Let me tell you a story about pricing a unique home in Austin
In November 2020 I listed a rare property in a neighborhood (off of Bee Caves Road & Cuernavaca Drive near Austin Lake Estates. This small affordable section Called Lake Ridge Estates has located blocks from Lake Austin where hippies and lake enthusiasts hung out in their mobile homes in the ’60s. The important point is that the city of Austin has grown and families moved in to be within 15-20 minutes of Downtown, located in the renowned Eanes School District. The neighborhood has matured but as folks have torn down and rebuilt homes the amount of turnover and recent comparable sales in that section peaked @ a price of $850k. The home I marketed sits on about an acre of land, with a custom pool, and had been remodeled from the studs and a casita was added in 2019. How was I going to capture a fair price for the home? Here’s What Happened.
- I priced the main house with price per square foot adjusted it upwards due to for a low number of days on the market.
- I priced the casita separately.
- I priced recent lots that sold and added that to the value.
- I added the price of a pool (50% of value).
- I adjusted for market conditions (nothing on the market) Nothing recently available in any part of town.
- The seller completely prepared for resale.
PRICE - $1.25M several hundred thousand above the comps location.
- Austin’s most desirable school district.
- It of a kind oversized lot.
- The setting was gated and private.
Condition
- The main house was Vacant, freshly painted, and ready for move-in.
- It included features that are important to many buyer types including smart home technology, custom inground pool, a variety of decks, and idyllic vantage points.
Availability of Similar Properties
- The home had a casita built just over a year ago.
- The property was gated with a detached garage.
- Few properties like it existed in the area but none had sold in the past year so it was viewed as an anomaly.
What’s the moral of the story?
Pricing by dollar per square foot only just might leave money on the table that you deserve.
