Central East Austin Real Estate - Mueller and More

New homes at Mueller are still available from the builders, and there are challenges if you wish to sell your home there.

In this part II of the series “How Do I Sell My Home at Mueller?” I examine the market forces that you have to compete with.

In part I, I discussed the current state of development at Mueller Austin - we are in phase II, with nine planned phases of residential development. In part III I look at some of the tactics you can use to compete with the builders.

Why is it difficult to sell a home in a residential development under construction?

Competing with the builders. The Mueller builders are selling homes in the development too, and they have a number of things on their side as the market balances supply - the number of available homes - with demand - the finite pool of buyers who want to live in the development at any given time.

“To be built” location choice - the builders can give choices to the buyers with a home built for a them - which lot, which floorplan, and which elevation.

“To be built” upgrade choices - the buyer can specify what decor and internal features they want. The may choose the bedroom option over a study for example.

Professional staging - the builders have model homes that are carefully set up to appeal to the buying demographic. This is one tool the builder uses to paint the picture of the buyer’s ideal future home, and after seeing a model home, most occupied homes don’t compare.

New rather than lived in - many people prefer the idea of a brand new home with it’s builder warranty, unused appliances, and no wear and tear. They like the idea of walking through a home and asking the builder to complete any touch up items before they move in. It’s like the new car smell for houses!

Special financing incentives - builders have preferred lenders and partnerships with title companies and will have different incentives to use them. Whether or not the incentives actually give a better deal is a matter for analysis on a case by case basis, but the builder markets the incentives, and they always seem attractive at first glance.

Builder marketing budgets - the builders have sales people manning model homes, and given that in Mueller they are building and selling around 350 homes per phase, the seven current builders have economies of scale when attracting buyers to the neighborhood. They are allowed to have signs throughout the neighborhood, and hold large open house events, sharing the cost over multiple home sales.

So it sounds like the odds are stacked agains the individual home seller - someone who moved to Mueller and has to sell their home. In part III, I’ll show some of the tactics that can be used to achieve the sale you want at Mueller.

Garreth Wilcock is a Realtor® residing in Mueller Austin. He specializes in Central and East Austin Real Estate. Find out about his Mueller Move Up program, or cost saving representation for buyers at Mueller Austin.