Our 2021 First-Time Home Buyer Stats
We’re so excited to share our favorite statistics for our first-time home buyers from 2021! First-time buyers made up 76% of our clients, and we’re so, so proud of all 85 of them. Despite the market craze, they trusted us to help them accomplish their goals and our numbers show that it is still 100% possible to buy your first home with low money down.
4 Tips for Budgeting for Big Purchases
For most of us, a house or a college education are the most expensive things we'll ever buy. And when you're trying to save tens of thousands of dollars for your first house, you need a different budget than when you use to save for a beach trip with your friends. Here are four tips to save faster and smarter for those big purchases in life!
Small Income, Big Debt: How Kara Paid Off $30,000 in Debt on a $20,000 Income
Kara graduated college in 2011 with $25,302 in student loans, no job, and a degree in English. She shares the 4 steps she took to pay off her debt and find financial freedom!
How to Build a Tiny House: From Costs to Construction
Our founder Steph decided to build a tiny house in the back of one of her investment properties. Learn how she planned, stayed on budget, and made back her investment with our Tiny House Guide.
How to Buy Your First House and Make it an Investment
That’s right - your very first home you live in can be an investment property and help you MAKE money, all while avoiding wasting money on rent. So how do you do it you ask? We’ll break down exactly how to buy your first home with an investor mindset.
Buying a Fixer Upper Beach House With My Sister
Learn how Kristina was able to use equity from her home in Austin to buy her dream beach house with her sister in 30A; the panhandle of Florida. She also discusses how they not only bought a house from afar but also renovated and manage their Airbnb remotely.
How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a House?
Many people think there are lots of hidden fees when buying a house and it’s often what holds them back from making any moves. In some ways this is correct, but in reality it’s because there’s a lack of education around home buying. Read to learn exactly how much it costs to buy a house!
How To Navigate a Hot Housing Market
It’s hard to know how to progress during this chaos, and it is definitely an overwhelming time in Real Estate for buyers, sellers, and agents alike. But y’all, we’ve been at this for a minute now - so we’ve got you!
7 Tips for Buying a Home with Multiple Offers in a Hot Market
Bidding on a multiple offer home in a hot market can be super discouraging - especially when it happens over and over again. So we’ve compiled a list of 7 tips that will help you beat the competition!
Should I Buy a House Now or Wait?
Rent is something you consider on a monthly basis. But have you ever done the math and realized how much you’ve actually spent on rent? Here we break down 11 years of rent spent by one person in Austin, and what would have happened if she bought a home instead.
How I Made $84,000 Refinancing My Home in Austin
One of our founders, Kristina, used the process of cash-out refinancing to pull $84,000 from her home. So what exactly is cash-out refinancing? How did she get that much money? What will she use it for? Click to read her entire story, step by step!
How I Bought a 1 Acre House in Central Austin in my 20s
Jenn Carey, a Open House Austin agent and investor, walks us through her process of buying a north/central Austin home that was on an entire acre of land! From the search to the cost - read all about it here!
Transforming A Home into a $40k Yearly Airbnb Money Maker
How did one of our founders, Steph Douglass, turn an ugly house into one of the hottest Airbnb’s in Austin’s east side that now earns her over $40k a year? Read to see her entire process, from start to finish.
7 Easy DIY Improvements to Increase Home Value
We’ve compiled a list of 7 home improvements you can do yourself that will increase your home’s value and curb appeal. Although some of these may take a little money and a lot of work, you’ll be happy down the road.
Should You House Hack a Condo or House?
When it comes to house hacking - is there a type of home that is best? By comparing a similar size/price house and condo, we can see if there really is a better choice, and which one is right for you!
Become Familiar With Your Real Estate Contract
Real estate contracts can be intimidating for a first time buyer. Here we break down a typical “one to four family” residential contract, and answer the most common questions we see from our clients.
A Year Airbnb-ing My Room in Austin TX
Since moving to Austin after college in 2012, I always saw the benefit of buying a house and having roommates help pay my mortgage payment. I finally had the opportunity to do so in 2017. I renovated the home, and now make an income through Air bnb.
How to Legally Protect Yourself in a Real Estate Partnership
No matter the terms of your partnership, it is extremely important to legally protect yourself in any arrangement. Recently, attorney Lori Daves shared some tips with attendees of the Go Forth Investor Meetup on how to make sure you CYA (my words, not hers) when entering a transaction within a partnership. Here is an overview of what we learned.
How To Buy, Renovate, and Profit from a Commercial Property in Austin as a 20-Something
My business partner, Steph, and I both house-hack at our primary residences and have also recently started to “office-hack.” What is office hacking? Office-hacking is getting others to pay for your mortgage at the commercial space that you also occupy. Learn how we turned a run down space, into our dream office/event space!