Our new flip involves some standard demolition and a few makeover tricks to make the house look brand new. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Today I want to give you a behind-the-scenes look at a house flip we’ve been working on. If you follow along in the video above, you’ll see how I plan to make this property look brand new. Starting in the kitchen, we’re removing all the cabinets. The space is too small, so we’re repositioning the refrigerator all the way across the room and placing it next to the sliding door that leads out to the backyard. This will free up additional counter space where the refrigerator previously sat. Then we're replacing the existing cabinets with some white, contemporary-style cabinets, which I think will look really good. For the laundry room that joins the kitchen and the garage, we’re going to replace the door that opens and enters both ways with a hanging barn door that slides open and shut. Not only will this look really cool, but this type of door is much better suited for small spaces. Moving to the living room, we’re using the same tile built around the fireplace for the kitchen backsplash to create more uniform look between the adjoining spaces. We’re also adding a custom-made mantle above the fireplace that matches the new cabinets. Due to extensive damage, we’re going to replace the front door with a new door that features an interior window. The front door is always a reliable return on your investment because it’s the first thing people see. I expect this house to turn out great! We lucked out in the bathrooms because the previous owners already installed some very nice toilets. We will have to redo the floors in them, however, because whoever installed them did a bad job. In each of the upstairs bedrooms, for some reason, the builder didn’t feel like they needed to put in boxes for the lights. They were so cheap that for every room they ran everything off the light switch to one outlet where someone could plug in a lamp. Because of this, I’m bringing in an electrician to install boxes in these rooms so I can attach ceiling fans in each one. In the backyard, there’s quite a bit of junk littered about, and I can definitely smell something dead rotting underneath the plywood deck. It’s likely that that whole area will have to be torn out so we can get to the siding and make the necessary repairs to the back of foundation. For the front of the house, one of the last phases of this flip involves redoing the landscaping by building some flower beds and adding some light fixtures. This home has some pretty cool architectural features already in place, so I look forward to what the finished product will look like. If you have any questions about this flip or are thinking of buying or selling a house, please feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. I look forward to talking with you.

I’m back with Jason Stubbs of NRL Mortgage on the Real Estate Radio Show to discuss investing in real estate. Where do you start? Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Today I’m back with Jason Stubbs of NRL Mortgage on the Real Estate Radio Show to answer a few questions about investing in real estate. As a real estate agent, I can help folks find a short-term investment property or a buy and hold investment property. Of course, seasoned investors know how to find their second, third, or fourth investment property. As a first-time investor, you need an agent to help you find opportunities that will minimize your risk. While your search is important, it’s also incredibly important that you are prepared to take advantage of an investment. Sometimes when the right opportunity arises, you need to be able to make a decision that day. As Jason says, it’s important to have your financing and funds ready to go. Another important thing to keep in mind when investing in real estate is your threshold for risk. There is always some amount of risk in investment properties. You also have to figure out how much work you want to do yourself. Are you able to paint the walls? Just the other day, I ripped out a floor and pulled some cabinets out of a house. There is nothing Jason likes more than busting up some distressed, irreparable cabinets. First-time investors should partner with experienced investors. If you are a first-time investor, I recommend that you partner with someone who has experience with real estate. I have done this a few times and I’m actually working with a partner right now. We have a 1,100 square foot property that was about $170,000. Once it hits the market, it will be turnkey. This particular property won’t be available until the beginning of April. Part of that is to accommodate the anti-flipping laws that protect FHA buyers. As Jason says, that law prevents you from selling the home within 90 days but it also helps you build some interest in the home. The government is trying to minimize your risk, which Jason says is great. As Jason says, owning an investment property is like having a giant, 24-month savings account. If you live in the property, you can sell it later on and use the profits from your sale to move up. You have to start somewhere in this market because people are getting priced out of the market. You don’t have to sell your home in order to move up, either; if your home is an ideal candidate for a rental property, that would be my first suggestion. I was an investor before I was a Realtor, so I can certainly help guide you through the process. Here is one final tip for first-time investors: Do not overspend on rehab costs. Foundation and plumbing problems are the most costly. In fact, plumbing problems are worse than foundation issues. The foundation can be fixed but, sometimes, plumbing cannot. If you have any mortgage questions for Jason, you can reach him at 512-550-5161. As always, if you have any real estate questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Today I’m answering some questions about the market on the Real Estate Radio Show. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Today I’m sitting down with Jason Stubbs of NRL Mortgage on the Real Estate Radio Show to answer a few questions about the market. We started off talking a little bit about the 2016 market. One thing I noticed was that the summertime slowed down a lot in 2016 compared to 2015, which was insane. As Jason pointed out, during the summer in 2015 title companies were behind, appraisals took two weeks, underwriting turnaround times were through the roof, and it was really tough to get things done in 30 days. On the other hand, I think 2017 is going to be really good in terms of the market. It’s going to be healthier and more of a level playing field. There is still going to be craziness in those neighborhoods that don’t have any inventory but have high demand, but those areas have been that way forever. There is a healthy inventory in a lot of areas, but buyers still need to be ready to make a decision on a home very quickly as there will probably be 10 other people vying for that home. Buyers need to be ready to make a decision right away. Because buyers have to be ready to jump on a home, it’s possible their offer will come in with a contingency. A contingency contract is proposed when the sale of the new home is dependant on the buyer’s current home selling first. Keep in mind contingencies come with a time frame, so if the buyer is unable to sell their home, the seller’s home can legally go back to being active on the market. Jason asked if I had any advice for sellers who are looking to get on the market now that the spring market is approaching. Most of the people I talk to want to wait until the spring months to list, but the truth is we need inventory now. I know people who are looking to buy homes, but there is nothing on the market right now that fits their needs. The kind of homes they want have sold in the past few months so I know they will pop up again, and when they do, buyers will be ready to snatch them up. So, the sooner you get your home on the market the better. As far as buyers go, they need to be ready to make a decision on a home almost immediately. The market is going to pick up a few times over the course of the spring and summer, but even during the lulls you have to be ready to make that purchase or risk losing out on your dream home. If you have any mortgage questions for Jason, you can reach him at 512-550-5161. As always, if you have any questions about real estate, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’m happy to help!

