Some buyers are looking for a home that’s located in a specific neighborhood. Others have more flexibility regarding where they live. But most buyers share one thing in common: They want a home that’s in move-in condition and at a great price.

Start working on attracting buyers to your home by putting the property in good condition before it goes on the market. In most cases, it’s not a good idea to show your home to a prospective buyer before it’s ready to be shown. Photos should also wait until your home presents itself well.  I highly recommend hiring a professional stager.  Many real estate agents will pay for the first hour.

Pay attention to “curb appeal”; first impressions are lasting. Some buyers drive by without taking a look inside if they don’t like the way a house looks from the street. The yard should be clean and tidy. Replace the front lawn if it’s dead; the same goes for plants that have seen better days. Flowering plants make your home look welcoming, inviting, and well maintained.

Peeling paint should be touched up, if possible. If an entire exterior paint job is called for, consider changing the color scheme to enhance the appeal. One seller repainted the exterior of his home before selling without consulting his agent or a colorist. He repainted using the existing color scheme, which was out of date. The house didn’t sell quickly. When it did, the first thing the buyers wanted to do was change the color of the exterior.

Repair deferred maintenance, particularly if it’s visible from the street. You want to convey the impression that your home has been well maintained. If you can’t afford to repair and paint the white picket fence in front of your house, it would be better to remove it than leave it.

Houses that don’t have much architectural appeal can often be improved by the addition of shutters. Houses that don’t show much from the street can be enhanced with an architecturally intriguing gate or entryway. You want to peak buyers’ interest in seeing what they can’t see from the street.

HOUSE HUNTING TIP: List with an agent who can provide wide exposure for your home, including extensive Internet advertising. The vast majority of homebuyers search for homes online. Buyers discount Internet listings that do not have photos, and they gravitate toward those with many photos and quality photos. Make sure that the agent you list with will not put your home on the multiple listing service or Internet without plenty of quality, representative photos — 15 or more is good.

The importance of Internet advertising should not be underestimated. The Internet is global and available 24/7. Buyers often find the listing they want to buy on the Internet before their agent has seen it. After surfing the Internet, some buyers decide to buy outside the area they were focusing on if they see something elsewhere that appeals to them.

Local marketing may work in some cases, but you wouldn’t want to cut yourself short. Broad exposure of your listing to the market is an integral part of selling.

Although the buyer for your home could come from anywhere, you do want it to be exposed to the local agents. Your agent should hold the listing open for real estate agents as soon as it’s ready to be shown. Repeat broker open houses may be necessary to make sure a representative number of agents see the listing.

Public open houses are good exposure. Some buyers still find the home they buy at an open house. However, they don’t pay off like they did during the bubble market. Encourage private showings, which require that you make it easy for agents to show your home to their buyers.  If your agent’s office has a property tour, it is a good idea to allow your house to be on the tour.  This will give you a head start in being exposed to many agents that have buyers that might be interested in purchasing your house.

THE CLOSING: The best way to attract buyers to your listing is to price it right for the market. Otherwise, all of your efforts will be for naught.

4 Ways to Attract Buyers to Your Listing is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

For your house to stand out from the crowd, you’ll have to listen to what buyers are telling you and make sure your house is priced well enough and in good enough condition to stand out from the competition. Here’s a quick video explaining how it works. Good luck!

Why Some Houses Sit While Other Houses Sell is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

Last month, the Austin region “saw its fourth straight month of year-over-year sales volume increases, and the third month in which those volumes outpaced 2010 by more than 30 percent,” said Judith Bundschuh, chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors. “In the midst of that growth, Austin-home values have remained stable.”

The board’s September report shows 1,681 home were sold, compared with 1,280 in September 2010. Listings were clown nearly 19 percent, with 8,490 homes on the market, compared with 10,453 in September 2010.
Pending sales were up 19 percent, with 1,638 homes in the pipeline to close this month.

Year-to-date, 14,862 homes were sold from January through September, 6 percent more than during the same period last year.

Area home sales up 31 percent in September is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

Manage Subscriptions is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

ForSalebyOwner.com founder gives up on own listing, hires real estate broker

Former FSBO CEO sells home the traditional way

Founder and former CEO of ForSalebyOwner.com, Colby Sambrotto listed his 2,000 square foot New York condominium on his own through online classified ads and FSBO sites, but after six months, he opted to hire New York broker Jesse Buckler who immediately advised a price change as the listing was not attracting the right buyer.

