What Makes An Austin Texas Home A Great Investment?

What Makes An Austin Texas Home A Great Investment?


AUSTIN, TX. – Is buying an Austin Texas Home a great investment? The answer to this question is yes, buying Austin Real Estate is an excellent investment especially if you follow this criteria.
#1 – Look For a Home near A Great School
The first thing you can do to insure you purchase a home that’s a great investment is to buy an Austin Texas Home that’s close to a great school because homes that are near great schools are always highly desirable no matter if the Real Estate market is up or down.
#2 – Choose a Home in a Walkable Area
Another important thing to do when searching for an Austin Texas Home For Sale is to choose a home that’s in a walkable area because not only will a walkable location be more convenient for you as you grow older, it will also be a home that has a higher resale value as well since most buyers want to buy homes that are in walkable locations as well.


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Retirees cash in big-city homes to fund their golden years

Retirees cash in big-city homes to fund their golden years

Judith Hunter has lots of friends near Collingwood, Ont. She loves photographing nature, and the town certainly has more of that than Toronto, where she lives now. And there are plenty of trails to walk her nine-year-old Yorkie, Asti. So after nearly five years of retirement, Ms. Hunter is packing up and moving to the Georgian Bay burg.

Many people downsize when they retire. But because she’s escaping the big-city real-estate market, Ms. Hunter is actually upsizing. She’s trading her condo for a bungalow.

“I don’t require that money to be part of my cash flow for living expenses,” says Ms. Hunter, who is in her early 60s. But in a house of her own, she continues, “I get to do all the ‘retirement activities’ you hear about.”

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How to create your dream home in Austin's hot real estate market

How to create your dream home in Austin's hot real estate market


Editor's note: With rents hitting historic highs, and in many metros surpassing them, the share of Americans who wish to achieve homeownership is rising year-over-year. Our friends at Trulia share insight on the dream of owning a home — and how to achieve it in Austin.

The number of Americans who dream of owning a home one day is up to 75 percent, according to a survey conducted by Harris Poll and Trulia. Within the millennial category, 80 percent of young people imagine owning their own home at some point. These statistics show that the American dream, which steadily declined after the housing market crash and recession of late 2008, is alive and well across all age groups. 

In a recent study, Trulia ranked Austin the third best market to watch in 2016 based on five metrics: high job growth over the past year, affordability rates, large number of inbound home searches, high percentage of millennials, and low vacancy rates. Austin stole the third spot, behind the Grand Rapids, Michigan and Charleston, South Carolina, primarily due to a high share of millennial residents and the healthy job market.

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Top tips on how to add value to property

Top tips on how to add value to property


1. Be Objective


This might sound obvious, but you will only be able to convert your investment into a return if you are able to sell your home at a good price. This means ensuring the improvements you make have a broad appeal. Optics Bars or ‘roll top’ baths in the middle of a bedroom will only ever appeal to a small section of the market, especially if they are at the expense of valuable living space.


2. Extend/Convert


The two main factors that determine a property’s price are size and location. The latter isn’t something you can change but adding space can be an effective way to add value. However, spending £100,000 rearranging the layout of your property doesn’t mean you will add £100,000 in value. Why? Because you haven’t added a single extra square metre of floor space.


Loft conversions or basement conversions are one of the most cost effective ways to add value to your property and can, on average, increase the price by 20 to 40 per cent, with a rear extension adding slightly less. So if you can, build up or build out.


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Richards Puts Communities of Color at Forefront of Housing Debate

Richards Puts Communities of Color at Forefront of Housing Debate


"Why am I here?" City Council Member Donovan Richards asked rhetorically, speaking with energy beyond what you would expect from someone in the midst of chairing 20 hours of land use policy hearings over two days. The question wasn't Richards rethinking his career path or delusion brought on by testimony after testimony about zoning code, it was a way of punctuating his explanation that of course he had to put communities of color at the forefront of discussions about affordable housing in New York City.
"This is the culmination," Richards told Gotham Gazette about the Council's consideration of de Blasio administration proposals to change citywide zoning rules aimed at increasing affordable housing throughout the city. "This is a build up. People are seeing what's happening in Bed-Stuy, we've seen what's happened in Harlem, this is people's lives, people have to move out of New York City because they can't afford to live here," he said.


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I've been investing in real estate for 25 years, and I think buying a house is for suckers

I've been investing in real estate for 25 years, and I think buying a house is for suckers


Should you own a home? Unless you have 20 million bucks in the bank, in cash, you have no business buying a house.
People think the only way to save money is to buy a house. Suzy Orman thinks you have no way to earn any real money for yourself, so she advises you to buy a house as the only way to get your money. You will get your home paid off when you are old. Who wants to wait until they are old to have money?


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Should You Ever Pay Cash When Buying a Home?

Should You Ever Pay Cash When Buying a Home?

Pros and cons of mortgages vs. paying cash.

With mortgage interest rates still as low as they are, paying cash for a house should not be first on your list of financial priorities. Saving for retirement, building adequate emergency savings and paying off higher interest debt almost always take precedence.
That said, if you have the means to pay cash for a home, there are situations when buying your house outright is the way to go.

Reasons to keep your cash

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