Answers by Zac Johnson

Good news: you have more options than you might think. Bad news: every option has a real tradeoff, and understanding those upfront saves you from costly surprises. THE COSTS THAT ARE TRULY UNAVOIDABLE No matter how you sell, you're looking at transfer taxes and closing costs (varies by state, typically 1-3%), any liens or outstanding mortgage payoff, and attorney fees in states that require them at closing. Everything else is negotiable or optional. STAGING, CLEANING, AND REPAIRS: REQUIRED OR OPTIONAL? Nobody can force you to stage or renovate. But condition directly affects price and days on market. A home that sits for 90 days because it showed poorly often nets you less than one that sold in 10 days after a $500 deep clean. You don't have to spend money to prep a home, but skipping it usually costs you more on the back end through price reductions and lowball offers. The minimum most sellers should consider is a thorough cleaning and declutter. Everything beyond that is a strategic decision based on your margin. FSBO (FOR SALE BY OWNER): YES, IT'S COMPLETELY LEGAL You can absolutely sell without an agent. People do it every day. The honest reality though is that you'll still likely need to offer a buyer's agent commission (typically 2-3%) or risk buyers skipping your listing entirely. You're also responsible for all disclosures, negotiations, contracts, and deadlines. FSBO homes statistically sell for less than agent-listed homes, though the commission savings can offset that depending on your market. You'll also need a real estate attorney to handle closing in most states regardless. FSBO works best when you already have a buyer lined up, you're in a hot market where everything sells fast anyway, or you have enough experience to manage the paperwork confidently. THE 1% AGENT OPTION: WHAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY GETTING Discount brokers and 1% listing agents are legitimate. You'll get MLS access, which is the single most valuable thing an agent provides since that's what feeds Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com. What you're often giving up is negotiation support, marketing depth, and hands-on guidance through the transaction. For a straightforward sale in a strong market, that tradeoff can make total sense. THE HONEST FRAMEWORK FOR SELLING AS CHEAPLY AS POSSIBLE Clean and declutter yourself at zero cost. Take decent photos with a modern smartphone in good lighting, or pay $150-200 for a pro photographer since that one investment tends to pay for itself. Use a flat-fee MLS service ($300-500) to get listed on all major platforms. Offer a buyer's agent commission to avoid being skipped. Hire a real estate attorney for closing. That approach gets you to market for well under $1,000 out of pocket, with your main cost being the buyer's agent side at closing. The real question isn't how little can you spend. It's how much do you want to net. Sometimes spending $1,000 strategically puts $10,000 more in your pocket. Know your market, know your home, and make that call with real numbers in front of you.

Great question, and I've seen this play out hundreds of times working with real estate agents and agencies across the country.** AI staging works. But only when you treat it like a marketing tool, not a magic trick. Here's the honest breakdown: **The psychology is on your side.** Buyers aren't browsing listings hoping to furnish an empty room in their heads. They want to feel something. AI staging gives them that emotional trigger before they ever step foot in the door. Online clicks drive showings, and showings drive offers. That first photo is doing more selling than most agents realize. **Where it goes wrong is simple: dishonesty by omission.** If a buyer walks into a vacant home after seeing beautifully staged photos and nothing matches, you've broken trust before you've said hello. That disconnect costs you. Always label photos as virtually staged, and always include the empty room photos alongside them. Give buyers both versions. That transparency actually builds credibility instead of destroying it. **The cost comparison alone makes it worth testing.** Physical staging can run $1,500 to $5,000 or more depending on the property. AI staging runs $20 to $50 per photo. For vacant homes, budget sellers, or smaller spaces that don't photograph well empty, that math is obvious. **Where I'd use it without hesitation:** vacant properties, new construction, investment properties, and any listing where the seller can't or won't stage physically. **Where I'd be more careful:** high-end luxury listings where buyers expect a premium in-person experience, or homes with unusual layouts where AI furniture placement can look off and raise more questions than it answers. Bottom line: AI staging is a legitimate marketing tool that's now standard practice. The agents using it well aren't hiding anything. They're helping buyers visualize what most people genuinely can't picture on their own. Done with transparency and quality, it gets more eyes on your listing, more people through the door, and stronger offers. The fake feeling comes from bad execution, not the technology itself.

