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The Crossland Team
Sylvia Crossland, Broker Steve Crossland, MPM (512) 301-5811 |
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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 to allow two-way syncing between Google Calendar and our Palm Treo 650 phones. I have now found such a tool in the goosync syncing software that allows the 2-way sync of palm devices with Google Calendar. Goosync works with a long list of non-Palm phones as well. I’ve now been using it for a few weeks and it has worked flawlessly without a single hiccup or problem of any kind. I can’t say the same about my old setup with Outlook and the USB sync cable, which usually worked but not always.
Why do I love Google Calendar?
It’s the smartest, most versatile and user friendly calendar I’ve personally ever used, either for individuals or teams. And now that I’ve figured out (or should I say, found the people who figured out) how to sync Google Calendar with mine and Sylvia’s Palm Treo 650 phones, there is nothing that even comes close to being such a valuable calendar tool. Every aspect of the Google Calendar, from entering new events, to changing days and times for events, inviting participants to events, to the reminder and notification options, are simple and easy to use and manage.
How is Syncing Google Calendar to the Treo Useful?
For example, the other day I was showing a house. The people wanted to arrange to come back for another look 2 days later with their parents. While standing there with them, I entered the new appointment time into my Treo and then synced it with the push of two buttons, over the air, with Google Calendar. No wires or computer needed. (but you do have to have data/internet service with your wireless provider).
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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 a home before they came, which didn’t pan out. When they arrived, we spent a couple of days looking at homes, barely missing a very good candidate in South Austin. I did my best, as we looked at homes, to explain everything I think buyers should know when purchasing a home in Austin, and which homes I thought were good candidates and which ones I didn’t, and the reasons why.
On the third day a new listing came on the market which had multiple offers by that afternoon, ours being one of them. We won the offer by writing aggressive terms and a quick cash close. The buyers are back in London, and I’m handling the yard care, checking mail and keeping an eye on the place until they move here in June (something a real estate attorney would no doubt tell me I shouldn’t be doing).
During my interactions with the Londoners, comments were made to me a few times to the effect that UK “estate agents” don’t do nearly the amount of work we do here in the U.S. I was curious about this so I asked for more detail about this via email this morning, so I could write something for my blog. The following is the response.
Dear Steve,
Thanks for the lawn thing, its really appreciated - please let us know when the bill comes in. If you were able to point us in the direction of some appliance dealers with websites that would be fab.
OK. Real estate agents in the UK. Please use this in your blog - the world should know! Now, where do we start,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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 of our Austin real estate market to absorb homes that are placed on the market for sale. A market that can absorb its inventory is a strong market. A market that can’t is weak.
The chart below tracks the number of Sold vs. the number of Expired or Withdrawn listings from 2002 through 2006. You’ll notice that in 2002, there were almost as many Austin homes that failed to sell as there were homes that did sell. 2002 was the first full year of our last real estate downturn in Austin.
In 2003, the number of Austin homes that failed to sell actually surpassed the number that did sell. This means that over half of the listings entered into the Austin MLS for sale in 2003 failed to sell. That’s a terrible market for Sellers. You can see where the ratio has been headed since then. In 2006, more than 2 out of 3 homes listed for sale did in fact sell.
Did you know that in early 2004 the local Austin Media reported that 2003 was a “record year” in home sales for Austin? How ’bout that? If you were one of the 50%+ Seller’s who’s home sat on the market without so much as a lowball offer, it didn’t seem like a record year. If you were forced to rent your home in 2003 because it wouldn’t sell, it didn’t seem like a record year in sales.
Number of Sales is not a metric that alone determines whether a real estate market is strong or not, yet our newspaper writers seem to place a high value on that metric. I define a “strong” market as a “Seller’s” market, not simply a market such as 2003 when every renter in Austin got a loan and bought a new home. A good market has rising values and good absorption. We are in such a market in Austin at this time.
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 to say about the Austin real estate market. I’m going to write an article about what the “number of homes sold” means and what it doesn’t mean in the next couple of days.
U.S. Home Sales Drop In March
Forbes.com - Matthew Kirdahy, 04.24.07America’s housing market may have hit bottom, but it’s in no rush to climb out of the hole in which it has found itself.
On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales for March fell sharply by 8.4%, to 6.12 million units. That was significantly below the Wall Street consensus estimate of a decline to 6.45 million units, down from February’s 6.69 million. The drop was the largest since January 1989.
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 drive out and back is too far for me, although out-of-state buyers often tell me 30 to 45 minutes is not a big deal to them.
My Builder Nalle Custom Homes is building homes in The Colony in Bastrop, and I’ve driven out several times to take a look at the quality of the homes they build and the floorplans. We’re having Nalle build a new home for us in Oak Hill. One afternoon coming back into Austin around 5:30 PM, the traffic heading west out to Bastrop was backed up pretty bad. I thought, “glad I’m not headed the other way”. When Hwy 71 is completed, and the new 130 Toll Road, that should help with the traffic and make Bastrop a much more accessible place to live and commute to Austin. Not shown on the map here is the Texas 130 Toll Road which will cut through between Bastrop and the airport. That doesn’t helping getting to and from downtown though.
