Must read- our tips for successful RE transactions in 2023

Congrats to our clients!

On our three latest sales in the past few weeks, our sellers made top-dollar and set a record in their neighborhood, and our buyers have enjoyed seller-paid closing costs, interest rate buy downs, and the very much missed negotiation process.

If you are reading/watching national news stories regarding the real estate market, you may not be doing yourselves any favors. As we have said before, San Antonio and surrounding areas are HYPER localized. While we do share some of the same pains as the rest of the nation (think interest rates) that is about as far as the comparison can go.

Here are some quick tips if you are thinking of a buy or sell...

1. Sellers- price your home appropriately. We will run an extensive comparative analysis to let you know where you need to be priced. Home values are still UP year over year. Capturing the right buyer requires aggressive, but realistic pricing, and you should expect to negotiate. Appraisals are very important, and we are not seeing as many appraisal waivers, if any as we did in the previous (anomaly) years.

2. Sellers- there is a healthy amount of inventory, unlike in previous years, in most but not all neighborhoods. Curb appeal, cleanliness, and style are things you want to focus on to be competitive amongst the competition. We are always happy to help stage, declutter, share our tradesman, and give opinions where needed.

3. Buyers- interest rates might be higher than in recent years, however, its less likely that you will-

-end up in multiple offer situations

-need to waive your appraisal to the seller

-need to come up thousands of dollars over the asking price

3. Buyers- get excited because things like-

-seller paid closing costs

-seller paid home warranties

-seller paid rate buy-downs

are MUCH more likely to happen in this market.

Here is an example of what this can look like based on a $400k purchase:

FHA- 3.5% down payment

Maximum allowable contribution from seller- 6% ($24k)

Actual closing cost- approximately $12,000

The remaining amount of closing costs is to be used by the buyer for a rate buy-down of $12,000

A point (.25) is 1% of the purchase price.

If your approved interest rate is 6.75 as an example, 3 points for the amount of $12k can buy your rate down to 6%.

Please know this is an example and all of the above is approximate, but it gives you a great idea of what is possible!

As always, if you know of anyone looking to buy or sell, please don't hesitate to send them our way!

Best,

Pam & Matt