On January 22nd, I toured this home with clients in NW Austin.
The agent listed the home on a Thursday and blocked out all showings with the exception of two 2-hour open houses on Saturday and Sunday.
When we arrived, we had to line up behind 50+ other families waiting to get in. It was over 30-minutes just to get to the front door.
When we finally made it to the front of the line, the agent made everyone put boots on, handed out masks, gave a five-minute limit, required everyone go counter-clockwise and “no backtracking allowed”.
In other words, if you wanted to go back and look at something, you were supposed to go back outside, wait in line and start over again! TOTAL INSANITY.
It was truly the most bizarre – and terrible – experience for a client!
BUT IT DOES HIGHLIGHT the market that we’re in… (Oh and this was before things really started heating up. We were just seeing signs of a repeat of 2021!)
Now, at the time, I expected this to go over list price ($750,000). I thought it’d probably come in around $800K-$850K based on where the market was headed.
Well, it closed yesterday for 36.27% over the list at $1,022,000!
It was a nice home, for sure, but nothing remarkable.
– No resort-style outdoor living space…
– No acreage…
– No gold-plated counters… (Just seeing if you read this far!)
But seriously, this is where we find ourselves.
So, what’s a buyer to do in this market?
You may or may not know that I have 20 years experience investing in real estate and flipping homes. And I’m going back to my investing roots and how I bough 90% of my homes over the better part of the past two decades.
For example…
I have a current client under contract for $425,000 right now.
The home needs some “finishing up” if you will! But minor stuff… Thins like:
– Baseboards in the converted garage;
– Some trim around the doors;
– Vanity counter tops;
– Some light fixtures that don’t fit their style;
– And a good bit or curb appeal
All in… $10,000 – $15,000 depending on what they do in terms of how much they want to customize for themselves.
But here’s the thing… once that work is done… they will be sitting on at LEAST $100,000 in equity, possibly more. There’s a comparable property under contract right now that is .4 miles away that is pending for $599,000…
Now, I’m going to be transparent here and let you know that if we were in a normal market, this probably wouldn’t have been the home they chose. There are some quirks to it and some things they will need to do long term to make it what they want, but it’s a PHENOMENAL location, a great neighborhood and really good bones (and no major system issues that need to be addressed after closing ~ we hope to have the rest of the issues buttoned up).
I’m not suggesting that the majority of homes are going to have this kind of equity by any means… But I am suggesting that there ARE ways to avoid bidding wars, get into a good home, and NOT have to pay 10%, 20%, 30%+ OVER list price and possibly below appraisal.
So, if you’re looking to make a move in the next 3-6 months, I have the bandwidth to take on a few more people for this strategy. It has to be the right situation and the right fit, but it could be the solution you’ve been looking for to navigate this market.
And there is still the traditional route. We just need to be prepared for appraisal gaps and offering over list… The GOOD NEWS is we have a number of strategies for getting your offer accepted even with the crazy market!
Until next time… keep smiling… be kind… and stay safe out there 🙂
