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.

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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!

Who Do San Antonio Real Estate Agents Work For?

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Today I am here to answer the question, “Who does the real estate agent work for in San Antonio?” This is a great question, and it’s actually covered by a disclosure in Texas called the Information About Brokerage Services. It’s one of my favorite documents in the real estate library, and I’m going to take just a few minutes today to go over it with you.

The Information About Brokerage Services disclosure simply describes how brokers work. In Texas, we are very pro-consumer, and don’t want people to get taken advantage of at all. Any time you have a substantial conversation with an agent, they should present that information to you.

The first thing this disclosure states is that brokers can represent the seller. When you see a yard sign with an agent’s name on it, that agent represents the seller. That means they have a fiduciary duty to the seller, and have to work diligently and competently, as well as negotiate on their behalf and disclose any information that the buyer gives to them.

If a buyer calls that sign and speaks to the listing agent, they are putting themselves in a bad spot. The agent will get all the buyer’s information and can then go give that to the seller. The buyer is giving up their negotiating rights by speaking with the seller’s agent.

Now, in Texas, brokers can also represent buyers. When they do, they need to have a signed agreement stating so. In most states, the seller’s commission to the agent actually pays for the buyer agent’s commission as well. Most of the times as a buyer, you won’t have to pay them!

Finally, brokers can also work as intermediaries between a buyer and a seller. In San Antonio, Keller Williams has about 1,600 agents in 3 different brokerages. It’s very possible that 1 KW agent will be on the listing side, and another KW agent will be on the buying side. An intermediary can’t disclose any confidential info, and everyone has to be treated fairly. Everything is confidential and separated with an intermediary. However, if something is required to be disclosed by law, such as a bankruptcy or foreclosure, they have to disclose it.

When choosing a broker to represent you, make sure you know who is being paid by whom. It’s clearly outlined in the both the buyer representation agreement as well as the listing agreement.

I hope that demystifies the question for you a bit. If you have any questions at all for me, don’t hesitate to reach out and give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you!

Can You Buy and Sell Your San Antonio Home All at Once?

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People have been buying and selling a home at the same time for many years. However, the process changed on October 3rd. The new TRID laws have made it more difficult to buy and sell a home simultaneously. It may take some serious navigating, but it can still be done. 

If you're selling and buying a new home from a builder, those transactions can happen at the same time. Sometimes, you can even close on the same day. Builders will often let you out of buying the property if your home sale falls through for some reason.

If you're selling your home and buying a pre-owned home, that can be a little bit trickier. If you try to overlap those transactions and something goes wrong on the sale of your home, you're still stuck buying the other home. Most people cannot handle owning two homes at once.

We overlap the sale with a lease back. This takes some serious navigating and a clear understanding of contracts and the transaction timelines to make sure everything works out for you. Basically, you lease back the home from the buyer. This saves you from finding temporary housing and moving twice.

The problem with a leaseback is that most sellers don't want any contingencies. If you can only buy a home once your home sells, it may make your offer less attractive to sellers.

When you're leasing back your home, you do pay rent to the buyer. The rent is based on the mortgage rate, and you pay the rent at closing. You also have to put down a deposit. Just like any other rental deposit, you should get your money back as long as there is no damage to the property.

However, some buyers don't return the deposit to you. You need to work with a Realtor who knows how to line things up perfectly and has systems in place to get that deposit back.

Ultimately, buying and selling at the same time might be tricky, but with the right Realtor, it can be done. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Do You Need a Realtor When Buying from a San Antonio Builder?

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Today, let's talk about buying a home from a builder. This is an exciting opportunity. With a brand new home, you pick out your own colors and tiles. Some buyers think they can get a better deal from the builder if there's no real estate agent involved, but it's actually important to work with a Realtor in order to protect your own interests.

Builders know that 70% of homes sold have real estate agents attached to them. Builders are grateful for Realtors in the community that attract buyers. In fact, when you work with a Realtor, some builders offer incentives that you wouldn't get if you bought directly from the builder.

No matter how friendly the builder agent is, they are out to protect the building company. A Realtor will represent your best interests and get you the best deal possible. Your Realtor may know a better building company for your needs, get you more incentives, or point out better houses for you to buy.

I can't tell you how many times I've gone on a real estate listing and the seller had bought the home from a builder, but the builder withheld important information that causes the home to sit on the market. Don't let this happen to you. Builders are not concerned with resale value. Ultimately, they want you to buy their product.

Our job as Realtors is to help you understand the contract and negotiate the best deal. We'll tell you if the house will have difficulties on the resale end. Many builders have move up programs where they work in tandem with another real estate agent to help sell the property and help you buy another.

When builders have a relationship with a real estate agent, they will often recommend that agent to you. Although these programs can be great, one thing to keep in mind is that the real estate may have an agreement with the builder and that agent might not be as objective as another agent. In some cases, real estate agents that partner with the builder are more loyal to the builder than they are to you.

As you can see, it's important to work with a Realtor you trust when buying from a builder. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

When Should You Buy or Sell in San Antonio?

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Throughout the year, many people ask me, "When is the best time to buy or sell a home?" As I talk with people in the area, I've found that most of them think houses sell well in April, May, June, and July, but not during the rest of the year.

However, when I actually tracked the number of homes listed on the market and the number of homes sold each month, the market looks quite a bit different. At any point in the year, 18% to 20% of the homes available on the San Antonio market are actually selling. That's not a wide deviation. Contrary to popular belief, homes sell every month of the year here.

Now, 700 more homes sold in June than sold in January, but there were also 2,000 more houses for sale in June! Sellers have less competition in the fall and winter than they do in the spring and summer. In fact, buyers are a lot more serious in the fall and winter. In spring, people just look at houses because maybe someday they want to buy one. In the fall and winter, buyers are looking for a place to live now.

As far as my own team goes, we have a policy that people cannot have extra time off during May, June, and December because so many houses sell in those months. Around Thanksgiving, people get nostalgic. They want to own a home of their own for their families, so they go out and get one!

If you're hesitant about selling during the holiday season, remember that the seller has the freedom to restrict showings. If your family is coming in town for the holidays, you can absolutely suspend showings until everything has settled down again.

Another thing for sellers to keep in mind is that January is one of the highest relocation and transfer months for the military during the year. You can't catch those buyers if you are not on the market. Waiting for spring or summer to list your home means missing out on this pocket of very motivated buyers.

One final thing to consider is that while there are fewer showings in the fall and winter, the showings you do have will give serious prospects a chance to see your home. You can sell your home in the winter, and then find your next home in the spring, when you have more homes to choose from.

That said, ultimately, the best time to buy or sell is whenever it is the best time for you. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. My team and I would be happy to help you!

How to Make the Most of Your San Antonio Home Search

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Many sellers rearrange their property or hire stagers to bring in great furniture and decor when showing their home. Because of this, it's very easy to confuse great decor for a great property. When buying, don't forget that you're buying the home, not the things in it!

It's important to look very closely at the home when you are viewing it. Look at things like the floor plan, the dimensions, and the upgrades to the actual property, not the decorations around the home. One strategy people use is cutting out a piece of paper the size of their couch, rolling it up, and laying it on the floor to see if their furniture will fit in the homes they're looking at.

Regardless of how beautiful the home looks on the inside, you are buying the house itself! You want to take a look at the exterior home and make sure there are no defects or things that will bother you once you settle in.

If you have any questions about the buying process or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!