Contents Putting a Face on Real Estate since 1995™
JUNE 2019 • VOLUME 24 • ISSUE 2
> RED DAY
Keller Williams Realty
> REALTOR VOLUNTEER DAY
ABoR Foundation
> AUSTIN OFFICE GRAND OPENING
Realty One Group Prosper
> MAX AWARDS Home Builders Association of Greater Austin > COCKTAIL SOIREE
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Southwestern Title Agency
> LIBERTY HILL OFFICE OPEN HOUSE
Independence Title
Downsizing to smaller spaces is growing in demand
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o matter what’s going on in the rest of the country, the Austin real estate market is still red hot. And at the same time housing affordability remains a challenge across the state, according to experts at Texas A&M University’s Real Estate Center. With homeownership demand up and inventory down; some Austin buyers are shopping for smaller spaces at a price they can afford. In this seller’s market, selling a small home here isn’t that hard, but if you’re the seller’s agent, there are ways you can be sure your client is getting the most out of his or her small property. Last October, a cute bungalow in the popular Holly neighborhood of central east Austin sold for $316,300. The 870-square-foot pad with three bedrooms and two bathrooms has new hardwood floors, marble countertops, a side and backyard upgrade, plus new windows, doors and trim. Just three blocks
austin
By Riki Markowitz south, a bungalow that’s in slightly shabbier condition, less modern and with much fewer upgrades, sold five months later for $637,500. Most of the agents we spoke with agree on the major point that perception is everything. “Making small spaces work for a sale is partly a staging issue,” says Shawn Rooker, a REALTOR at Realty Austin. Staging alone may not be the main reason one Holly bungalow sold for twice as much as its nearby neighbor. Granted,
one house is located on a retail thoroughfare. But for a small home that’s sitting on the market longer than a seller is comfortable with, “staging is always less than your first price reduction,” according to Lynne Rhea, RESA-PRO and owner of MomBo Interiors. It has not only been Lynne’s
Tips for maximizing space with color can be a magician; here are five tips to make your space feel spacious
light, fresh, neutral colors since they 1. Use make a room seem larger — they visually recede and reflect more light into the room.
can make nearby colors seem 2. Grays brighter and, in turn, spaces bigger. schemes, even a va3. Monochromatic riety of shades of a single color family, can work; what’s important is consistency to reduce the eye’s ability to perceive spatial dimensions.
placed pops of color are 4. Strategically fine; for example, paint two opposite experience that staging reduces a property’s time on the market, the Real Estate Staging Association has studied and confirmed it.
walls with the same bright color.
5. Painting floors with a light shade can open up a small room.
SMALL SPACES: Continued on page 20
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