Austin Rising Real Estate

DO alert your lender if your salary changes from when you took application or if you get a new job. They will verify your employment “again” the day before closing.

DO notify your lender if your address changes from what appears on your original loan application. They will complete rental and mortgage verification for all your residences within the last two years.

DO keep documentation of any large deposits into your bank accounts. Copies of all checks, deposit slips, loan paperwork, ect.

DO notify your lender if you transfer funds from one account to the other.

DO feel free to ask a lot of questions! The more you know the more fun the process wil be.

DON’T acquire any additional lines of credit or make any larger purchase without consulting with your lender FIRST!

DON’T change jobs without speaking to your lender FIRST!

DON’T co-sign with anyone to obtain a line of credit or make a purchase.

DON’T go off and get married without telling your lender!

DON’T even think about going out and looking at homes until you have been fully pre-approved. Putting contracts on homes without a pre-approval is irresponsible!

We like for our clients to use vendors that have a proven track record and are trustworthy. Although we recommend these vendors, we still ask our clients to interview the vendors to ensure they are comfortable working with them and providing the best prices/quotes.

Plumber ………………………David Cromey ……………………….512-825-8419
Heating/AC…………………   John Wrigley……………………….512-447-8336
Electrician ……………………Melvin ……………………………….512-689-4799
Cleaning ……………………..Lucy Mancha ……………………….512-762-6167
Landscaping …………………Brian Swofford……………………..512-339-0001
Pest Control ………………….ABC Pest……………………………..512-837-9500
Flooring ………………………Carpet Stop ………………………….512-419-1144

Locksmith ……………………Cothron’s Key ……………………….512-472-6273
Locksmith ……………………Central Lock and Key ………………512-335-0190
Locksmith ……………………Texas ReKey …………………………512-939-5397

Sheetrock/Painting …………Robin Chapin……………………….512-636-0150
Sheetrock/Painting …………Jose Fuentes…………………………512-939-7533
Sheetrock/Painting…………Benigno……………………………….512-627-5615
Sheetrock/Painting …………Jim Caswell………………………….512-784-5388
Sheetrock/Painting …………Karl……………………………………512-629-9961
Sheetrock/Painting …………Roger Weiss………………………….512-644-1592

Painting ……………………….Tom Dominguez ……………………512-563-0681
Painting ……………………….Colorful Cans Painting ……………512-410-5756
Painting ……………………….Kelly Brown ………………………….512-577-933

General Handyman …………Roberto Moreno ……………………..808-673-1705
General Handyman …………Spencer Pearson  ……………………spencerthechef@yahoo.com
General Handyman …………Don Nichols………………………….512-769-5666
General Handyman …………Shaan Sharazi ………………………512-451-1994
General Handyman …………Jason Kloesel………………………..512-897-3710
General Handyman …………Scott Standhart………………………512-848-4511
General Handyman …………Joe Garcia …………………………..512-744-8123
General Handyman …………George Felix ………………………..512-773-4286
General Handyman…………Chris Mendoza ……………………..512-845-9146

1. Three times the monthly rent rate in gross monthly income.

- Documentation for verification of employment includes verbal or written confirmation of the income indicated on the application.

- Tax returns (if self-employed)

- Bank statements (if self-employed or if income is supplemented)

- Housing assistance applications are considered for participating properties; Section 8 income guidelines apply.

2. No prior record of rental evictions.

3. Criminal record not to include violent or sex offense charges.

- DUI and drug possession charges are considered and will be presented to owner.

4. Favorable credit history.

- Deliquencies, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and other credit blemishes will be considered on an individual basis, but may require additional deposit and/or guarantor, if approved.

5. Guarantors and roommates must qualify individually; both will be named as leasees.

Lease Forms

These forms are provided by the Texas Association of Realtors and are only good when prepared by a licensed real estate agent.

Information About Brokerage Services
Residential TAR Lease Application

Here is a list of what mortgage lenders need from a buyer prior to getting pre-qualified for a home. ”All pages” include front and back pages, even if the backside of the document does not appear to contain important information. In order to expedite the paperwork process, start gathering the following items.

Salaried or Hourly Borrower

1. Most recent 2 years personal and business (if applicable) tax returns (all pages)
2. 30 days paystubs
3. W2’s for the most recent 2 years
4. Most recent 2 months bank and or/brokerage statements (all pages)
5. Most recent retirement statement
6. Copy of your photo ID

Self-Employed Borrower

1. Most recent 2 years personal and business (if applicable) tax returns (all pages)
2. Include any 1099 forms for last 2 years (if applicable)
3. Most recent 2 months bank and/or brokerage statements (all pages)
5. Copy of photo ID

I’ve heard this story from people off all different generations. Instead of buying a single family house as their first real estate purchase, people decide to buy a duplex as their first home. You’re probably thinking to yourself “why would I want to live that close to someone else and have to manage real estate?”

Here are the top 5 reasons why buying a duplex instead of a home as your first real estate purchase makes sense.