This is one of the most common worries homeowners have, and the good news is that home values are not random. There are clear signals you can watch right now that will tell you a lot about where your home is headed. WHAT ACTUALLY DRIVES YOUR HOME VALUE Your home value is tied to a combination of things, some you can control and some you cannot. The ones you cannot control are the most important to understand first. Your local market is everything. National headlines about real estate going up or down are nearly meaningless for your specific situation. A neighborhood in Austin can be losing value while one in Tampa is surging. You need to be watching what is happening within a few miles of your front door, not what CNN is reporting about the national market. THE SIGNALS THAT TELL YOU YOUR VALUE IS HOLDING Days on market is one of the best indicators available. If homes in your area are going under contract in under 30 days, demand is strong and values are stable or rising. If homes are sitting for 60, 90, or 120 days before selling, that is a warning sign worth paying attention to. Watch the sale price versus list price ratio in your area. When homes are selling at or above asking price, the market favors sellers. When homes are regularly selling 5 to 10 percent below asking, the balance is shifting toward buyers. Inventory levels matter a great deal too. A healthy seller's market typically has less than 3 months of housing supply available. When inventory climbs above 6 months, prices tend to soften. You can track this on Zillow, Redfin, or Realtor.com by simply watching how many homes are listed in your zip code over time. THE SIGNALS THAT SUGGEST TROUBLE AHEAD Watch for businesses closing in your area, population decline, rising crime stats, or major employers leaving the region. These are longer term value killers that take time to show up in prices but eventually always do. Also pay attention to your neighborhood itself. Values are contagious in both directions. If surrounding homes are being maintained and upgraded, that lifts yours. If neighbors are letting properties deteriorate or rentals are increasing heavily in the area, that creates downward pressure over time. WHAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY CONTROL You cannot control the market but you can control how your home compares to others when it is time to sell. Keeping up with basic maintenance is the most important thing. A home that is mechanically sound with a good roof, updated HVAC, and no deferred maintenance will always compete better than one that has been ignored, even in a soft market. Kitchens and bathrooms still deliver the strongest return when updated, even modestly. You do not need a full renovation. Refreshing fixtures, hardware, and paint goes a long way. THE REALISTIC OUTLOOK FOR MOST HOMEOWNERS If you are planning to sell in a few years, time is actually working in your favor in most markets. Historically, real estate values trend upward over 5 to 10 year periods even when there are short term dips along the way. The people who got hurt in past downturns were almost always the ones who bought at the peak and needed to sell within 2 to 3 years. If you have a longer horizon, the risk drops significantly. The best thing you can do right now is pull up recent sold prices within a half mile of your home on Zillow or Redfin, look at the trend over the last 12 to 24 months, and check how long homes are sitting before they sell. Those three data points will give you a clearer picture of your specific situation than any national forecast ever will.

There is actually a lot happening right now so let me break it down simply. WHAT IS THE GOAL? Two things. Make it cheaper to borrow money to buy a home. And make it easier and faster to build new homes. Both are aimed at making housing more affordable for everyday Americans. WHAT HAS ACTUALLY BEEN ANNOUNCED? Trump directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities to drive down borrowing costs, and took executive action to prohibit large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, with the goal of keeping those properties available for everyday families. He also signed an executive order to eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens that delay housing construction and increase costs. WILL HOMES GET CHEAPER TO BUY? Possibly, but not dramatically or overnight. Experts are not expecting a sharp nationwide drop in prices. The forecast is roughly half a percent increase, which is essentially flat. The real long term solution is simply building more homes, and the country is currently behind on that. WILL YOUR HOME VALUE BE AFFECTED? If you already own, the near term outlook is stable. Lower mortgage rates bring more buyers into the market, which supports home values rather than hurting them. Existing home sales recently rose to their strongest pace in three years, with income growth outpacing home price gains. Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/01/as-president-trump-tackles-housing-affordability-progress-emerges-and-more-relief-is-on-the-horizon/ THE ONE WILDCARD Tariffs on building materials like lumber and steel could cancel out some of the benefits of deregulation. If it still costs a fortune to build a new home, those savings never reach the buyer. BOTTOM LINE Buyers may benefit from gradually lower mortgage rates. Current homeowners are unlikely to see their values drop from any of this in the near term. Your local market will always matter more than any national policy.

Great question, and you are right that there is no crystal ball. But here is what the data and experts are actually pointing to right now -- for 2026. NO CRASH IS COMING A housing market crash in 2026 is considered virtually impossible by most forecasters. Prices are not going to start drastically dropping anytime soon. That is the most important thing for most homeowners to hear first. PRICES WILL GROW BUT SLOWLY Redfin forecasts a 1% price increase, Realtor.com predicts 2.2%, and the National Association of Realtors anticipates around 4%. The wide range tells you that local markets matter far more than any national number right now. MORTGAGE RATES ARE STAYING ABOVE 6% Mortgage rates are expected to hover around 6.2% in 2026, a slight improvement from the 6.6% average seen in 2025, but still significantly higher than the lows of previous years. Do not expect rates to fall dramatically anytime soon. WHERE YOU LIVE MATTERS MORE THAN EVER The Northeast and Midwest are expected to see strong demand and rising prices, while Sun Belt markets like Austin and Tampa are weakening due to oversupply. Florida and Texas in particular saw a building boom that is now creating softer prices. MORE BUYERS ARE GETTING DEALS Nearly two thirds of home buyers in 2025 received a discount off the list price, and buyers in 2026 should not write off homes slightly above their budget since there is a good chance of getting some concession from the seller. BOTTOM LINE 2026 is shaping up to be a slow, steady, boring market. That is actually good news for most people. Values are holding, more homes are coming available, and buyers have a little more leverage than they did two years ago. If you are selling, price it right from day one. If you are buying, you have more room to negotiate than at any point since before the pandemic.

