Hello everyone my name is Alfonso Rodriguez and i'm licensed as a REALTOR and a mortgage loan officer. This post is my first hand perspective on what I think is going on in the Austin area real estate market & give you an update for May 2022 plus offer my thoughts on what it means for you as a home buyer or a home seller.
How do things look as a home buyer?
As a home buyer I'm starting to see a leveling off of home prices and even in some areas prices are starting to come down a little. This has to do with what's going on with mortgages and interest rates. To me, it doesn't seem like the real estate market's going to crash. In my opinion I don't believe it's going to crash, it might take dip a little here in the central Texas area.
It seems to me that homes for sale in Austin & the surrounding areas are starting to return back to a normal real estate market where there's not as much intense competition when making offers on a resale home and homes are on market a little longer. Homes are going under contract in 2 or 3 weeks when before it was 2 to 3 days.
Home builders are starting to go back to a "buy it now" model and if you've been keeping tabs on the real estate market you'd know that builders were going to a "offer up" model that is similar to what you would see in the resale market. There are still some builders out there doing the "offer up" model but I'm starting to see more and more builders go back to how it was before.
Back to the topic of interest rates, as I mentioned before interest rates have risen significantly in the past six months so you're going to want to take time and figure out the financing portion if you're going to finance the purchase of your next home. The federal reserve just raised rate by 50 basis points.
One of the things you don't want to do is to get yourself into a situation where you become house poor which is where you have this large mortgage payment that pretty much eats up most of your expendable income and you don't have anything left over to go to the movies or go shopping or have dinner or take a vacation.
As a licensed mortgage loan officer I can help you figure that out & what your options are when it comes to financing your next home. This way you can really narrow down what's affordable to you so you could confidently go out and shop for a home that' you're going to love & also be affordable mortgage-wise.
How do things look as a home seller?
As a home seller I'm still seeing a lot of demand for people wanting to buy homes. There are still several big companies moving to the central Texas area that mostly bring with them high paying jobs which means that people will still be moving here and they're going to need a place to stay.
People are still getting a premium price for their home especially during that first week when the iron is hot. As long as the home is presented well, marketed effectively and price right, you can expect great results. Every home is different & its features unique so in general it's my opinion that it's still a seller's market & if you'd like a more deep, in-depth analysis the situation for your home feel free to call or text me at 512-809-0091.
I offer a free, no obligation assessment of what you may be able to sell your home for in today's market listed with the Realtor or with one of those buy it now cash home-buyers that you hear about on the TV or radio.You probably even see billboards and you're going to want to know what the differences between the two because most people don't really understand how that all works. With my analysis, I'll go over all of those options and can represent you on either side so feel free to get in contact 512-809-0091.
Make sure to consider today's mortgage interest rates
When it comes to financing your next home you're gonna you should expect to see a higher interest rates from what we saw with the historic low rates seen just six months ago. To give you a general overview (this is by no means a quote of an interest rate) I saw, for a well-qualified borrower six months ago, rates in the high 2% to the low 3% range. For a well-qualified borrower now it can range anywhere between a low 5% to a 6% rate. You can also play with my online mortgage calculator to get a better sense of what's affordable.
When you see mortgage companies quota or advertise a rate you're going to want to ask yourself, how much does that cost me to get that rate? One of the things that isn't really explained very well in the mortgage business is that there's a lot of teaser rates out there they may either be an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), those have to be disclosed when being advertised, or it's a rate that looks super attractive but you got to pay points to get that rate.
My mortgage company is our own lender and we're also a broker. This means we can go out and shop different lenders, investors & credit unions on your behalf then present to you the best mortgage options. If you want to learn about this can benefit you, simply call or text me directly at 512-809-0091.
I'm available to you as a resource
The information covered is just a very general, surface level analysis of what I'm seeing when I'm out there working with buyers and sellers. Right now in the real estate market things are changing rapidly on what seems like a daily basis so please stay tuned for future market updates.
If you want a more focused analysis of your home or the area that you want to purchase in then please get in touch. I'd love to get a few minutes of your time to learn more about your situation, what your goals are, explain how I can help and give you all the information that you need to make the best decision possible.