Some home sellers have considerable experience in the buying and selling of homes. The typical home seller has owned three homes; about one third have owned two homes. Not surprisingly, older sellers typically have owned more homes than younger ones; 43 percent of sellers 45 to 64 years old, have owned at least four homes, while more than a third of sellers who are 65 or older have owned at least five homes. Despite their previous experience of home buying and selling, the majority of these sellers still rely on the expertise and knowledge of real estate professionals to help them in selling a home.

The median sales price for homes in Central Texas grew 5 percent in March, according to the latest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report. Single-family home sales for the month were 1,832, while active listings grew to 9,638.

"The number of active listings available in Central Texas represents approximately five months of housing inventory, which economists agree is present in a healthy market," said ABoR Chairman Socar Chatmon-Thomas. "Nationally, the number of homes in supply has remained close to 10 months."

In March 2008, the median price of single-family properties was $186,680. Altogether, single-family property sales contributed $434,647,496 to the local economy last month. These properties sat on the market for an average of 73 days.

Source: Austin Board of Realtors

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With the advent of the Internet, thousands of real estate web sites have become available—all of them with some combination of raw data, opinions, and informative tips for selling your home. Some of these sites proclaim or insinuate that you are better-off selling your home by yourself—without professional representation. With all the available tools, you may be successful. Just remember, it doesn’t take much of a misstep to cost yourself thousands of dollars and a lot of aggravation. Consider a Texas Realtor to help you navigate a 21st century real estate transaction.

For instance, a property-valuation site may incorrectly value your home. If you use this information and place your home on the market at a price that’s too high or too low, you risk costing yourself money, additional time to sell, or both. Texas Realtors have the experience and knowledge to accurately price your home, and take many factors into consideration that no data-aggregating site can incorporate.

Telephone calls, property showings, open-house visitors, contract negotiations, transaction coordination, and legal risk are a part of the home-selling process. The game has changed, though—these days, you also have to post the property on the Web and market it through the Internet, and agents will help you navigate tricky web waters as well. Research from the National Association of Realtors indicates that more than 80% of buyers now heavily rely on the Internet for their home search. Potential buyers now expect lots of online content, especially pictures and video, and they want it to be high-quality, easy to find, organized, and informative.

Your agent will make sure you utilize the vast resources available to you on the Internet, and to give buyers the online information they need to properly consider your home.

Source: Texas Association of Realtors

Managing your credit score is important for all areas of financial health, not the least of which is getting a low interest mortgage when you are ready to buy a home. So, prepare yourself now by making sure you know the basic facts about your credit score:

Scores reflect only your past credit history — not personal characteristics, such as age and gender. Over time, you have the ability to control this factor.

A low score could not only cost you thousands of dollars a year in additional finance charges but also deny you access to credit, insurance, electric and telephone service, a rental unit or a even a job.

Consumers with credit scores less than 600 are typically charged relatively high subprime loan rates. Those with scores more than 700 are usually pay lower rates. Those with scores more than 760 get the lowest rates of all.

Paying your bills consistently and on time is the best way to improve your credit score. If you are behind, get current and stay there. Don’t max-out credit cards and other revolving credit. Pay off debt rather than moving it around, and don’t open many new accounts.

Check your credit report annually to see that it’s error free. Remember that while you often can get a free credit report, you almost always must pay for a credit score (except when applying for a mortgage loan). It usually costs around $9 to purchase reports and scores from one of the big three credit bureaus.

Source: Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University

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