Here is the story for ABJ.
Austin Business Journal - April 20, 2007
A New Mexico-based real estate firm has amassed nearly 7,000 acres in Bastrop, paving the way for what could become one of the largest master-planned communities in Central Texas.
In late December, Coast Range Investments LLC closed on a 6,700-acre tract of land currently owned by the Steiner family, with plans to turn what’s now ranching land into a largely residential development.
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 further down, including a link to Q1 appreciation breakdown by Austin MLS area.
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Feb 2007
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Mar 2007
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Mar 2006
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Yr % Change
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| # Sold |
1583
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2161
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2141
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0.9%
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| Avg List Price |
$245,601
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$254,093
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$243,986
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4.1%
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| Median List Price |
$184,700
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$182,900
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$172,500
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6.0%
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| Avg Sold Price |
$238,374
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$246,685
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$237,267
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4.0%
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| Med Sold Price |
$179,900
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$179,500
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$169,312
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6.0%
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| Avg Size SQFT |
2090
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2099
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2098
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0%
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| Median SQFT |
1913
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1891
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1891
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0%
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| Avg $ per SQFT |
$114
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$118
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$113
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4.4%
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| Avg Days on Mkt |
68
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65
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68
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-4.4%
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| Median Days on Mkt |
45
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35
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39
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-11.4%
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Below is Year-to-Date stats for Single Family Home sales.
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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 sorry, we’ve already accepted an offer”.
Question: What is the next thing I should say as the Buyer agent?
1) “Darn! Oh well, congratulations on the quick sale, I guess we’ll keep looking. Bye”
or
2) “Has the offer been signed?”
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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, but we held off because I didn’t want the agent sitting on my buyer’s offer for 3 days. In the intervening time that lapsed, a new listing came on the market and my Buyers wrote an offer on that one which was accepted immediately by the Seller. You can read that story here.
Today I’m going to outline another boneheaded tactic that I see from time to time in listing comments. Last week I saw it again. A new listing popped up that looked interesting. As I scanned the details and decided I would go preview it for one of my Buyers, I noticed in the listing comments it said “No showings before {date}.” It was a date 5 days from the day the listing came new on the market.
This has always been a head scratcher for me - listings that get entered into the MLS with instructions NOT to go show the home until a later date. I honestly can’t even think of a reason for doing this. With the ‘delayed presentation of offers’ tactic, I at least know what the other agent’s faulty logic is, but in this case, I can’t even come up with a guess as to what the strategery might be, other than thinking it must simply be impatience on the part of the Seller and/or Agent to hurry up and get the listing online as soon as possible. But nothing, in my opinion, justifies putting a home on the market with instructions to agents NOT to go show it.
The very most important time for a new listing in Austin TX is the first few days on the market. I don’t know exactly how many deals we’ve written on houses that were on the market only a day or two, but it’s been a bunch of them, including the one we wrote Sunday that was just one day on the market. As good homes become harder to find and prices continue rising in the hot areas of Austin, a well prepared home, priced right and staged and ready for the market, has a good chance of selling in the first few days. For example, in Austin MLS Area SWW, Southwest Austin, where Sylvia and I are most active, there are at present 96 “Sale Pending” listings. Of those 96 listings already under contract, 33 of the listings went Pending in 5 days or less. That’s more than 1/3 of listings that didn’t last more than 5 days on the market before receiving an acceptable offer. Wow! I’m not kidding when I tell Buyers we need to be ready to move real fast when the right home shows up.
All listing agents know or should know that a quick offer is a real possibility in this market. Why then would an agent close the door on that possibility and essentially eliminate its chances of occurring? All I can think of is lack of experience and/or incompetence.
Experience, knowledge and competence do matter in the real estate business. We have Austin real estate agents out there listing properties with comments that essentially say “don’t bring me an offer” and “don’t show this home”. Amazing.
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 the listing comments sections of a new listing.
Steve’s literal translation of the comment: “Hurry! Wait, don’t bring me an offer yet.”
This doesn’t make any sense, but that’s exactly what the comment says to me. Not a very good marketing message to be sending other agents about your listing. The comment essentially removes urgency from the purchasing process. Urgency is a Seller’s best friend in a hot market. As a Seller in a hot area, you want a sense of urgency to set in immediately upon your home being viewed by the interested Buyer. You want the Buyer to think she better hustle up and submit an offer before someone else beats her to it. You don’t accomplish that by announcing that you’ll be sitting on the offer for several days.
Let’s take a look at this particular listing and how the “offers will be presented Monday” comment caused the Seller to NOT receive an offer from our Buyer, even though this particular home was chosen as our Buyer’s favorite home and they wanted to buy it.
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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 topic - economics. He rightfully skewers politicians, the lending industry, Fanny Mae, and Wall Street as he informs us of his views of what the Texas real estate market will do in 2007.
In this year’s speech, his enthusiasm for our well performing Texas market (particularly Austin and San Antonio) is somewhat dampened now by worry over whether or not the National cloud of doom might eventually blow over Texas.
See the presentation here. It runs about 20 minutes and is worth watching the entire presentation.