In addition, the housing market crash has surged a wave of massive home foreclosures and has led to tremendous drop in the prices of properties all over North America. The housing bubble that reached its zenith in 2005 started to weaken and crumble in 2006 and is now on the edge of bursting ensuing in a nationwide collapse in the real estate market and sharp decline in the housing prices. 


For decades, investment in real estate has always been one of the key profit areas of for banks and other financial institutions. Investing in a house was always considered to be the one of the safest way to safeguard one’s money. Owing to this investment fundamental, people continued investing in real estate during the period between late 1990’s and 2005 even though the prices were reaching their all time highs. With banks and financial institutes sinking, the condition of housing market has become even more volatile.


The housing crash, however, did not happen overnight. A number of factors contributed to the housing crash resulting extensive foreclosures and plummeting housing prices to their all time low. One of the main cause for the housing crash lies in the fact that banks and financial institutions were lending mortgages at 5 to 10 times the annual incomes of people, which was way above the safe value of 3 to 4 times. These financial powerhouses used aggressive terms and conditions but did very little scrutiny while providing mortgages. This led to an easy cash flow in the market which fueled the housing prices as well. The US economic meltdown also played a major role in the housing market crash world over. Foreign investors who had invested in the real estate market in US had to declare bankruptcy owing to massive loss. The housing crash is expected to cost the banking system a whooping $2 trillion dollars.


Today the housing market is facing a multitude of challenges. The bleak economic situation of US, growing unemployment rates and plunging housing prices has paved the way to an uncertain future where the road to recovery is certainly going to be very long and tedious. It would probably take considerable time to recover the housing market and reinstate property values back to normal. As real estate pundits construe that buying house at this present juncture is not a sound idea especially on the coasts. Housing experts believe that it is absolutely unadvisable to buy a house now since the prices would plummet even further. As trends suggest that in the near future the home prices would certainly collapse further since home prices have not reached it bottom low.  Prospective buyers should not invest their savings in buying a house now instead should keep the savings handy and invest when the prices have reached its bottom low.

We all know it’s bad out there…With the severe credit crisis and the declining housing market, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, and even the President remind us of our struggles daily. Home foreclosures are at an all time high, even in my neighborhood in Austin Texas with many more foreclosures predicted to come. Housing resale values are at all time lows with no end in sight. Even the banks are going bankrupt as many Americans no longer qualify for credit.

Because of the recent credit crisis, many people don’t qualify for a new loan to buy a house right now, despite the incredibly low housing prices. Many home sellers can’t sell their unwanted houses because they owe more than their house is worth due to falling house prices. Many sellers can’t even rent their houses out for enough to cover their mortgage payments, taxes and insurance resulting in severe negative cash flow that bleeds then dry month after month. To make matters worse, many tenants end up trashing the house when they move out making it even more difficult and expensive to sell.

If they list their house with a real estate agent, their house will likely sit on the market for a long, long time waiting to sell since the buyers seem to have magically disappeared. Even if the house does finally sell one day at a greatly REDUCED price to get it sold, the owner has to pay a 6% real estate commission plus the majority of the closing costs. This often results in the seller writing a big, fat check at the closing table to finally get their house sold.

So what are my options to sell my house in Austin Texas fast in this depressed economy and housing market when many folks can’t get a loan? By trial and error, I discovered the following 3 alternatives to try to sell my Austin TX home quickly…

1. I tried to sell my house in Austin “For Sale by Owner” aka “FSBO”.

At first, selling my house by myself sounded easy enough, but it soon became my worst nightmare! What went wrong:

At first I didn’t know how to attract buyers that might be interested in purchasing a home in Buford Georgia…The For Sale By Owner sign in the yard wasn’t working. I ended up spending a fortune placing classifieds in the local paper which resulted in few potential buyers. Those that did respond wanted to see my house at all different hours of the day or night. I was afraid to say no in fear of losing a potential buyer. I would have to keep my house clean and all picked up, only to have them flake out and not show up! Other times I had some pretty scary people show up with their rowdy kids in tow, trampling through my home.



I never did find my ideal buyer. Even if I did, I had no idea how to get them qualified, how to handle all the purchase and sale paperwork or how to get the house closed. I said “There has to be a better way to sell my home!” and I was determined to find it.

2. I listed my house for sale with a local Austin real estate agent.

I called an agent from a local, seemingly reputable, real estate agency and made an appointment for her to come out and see the property. The agent sounded like she really knew what she was talking about and got me really excited about the prospect of selling my home quickly. She said she would list my house in the MLS, on dozens of real estate sites throughout Texas, advertise my house in the local paper and other print publications, do multiple open houses, put out signs, balloons, flyers in an information box and went on and on about how she could sell my home and still get top dollar. How could I refuse? I didn’t.

I listed my house and waited, and waited and waited. The agent put the house on the MLS, but the market was pretty tough and, despite her best efforts, six months later, I still didn’t have a buyer. Meanwhile, my house had not only decreased in value because it would not sell for the list price, which had been reduced repeatedly, but also because of all the other listed houses and foreclosures on the market in my area of Austin. At this point, I was all out of ideas and praying for a solution. About that time, someone at my church told me about RedBuysHouses.com.

3. I contacted a local, professional home buyer from Austin, Texas.

My friend from church told me that she had similar problems selling her Austin house, but that she had contacted a local professional home buyer who bought her house in under a week! What? Is this possible? Could I sell my Austin Texas house in 7 days or less, too? She said there are professional house buyers out there, also known as “real estate investors”, who buy and sell real estate for investment purposes. You’ve probably seen their “We Buy Houses” advertisements around town but never gave them much thought. These are people who buy houses professionally and are always actively looking for more houses to buy. She gave me their phone number and web address (Locally 512-945-6006, website: www.RedBuysHouses.com) and I contacted them ASAP. A local Austin home buyer from there called me and said that if my house qualified and if I was flexible on price or terms, that they may be able to buy my house in the next 7 days or less. She said depending on my situation that they may be able to pay all cash, pay some cash now and some cash later or take over my mortgage payments giving me immediate debt relief. At this point I was definitely flexible and had nothing to lose by scheduling an appointment for them to come see my home and possibly allow me to sell my Austin Texas house fast!

So I scheduled the appointment with the Austin home buyer and she came out and inspected my home. She said it was just what they were looking for and that she had several buyers looking for a similar home. I was ecstatic! She made me several offers to buy my house as promised. I chose the offer that best suited my needs and we scheduled a closing the following week with a local real estate closing attorney. It was that fast and that simple to finally sell my house in Austin! I still can’t get over it. After waiting two years trying to sell my house on my own and through a licensed agent, I was able to sell my house in less than 7 days to a local professional home buying company!

If you have an unwanted Austin Texas house you need to sell fast, call 512-945-6006 or visit www.RedBuysHouses.com and complete their online Seller Questionnaire for a FREE, no obligation consultation. You have nothing to lose by contacting them and everything to gain. I was able to sell my Austin home fast and you can too!