Texas Real Estate Appraisal Company » real estate austin

5016 Highland CT – Janae’s comments

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:40:58 +0000

Single mom’s opinion of 5016 Highland Ct.

Spencer Properties – Pre-qualify

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:31:32 +0000

What is the process of buying a house? Part 3 Spencer Properties Presents

675 Country Rd 310, Jarrell, TX – 11.11 Acres with Horse Facilities – $350000 – HOUSE

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:32:49 +0000

HORSE PROPERTY! 2 Parcels included in the Acres. Beautiful horse-ready property just South of Jarrell and North of Georgetown. Recent remodeling: Rock on House & 3-Car Garage Added $150k * Cantera Fountains, Sidewalk, & Gardens – $35k * 6 Stables, 3 Corrals, Round Pin, & Fencing – $40k * Driveway – $20k * Kitchen Counter-Tops $5k * Great value and hard to find property ready. Land is completely fenced. New Garage has full bathroom & Tile Floors.

How to Climb the Equity Ladder in Real Estate

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:29:18 +0000

As one of the most secure investment areas, real estate is currently making more money for more people than almost any other area of investment. All you really have to do to see this is watch some TV, you will see any number of get rich schemes that are based on purchasing property. While most of these schemes are just that, the truth of the matter is that real estate makes money. In recent years real estate has made more millionaires than any other investment, and this trend is continuing. Smart investors continue to put their money where they know it will grow.

When investing in real estate one needs to make some important decisions before the purchase is ever made. You will have to decide if you are going to be a landlord or simply flip homes. Being a landlord can be a difficult undertaking. Remember that in being a landlord, one must deal with the negative aspects of the job. Kicking people out, collecting unpaid rent or having to fix things regularly can weigh heavily on a homeowner so don’t choose the landlord route unless you are sure you can do it. If you choose to flip homes, then be sure to have money set aside for the renovations that you will no doubt want to do. This is the easiest way to ensure that you see a good profit on your investment.

In flipping homes, try to pick ones that are going to be easy to fix up. Location is also very important at this time, as a good location alone can sell a home. Purchasing homes in and around major commerce center or education district is good practice as these homes usually go for premium rates. Try to avoid homes that need extensive repairs or upgrades. These can cut into your profit margin and take precious time that could be better utilized by having the home on the market. Be sure to assess the risk involved with flipping a home. The renovations that you make must be able to justify the new asking price, so be careful and plan accordingly.

Quitting Real Estate?

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:32:05 +0000

I read a post recently where a real estate agent was posting about whether they should leave the real estate profession. The market had slowed in their area and their income stream had decreased rapidly. They worried that if the market didn’t pick up soon, they would have difficulty making mortgage payments. It certainly seemed sensible to me.
What surprised me were the responses the post received. Everyone told them not to give up hope. It was a series of quotes that resembled a stack of hallmark cards, quotes about lights at the end of the tunnel. And while I think the commenters were doing what they thought was best I disagree about the advice they were giving. Remember when you see a light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes it’s a train coming to run you over.
Let’s consider a few facts. The housing market is going from a period of fast paced growth to a downturn. The amount of business has decreased rapidly. If we all stay in the same business we are quite frankly ignoring the economic realities we are facing. And if as a group we can’t see that the economy has changed, how are we fit to give advice to our clients about what they should do.
And yes there are some people that will leave because they thought this was an “easy” business and they discovered the hard way that it’s not. But I think at the same time a lot of intelligent hardworking people will leave to find other thriving areas of the economy to work in. Or they will leave to pursue other business plans. And there is nothing wrong with that. Simply stated- that is how capitalism works. When certain sections of the economy weaken and others heat up people move around. If that didn’t happen we would all be farmers trying to serve a very, very crowded market making very, very little money. I encourage people with million dollar ideas to pursue them and not feel guilted into not quitting a profession that has a slowing market.
I want to give an example of what I am talking about. I have a friend that grew up on a chicken farm. And for awhile after school he continued to work on a chicken farm. But at some point he saw that the future didn’t look so bright for small chicken farms. So he went to business school. Today he is the CEO of a multimillion dollar company with 1000’s of employees. So I ask you. Is he a quitter? A loser maybe? Or simply someone who found a better opportunity.
In summary I am not saying there is anything wrong with staying in the profession or leaving it. I am simply saying that leaving an industry with declining total revenues to pursue more lucrative opportunities is not quitting. It’s simply the way our economy works. So, we should not guilt those who are thinking of leaving the real estate profession into staying, rather wish them good luck in their next adventure and maybe they will flourish there or maybe they will come back to real estate again some day.

