Hi y’all, welcome!

Inside: Builders are playing tricks 🙈 + Elon Musks new home purchase(s)🏠️ 

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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 👋 )

New isn’t always better.

With the all the construction in Austin, you may think that a new build is a safe bet.

Wrong.

New builds can be great - but there are a lot of pitfalls to watch out for.

1) Obviously - the house actually needs to get built (sometimes your $80,000 deposit disappears along with the developer…)

2) Quality of build - we’re going to focus on this today.

Quality of Build

Real quickkk sidebar: there was a huge lumber shortage and supply chain disruption during the pandemic building boom. Though lumber price has fallen since its 280% pandemic era spike - prices are still higher than pre-pandemic levels. The price of wood skyrocketed and new developments look a lot like this:

Okay back to it -

Wood = expensive and houses = a lot of wood. Great!

Example 1: Some builders like to cut corners. Kitchen cabinets were historically made of solid wood but we’ve seen a transition to particle board. Now we’re seeing something even crazier, particle board wrapped in plastic…all to save cost.

Looks okay day 1, you might not even notice. But I guarantee you’re less than a year away from the plastic warping and looking like this -

By the way - this is a building in Austin. Let me know if you can guess where 👀 

Example 2: Historically, bedroom doors are solid wood and closet/pantry doors will be hollow. Solid doors are better for sound/heat insulation and hollow doors are cheaper…

If you pay attention when opening your bedroom door or give it a knock, you’ll be able to tell the difference between the two.

Thorough walkthroughs and negotiations with new builders is really important - the builder will always put their best interests first.

If you have any questions, i’d love to hear from you!

🤠 WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN

Elon Musk feels synonymous with Austin these days.

Between Neuralink in Del Valle and the Boring Company in Bastrop and moving X HQ to Austin - Elon is busy, but where does he live?

When Elon said he doesn’t own a home and sold all property to live in a tiny home, people were…surprised. We don’t often see billionaires in 375 square feet.

In 2021 he denied living in a $12,000,000 Mount Bonnell mansion and said he would “own no house.”

In November of 2021 - he sold off the last of his 9 California mansions for $31,990,000. Bringing his total sales to ~$144,000,000.

But the secret is now out: Elon has reportedly snagged a $35 million compound in Austin. The purchase includes 3 mansions for his large family.

In order to secure these properties, he reportedly paid 20-70% above the homes values.

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

Okay, I am absolutely obsessed with this wood-paneled, winding staircase. In a sea of brand new - it’s so refreshing.

Yours for $12,900,000 

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