It occurred to me last week that it would be helpful for people to understand how we think and what it's like to work with us. Recently, we met with someone who was visibly stressed about selling their home. I completely understand—selling your house to tap into equity that will finance the rest of your life is daunting. You want to make the right decisions because you're dealing with your most significant asset!
We help first, and we always share information, always. You don't need to buy or sell, now or never—we don't care. We just want to be a source of information to help you make the best decisions for you and your family. Consider us your nerdy real estate friends who love talking about data.
Our Approach to Market Analysis
The Austin Board of Realtors publishes monthly data on the Austin area MLS. Our brokerage, led by Eric Bramlett, collects this data internally, giving us insights weeks before they're available to the broader market.
In early 2023, drawing from my trading background, we began tracking three key metrics:
Active properties
Pending properties in the last 30 days
Weekly contract activity
We focus on a 12-mile radius from downtown Austin to remove outlying properties while capturing core market dynamics. This carefully chosen area has become our consistent measuring stick for the market.
Because this has served us well, and in the spirit of keeping data publicly available, I’m working on a plan to share this data with the public on all of our communication channels. My hope is that this will be helpful to the consumers that want to know what it’s like to work with nerds that just want to talk about data and don’t really care too much if you sell or buy. We just love the numbers and are always available to analyze them with you for your personal situation!
Real-World Impact: A Case Study from Early 2024
In January 2024, we noticed something interesting: buyer activity was picking up, but inventory hadn't yet responded. By February, our data showed buyer activity had increased by 25%, while many sellers who had pulled their properties in December 2023 hadn't yet relisted.
We expedited several listings to market during this window, resulting in multiple offer situations for our sellers. While these weren't the frenzied bidding wars of years past—one property received three offers and sold at asking price—they gave our sellers confidence they were maximizing their returns.
Our Philosophy on Market Timing
We don't believe in micro-timing the real estate market. Real estate investments work best over long horizons—typically 10+ years. When clients ask if it's a "good time" to buy or sell, we focus on their specific circumstances:
What are your life goals?
How will you use the equity from a sale?
What does your financial advisor recommend?
How does this move fit into your broader financial strategy?
Yes, we discuss seasonality with sellers and drill down into neighborhood-specific trends (stay tuned for our upcoming series on seasonality differences in each Austin neighborhood next month). But ultimately, our focus is on helping you make the best decision for your personal situation.
We are delighted to be your guides to Austin and Austin real estate!
Cheers,
Jen & the team
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