buyer’s market, the buyer has the upper hand and many times can get concessions from the seller.  Otherwise, if a seller’s market and homes in short supply, the buyer normally will be required to pay a higher price for … (0 comments)

 
John Watts (Keller Williams Realty)

John Watts

Austin, TX

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Keller Williams Realty

Address: 12515-8 Research Blvd, Ste. 100 , Austin, TX, 78759

Office: (512) 751-3359

Mobile: (512) 751-3359



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