Catching up with George Vance McGee, a Q&A Interview. Real Estate Broker 512.657.9281 georgevance@gmail.com Austin Silent Market

 "So, now that you've officially turned 40 years old in age, how do you feel, how is your health?" 

Well, I still feel like a late thirty-something, and overall pretty good. Luckily, I live in the Travis Heights, SoCo area and get to bicycle around much of Austin Texas for recreation, exercise, work and fun. I try to pedal bike the entire 10 mile hike and bike trail loop range from East Austin's Longhorn Dam near pleasant valley road to Deep Eddy bridge and back home at least 2-3x a week. 

 In so far as protecting and saving my skin in this summer raging Texas heat, I've gotten much smarter and reliable in regards to actually either wearing a hat or rubbing sun lotion with SPF strongly into the pores of my fair complexion face.

 When its comes to attempting weekend nights out, my fun imbibing shelf life is much more limited. Where-as previously 4 hours would have been easy, after a good solid 2, 2.5 hours of fun, I'm content and ready to rest.

"I hear you recently got married. No more single-life. How is marriage going so far?"

I enjoyed and rocked my single-down years in NYC & the ATX for about 1-2 decades and truly enjoyed my single day highs, lows, dating wins and dating failures. While single I ran the gamut of success and losses.  Austin, Texas and specifically central Austin has a very youthful, new transplant resident type feel and currently there are an ample assortment of beautiful ladies in Central Texas. There always have been beautiful women in Central Texas and always will be! In Austin I think we embrace natural  beauty, versus the make-up pageantry and cosmetic improving humans of Dallas, Texas.

 But I'm married now, so I can observe, but that's really about it.  I could maybe try and get a phone number to give to a single guy friend of mine. One thing I for sure don't miss is the painful hangovers from the nights out before trying to chase, find and discover Ms. Right. 

Currently I'm happy, pleased, and comfortably at ease with my beautiful, smart, tech-job working and supportive wife, Ms. Sheila L. Fish. She is half Taiwanese, half white, exotic, sexy, responsible and lovely.  I may never win the Texas Money Ball Lottery, but I feel I got fortunate with my fantastic progressive-minded wife. 

"You basically have the same name, and work in the same industry and same brokerage company as your Dad, George Sears McGee, explain this situation?"   

I'm very grateful to my father/broker/pops George Sears McGee for allowing me to be a real estate apprentice in my immediate post Univ. of Texas liberal arts graduate college years and even today in summer 2022. Although supplementing your real estate knowledge with books, schooling and textbooks is a quality effort, there is no substitute for getting out there and practicing real estate brokerage with live customers, clients, buyers, sellers, tenants, developers and builders. Real world experience is paramount to learning in real estate, and improving as a real estate salesperson, broker and consultant. About 2 years ago I actually applied for, studied and passed the statewide Texas Real Estate Broker's exam. So as of today I am a licensed carrying real estate Broker and able to practice within the state's large borders. I even sold a property in the Southtown neighborhood of San Antonio this year, and am helping sell a 70 acre farm & ranch in Hondo, Texas, near Uvalde this summer.

"George Vance, what are your thoughts on the current Austin Real Estate marketplace and industry as a whole in the summer of 2022?"

I am so delighted the fervor, seller's market, multiple offers  and the appraisal waiver madness during the 2 year long COVID-19 Pandemic appears to be subsiding or over entirely. It was just a disaster and nightmare trying to work the buyer's broker role during that 2 year stretch of limited inventory, massive buyer demand, and shunned listed agent insight and nothingness counters. 

With interest rates risings to the 4.9-6.5 percent mark, ABOR Active MLS Listings Tripling (3x), and price drop email flyers becoming a daily occurrence, the much needed market correction and buyer / seller balance is now common.  Today's sale market is  a more enjoyable, conversational, and negotiable back and worth. Buyers and Sellers are appreciative and actually now realize they genuinely need each other, perhaps equally. 

I do have 2 current gripes about the Austin & Central Texas Real Estate industry as a whole.

 Gripe #1. I believe the government entity, TREC (Texas Real Estate Commission) should require citizens attempting to work as wholesalers to be required to earn and carry a valid real estate license. As of today, wholesalers if they are party, usually buyers, to the contract are NOT required to be licensed. In my opinion, these wholesalers, who are in essence selling their contract and real estate to investors and the general public are practicing real estate brokerage and should be licensed.  

Gripe #2. Because Austin and the Central Texas regions continue to BOOM, grow and provide income opportunities, there are "carpetbagger" brokerages & Salespeople not local to Austin, moving here, setting up shop and attempting to get their piece of the real estate income pie.  Another example is new realtors not even from Austin or even Texas, that move to the ATX and don't even know the neighborhood location differences from say, Clarksville to Old Enfield, to Pemberton to Brkyerwoods and are trying to pretend as though they are "experts" on Austin Texas. Give me a break? 

"What exactly is the Austin Silent Market, would it be beneficial for my property and financial scenario?  

We at the Austin Silent Market brokerage company consider any property potentially for sale that is NOT on the ABOR Active MLS System, as a potential silent market opportunity. The Silent Market has English word synonyms you've perhaps heard before, for example "hip pocket," "Off-market" "Coming Soon," "non-mls" or "private listing".  

Silent Market or off-Market listings usually are driven by the seller for a variety of reasons and usually have less mass market exposure. Some example reasons for sellers to pitch and sell silently are; 

• we're not really sure if we want to move or sell, and would like to TEST a price
• We have income paying tenants in our rental property and we would prefer to disturb them as little as possible
• We don't want to sell actively, and alert the Travis County Tax authority. Our Property Taxes keep climbing and we don't want that to continue
• My wife and I are getting a divorce and we don't want to let the city and neighborhood know our marriage is ending
• I might entertain a sale of my property, but only if I can NET & fetch a specific price, can you make that happen?
• there is an unpermitted addition and ADU to our house and we don't want the Austin Code Compliance and Enforcement to know about it. 
• With the market slow-down I don't want the # of days on the active marketplace to linger much over 60 days....cause they'll notice that right?

Here are some reasons why Buyers prefer to buy on the silent Market

• We want to buy, yet don't want the sales price disclosed to the ABOR MLS system, which might leak back to the Travis County Tax authorities. Didn't CoreLogic sell the ABOR data to the Travis County government a few years ago? 
• We'd simply prefer to buy this property discreetly and NOT notify the neighborhood
• We're builders and LOVE buying off market, this way buyers of our new constructions can't back-track the math on our building and lot costs
• I don't want to have to deal with multiple offers, let's negotiate a fair price, one-on-one, directly with seller and figure it out. 

"If anyone in Austin, Central Texas or beyond has real estate questions, or has an inquiry, what is the best method to contact and ask you?" 

George Vance McGee 512.657.9281 georgevance@gmail.com Austin Silent Market Broker Associate