Local Buyer Program

This offer is available for anyone who:

(a) currently owns a home they wish to sell in the Austin, San Antonio or Texas Hill Country area

AND

(b) wants to and is able to buy a residential property in the Texas Hill Country area

You must use our Realty Group for both your existing home sale and subsequent purchase. As a result, between our Reduced Listing Fee and special bonuses such as our free area tours and included moving coordinator services, we can turn this often complex and stressful series of transactions into one seamless, easy and cost-effective transition.

Not a problem as this issue is encountered quite often and referred to as a “Contingency” transaction. It simply means that when you make Offers on homes you wish to buy, you notify the Seller of your need to sell your current home first. As we currently are in a strong Buyer’s market, Sellers will often accept this condition provided they are satisfied with the other Terms in the offer.

That said it’s critical to understand than when you make a Contingent offer and a Seller accepts that offer, they can REJECT that offer at a later date IF they receive a NON-Contingent offer from another Buyer in the mean time. Therefore your accepted Contingent offer is NOT rock solid because another more-qualified Buyer can come along and “bump” your accepted offer out of position.

When this rare circumstance occurs, you are provided a choice to change your offer to be non-contingent if you can obtain an alternative source of funds, get an earlier Closing on your home sale if possible or lose the opportunity to buy the house. In short, contingent offers can be a big problem in a hot seller’s market but is simply not typically a big issue at all in today’s current market.

Since you will be selling one home and buying another, it’s helpful to break it down one transaction at a time to ensure your expectations are realistic and accurate from the start:

TRANSACTION 1 = SELLING YOUR EXISTING HOME

3% = Our Standard Seller Realty Fee

3% = Amount Typically Offered to Buyer’s Agent

-1% = Amount Rebated to you via Local Buyer Program Discount

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5% = Total Realty Fees + ~$1500 in miscellaneous costs

The Selling side almost always involves the most fees. For example, you may need or simply want to make certain repairs or complete certain upgrades before putting your house on the market. Also, Sellers in Texas often offer to pay for half the Owner’s Title Policy (~$1000) and sometimes pay for a Home Warranty (~$500) for the Buyer if there are any concerns about the home’s condition.

More substantially however is the approximate 3% fee that Sellers of homes allocate to pay the Buyer’s Agent as Sellers typically pay for the Buyer’s realty commission as well as their own. In this particular example, your total Realty fees would be 5% rather than 6%, with our program saving you 1% or approximately $5,000 – $10,000 in fees on a typical home valued at $500K – $1.0M.

TRANSACTION 2 = BUYING YOUR NEW HILL COUNTRY HOME

3% = Our Standard Buyer Realty Fee

-3% = This Fee is often paid by the Seller

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0% = Total Realty Fees paid by Buyer + ~$2000 in miscellaneous costs

The Buying side is MUCH less expensive as the only typical big expense in terms of fees for buying a home is the 3% Buyer’s Agent Commission however as stated in the example above, this fee is typically paid by the SELLER of the property for you and as a result, this usually results in a net fee of $0 paid by you as the Buyer.

That said, there are some other expenses when buying a home, most notably the Buyer’s half of the Owner’s Title Policy (~$1000), Appraisal Cost (~$500) and Home Inspection (~$500). Other fees you will typically encounter as a Buyer include Mortgage Loan Fees (typically included in the loan itself and therefore not payable out-of-pocket), any Down Payments required on the mortgage itself as well as Moving expenses. On the moving side, we help you by offering 4 Free Hours with our Moving Coordinator to reduce some of the cost and stress of that aspect to help make your move simple and easy.

CONCLUSION

Overall the cost to SELL a home is typically much greater to the Seller than the cost to BUY a home is for the Buyer. As you will be doing BOTH on the Local Buyer Program, you will therefore encounter a lot more expense when selling your existing home versus buying your new Hill Country home.

NOTE: Please note that on the Local Buyer Program, the 1% Fee Reduction for selling your home will be REBATED back to you at Closing of your new home purchase.

Simply put, it provides you with a huge added layer of knowledge, advice and protection. Besides all the negotiation and contract assistance, Buyer’s agents are professional property finders and evaluators. Here are just some of the benefits they provide:

–Expert Advice and Opinions
–Knowledge of Off-market and/or Coming Soon listings
–Coordinating the entire transaction from start to finish
–Negotiation and Purchase Contract expertise
–Understanding Texas Real Estate laws and your legal Obligations
–Providing a layer of protection and communication between buyer and seller
–Legal Fiduciary with Loyalty & Confidentiality guarantees
–Help defining Improvements that remain with the property
–Assistance with Financing and Title aspects
–Assistance understanding Appraisal and Inspection reports
–Listing Agents take your Inquiry & Showing requests seriously
–Having an expert that protects and represents YOUR best interest