What Home Renovations Should You Avoid?

Not every renovation you make to your home will increase its value when it comes time to sell. Avoid making these home improvements.

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Oftentimes, home sellers want to make renovations in order to improve their home’s value when they decide to sell in the future. However, some of the choices they make don’t help their final sale price. By making renovations that you want, you may be neglecting what a potential buyer wants. Here are some areas to avoid when making renovations:

1. Wallpaper. Most buyers associate wallpaper with work because they know they will have to take it down eventually. This will also cause them to make a lower offer.

2. Lavish light fixtures. There are some amazing fixtures out there, but if they don’t match a buyer’s decor or furniture, they will just look at it as another expense to have it removed.

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I hope this has given you a
little bit to think about.

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3. Wrong flooring. It’s impossible to predict what kind of flooring a buyer prefers, but if you do decide to make a change, make sure your flooring is a neutral color.

4. Paint. This is similar to the flooring dilemma. There is no way to tell whether buyers will be attracted to or scared of your bright and bold colors. Likely a little bit of both. However, it’s wise to stick with neutral colors throughout the home to appeal to the highest number of buyers possible.

I hope this has given you a little bit to think about if you’re thinking about making updates to your home. If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Best Time of the Year to Buy or Sell a Home

People often wonder which months or seasons are the best time to buy or sell a home in San Antonio. In any given month, about one-third of all homes on the market here sell, so there's really no bad time.

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Selling a home? Click here for a Home Value Report

Interested in real estate? Click here to learn about a career in real estate

Is there a best time of year to sell or buy a home?
 
In San Antonio and the surrounding areas, houses sell all year long. In fact, in any given month of the entire year, 28% to 32% of homes on the market will sell, or about one-third. Since a third of the homes on the market sell in any given month, it really doesn't matter which month you choose to sell.
 
This June, there were 9,216 homes on the market, and last December, there were only 7,800. In the fall and winter, sellers actually have less competition. Sellers often decide to sell their home in the fall and winter to take advantage of all the competition when they want to buy in the spring and summer.

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Homes are selling during any
given month of the year in San Antonio.

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There are houses that are on the market and selling every month of the year.
 

We find that real estate sales primarily happen because of changes to a buyer’s life, like a new job, a raise that allows them to buy a newer home, having kids and needing a bigger home, divorce, retirement, or someone passing away. Simply put, life changes for people in and around this city every month of the year.
 

If you're thinking about buying a new home, I'd love to sit down and talk about your life and when the best time is to move based on your unique situation. If you have any questions about real estate, don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to help you out!

Investing in Real Estate to Pay for College

Have you ever considered real estate as a means to save for your kids' college costs? If you start right, real estate investing can pay for a college career many times over.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a Home Value Report

Interested in real estate? Click here to learn about a career in real estate

Real estate investing is a passion of mine. I’ve done quite a bit of it in the past and plan to do some more in the future. Before I became a real estate agent selling residential properties, however, I flipped homes—one year I flipped 23 houses! This gives me a pretty wide range of knowledge about real estate investing, and today I’d like to share with you a unique investing technique that I think every parent or grandparent should consider.

I once had a client who would buy a property for each one of her grandchildren and rent them out. These properties were around $150,000, so they weren’t too expensive, and she would use a property management company to deal with her tenants.

She used all of the money from the rental to pay her mortgage on the property, and after about 15 years, the house was mostly paid off. Not only that, but it had appreciated in value as well! This client was then able to sell that $150,000 house for up to $200,000 and have plenty of money to pay for her grandchild’s college education.

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The tenants paid this client’s
mortgage while she built up equity!

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Student loan debt has become a major problem for many people today, and this is a great solution to secure a college education for those you love most.

Real estate is a fantastic way to invest in your future and build wealth, so if you’d like to learn more about it, I’d like to invite you to attend the introduction to a real estate investing class I’ll be teaching on November 5th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. It will take place at Keller Williams City View in Training Room A in San Antonio. Stay tuned for more information about this upcoming class soon!

If you have any questions about investing in real estate to fund your child or grandchild’s college education or anything else related to real estate investing, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!