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Buyer Services
Interest rates have dropped to their lowest in 50 years making it an excellent time to buy a house in the Austin area! Interest rates (in February 2012) are averaging an amazing 3.75%! Your dream neighborhood may now be in your price range. It is also one of the best times in history to refinance your home mortgage. There is a wide range of inventory at competitive prices and you will have increased buying power at the rock-bottom rates. Read this list of Top 11 Reasons to Buy a Home Now! Plus the many tax benefits of home ownership make financial sense. 
How much does it cost to hire a Buyer Agent? In most cases, the Seller pays 100% of the Buyer Agent commission, so you get the professional services of a licensed Realtor at no charge. As a Buyer represented by us, we put our 31 years of experience to work to find you the best home in your most desired location for the lowest price.
In Texas, a broker who acts as a Buyer’s agent must place the interest of the Buyer first (view "How a Buyer's Agent Benefits You."). Please also review this Information About Brokerage Services that all licensed real estate agents are required by law to review with prospective Buyers.
Need a mortgage lender recommendation? Contact us today to get recommendations on local, responsive & competitive lenders for your home refinance or purchase needs.
Need to sell your home before you buy? Tammy & Judy are experts at marketing and staging homes to net top dollar. Check out our detailed Seller Services page with details on our 31 years experience and how we can put it to work in selling your home.
Why is it important to have us as your Buyer's Agent?
1. Your best interests drive all we do. It's very important to have a Buyer's Agent on your side as the Listing Agent or Builder is working in the best interests of the Seller of the property. We work hard to get you the best price and terms on your home and know how to successfully negotiate with Builders and Listing Agents.
2. You get free Buyer representation and we make sure you don't overpay for the property or waste your time: In Texas, most Sellers pay 100% of the Buyer Agent commission, meaning the Buyer gets the professional services of a licensed Realtor at no charge. Without access to recently sold properties to assess fair asking prices, you may end up paying too much. In addition to saving you money, we save you time by doing the time-consuming research to locate the very best homes you should see. We will also send you regular email updates keeping you up to date on what's for sale in the market.
3. Educate you on neighborhoods, schools, mortgage financing, the local economy and more: there are many pieces to the home-buying puzzle and part of our full-service is to help educate you. We're always aware of what is impacting today's Buyer. While home purchases are what we do every day, the average person buys a home only 3-4 times in their life and is not an expert on the process.
Some helpful links in searching for the right location for you:
Community Profile Links - links to local areas including Lakeway, Pflugerville, Lago Vista, Round Rock, Leander, Cedar Park, Westlake, Dripping Springs, Manor, Hutto, & more
Austin Neighborhoods - details on the various MLS areas that the real estate searching database is broken into with school and zip code details. Austin is a great place to live whether you choose a downtown condo by the lake, a newly built home in the suburbs, an investment property or even a waterfront luxury home or lot build to suit.
Recent Crime Data - enter an address to see recent crime data including burglaries, vandalism, assaults, arrests, and other data. You can enter an address and receive alerts when new activity happens near that location.
Texas Sex Offender Registry - the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) establishes this website as the official internet public access to the DPS sex offender registration computerized central database.
2011 - 2012 Austin School ratings - most recent Texas Education Agency school ratings for all Austin-area districts showing the individual rating for each district and school; also includes a listing of private schools, colleges, and explanation of how the school ratings work.
Texas Education Agency - check your school's most recent accountability ratings; you may also see past year's ratings to see how a school has performed over the years and see TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills) test performance results.
Austin Chamber of Commerce - detailed website with information about Austin neighborhoods, quick facts about the city, local economy, arts & entertainment, healthcare, and much more.
Walkscore - calculate the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.
4. Experienced and dedicated Agents: Tammy and Judy are both licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission (Tammy license #508212, Judy license #391490). Judy's ABR designation (Accredited Buyer's Representative) means our team has attained the benchmark of excellence in Buyer representation. Our benchmark for success is that each client is completely satisfied after closing. Both Tammy & Judy are full-time Agents and we are not high-volume Agents who only care about making as many sales as possible and getting to the next deal.
5. We can save a deal: There are several things that can kill a deal or keep your offer from being accepted by the Seller. Our 31 years of experience has given us top negotiating skills and taught us how to overcome a wide variety of potential deal-killers.
Throughout the entire process from finding your dream home to making an offer to getting the deal closed, we are always thinking of what is best for our Buyer. Rest assured we are full-service real estate professionals who can guide you through any purchase. Feel free to browse the following pages on our website (under the Buyer menu) to assist you during your home search:
Not quite ready to make the move, but want to watch the market on homes you like? Let us set up an auto search from our MLS database customized based on your needs. It will email you listings directly whenever a new match hits the market, so you know well before the new home listing gets posted to the popular Buyer-searching websites.
If you have any questions or want more detail on any information, just email either Judy at judy@familypair.com or Tammy at tammy@familypair.com and we'll respond promptly. We would love to partner with you to find your dream home!
What if I need to rent a home?
Buying a home is not the right decision for everyone. There may be times in your life when it makes more sense to rent. If you would like to find out about homes for rent in your desired area and price range, we would be happy to get you connected with one of our experienced Horizon Realty Agents who handle leasing. Horizon Realty is a dynamic and established real estate company made up of experienced-only Agents. You'll find some of the top Agents in Austin in this large office of over 80 Agents.
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