Feeling Lucky?

How one lucky Austinite can win a completely free dream home renovation

You might get your dream home right now.

Photo courtesy of Austin Flipsters

Usually the order goes like this: you buy a home, live in it for a few years, maybe do a few little projects here and there, and then — if everything goes right and your bank account allows it — you get to call the shots on a major home reno.

Right now for one extremely lucky ZeroDown customer, that timeline is about to completely upended. The lease-to-buy company is partnering with Austin Flipsters to surprise the first qualified ZeroDown customer with an amazing transformation, taking an average home and turning it into a dream home.

ZeroDown works like this: Customers go shopping for their desired home, which ZeroDown buys for cash and rents back to them (no down payment required!).

Customers pay rent to ZeroDown and have a valuable option to buy the home on their own timeline at an attractive price. That's because ZeroDown will increase the purchase price for the customer by 2.5 percent per year during the three-year option period, a small fraction of the 12.1 percent year-over-year home price appreciation calculated by the Austin Board of Realtors for September 2020.

All of the upside above the 2.5 percent annualized level can be captured by the customer if and when they choose to buy the home from ZeroDown. Unlike a mortgage, there is no upfront down payment involved, even for pricier homes above $1 million, and the customer can decide to leave the home anytime after two years without the intense friction of having to list and sell the homes themselves.

Typically ZeroDown only buys move-in-ready homes, but for this special occasion, the company is looking for a diamond in the rough.

Working with Austin Flipsters, the YouTube-famous pair that pulls the curtain back on home flipping, the lucky customer gets to call the shots and put their design stamp on their new dwelling.

Better yet, all ZeroDown customers can enjoy 20 percent off their starter fee and 5 percent off rent until December 15. There's no better time to try before you buy, and who knows? You might soon be moving into your dream home.

---

Be sure to check out ZeroDown's The LowDown for more updates, and to cast your vote for the best neighborhood in Austin.

promoted home-for-sale

local real estate report

Homebuyers can afford to be picky as Austin housing inventory rises

Photo by Avinash Kumar on Unsplash

Housing economist Clare Losey said the most significant factor affecting home sales in Austin is high mortgage rates.

The latest real estate report from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) has revealed housing inventory is still on a steady rise in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA, creating more choices for potential homebuyers as they navigate a high interest rate market.

Residential home sales dipped by a mere 1.5 percent year-over-year from October 2023, amounting to 2,248 closed sales in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA. Median prices have also dropped to $430,000, or 3.2 percent less than this time last year. More than 3,300 new home listings were added on the market — a 7.4 percent increase from 2023 — bringing the total number of active home listings to 11,599.

According to Unlock MLS and ABoR housing economist Clare Losey, Ph.D., October's mortgage rates stood at 6.4 percent and are showing no signs of a significant drop in the near future. Even heading into 2025, Losey says potential homebuyers who are biding their time in the hopes of seeing rates plummet "may be in for a long wait."

"In the meantime, sellers must recognize that bringing buyers to the table requires a more aggressive pricing approach," Losey said. "Even in a more balanced market, buyers with limited purchasing power are struggling to meet current price expectations."

As for the overall health of the Central Texas housing market, 2024 Unlock MLS and ABoR president Kent Redding labeled recent news reports that called Austin "ground zero" for a downturn as an "extreme over-exaggeration."

"Austin led the state and nation in record-breaking home price growth and sales activity during the pandemic," Redding said. "For three years, near-zero housing inventory, numerous offers above list price and a rapid-paced market raised home prices and left little negotiating power for buyers. During this record-setting growth, ABoR and Unlock MLS consistently emphasized the unsustainability of the rapid growth, and now, our market is working to balance those extremes."

Central Texas housing trends in October 2024

In Travis County, 979 homes were sold last month — a slight 2.5 percent increase from last year. Median prices remained flat year-over-year at $510,000. Active home listings continued growing to 5,702 homes, which is 9.4 percent more year-over-year.

In Williamson County, 807 homes were sold in October, with median prices steadily dropping to $420,000. There were 1,028 new home listings on the market, showing a 4.5 percent increase from October 2023, bringing the total number of active home listings to 3,369.

Residential home sales dropped by nearly eight percent in Hays County in October, totaling 315 sales. Median prices also fell 5.5 percent year-over-year to $359,000. Active listings rose 6.6 percent year-over-year to 1,740 homes with the addition of 534 new listings on the market.

Meanwhile, 114 homes were sold in Bastrop County last month, which is 4.4 percent more than this time last year. Median prices dropped by a single percentage point year-over-year to $355,000. There were 654 active listings on the market in October, and 152 new home listings, representing a 1.3 percent slip in new inventory when compared to last year.

Only 33 homes were sold in Caldwell County in October to reflect a near 14 percent decline year-over-year from October 2023. Median prices fell to $262,990, which was a 13.5 percent decrease from last year. There were 136 active homes on the market last month, and 40 new homes added on the market.

austin travis county housing market real estate report real estate