Today we're back at the River Oaks house, which is a perfect place to answer a question from a viewer wondering about foundation damage. This property had some damage that we needed to fix. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Welcome back to Another Day in Real Estate! Today, we're wrapping up the River Oaks house and checking on the foundation. I thought now would be a good time to answer a question from a loyal viewer who wanted to know how he can tell if a home's foundation is bad. Usually, there are telltale signs like diagonal cracks in the wall and cracks on the exterior wall. In the case of the River Oaks house, there wasn't actually exterior cracking until we actually fixed the foundation. We didn't discover the damage to the foundation until the inspection because there weren't any telltale signs aside from some separation of trusses in the attic. If a foundation is a little out of level, it's OK. Anything more than about 1.5 inches over a 20-foot span will need correction at some point, though. At this house, the wall I'm near in the video above was dropped three inches. Luckily, it was just on the garage side, so there wasn't much collateral damage when we made the repair, so it was pretty inexpensive. There are a few cracks in the mortar joint, but they are easily fixed by a mason. Inside the garage, there was a crack in the floor that created a gap big enough to fit a nickel into. When we made the repairs, however, the gap closed up. Damaged foundations usually show one of a few telltale signs. If you need a recommendation for someone to come check out your foundation, I can refer you to several people who will come out and do it free of charge. So now that the River Oaks house is getting ready to close, it's fun to look back on what a fun project it was. I actually used to live just down the street! This house needed quite a bit of work like a rebuilt porch, a new roof, and a major yard cleanup, but we really made it shine. It's really a gorgeous property and it stretches all the way down to Walnut Creek, which you can get a glimpse of in the video above. You can even hear the rushing water and the wildlife. The lower half of this property (like many others that back up to Walnut Creek) is in the flood zone. Since the house itself is not actually in the flood zone, however, it doesn't require flood insurance, which is a major bonus. Thanks for following along with our work on the River Oaks house. If you have any questions about this property or about Austin real estate in general, give me a call or shoot me an email. I'd be glad to help.

