From the monthly archives:

March 2007

How to NOT Rent your South Austin Home

March 25, 2007

Yesterday I was pulling up lease and sales listings for a client who wants to either buy or rent in Southwest Austin. I came across a lease listing in a great neighborhood in MLS area SWW that has been on the market for more than 130 days. Sylvia was sitting at her desk and I [...]

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The truth about flipping homes in Austin TX

March 23, 2007

Here is a good story from the Austin Statesman about flipping houses in Austin. We’ve tried to hunt down some flip deals for a few Buyers but have decided it’s not the best use of our time. We don’t have cable TV or watch much TV, but from what I’ve been told by others there [...]

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Austin Real Estate – Feb 2007 Sales Market Update

March 20, 2007

February real estate sales stats for Austin show a modest gain over the same month last year. Number of sales for single family homes is up 1.5% from Feb 2006. The Average Sales price is up 3.0% from $231,337 in Feb 2006 to $238,374 in Feb 2007. Median sales price is up 5% from $171,250 [...]

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A Case Study in Lousy Austin Realtor Representation

March 18, 2007

A few days ago I wrote up a deal for a Buyer. The house was priced about $15K above market value, but it was a nice home that fit my buyer’s needs, so we ignored the list price of $239K+ and wrote it up at market value of $225,000. Along with the offer, I wrote [...]

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Keeping it Weird in Austin

March 15, 2007

I took my laptop to Mr. Notebook today because the “A” key was not working. They fixed it in 5 minutes (a crumb? was under the key) and sent me on my way with no charge. I really like dealing with those guys at Mr. Notebook. Actually, I should say I really like dealing with [...]

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Study: Austin home size limits hurt economy

March 13, 2007

From todays Austin Business Journal email newsletter is the article below citing a study that says the Austin “McMansion Ordinace” is hurting the Austin Economy.
I haven’t read the study, but the Homebuilders Association of Greater Austin paid for the study. The Home Builder’s Association is against the ordinance and is lobbying the Texas Legislature to [...]

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Out of State Lenders Still Dropping the Ball in Austin

March 12, 2007

I remain completely unimpressed and appalled by almost every out of state lender we encounter. We have a deal closing this coming Thursday the 15th (in 4 days) and have been unable at any time to get any sort of response at all from the lender. This time it’s a Bank of America loan person [...]

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Austin Real Estate – Rental Market Update Feb 2007

March 11, 2007

The Austin Rental Market continues to show steady improvement for landlords. Average and Median rents for single family homes are up about 5% from Feb of last year. Median Days on Market dropped 7.8% to 47 days, meaning half of all homes leased through the Austin MLS took longer than 47 days, and half took [...]

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Married 16 Years Today

March 9, 2007

Today Sylvia and I have been married 16 years. We’ve been working together longer than that, about 17 years, starting with the first apartment we managed on Burnet Rd. in Rosedale in 1990. On our night out tonight we pondered whether working together makes it easier to be married or not. I think working together [...]

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Austin Area’s job growth is strongest since 2000

March 8, 2007

I was at an economic forecast luncheon last week at the Oak Hill Business and Professionals Association and the speaker talked about how great the job growth is in Austin. Interestingly, he said the current level of job growth in Austin is about as high as we like it to be – strong and steady, [...]

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