Moving to Dallas
11/03/2023
I'll never forget the first property I ever sold in Dallas 🤠.
It was a red brick Tudor in the Hollywood Heights. The sellers were a sweet couple and they lived on my street 😍 They knew it was my first sale and they gave me a chance!
I remember meeting with the sellers for the first time and walking through the house. It was super charming, tiny, and lovely.
It was mid-2008 and a challenging market but not knowing any better I did what I did, got it under contract, and found them something bigger, less expensive, in a neighborhood not far from where I live now 🤓
I've helped a ton of people over the years but I'll never forget my first clients 😇
Also, this branding shoot with Marissa Fontanez - Dallas Realtor still makes me smile 👯♀️
My message to those selling soon?
📸 Investing in professional photography is a non-negotiable.
😮 Listings with 1 photo spend an average of 70 days on the market
🤯 Listings with at least 20 images sell within 1 month
😇 Need help tracking down the right photographer? I work with the BEST! And they're not cheap. On average, I spend about $600 per listing on photography alone. And it's well worth it.
✌️It can take months to prep for photography when you're also getting ready to move. Many people ask me for advice which is why I have this handy, dandy Home Photoshoot Checklist.
Comment “PHOTO” in the comments and I’ll get it right over to you!
10/31/2023
🙀 It's been a rough 12 months in real estate, ya'll.
🎃 These aren't a compilation of other agents' texts. These are mine. If I could show you the texts from agents...you'd faint!
10/30/2023
Think this isn't real? Think again! The smoke detector thing and key situation is an actual recent struggle...
Change your batteries, people! Label your keys, agents!!
10/25/2023
Caught in the 'worst time to buy a home' chorus?
🙀 I've heard it too, and I get why. Those mortgage rates aren't exactly our best friends right now, and the inventory's playing hard to get.
But there's more to the story than meets the eye.
👀 Did you know:
City of Dallas
Days on market - UP 10%
Showings on listings - DOWN 25%
Pending sales - DOWN 12.5%
Closed sales - DOWN 25%
New listings - UP 3.1% (YOY)
Homes for sale - UP 7.8%
Months supply - UP 40-%
Courtesy of: NTREIS
Is now the most picture-perfect moment to dive into the market? Not necessarily. But 'perfect' isn't the same for everyone.
💰If you’re a cash buyer (trust me, there are a lot of people with cash), then yes.
Once rates move down (next year sometime), people will move back into the market and prices will, at least temporarily, spike up.
👇Don’t have cash? Here are 3 Top 3 strategies:
🤩 1. Look for a property that has been listed for 60+ days, an estate, a divorce listing, a vacant listing, or a property owned by a relocation company. These are generally the most motivated sellers. A new listing is NOT as motivated to accept a lower offer.
🫣 2. Look for a listing with an assumable loan. This way you lock in the seller’s low rate. You still have to secure a large downpayment and go through an approval process but it can be well worth it to do the extra work for the low rate!
🤓 3. Negotiate with the seller to pay closing costs for a 2-1 buydown of your rate. You pay 2% lower than the current rate the first year, 1% lower in year two, and then your rate rises to the current rate for the remainder of the loan. The strategy works like this: You refi once your rate/payment goes up at the 2-year mark thereby avoiding the rate/payment increase altogether. In this scenario, you search for homes based on monthly payment and NOT on the price of the home.
Need some more advice on how to search for a home using the strategies I shared? I’d love to connect. Don’t forget to save this post or send to a friend because there are still opportunities out there.
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