5 Austin Real Estate Buying Tips

Austin, the capital city of Texas, is one of my favorite places to live in. And not only is mine, the city is at top of many people’s list of the best places to live in, which has made every inch of Austin real estate a hot cake among realtors. In 2009, Money magazine selected the city as the No. 3 Best Big City in “Best Places to Live”, and it was at No. 2 position in 2006. Other accolades that Austin has received include:

Greenest city in America, MSN
No.2 city with the best people, CNN Headline News and Travel & Leisure magazine
America’s No. 1 college town, Travel Channel
5th safest city
The least stressful large metro area, Forbes magazine.
Now can you see why the houses in the capital city of Texas are sold long before “Austin Homes for Sale” placards are placed before them? Not only that, the rub-off effect of Austin’s real estate success can be seen on homes in Kyle as well, a city 21 miles southwest of Austin. Call it Austin phenomenon that even “Kyle homes for Sale” placards do not have to wait longer before it is shoved inside the already crowded stowage.
The Silicon Hills not the Silicon Valley

Austin also goes by the name of the “Silicon Hills” because of the high concentration of high-tech firms operating in the city. 3M, AMD, Apple Inc., Applied Materials, Cirrus Logic, Cisco Systems, Dell, eBay/PayPal, Freescale Semiconductor (spun off from Motorola in 2004), Google, Hewlett-Packard, Hoover’s, IBM, Intel Corporation, National Instruments, Samsung Group, Silicon Laboratories, Sun Microsystems, and United Devices are the names of the high-tech companies running their from Austin.

These companies have made the price of local real estate go through the roof compared to the real estate prices in many parts of rural Texas. But still it is much cheaper than the housing cost in the Silicon Valley. That is why many tech giants are flocking to the city making “Austin Homes for Sale” placards disappear much more quickly than it should.

It is not only the high-tech companies that are coming to the city; it is pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well. 85 companies from the industry operate out of Austin.

These companies along with the state agencies, colleges, and universities produce so much of employment that it makes the city a place where a person can allow its dream to fly. The city is up for a dream run, and so are the people living here.

But, what about those who do not live in Austin? How can they take advantage of opportunities presented by this city? Well, they need to settle down in the city and for that they will need a home in the city. The following paragraphs will help them find a perfect nest I (almost) for themselves in the city.

5 Austin real estate buying tips

Research the neighborhood: This is something anyone will ask you to do. It is an absolute must because you are going to spend time with people there. See if the neighborhood is suitable for you or not, and if it can meet your needs or not. Check the following:

Crime rate
Schools
Grocery stores
Departmental stores
Park
Sports club & gym
Doctors and hospitals
Police and fire department
Find a real estate agent you can trust: Finding a reliable Austin real estate agent is as important as finding a good neighborhood. A real estate agent will not only find a good home at the best price for you, but he will also help you settle in the locality. He will assist you in finding shops of daily requirement, and will also use his knowledge of the community to help you settle down. I have heard of many stories where Austin realtors have turned into a lifelong friend for their customers.
See a handful of houses: Do not commit a mistake of settling down for the house shown to you in the first go. Austin has many good houses in every neighborhood. Look at minimum 4-5 houses before deciding on any. Click pictures of each home that you visit, and ask for the benefits each has to offer.

Pay your Austin real estate agent well: Bargaining with an estate agent on his commission is not that good an idea. After all, it is on him that your property-search depends. A grumpy real estate agent may get you a bad deal, whereas, a happy agent will get you the house at the best possible price.

Hire a home inspector: A home inspector will help you evaluate the worth of the house you are considering. He will also tell you about things that will need immediate fixing, and things that can wait. He will spend a whole day i

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5 Kenya Real Estate Buying Tips

There are a range of Kenya real estate options to suit every type of buyer. These range from luxury beach homes which make for excellent second homes or vacation rentals, to villas, town houses and apartments.

Kenya is a reasonably big economy so besides Nairobi, there is a vibrant property market in Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi and Kisumu. Chances therefore are that you will be spoilt for choice when searching Kenya properties for your ideal home.