Real Estate 101: Purchasing With No Money Down

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:32:01 +0000

“Many of us have seen those late night infomercials promising that you can get rich by purchasing real estate with no money down. While purchasing real estate with no money down does have a few inherent risks, the ability to buy a home with no money down is a reality that you might want to consider taking advantage of.

Getting the Seller to Pay the Closing Costs

One way to buy a piece of real estate without putting any money down is to ask the seller to pay for the closing cost. Even though you are asking the seller to pay for the closing costs, you will usually ultimately pay for the costs yourself. But, the good part is that you can put off paying the costs until later.

How does this work you ask? Really, it is quite simple. Let’s say you want to purchase a piece of real estate for $100,000. If you ask the seller to pay the closing cost, he or she will probably ask that you pay $102,000 for the home. That way, the seller can use the extra $2,000 he or she receives to pay for your closing cost. So, you are actually paying the closing costs because it is being wrapped into the amount of your mortgage loan. Nonetheless, you are getting out of paying that cost upfront.

Since closing costs can vary widely among different properties and transactions, the seller will often put a cap on how much of the closing costs he or she will pay. If the seller counters with a cost price of $102,000 on a $100,000 home, for example, that same seller will likely put a $2,000 cap on how much he or she is willing to pay toward closing.

Exploring Loan Options

Many of us have heard that you must have 10% of the cost of the home as a down payment when buying real estate. The 80/20 loan is one of the best ways to get out of paying a down payment when you buy a home.

With you buy real estate with an 80/20 loan, you are actually using two different loans. The first is a mortgage loan to pay for 80% of the cost of the house while the other loan covers the remaining 20%. In some cases, your total monthly payment may actually be less when going with an 80/20 loan rather than a conventional loan. In order to qualify for this type of loan, however, you generally need to have a credit score of 620 or more.

Conventional loans are also available with the “zero down” option. Similarly, you can explore subprime zero down loans if you have poor credit. Unfortunately, these options often lead to higher interest rates. This is particularly true with subprime loans. For this reason, you might want to look into low down payment loans instead. The 3% down loan is a popular choice because it still allows you to put only a small amount down on for the loan but provides you with a much better interest rate.

Even if you do not have a substantial amount of money saved up for the purchase of a home, you can still make your dreams of homeownership a reality. Look into the various options available to you and there will certainly be one that suits your needs.”

Stage This House

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:31:58 +0000

Stage this house is a home staging company based in Austin, Texas.

