location > home
Issue 114 - December 16th, 2022
The ONE thing you can never ever change about a piece of real estate is its location. It is a very simple and obvious concept, but so few people take this seriously when purchasing property.
When I was an agent, I would always encourage my clients to shop by location as the number one criteria and then buy the best home they can comfortably afford within their means in the best location.
Sounds simple but few people actually put this into practice.
My simple step by step process for people when thinking about a home purchase:
Write out “must-have” criteria such as bedrooms, bathrooms, garage, school district, or other things that are non-negotiable due to lifestyle needs and family situations etc.
Depending on your “must-have” items, identify neighborhoods in your search zone that include these “must-have” features
Go deeper into the search funnel and zone in on specific locations in the neighborhood
Obsess over location as the number one guiding factor during your home search
When it comes time to choose a home, I would always pick the B grade home in an A plus location over the A plus home in a B grade location
You can always make updates over time to the home’s condition but you can never change the location. EVER.
Simple but true.
Location is more important than the house when it comes to the property value. When it comes to which home you will enjoy more, only you can answer that!
It's often a matter of patience finding a home you will love in the right price range, so don't jump at a house that is outside of your desired location in my opinion.
You can always make updates and upgrades to a home, you can't update the location.
Newsworthy Links To Share
Remote, office-less brokerages are growing quickly (Inman) - Pinnacle Realty Advisors mentioned in this one.
Fifth Wall Closes $866M Proptech Fund In New Record For Growing Industry (WSJ)
New York Risks Losing Wealthiest Over High Taxes, Comptroller Says (Bloomberg)
The Real Brokerage appoints Sharran Srivatsaa to newly created “President” role. He has worked in real estate, finance and tech, will take on the newly created position at the fast-growing brokerage.(Real Estate News)
Houwzer Acquires Competitor Trelora: Houwzer, a flat-free real estate brokerage, announced this week that it is acquiring Trelora, a competitor in the same space. (Businesswire)
Thomvest Housing Report: What’s Next in the Housing Market & How Will Startups Respond? (Thomvest Ventures)
Citadel’s Ken Griffin plans to build ‘trophy office tower’ in NYC: Billionaire Citadel boss Ken Griffin plans to develop a new skyscraper that would serve as the anchor of the investment firm’s growing presence in New York City (NY Post)
Setpoint, an Austin-based company building software to power proptech transactions, announced Dec. 7 a $43 million Series A round. It was led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors included KKR's Henry Kravis and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff, as well as Fifth Wall, 645 Ventures, Vesta Ventures and NextView Ventures.
Austin City Council moves to tighten reins on short-term rentals (Austin Business Journal)