April 2007

Google Calendar Sync with Treo 650 using Goosync

April 29, 2007

I’ve recently migrated both mine and Sylvia’s Calendars from Outlook to the free online Google Calendar. Google Calendar is now mine and Sylvia’s primary calendar and appointment tracking system for both personal and business needs. We’ve dumped Outlook Calendar. This would have occurred much sooner had it not been for lack of a good tool [...]

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Buying and Selling Real Estate in the UK vs. Austin TX

April 27, 2007

I recently had the distinct pleasure of helping a family relocating to Austin from London. The process started as it usually does with our buyers. They found us online and contacted me about buying a home in Austin. There was an initial phone conversation or two, and several emails. We actually made an offer on [...]

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Austin Homes – Sold/Expired Comparison 2002 thru 2006

April 25, 2007

Since our local news media thinks the Austin Real Estate Market is “cooling”, based on only a 1% increase in number of sales the first quarter of 2007 compared to 2006 (smallest increase in several years), I thought I’d offer another viewpoint of what determines the strength of a real estate market. Namely, the ability [...]

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U.S. Home Sales Drop In March

April 24, 2007

There is a lot of press out there about the national housing market. This article below is from Forbes. Austin has slowed down with respect to number of sales, but prices keep rising in the desirable areas. I cringe when I see local newspaper article headlines “Austin Home Sales Cooling” because that’s a misleading thing [...]

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Up to 4,000 homes may hit Bastrop

April 23, 2007

The article below was in last week’s Austin Business Journal. Looks like Bastrop (30 minutes SE of Austin) is going to be booming along with the other small towns surrounding Austin. I really like Bastrop, but it’s not a place that would make since for us to live at this stage in our lives. The [...]

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Austin Real Estate – Sales Market Update March 2007

April 20, 2007

Real Estate prices continue the upward climb in Austin, though the number of homes sold is slowing somewhat. The number of homes sold is up 1% from March a year ago. The average sales price is up 4% and the Median sales price is up 6%. See the chart below and additional charts and info [...]

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Negotiating Offers in a Hot Austin Real Estate Market

April 17, 2007

The other day I found a home my buyers loved and for which they wanted to write an immediate offer. I called the listing agent to inquire about the status of the listing and to ask questions about any particular needs the Seller might have. The agent said to me, and I quote exactly, “I’m [...]

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Dumb Austin Realtor Marketing Stategery Part II

April 17, 2007

The other day I illustrated how a certain marketing strategy backfired on a listing my Buyers were interested in buying. The offer never was submitted on that property because the agent had written in the listing comments that offers would not be presented until Monday. My buyers were ready to write the offer on Saturday, [...]

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Dumb Things Austin Realtors Write in Listing Comments

April 15, 2007

In the past week I’ve encountered two listings which, in the listing comments section, state a future date that offers will be presented to the Seller. Specifically, a recent listing that one of our Buyers was interested in said: “Hurry! All offers will be presented 4/16″. I can’t think of anything dumber to write in [...]

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Dr. Mark Dotzour’s 2007 Texas Real Estate Outlook

April 14, 2007

One of my favorite speakers is Texas A&M Real Estate Center Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour. I missed his annual presentation at the TAR Convention in Austin this year but found a video of it online (see link below). Mr. Dotzour has an easy going and humorous way of relating what is otherwise a boring [...]

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