1. People are Paying You: Why not have a tenant pay half of your monthly mortgage? In some cases, I’ve even heard of tenants paying for all of the owner’s mortgage. When you rent out the other unit in a duplex, the tenant is responsible for paying fair market value. This amount can cover half, if not more, of your monthly mortgage payment. Compared to other cities, Austin duplexes provide strong rents and lease in a short amount of time. This ranks as the top reason because this allows you to reduce your monthly expenses which directly puts more money in your pocket. Search Duplexes in Central Austin

2. More Property for your Money: When owner occupying a duplex, lenders allow buyers to use the rental income from the other unit to increase the amount of real estate they can purchase. When purchasing a single family home, they only consider your personal income when running you through pre-approval. This allows first-time buyers the opportunity to purchase a larger property, maybe live closer to Central Austin, and in some cases, even allows you the opportunity to purchase your first home! Talk to a Lender About Getting Pre-Approved

3. Maximize Your Tax Write-Offs: Tax write-offs are one of the most beneficial parts of owning real estate. When you purchase a single family home, you are limited as to what you can write off on your taxes. When you purchase a duplex to live in and rent out the other side, you are able  to take full advantage of all the tax write-offs as a owner and a landlord.Here are the items you are able to write off:

• -Half of your homeowners insurance
• -Half of your mortgage interest
• -A portion of your cell phone bill
• -Half of all repairs/maintenance on exterior of house
• -Half of the water and gas bill
• -Half of my property taxes
• -Any expenses related to maintaining the rental half of the duplex-cleaning, maintenance, advertising, repairs, ect.
• -Rental license fee
• -Depreciate half of the house, the rental part

4. Start Your Investment Portfolio: When purchasing a duplex in Austin as an investment property, a lender would require you to put 20-25% down. When purchasing a duplex which you plan to owner occupy, you can purchase a duplex in Austin with as little as 3.5% down. Real estate has historically been one of the best investments. Purchasing a duplex in Austin is a great way to start building your investment portfolio with the minimal amount down.

5. You Control Your Neighbors: When you live in a duplex, you have direct control of your neighbor. No matter your lifestyle, you can interview potential tenants to find your ideal neighbor. Unlike living in a single family home, you have the potential for having a new neighbor every year or leasing to a good tenant for a longer period of time.

Learn More About Investing in Real Estate and Purchasing Investment Property in Austin

Just like managing your online stock portfolio, Market Snapshot allows you to follow home values in your area, how many days homes are sitting on the market and  what home buyers are paying for homes in your area versus what they were listed for. Once you sign up, you will be sent weekly or monthly emails so you can monitor home price trends in your area. To sign up, visit www.AustinRisingRealEstate.com and click the “Get Your Free Home Value Estimate.”  A sample is located on the back of this letter.

The Austin Rising Real Estate Team and Keller Williams have negotiated a deal with Lowe’s which allows us to pass on our Realtor discount and benefits to our friends and clients. Our benefits range from discount cards to Lowe’s home improvement magazines to email updates from HGTV with new ideas for your home. Because we value the relationship with our clients, we’d love to pass this on. To receive these benefits, visit www.AustinRisingRealEstate.com/ClientBenefits and register. A seller is more than welcome to pass this on to any of your family or friends.

If you think of any family or friends that are in the market to buy, sell or invest in real estate, give us a call or email us their information and we will give them a two minute call to introduce our company and see how we can help them achieve their goals. If you ever have a real estate question, please don’t hesitate to call us at 512-297-8242.

If you’re looking into getting your first mortgage, it’s important to understand how interest rates impact your monthly mortgage payment. With interest rates bottoming out in the 4th quarter of 2010, they will continue on a slow rise to be more in line with the 20 year interest average. Although rates will not jump up three interest points overnight, small increases still give a potential home buyer less purchasing power.

Let’s say you are looking for your monthly mortgage payment to be $1,500. If you took the next year to decide and the fed increased the interest rate by just one point, your purchasing power would go from $300,000 down to $275,000. A $25,000 decrease in purchasing power would definitely impact the square footage, finish out and location you could potentially afford as a home buyer.

2011 should be a pivotal year for home buyers who are deciding to buy a home, continue renting or make the move to another city. Potential home buyers that decide to buy this year will be able to take advantage of Austin’s low real estate prices and interest rates before we see the economy and local market rebound in 2012. Rudy and Naseem in our Chicago office made a great video explaining how rising interest rates impacts a buyer’s purchasing power.

Video: High Cost of Waiting to Buy Real Estate

Use this buy vs. rent calculator to decide whether buying or renting is better for you. The Austin Rising Team would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss your living situation and help you make a decision on whether buying or renting is better for you.

We don’t know if it’s our efforts to double our business or if consumer confidence is actually returning, but our team is optimistic about Austin’s real estate market in 2011. Austinites are working through the downturn and we’re starting to see signs around town that would indicate things are getting back to normal. A few of the recovery signs we are watching include the household and population growth in Austin, renewed private sector growth, rising rents, stability of local housing prices and the many corporations that are relocating to Central Texas.

Encouraging signs are also starting to show up across the economy. Retail sales recently hit their highest level since before the recession. Key measures of small and big businesses’ optimism marched back up to prerecession levels and new claims for jobless benefits are trending lower. Together they bode well for steady job creation and improved consumer confidence which is generally manifested in more spending. As the economy improves, current stimulus efforts by the government and the Federal Reserve Board are expected to gradually wind down. Meanwhile, serious buyers stand to benefit from historically favorable buying conditions.

The two indicators potential home buyers in Austin really need to  monitor are rising interest rates and rents. We believe interest rates bottomed out in the 4th quarter of 2010 and are on a slow and steady climb upwards. Also, as rents increase we’re going to see renters question whether or not it’s worth paying more in rent or is it time to make the move and buy a home in Austin. Although interest rates are still very low, we’re seeing the purchasing power for potential buyers lower as interest rates go up.  What does that exactly mean? If interest rates go up a half point, your monthly mortgage payment could potentially go up by $100 or less. Real estate investors also have to take advantage of this time in Austin since prices and interest rates are low and rents are rising. There could be a potential housing shortage in the coming year or two. If this is the case, demand will exceed supply and real estate prices will go up.

Buyers and investors need to take advantage of Austin real estate before things pick up in 2012. If a buyer is planning to live in Austin for the next four years, they will greatly benefit from buying real estate while prices are low and selling as prices increase. Feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss the market and how you could benefit during this downturn.