November 2025 Company Blog
To start us off this month, from our entire team we want to take a moment to let you know that we are thankful for each and every one of our clients. Every year has it's unique ups and downs, but we're glad to be working along side you to care for your investments together! We're also always always looking for your feedback, if you have a moment, please take a moment to let us know how we're doing!
Company Update
We’re excited to welcome a new member to our team, Ruby Cortez! Ruby joins us as our in-house maintenance technician and brings more than a decade of hands-on maintenance experience to our team. We're looking forward to having Ruby working with us, and caring for our properties!
Tax Season and 1099 Reminders
Year-end taxes are coming in January. If you’re signed up for paper 1099 forms, expect a call from your property manager in the coming weeks to discuss getting signed up for electronic services! We’re working on streamlining and improving our processes here.
Annual HOA Payments
If we're paying the HOA dues for your property, please make sure that we receive an invoice for 2026’s dues by January. If we don't receive an invoice from the HOA, we can't pay as we won’t know what we’re trying to pay, or to where. HOAs change management companies, annual dues, and billing addresses frequently, so we must ensure we’re receiving up to date information from them. Please ensure we receive a dues statement before end of January.
Sales Market Statement – Mike Minns of Atlas Realty
Welcome to the next installment of what’s happening in the Austin real estate sales market. First things first, the government shutdown.
The shutdown impacts GDP as well as the reporting of figures that are mainly used to determine interest rates. The Fed wants to see employment data, inflation data, and other economic indicators that are not being produced during the shutdown. Some good news is that it appears the Fed will give us another small rate cut in December, followed by likely two more in the spring. Of course, as usual, all this is already reflected in current rates. If the data misses predictions, it could lead to volatility; depending on the reports, mortgage rates may rise or fall with the Fed's decisions. Mortgage rates have remained around 6.25% since the last update, which is a nice change.
The Fed rate dropping will likely encourage some buyers to enter the market, but not enough to trigger a turn around. I firmly believe that the turnaround will happen when hiring returns to normal. The data I see now suggests that unemployment will peak around mid-2026 at 4.7% (exceptionally low for a down market). It is expected to then decrease to 4.5% by the end of 2026. It is still too early to determine if this will mark the beginning of a recovery. I suspect the recovery will be accompanied by rapid price increases. With low inventory and steady demand, prices could jump 15-30% in the first 6 months to a year after the recovery begins.
First-time buyers, where are they? They are having a hard time affording homes now. In 1991, the average age of a first-time buyer was 28, and in 2025 it is 40. First-time buyers now make up only 21% of sales, which means fewer buyers for move-up buyers. That said, Austin is a bit unique because we have quite a few high-paying jobs for younger people. So, expect our first-time buyer pool to be larger than the national average when tech starts hiring.
It is still not the time to sell. If you NEED to sell, then you can do so by pricing it aggressively. If you don’t need to sell, you should wait 2-4 years. This could still be a good time to buy a property. I can find duplexes that will cash flow positively with 20% down. Single-family homes will not cash flow without more than 20% down in most cases.
Thank you for your continued trust and business!
Christopher M. Francis
Owner / Director of Operations
Rollingwood Management, Inc.