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The Crossland Team
Sylvia Crossland, Broker Steve Crossland, MPM (512) 301-5811 |
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Tight Austin Real Estate Market Causing Frustration for Buyers
April 27, 2006
We’ve had several deals in the past few days, both on the listing and selling side, in which multiple offers have caused consternation for Buyers who were bumped off of almost-done deals by newer offers. The problem arises when the Buyer believes the Seller has accepted their offer, when in fact, the Seller has simply agreed to terms but a fully executed contract does not yet exist. Meanwhile, another offer comes in, creating a multiple offer situation, and the Seller dumps the first Buyer and takes the new offer. What should be done when a Seller and Buyer have agreed on price, terms and conditions, and then a new offer shows up before final signatures have been obtained? I’m going to explain how we do it and why.
About Blogging - Thanks to Tom at 4WebResults.com
April 26, 2006
It’s been 10 months since I started writing blog articles on this website, and it’s been about 3 years since my good friend Tom Parish told me I should start a blog. I’m sort of stubborn, so it took me a while. Tom’s a Website Promotion and Internet Marketing Consultant. He helps people make their websites more visible and easier to find. He owns www.4webresults.com. We are next door neighbors, occassional walking buddies, and our daughters attend the same school and are good friends.
Tom kept on me for years - “Steve, you need to start writing a blog”. I thought, “what in the heck am I going to say?”. Tom said, “just write about all that stuff you talk about when we go walking.” So finally I did, and he was right. It’s a great outlet for me, a way to make our real estate website more alive, and we get wonderful feedback from our clients and a steady stream of new leads who say “love reading your blog“. When I look at the web stats to see which pages are the most viewed, it’s the blog articles by a long shot, not the static pages about us and what we do.
So this is a THANK YOU!! and a plug for Tom Parish at 4WebResults.com and the great service and expert advice he provides. Thanks Tom!! You were right!
Greedy Florida Realtor Serving Himself, Not His Clients
April 26, 2006
I had an interesting call today from a Coldwell Banker Realtor in Florida. He spoke to Sylvia yesterday and told her that he has a group of Florida investor buyers that want to come out to Austin in May and buy a bunch of rental homes. He’s trying to get them set up with a good buyer’s agent in Austin who knows a lot about rentals and investment property in Austin. He told me today that he’s done a lot of research, talked to different agents, and thinks we would be the best ones to help his buyers. That may or may not be true, but we’re flattered nonetheless. Just one problem - we don’t pay the amount of referral fee he wants.
Austin job market on fire
April 26, 2006
Austin’s job market is providing plenty of fuel to the real estate market. When people ask us “what is causing the Austin Real Estate market to be so strong?”, a big factor is job creation. See the article below from the Austin Business Journal.
Austin’s job market is one of the hottest in the country, according to a new ranking.
A report in the May edition of Business 2.0 magazine puts the Austin area at No. 4 for projected job growth among metropolitan areas with at least 1 million residents. The magazine, citing data from research firm Global Insight Inc. and government agencies, forecasts 24.7 percent job growth in the Austin area from 2005 to 2015.“Tech’s rebound means IT hiring is back, and Toyota’s new nearby plant is creating thousands of jobs,” the magazine says.
In March, the Austin area’s unemployment rate was 4.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent in February and 4.4 percent in March 2005. The Opportunity Austin initiative aims to create 72,000 jobs over a five-year span in the five-county region.
Topping the list is Las Vegas, with projected job growth of 35.5 percent; followed by Orlando, Fla., 28.3 percent; Riverside, Calif., 26.7 percent; Austin; Phoenix, 24.3 percent; Jacksonville, Fla., 20.8 percent; Tampa, Fla., 19.7 percent; Dallas/Fort Worth, 19.4 percent; Charlotte, N.C., 19 percent; and Atlanta, 18.8 percent.
Texas Property Tax ‘Reform’ - Where’s the Beef?
April 20, 2006
As the first week of the Texas Legislative Special Session winds down, and I read and watch the news stories, I’m under-whelmed. By most accounts, this court-ordered effort to change the way Texas funds public schools will be a success if Governor Perry’s plan passes, which will reduce the Property Tax rate by $0.50. What will a $0.50 reduction do for most people? It won’t amount to squat. Let me show you why.
Austin Market Rental Update - Home rents still falling
April 20, 2006
The number of single family homes rented in March 2006 increased a whopping 65% over March 2005. 633 Single Family Homes were leased through the Austin MLS Leasing service this March compared to 382 units in March of last year. This impressive increase in absorption is surpassed however by the even greater increase in supply. One word - Investors.
As I do this rental analysis each month, I keep waiting to see an upturn, as we are seeing in the sales market. But it ain’t happenin’ yet. Even though the numbers are being stretched to the point of almost not making sense, investors who are bullish on the appreciation potential of Austin’s residential home market still see plenty of good opportunity in purchasing rental homes in Austin. But when an investor asks me “how’s the rental market in Austin TX”, I say “you’re getting ready to make it a little worse”. See the chart below.
Austin Real Estate sales surge 18 percent in March
April 20, 2006
Here is another article (see below) from today’s Austin Statesman. It reflects what Sylvia and I have been experiencing - we’re having a harder time finding good clean homes for our buyers. The best homes that are priced right go fast and sometimes it takes a few lost deals before a buyer builds enough trust in our recommendations to believe us when we call and say “you need to write a full price offer on this one right now. I’m emailing the contract to you and you need to get it back right away”. Or “you need to come see this house before lunch - bring your checkbook”.
It’s an odd delima. We’re both long-time laid back South Austin people. Getting people to hurry up and make a snap decision isn’t very South Austin-like, but we’d be lousy Realtors if we didn’t help our buyers get into that frame of mind from the outset.
Average Austin (Travis County) home appraisal to balloon 16 percent
April 20, 2006
Today’s Austin Statesman reports that average appraised home values for Austin Travis County will increase 16% over 2005. “Many Travis County property owners could get sticker shock when they open their 2006 property appraisal notices, which are starting to hit mailboxes this week. Preliminary numbers from the district show the average market value of a single-family home in Travis County is $236,559, a 16 percent jump from last year.”
Article continued below.
More Local Real Estate Scam Stories
April 13, 2006
Today’s Austin Statesman front page has a story about a woman being arrested for taking real estate purchase deposits from people for houses she did not own or represent. The article says the lady would put up signs in front of vacant houses and on telephone poles in Hays county (South of Austin), and this actually resulted in phone calls from people who would meet her and pay a cash “deposit”. Deposits ranged from $500 to $2,800 in five known cases so far. She claimed in some instances to be a real estate agent, and even had a fake business card. She told another victim that the home was her brother’s and she was selling it for him while he was overseas. It’s too bad that there are folks out there who can be fooled this easily.
Read more
Has Real Estate Become a Technology Profession?
April 12, 2006
Sometimes, on days when technology creates more problems than solutions - which is often, I wistfully wonder how sweet it must have been to be a Realtor in the 1970’s. No pagers, cell phones, computers, printers, pda’s, faxes, internet, gps mapping - not even voicemail. It’s 2006 already, and as I try to piece together and maintain all the technology and office tools needed for our small team to operate in the fast paced business world in which we live, I wonder with frustration - why doesn’t any of this crap work properly?