My name is Robert Kleven. I am currently a real estate agent and have been for nearly six years. Before I got into the real estate industry, I had a notable experience with my first home purchase and sale which made me a believer in home ownership over renting.

Here's my story:

I moved to Austin from Wichita, Kansas in May of 1998. I lived in an apartment for the first 6 months in Austin. It didn't take me long to realize that rent in Austin was high compared to where I came from (especially near the university). I decided if I was going to have to pay that much for rent, I might as well buy my own place. So after my 6 month lease, I decided to find my own house.
Within two weeks of my initial idea, I was prequalified for a loan and under contract on my first home. This was very exciting for me.

The sales price for this house was approx $74k. I liked my new house. I painted and carpeted the bedrooms the first week after moving in. I bought my first lawn mower at Wal Mart for $99 and added an in-wall entertainment system to accomodate my entertainment center and books and added some red paint to one of the kitchen walls.

I lived in this south Austin home for just over two years before deciding to sell so I could find something closer to downtown. I tried selling the house myself (FSBO-For Sale By Owner), but to my dismay realized that I wasn't prepared for every Tom, Dick and Harry that was going to knock on my door at random times during the day an night and ask me if they could see my house. At that point I was trying to sell the house for $100k. The unexpected prospects were annoying, so I decided to talk to the Realtor that initially helped me purchase the house. We signed a listing agreement and decided to market the property for $109,900. I had a contract on the house within a couple of weeks.

At closing I collected a check after my mortgage loan, all commissions and closing costs had been paid for $26,000! The great thing was that because I had lived there for two years, I didn't have to pay any capital gains taxes on this money.

I calculated that at the rate of the mortgage payment I was making approx $712/mo, I had spent approx $18.5k with all mortgage payments combined (FYI this included tax and insurance at 6.25% interest). Simple math. I walked away with $26k had spent $18.5k with a difference of $7,500! This essentially was the equivalent of living free for 26 months and walking away with $7,500.
Of course I had spent about $2,500 upfront to close but even so I walked away after living free for 26 months with nearly $5,000!

Try pulling that off while paying rent!

Now I am an agent. I get most of my clients in their homes for $0 out of pocket, this includes getting earnest money, option money and inspection money back at the closing table for almost everyone I represent.
I can supply all the data and advice you would want to help determine the potential for the property to go up in value and do it without putting any pressure on you. I really do want my clients to be successful as well as enjoy their home.

Want to learn more?

Call or email me.

Have a good one...

Robert Kleven Realtor®
Austin Classic Realty / RFKrealty.com
(tel) 512.773.3335 (fax) 512.837.9601
Robert@RFKrealty.com