Today, I’m answering some questions about Austin’s real estate market from the top of the 360 bridge. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Whether you are buying or selling a home, it’s important to ask questions that prepare you to enter the market. Today, I’m answering a few of your questions from the top of the 360 bridge. Q: “How do we know if our Realtor knows what he/she doing?” A: First off, if you have to ask that question, your gut is probably telling you they don’t know what they are doing. However, it is always important to ask questions whether you are looking to sell or buy a home. Ask them about the market and have them explain exactly what they are going to do for you. Q: “I am pre-qualified for $255,000 and can’t find a home.” A: This is first and foremost going to depend on where you are looking for a home. You are either going to have to drive a little further out or make some sacrifices in space to find something closer to the heart of Austin. If you have a specific price point and want to be in a particular area, we can look back at a two-year sales history and see if anything in that area has sold in your price range. If nothing has, it’s very unlikely something will become available in that area for your price point. Make sure you know exactly what your Realtor will do you for you. Q: “We built a home four years ago and would consider selling. How can we get a snapshot of our market?” A: Realty Austin has a great tool on their website where you can actually get an instant market snapshot without having to deal with a real estate agent or anything. Simply click here. If you want something more detailed, I have a product called TouchCMA that allows me to send you an analysis of your house that will give you market trends over the last six months. The more details I have about your home, the more information I can give you about the market in your area. If you have any questions you’d like me to answer, feel free to reach out anytime by giving me a call or shooting me an email. I’m happy to help.

Today I'm up on the 360 bridge to get the most out of this beautiful day while answering some questions from our great viewers. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Welcome to 'A Day in Real Estate!' I'm live today at the 360 bridge since it's such a beautiful day and I was driving across Austin. I wanted to take this time to answer a few questions from our loyal viewers. The first question comes from a viewer who says, "We've been in our home for 10 years in Great Hills and have been talking about selling for five years; we just can't start the process. What can we do?" The first thing I recommend is to contact a real estate professional you trust to get an assessment of where your house is. You can also check out any title company websites. You want to talk to a professional who can tell you exactly what to do to your house to get it ready to sell. In short, the first step is to explore your options with a real estate agent. Good luck! I'd love to work with you if you need help. The first step for both is speaking with a trusted real estate agent. Our next question comes from a viewer in South Austin who has owned her home for eight years and wants to know how to remodel for her market and sell for top dollar. For starters, you need to consider the age of your home to decide whether you'll go for something more contemporary or something with more of a craftsmen style. Those are the two predominant genres in your area. Similar to our first viewer's question, I would suggest having a real estate agent take a look at your house. You can also look on a lot of websites for ideas or get recommendations from friends. I also work personally with a lot of contractors on a lot of renovations that we do, so I can refer you a contractor to come take a look. Thanks to our viewers who submitted questions this week. I hope you got some good information. If I can help you in any other way or you're thinking of buying or selling a home in the Austin market, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help.

Most people think that Habitat for Humanity gives homes away for free. Here’s a closer look at the organization and what it really does. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Today I’m joining you on site from our new Habitat for Humanity build to give you a closer look at this organization and what it does. What is Habitat for Humanity? A lot of people think that when Habitat for Humanity builds a house they will simply give it away for free. However, that is not true. The homeowners that are going to live in the houses on the block in the video above are putting in 300 hours of sweat equity—working in the heat to build these homes—which counts as their down payment on the house. From there, the homeowners will have a 30-year or 15-year no-interest mortgage on the home, which will be paid back into the Habitat for Humanity program to build more homes. The owners of these homes are building up “sweat equity.” In addition, every home that Habitat for Humanity builds in Austin is also built in another part of the world, like in Nepal and Sri Lanka, for example. This allows Habitat for Humanity to give back to the world while they’re giving back to the community. In the video above, you can see Habitat for Humanity at work. You’ll also see that on this particular house, all of the framing for the home has already been completed, the plumbing and electrical have been installed, and the next step is to put up the sheetrock. The spray foam insulation in this home will keep it nice and cool in the summertime. One of the greatest things about being a Realtor is having the flexibility to give back to our community. If you’d like any more information about Habitat for Humanity and the work it does, or you have any questions about buying or selling homes in Austin, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!

