Selling Your Home

Most cities require that homeowners obtain a building permit before making modifications to a residence. Which modifications require a permit varies by city, and some cities are more vigilant than others about enforcing the requirement.

To receive a permit, the homeowner or their designee files plans and pays fees to the city. The improvements are then given a value, and if they increase the assessed value of the property, the property tax generally rises with it.

If a permit is needed and you do not get one, the city may discover it later, and getting a permit retroactively is frequently far more expensive and much more disruptive than doing it at the time.

If you are buying, save yourself the future cost by checking whether all work on the property was done to code and with the proper permits. Ask for the paperwork rather than assuming it exists.

A pre-sale inspection is one of the few things a seller can do that reliably removes friction later. Finding a problem yourself, on your own timetable, is always cheaper than a buyer finding it during the option period.

Dry rot, termite damage, roof condition, HVAC age and septic performance are the items that most often move a Lake Travis deal. Waterfront adds dock condition and shoreline erosion to that list.

Where a repair is significant, get two written bids before you list. It converts an open-ended worry into a known number, which is much easier to negotiate around.

A Comparative Market Analysis is the tool an agent uses to value a home. It evaluates similar properties that have recently sold, are currently listed, or failed to sell, and adjusts for the differences between them and yours.

On Lake Travis, the adjustments matter more than the raw comparables. Water depth at your cove, dock type and permit status, and whether the view is open water or a channel can separate two otherwise similar homes by a wide margin.

A CMA is not an appraisal. It is a pricing strategy, and it should be revisited if the market moves while you are on it.

An accepted offer is the start of the work, not the end. The option period, the survey, the appraisal and the lender timeline all have to be kept moving, and each one can end a sale if it is left alone.

Respond to buyer requests quickly and in writing. Most deals that collapse do so in the gaps between messages, not over the substance of the repair list.

Keep the property in listed condition until funding. A deal is done when it funds and records, not when it goes under contract.