From the monthly archives:

June 2006

More About Square Footage VS. Design – which matters most?

June 27, 2006

I was at the David Weekly Homes design center yesterday looking at their model home. It’s a beautiful floorplan by the way. If you live in Austin and need design ideas, you have to visit their design center and tour the model home. It’s one of the best floorplans I’ve ever seen for families.
Anyway, their [...]

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When Your House Shrinks – A Case Study of Wrong Square Footage Size

June 24, 2006

One of the first things people ask when they are interested in a home is “What’s the square footage?” One of the first things we ask buyers, once we know their price range is “what size home do you need?”. With few exceptions, people are able to immediately quote a size range in square feet. [...]

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Austin Homes sales jump 15 percent in May

June 22, 2006

This is from today’s Austin Statesman. I’ll post some graphs and charts on Austin May Sales when I get some time. Meanwhile, this article reflects what we are seeing and experiencing in the Austin real estate market. Namely, this month we’ve had to start “fishing in some new ponds” so to speak, as some of [...]

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What is the The Purpose of Investing in Real Estate?

June 19, 2006

Last Saturday I wasn’t feeling well so I laid down for a while and flipped on the TV. I can’t think of more lazy and useless activity than laying around on a Saturday with the TV on, but I felt justified since I was “resting”. Anyway, I happened to see one of those real estate [...]

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Dripping Springs Preparing for Growth

June 19, 2006

Dripping Springs and Hays County were outlined in the Saturday June 17 business section of the Austin Statesman. I read the article with interest. The Hwy 290 corridor between Oak Hill and Dripping Springs runs 1 mile from my home in Oak Hill. This Highway has quickly outgrown its capacity in the past few years [...]

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Austin area job growth keeps up fast pace

June 16, 2006

The Central Texas workforce is at an all-time high of 715,900. We like to keep an eye on the job market because it directly impacts real estate activity, among other things. New jobs bring the new people who buy and rent homes in Austin. As the job market goes, so goes real estate, and things [...]

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Buyers Willing to Pay More for Newer Homes

June 15, 2006

A common set of search criteria that I use for Buyers looking for homes in South/SW Austin is to search homes in Austin MLS areas 10, SW, and W, minimum 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, 1800 to 2500 sqft, and only those homes that feed either Bowie or Austin High School. Homes that [...]

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Austin OKs ban on larger homes in certain neighborhoods

June 9, 2006

From the Austin Business Journal website. I don’t have any new commentary to add to this issue. I’ve written about it before. I’m neither against not do I strongly support this new rule.
Austin Business Journal – 12:24 PM CDT Friday
by Jonathan Selden
Austin Business Journal Staff
In what’s become a frequent occurrence at Austin City Hall lately [...]

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Is Driving Farther for Cheaper House Worth It?

June 9, 2006

While looking at homes yesterday in the Creekside Park subdivision in Buda, just south of Austin, I went into a home that seemed familiar. Then I realized it was the identical floorplan of a home in Legend Oaks (South Austin in Oak Hill) that one of my buyers closed on this week. The home in [...]

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Austin Leasing Update for May 2006

June 7, 2006

The number of single family homes that leased in May 2006 increased by 44% from May of last year and homes in Austin are leasing faster than a year ago. But the rental rates are still treading water. Were it not for all of the additional housing supply being created by investors, rental rates would [...]

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