Hi y’all, welcome!

Inside: Why buying a condo will cost you extra $$$ 💰️ + Austin’s developer drama takes another turn 😨 

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(*unbiased opinion)

WHAT'S INSIDE

• 🚨 TIPS FROM YOUR REALTOR

• 🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

• ⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

• 🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

🚨 TIPS FROM YOUR REALTOR

(it’s me)

Buying a condo will cost you extra $$$

With all the talk about mortgage rates influencing purchasing decisions - there’s one hidden fact people miss.

If you thought you had no control over your mortgage rate - you’re wrong. Your mortgage rate will be higher if you buy a condo vs. a standalone home.

Why?

Lenders consider condos riskier because the borrower shares ownership of the property with everyone else who is a part of the condo association.

Condo vs. Standalone Home

When you own a single family home - you own the home and the land it sits on.

When you own a condo - you don’t own the land and share the exterior spaces with all the other condo owners.

TLDR:

• Make sure you’re aware of the factors affecting your mortgage rate

• Include your monthly condo fees when into your monthly calculations. In Austin I’ve seen $150/mo up to $1,500/mo

I’m an ex-dentist turned Realtor - let’s work together! Email me, tweet me or send me a carrier pigeon. 🐦️ 

🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

Somehow it’s still not over. The Storybuilt saga, which feels more like a reality tv plot line, continues.

It’s a convoluted game of he said, he said - let me break it down:

What happened: (read the full story here)

• StoryBuilt is a developer founded in 2001 with an estimated portfolio worth over $1B+

• August 2023 - both Co-Founder and COO stepped away suddenly

• StoryBuilt went into receivership with the Stapleton Group

  • Psst: A receivership is a court-appointed solution that can assist creditors to recover funds in default and help troubled companies to avoid bankruptcy.

• 130 employees laid off without notice

• Stapleton begins trying to sell 28 developments (17 in Austin!)

• Here are some of the biggest accusations against the founders:

  • $6.7M raised for property they never bought

  • $3M borrowed at 280% interest

  • Used money for developments on “miscellaneous expenses”

Yikes. Here’s the update from last week:

StoryBuilt’s co-founder Ryan Diepenbrock is suing the receivership firm, the Stapleton Group.

Co-founder Ryan alleges:

• Stapleton is the true culprit and have mismanaged a simple problem

• Stapleton dragged out this process so they could make more money and put their own interests above investors/buyers

  • $1.1M of the $2.5M Stapleton raised from investors after taking over went to professional expenses (for a 13 week period)

• Ryan states that StoryBuilt struggling was mostly due to the market turning

• Stapleton was only supposed to be in for July but pushed Ryan out and replaced him with a new executive committee (very Succession-vibes)

• Mismanaged and ended up foreclosing on Charley - an east Austin development - costing investors millions

Who do you think is really at fault? Read more here.

⁉️ WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

If you’re a buyer/seller/investor/renter or just interested in real estate - this weekly newsletter will help guide your decision making and help you better understand the market.

🤤 HOUSE WORTH DROOLING OVER

You’ve heard this before…LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. They don’t make them like this anymore (thankfully). 14,000 (??) sqft on Congress Ave.

I hope the buyer has great knees because I’m not sure how I feel about that elevator.
Yours for $18,000,000

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