July 2014

 Austin is currently experiencing a hot real estate market, with many potential buyers not requiring much of sellers when purchasing their property.  Despite this reality, if you are considering selling your home, consider these following tips to help ensure you receive top dollar for your property:

1)   Talk with a Pro:  First impressions matter.  Therefore, you want potential buyers to have a great first impression of your home.  Accordingly, consider consulting with a realtor or interior designer to do a quick review of your property.  Although it may only result in a few small suggestions (ie: repositioning some furniture, adding color to a room, scrapping outdated designs/materials), it is the small things that matter.  Fortunately, many of these

You have probably heard the phrase, “it is ten-times harder to hold onto wealth than it is to create it.”  Fortunately for homeowners, the Internal Revenue Code provides homeowners with a tremendous tax break designed to help homeowners hold onto the wealth generated from the sale of their primary residence.  This is great news for Austinites looking to sell in Austin’s hot real estate market. 

Specifically, Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that an individual can exclude up to $250,000 (if you are not married) and $500,000 (if you are married) of capital gain upon the sale of their primary residence.  For example, if a married couple purchased their primary residence for $200,000 and later sold it for $600,000, (realizing a $400,000

In today’s litigious society, the threat of being sued is an increasing reality.  As a result, individuals go to great lengths to protect their real estate assets by utilizing insurance policies and limited liability companies.  For most Austinites, their primary residence represents their greatest real estate asset.  As a result, the question is often asked: Should an individual transfer their primary residence into a LLC for asset protection purposes?  Surprisingly, the answer is likely no and here are some of the reasons why: 

1)   Capital Gain Exclusion – Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that an individual can generally exclude up to $250,000 (if you are not married) and $500,000 (if you are married) of capital gain upon the sale

Zillow will continue to operate two separate websites, where consumers can search listings of homes for sale. Zillow and Trulia together attract more than 130 million visitors a month.

Both companies post detailed listings of homes for sale, and charge agents to post their names alongside their listings. Some agent teams spend $20,000 a month with Zillow, Trulia, or both.

Still the websites' revenue only add up to about 4% of the $12 billion the real estate industry spends on marketing via newspaper and television ads, billboards, direct mail and the like. Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff sees an opportunity to capture more of those marketing dollars via mobile.

"Mobile is becoming the medium of choice for home shopping," said Rascoff.

Trulia's