Serving Austin Texas & Surrounding Areas

'FLIPPING' AN INHERITED PROPERTY

A little over 18 months ago, Maureen called us to let us know that she would be inheriting a family property. But it wasn't just any property. The property she would be inheriting, once the legal work was complete, would be her childhood home. 

Talk about a big bundle of emotions. 

Since we'd helped Maureen and her husband Tim buy and sell multiple properties in the past, she wanted our help with exploring her options. 

Should she rent it out? Should she list it as-is? Should she go to the extent of renovating and 'flipping' the house for maximum ROI? What made the most sense, from both a financial and emotional standpoint? 

A year later, we sat down with Tim and Maureen for a third time still looking to answer that same question. Still trying to diagnose the proper plan of attack.

We've said before and it bears repeating, "Our job is NOT to sell houses. As we see it, our duty is to immerse ourselves in each client’s situation. To help spot the opportunities. To advise from an informed position. To help determine the best course of action. And to use our knowledge, resources and experience to contribute to a better outcome.”

The key word there is “contribute.” At the end of the day, a plan is only as powerful and as profitable as those entrusted to execute it.

You see, at Three Pillars Realty, everything that we do is geared toward getting our clients a superior result. It goes back to Warren Buffett’s common sense approach to investing — something we’ve modeled our approach after.

In particular, the first two rules that Buffett lives by:

Rule Number One: “Never Lose Money”

Rule Number Two: “Never Forget Rule Number One”

And our clients who adopt the same mindset, well they, undoubtedly, enjoy the best results. We think it’s a pretty simple cause and effect equation, right?

You get out of it what you put into it.

Price and value are not the same. Price is what it is but value can be manipulated. Value is what ultimately determines what someone is willing to pay. Therefore, it stands to reason that maximizing profit is about increasing the perceived value of your home. 

Maximizing profit is about increasing the perceived value of your home. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And while this may be simple in theory, it’s challenging in practice. Challenging because it takes time. And effort. It takes willingness. And sacrifice.

These are qualities that Maureen and her husband, Tim, possess in spades. We could see it from day one of our interaction. Their buy-in and their commitment to the process was, in a word, inspiring.

The “process” of getting the house on the market, took about five months from start to finish. And during that time, the property underwent a fairly drastic cosmetic transformation. You can see some of the before and after pictures below.

Not a lot of people realize this but there are actually up to fourteen different factors we can consider, depending on the home, to spot unseen opportunity and capitalize on it. 

And that is why step one in our process is always the same. Investigate!

The worst thing that any prospective home seller can do is jump into the process blind and start knocking over dominoes in the wrong order.

The worst thing that any prospective home seller can do is jump into the process blind and start knocking over dominoes in the wrong order.

In this case, with an older home of relatively unknown condition, we started with a thorough property inspection. There is no amount of cosmetic updating that can compensate for a home that is diseased, internally.

From there, we moved on to the “opportunity” phase. Given the time and budget that Tim and Maureen had to invest into the project, what made the most sense? We researched the market and put together a detailed spreadsheet with three separate hypothetical scenarios.

Once the decision was made, we assembled our team and went to work – Tim and Maureen working tirelessly, alongside our contractors, to bring the home back to life.

The finished product exceeded even our loftiest of expectations. Before we could even officially activate the listing in MLS, we had a half dozen showings and received more than one offer. Impassioned cover letters too.

Buyer’s essentially applying to be chosen as the future owner of this home . . .

“I’m Xxxxxxx Xxxxx, and I really want to be the next owner of your beautiful home! In hopes of your feeling good about who you choose to be the steward of your family’s home, I will tell you a little about myself and why I want to make La Salle my first home.”

And …

“We’ve been dreaming about buying a house in University Hills for years now, almost as long as we’ve been together. When we first walked through your home, we looked at each other and knew this was a home where we could build our family.”

Can you blame them though?

At the end of the day, there are psychological reasons why someone buys a home, logical ones too. And both can be manipulated by taking a Value-Driven Approach.

We’ve written before that the one thing we never tire of is seeing our clients get an All-Star result. In this case, Maureen and Tim knocked it out of the park.

Some homeowners and their agents may wonder, why go to this length . . . Why put in months of hard work for just a couple days on the market. If that.

But in our eyes it’s not a question of why?

It’s why not?

ARE YOU READY TO MAXIMIZE YOUR PROFIT?

 Request a Complete Property Diagnosis So We Can Help You Determine the Best Prescription To Increase Your ROI.

Are You . . .
Looking to Sell?

At Three Pillars Realty, we offer options depending upon what you value most in the transaction.  

EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS:

Option #1: Maximize Speed
Option #2: Maximize ROI

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
Helping Sellers On The Move
"Ryan listed my property on the MLS on a Wednesday morning. By noon the next day, my dilemma was deciding which over-asking price offer I was going to accept. That was a fun problem. I know I’ll never have to stress about real estate in Austin, Texas because Ryan France is on the mound!"
Lauren Neil-Jeffrey
HOME SELLER
"Ryan was the perfect Realtor for us. His advice on staging our vacant house was the most important reason it sold quickly. The sale of our home was a pretty complicated process. Ryan’s patience, honesty and straight-forward attitude were key in seeing this complex processes through."
Ankur Jain
HOME SELLER
"Once my house sold (above asking), I got a call from Ryan asking if I had a favorite charity for which he could make a donation to commemorate the sale. I was slightly taken aback ... then I realized that I shouldn’t be surprised at all. Not only is Ryan a good Realtor, he’s an even better human being."
Dale Blandin
HOME SELLER
"Ryan displayed complete professionalism and was always prepared. His skill at marketing was superb! The house was under contract within a week of listing! He knew where to focus efforts for the best results and he is very detail-oriented. I highly recommend him."
Luke Childress
HOME SELLER
"Ryan and his team were very helpful in making my condo stand out and sell quickly. He was proactive & effective in his communications. I always knew what to expect and where we were in the process. Ryan is the consummate
professional. You will be in good hands."
Laura Tomlinson
HOME SELLER
"Ryan had our house under contract in less than 48 hours, with 6 offers. Many of the Realtors commented on how the house was “staged and priced perfectly” thanks to Ryan’s advice. Ryan was extremely easy to communicate with and made the process of selling of our house as easy as possible."
Shelly Weathers
HOME SELLER
HELPFUL LINKS
BROKER CONTACT INFO
TEXAS REAL ESTATE BROKER #9004679
  •  512-773-3493
  •  Ryan@RyanFrance.com
COPYRIGHT ©2022  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - THREE PILLARS REALTY  
COPYRIGHT ©2022  
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - THREE PILLARS REALTY  
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