How Real Estate Prices Affect Investing

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:31:03 +0000

There is no doubt that investing in real estate can be a very lucrative business. There are times when people have made millions in a year’s time just by knowing what to buy and when to sell it. This is the kind of thing that you are often confronted with when you are watching one of the many real estate marketing gurus on television. They are so excited to tell you about how they have made millions upon millions of dollars with their simple “system.”The fact of the matter is that they are telling you little that you should not already know when you are looking to invest. Commonsense should always reign supreme if you are planning on spending the kind of money that you need to get involved in the market. A person who goes in blind, without knowing some simple bits of information is at risk of losing it all. This is something that happens everyday.However, a solid foundation of knowledge can be built that will help you better understand what you need to know about real estate. When you present yourself with this knowledge you will be ensuring that you are not making one of those rookie mistakes that could spell the end of your career in real estate as well as your credit rating. Below we are going to explore one facet of this knowledge, real estate prices. We hope that you will walk away with a better understanding of how real estate prices affect investing.TimingOne of the keys here is time. Real estate prices are adjusted according to the market. This is a big deal to the investors out there. They know that when prices are down the buying should begin. This is the very basis of the entire process of investing. You should always buy low and sell high. This means that your buying should be limited to great deals when the market is high and it should shift into overdrive when the market is low.CircumstancesReal estate prices are also affected by the circumstances of the seller. This is where a bit of advance knowledge comes into play. Knowing that a seller is at risk of foreclosure gives you an edge to better negotiate a price on the property that will bring you profit. This is where it pays to have contacts in the community. The more that you can know about the circumstances surrounding the sale the better off you will be when trying to get a lower price.Condition and LocationLastly you have the condition of the property as well as the location. These two key factors are vital for real estate prices. The condition of the property is the overall factor here when you are looking to flip or buy as a rental. The more rundown and out of shape the property is the better price you can get. The same is true of the location. The worse the location the better price but you have to be concerned about resale values in the area where it is located.

Real Estate: Where’s the Bottom?

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:34:41 +0000

In recent months, the US real estate market has seen its fair share of turbulent weather as house prices continue to fall. While the Federal Reserve has taken significant steps towards making lending cheaper, interest rates remain artificially high as the troubled financial sector continues record write-downs. So far, only a quarter of the IMF-estimated $1 trillion in sub-prime losses have been reported, which means mortgages won’t be affordable for a long while, even if homes continue to decline in value. According to the Case Schiller house price index, which covers 20 major metropolitan areas, house prices are depressing at an annual rate of 12.7%, though its rate of descent is accelerating. As long as homeowners continue to lose equity, loans will become increasingly difficult to obtain.

As this feedback loop works itself out, a regionally dependent phenomenon has begun to emerge. Although home prices averagely dropped in the US the story doesn’t end there. Despite lowered economic growth forecasts and commodity-related inflationary pressures, (which are felt much more diffusely throughout the economy) several metropolitan areas have remained more robust, which explains dissenting votes on the past two rate cuts by the regional Fed chairs from Dallas and Philadelphia, respectively. Part of their reasoning is based on working against what they view as a misconception about the scope of the Fed’s powers among many investors; namely, that the central bank is the only agent responsible for assisting challenged markets. Political jockeying has and will continue to play a role in their decisions, especially in the charged climate of an election year, but their dissenting votes represent the resilience of many areas of the US that continue to experience growth. From Charlottesville, North Carolina to Austin, Texas, many metropolitan areas continue to develop quickly, seemingly insulated from much of the speculation and predatory lending that has defined tracts of the US. While some of the worst affected markets in the Southwest like Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas will take considerable time to rebound, some price correction was inevitable. This is partially due to property value spirals in recent years, without corresponding increases in infrastructure and demand. In markets where growth had already been steady, home prices have been relatively stable.

If the federal government steps in further to freeze or help re-negotiate more of the estimated two million sub-prime mortgages projected to default over the course of 2008, prices may stabilize more quickly. Politicians, closing ranks in a show of solidarity, will likely be reluctant to make bipartisan efforts a priority while the presidential race remains in the limelight, which makes investment in the near and medium term likely to be more profitable, both in markets where prices have overcorrected and in stable markets. This is because any government-based mortgage interest rates freeze may be less favorable than current rates, which are firmly negative. Moreover, refinancing remains available should climates change. In any case, the worst may not be over for a lot of America, but some places have weathered the past eight months relatively unscathed.

675 Cobb Creek, Georgetown TX (House) $225000

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:31:59 +0000

The house was designed by an engineer (original owner) and has steel framing, big kitchen, sun room. H2O from house to front gate. Ag exempt land – seller has livestock, tractor available.