Thinking of Selling your house on your own? Check out this article before you do! is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

I am reminding all of you who are selling your houses to please place your medications in a secure place especially during open houses and house showings.  This will ensure that you will stay as safe as possible.

If you are a victim of theft please contact your local police department.

Safety Alert: Hide Medications when selling your house! is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

I know a lot of you are looking form information online about a prospective home: a record nine out of 10 house hunters searched online last year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But there are plenty of problems with non-MLS listings, including errors, out-of-date information and properties that are listed on the Web but aren’t actually for sale.

The most common problems are simply errors—listings that advertise gas heating when in fact the house runs on electric heat, or a price cut that hasn’t been updated online. But in some cases, “mistakes” may be intentionally misleading.

These discrepancies often appear on the listings that are posted on the Multiple Listing Service, an online database that listing agents like myself are expected to keep current.

It’s estimated that around 21% of the data agents individually submit for posting on real-estate websites isn’t updated when changes are made to the price or when the property is sold, according to a report released last month by listings website Trulia.com.

For example, some real-estate agents keep listings on their personal websites long after they’ve sold; when home buyers contact the agent inquiring about the property, they’re instead pitched new properties that might not meet their criteria.

Such lagging information is more common with smaller firms’ websites and could be a function of real-estate agents simply forgetting to update those listings.

Either way, for buyers and me, it’s a waste of time.  Popular real-estate listing sites say they try to update information often, but many sites rely on a feed from the MLS, which means it’s largely the responsibility of individual real estate agents to update listings.

Bottom line, when you hire me to find you a new home, I’ll work diligently within the parameters you give me, so you can spend your time relaxing – leave the locating to me.

Online Real-Estate Listings Can Fall Short is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

Freddie Mac’s widely watched weekly survey of lender offering rates showed the 30-year fixed rate dropping to 4.76 percent from 4.88 percent a week earlier.  Mortgage professionals saw even better deals for highly qualified borrowers.

The 15-year fixed mortgage dropped to 3.97 percent from 4.15 percent, the survey showed.  Its lowest level since December.

Borrowers would have paid lenders and average of 0.7 percent of th loan amount to obtain the fixed rates.

Compiled from wire reports-Los Angeles 2011

Interest Rates for Home Loans fall again. is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

Basement 70%

Bathroom 64.1%

Home Office 68.7%

Major Kitchen Remodel 68.7%

Minor Kitchen 72.8%

You can do some of the work yourself to save money such as removing cabinets or painting.  Many homeowners over improve their kitchen which is only cost effective if they will be staying in the house a long time.

In short, if you will be in your home long enough to enjoy the remodel then enjoy!  However, do not over improve your home out of the neighborhood because chances are you will not recoup all of your costs.  In addition, if you can, then do some of the work yourself to save some money upfront.

Remodeling Dollars, Do You Recoupe Your Cost? is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent

2. Mortgages are cheap.  Interstest rates are still low.  They will be going back up, and now is a great time to buy before they go up.

3.  You will save on taxes.  You can deduct interest from your income taxes,and you can deduct real estate taxes.  You will get a tax break on capital gains when you sell.  Of course you must speak to an accountant or tax attorney to help you itemize all deductions.

4. It will be yours.  You can decorate, paint, move walls, and do all the things you could not do while renting.

5. You will get a better home. 

6. If offers some inflation protection.  Studies have shown that houseing tends to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year.  That is valuable inflation if you will be in your home long term.

7.  It is risk capital.  Equity in a home is on way of linking part of your portfolio to long term growth of the economy.

8.  It is forced savings.  When you pay principal on a house, you are builiding equity which is as good as a forced monthly saving.

9.  There is a lot to choose from.  Once again, it is a buyers market out there.  There is a ton of inventory on the market right now and buyers can be choosers!  With banks unloading a great deal of their inventory there will be great choice as well as great prices.

10.  Sooner or later, the market will clear.  WIth the population expected to grow to more than 100 million people over the next 40 years, many homes will be bought and the market will clear.

Buying a home is a great investment.  It helps build equity along with giving you the freedom to make your home your own.

10 Reasons You Should Buy a Home Now. is a post from: Austin Real Estate Agent