Here is exactly where things stand right now as of this week (March 20th, 2026). IT IS NEITHER A BUYER NOR SELLER MARKET RIGHT NOW After several years of bidding wars, rising mortgage rates, and tight inventory, the housing market is at a crossroads. Interest rates have stabilized, the number of homes for sale is growing, and price appreciation is slowing. The best word to describe it is balanced, but with a lean toward buyers having more power than they have had in years. HOMES ARE SITTING LONGER The typical home spent 66 days on the market in February, up from 58 days at the same time last year and the slowest February pace in a decade. That tells you buyers are not rushing and sellers can no longer expect instant offers. MORTGAGE RATES ARE A MOVING TARGET RIGHT NOW Rates briefly dipped below 6% for the first time in years, then bounced back. Economic uncertainty including rising oil prices and inflation concerns are making buyers nervous and pushing rates back up, with the 30-year fixed rate sitting around 6.43% as of this week. BUYERS HAVE MORE LEVERAGE THAN BEFORE Nearly two thirds of home buyers in 2025 received a discount off the list price, and buyers in 2026 should not write off homes slightly above their budget since there is a good chance of getting concessions from the seller including price cuts, closing cost help, or repair credits. FOR SELLERS: PRICING IS EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW The days of multiple bids and houses selling above asking price are over in most markets. If you overprice your house it is just going to sit there. Forget peak-era expectations from 2021. BOTTOM LINE This is the most buyer-friendly market in several years, but it is not a fire sale. Prices are not crashing. They are just growing slowly. If you are buying, you have options and negotiating room. If you are selling, realistic pricing from day one is no longer optional, it is essential.

Thursday listings aren't an accident. It's one of the most consistent marketing strategies in real estate, and there's a clear reason it works. Think of it like a product launch. You don't drop something important on a Monday when people are heads-down at work and not in shopping mode. You time it so the audience is ready to act. Here's exactly what's happening behind the scenes: The weekend is when buyers move. Saturday and Sunday are peak showing days. Buyers have time, they're in the mindset, and they're physically available to tour homes. Thursday gives your listing just enough runway to build awareness before that window opens. The "new listing" algorithm works in your favor. Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin all push new listings to the top of search results and trigger buyer alerts the moment a property goes live. That "New Listing" badge has a short shelf life. You want it showing up right when buyer attention is peaking, not burning off on a Tuesday when half your audience isn't even checking. There's also a technical delay most people don't think about. When a home gets listed in the MLS, it can take 24 to 48 hours for all the photos, 3D tours, and details to fully populate across every platform. List Thursday morning, and by Friday afternoon everything looks polished and complete exactly when agents are pulling weekend tour lists for their clients. The psychology of "fresh" matters more than people realize. A listing that's been sitting since Monday feels stale by the weekend. A listing that just went live Thursday feels urgent. Buyers and agents both respond to that "just hit the market" energy differently than something that's been sitting for five days. Bottom line: Thursday listings aren't a coincidence or a superstition. It's agents timing their marketing the same way any smart marketer would time a campaign launch. Maximum visibility, peak audience, zero wasted days.

Here is a straight answer based on current data for your specific area (New Braunfels, TX). WHAT HOMES LIKE YOURS ARE SELLING FOR IN NEW BRAUNFELS RIGHT NOW The median sale price in New Braunfels is around $338,000, down about 3.6% from last year. Homes are sitting on the market an average of 127 days, and the average home sells for about 3% below list price. For a two story 3 bed 2.5 bath with an upstairs living room, you are most likely looking at a range of $300,000 to $380,000 depending on square footage, neighborhood, age of the home, and condition. The upstairs bonus living room is a feature that adds appeal but does not dramatically shift the price range on its own. THIS IS A BUYER FRIENDLY MARKET RIGHT NOW The New Braunfels market is not very competitive. Homes receive an average of 2 offers and multiple offers are rare. That means if you are selling, you need to price it right from the start. If you are buying, you have real negotiating room. THE INVENTORY SITUATION There are over 1,100 homes currently for sale in New Braunfels with around 359 new listings hitting the market every 30 days. That is a lot of competition for sellers, which is exactly why realistic pricing matters more than ever. BOTTOM LINE FOR YOUR HOME SPECIFICALLY Pull up Zillow or Redfin and search recently sold 3 bed 2.5 bath two story homes within a 5 mile radius over the last 90 days. That is your most accurate pricing guide. Based on current market data, a well priced home in good condition in your range should move, but expect it to take 2 to 4 months and plan to negotiate on price or offer some concessions to the buyer.