Did you know that with the end of the year coming up, builders really want to unload their available inventory? This makes them open to deep discounts on new builds. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. Today I wanted to give you an up-close look at a new construction property that my client is building out here in Catalina Ranch. Fall is a great time of year to look into new construction. Builders typically run promotions toward the end of the year, so now is a good time to see what they're trying to unload. There is a booklet we can offer you that has all the incentives and specials that builders have going on and what their inventory is. Generally, if a builder has housing inventory that is already built, they're trying to get rid of it by the end of the year, so now is a really great time of year to pick one. The end of the year is when builders offer the deepest discounts. These available homes may not always be on the best lots, but they are the ones that get the deep discounts. If you've been trying to get into a new construction home by the end of the year, that deal that you've been waiting for might finally be available to you. When the season slows down a bit like it is right now, it's a great time to come and get a feel for some of these houses and check out things like all the finishes that a builder has to offer. If you have any questions for me about taking advantage of year-end new construction deals, give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to help you out!

Thinking about remodeling your kitchen? Here are a few things you should think about. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. When thinking about remodeling your kitchen, one of the first questions to ask yourself is whether the floorplan works or needs to be moved around. If you are considering changing the floorplan, then replacing your cabinets is probably a good first option.  You can choose to buy cabinets from a hardware store or big box store, but all in all, custom cabinets are actually not much more expensive. If you’re interested in custom cabinet options, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with a great cabinet builder. Another thing to consider when remodeling your kitchen is whether you have unnecessary dining space. You may not need a breakfast nook if you have a formal dining room already. If this is the case, you may want to think about expanding your kitchen into your breakfast nook.  For example, in the video above, you can see that we sealed this kitchen doorway to the dining room and replaced it with a beautiful glass cabinet. This left room to build a custom wine rack in between the kitchen and the dining room and the kitchen island took the place of the breakfast nook. Remodeling presents a great opportunity to find new ways to utilize all the space that you already have. Appliances are also a major part of any kitchen, but you don’t have to spend an excessive amount of money on appliances if you know how to shop wisely. Scratch-and-dent stores are great places to find all kinds of great deals. The double-oven shown in this video retails somewhere around $4,500, but we were able to buy it for about $1,500. The best part about remodeling your kitchen yourself is that you can make any design choice that you see fit. One of my favorite choices that we made in this kitchen remodel was installing two separate dishwashers. “ Remodeling is an opportunity to find new ways to use your space. ”One of the most important aspects of a kitchen remodel is the lighting. You can drive yourself crazy with all of the options available out there. However, you don’t always have to choose a light fixture that’s specific to a certain application. For example, the lights in the video above are actually foyer pendants that we modified to be able to fit into the shorter space of the kitchen. Backsplashes are another element with endless design potential. Unless you have a really good eye for matching, I’d definitely suggest that you ask a designer or contractor for a recommendation on these. It took me quite a bit of time to come up with a design I liked! Be sure to also find somebody that can correctly install the backsplash you choose. I’m an avid remodeler and have been doing this for quite some time, so if you have any questions about remodeling any part of your home or would like a few recommendations for contractors, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to point you in the right direction. 

The average four-year degree is going to cost $205,000 by the year 2030. Here’s how to save up for it, without having to put your money in a savings account with low returns. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report. Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale. As you get back into the swing of things with the school year beginning again, I wanted to talk to you about how you can use real estate to send your child to college. By the year 2030, the average four-year degree is going to cost you $205,000. That’s a whole lot of cheddar. You’ll need to start saving as soon as you can so you’ll have enough. If you start a regular old college fund and put in $500 a month for 13 years, you would be lucky to get a 2% interest rate. With that 2% rate, you will have saved $89,680 in 13 years. Another option is buying a rental property. The average property right now costs around $175,000. Let’s say you buy the home with 15% down, which comes out to an investment of $26,250. When you buy that home with a 15-year note, the monthly payment comes out to about $1,600 total. “ You’ll have more than enough money to pay for college. ” Most of this payment will be taken care of off the bat by whoever you decide to rent the property to. You can expect a low net rental of at least $1,500, leaving you with -$100 a month to start with. However, with a very conservative estimate of 4% appreciation over 13 years, you are looking at a property value of $291,387. You will still have $25,000 left on the note and it will probably cost you $25,000 to sell, but you should still be able to sell the home for at least $241,000. That’s a pretty good payout for your initial $26,250 investment. It also gives you more than enough for that $205,000 education. If you’ve been considering starting a college fund for your children, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to show you how real estate investments can make saving so much easier. We look forward to hearing from you.