However, before you sign on the dotted line, ponder over the tips below very carefully.

1. Research the Neighborhood

When you identify a piece of Kenya real estate you like, drive or walk around the neighborhood. Is it lush and are there unplanned structures such as kiosks on the roadside?

Are the roads paved and how many alternative routes can you use to get to the city center? Does the neighborhood have a vibrant association that advances the community’s common interests?

Is your dream house near a shopping center so that you don’t have to drive to the other end of town to do your weekly shopping? If you have school-going children, how good are the schools in the area?

Is the house located near slums? The latter is an important consideration as it devalues your investment and may increase the incidence of crime. Although classified as posh suburbs for example, parts of Lavington, Loresho and Runda border slums so steer clear of these.

It may be a good idea to drive around the neighborhood at unusual times such as very early in the morning, after office hours and late at night to check out the traffic flow and the general environment in the neighborhood.

Some areas in the country are more prone to power and water outages than others. So walk into one of the local shops and ask about these issues so that you can make an informed Kenya real estate decision.

2. Do your Due Diligence on the Identified Property

Once you have thoroughly researched the neighborhood, it’s time to research the property at both the Ministry of Lands and the relevant city or municipal council.

Carrying out a search at the Ministry of Lands helps you to ascertain a couple of things…

First, the copy of the title will indicate whether the person purporting to sell the property is indeed the owner.

Second, it indicates the outstanding lease period if it is a leasehold property. It may not be wise to buy a property with a remaining lease period of less than 20 years. If, however, you will finance the purchase of the property with a mortgage, be aware that financial institutions will require a much longer outstanding lease period.

Third, any encumbrances on the property will be noted on the title. If, for example, the title holder has mortgaged the property, the mortgager’s interest will be noted on the title. As such, the property transaction cannot be finalized without this lender’s consent so you should plan to obtain this.

A search at the city or municipal council offices will help you ascertain whether all the annual rates have been paid. If there are arrears, the transfer of property cannot be effected by the Ministry of Lands as the city or municipal council will withhold their all-important certificate of clearance.

3. Negotiate

Negotiation is another important tip for getting value for money when buying Kenya real estate. Buying a house is, by all accounts, a major investment so do don’t be embarrassed to bargain. Try and lop a million or half a million Kenya shillings off the advertised price…

Timing is critical here though as it is easier to get a discount on uncompleted developments. Developers are keen to give considerable discounts when construction has just started in return for a substantial down payment. So, be prepared to pay substantially more than the 10 percent of the purchase price typically required upon signing of the sale agreement.

How much down payment you will eventually be required to make is entirely up to your negotiation skills so hone these in good time.

4. Identify a Good Lender

If you will be financing your home purchase with a mortgage, you need to research the mortgage providers in Kenya so that you pick the one who most meets your needs.

Several banks, building societies and mortgage companies provide 80-100 percent mortgages. These include Housing Finance, Kenya Commercial Bank, Barclays and Commercial Bank of Africa. In Kenya, mortgages typically attract variable rather than fixed interest rates but read the fine print to ensure that there are no hidden costs or oppressive clauses.

Obviously, before taking on a mortgage, make sure you can service both your existing and additional debt. This will avert that dreaded risk of foreclosure in future.

5. Hire a Good Lawyer

Lawyers play an irreplaceable role in concluding Kenya real estate transactions so you will need to hire one.

As with everywhere else, Kenya has a few wayward lawyers so choose your lawyer very carefully. If you don’t know one, ask your family or real estate agent to recommend a reliable one.

As an extra safeguard, do not grant your lawyer the power of attorney because this gives him a free license to do with the property as he pleases. So, you could be cheated out of your Kenya real estate investment.

Instead, set aside some money to have all documents that require your signature couriered to you. You will also need to courier these back. This may cost you a few hundred dollars and delay conclusion of the transaction by a few weeks but is well worth it to protect your interests

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