May 2007

Dear Steiner Ranch Open House Realtor

May 13, 2007

Dear Steiner Ranch Open House Realtor, It would be a really, really good idea to make arrangements for the Seller’s barking, growling dog to NOT be left roaming inside the home during your open house. Saying to people “he doesn’t bite” as the dog emits a low guttural growl – and shows teeth – isn’t [...]

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Understanding the History of Texas Property Taxes

May 13, 2007

The current issue of Tierra Granda magazine has a wonderful overview of the history of Texas Property Taxes. It discusses how things used to be, what happened to cause changes, and where we are now. It also explains the protections in place against rising tax burdens for Seniors. Most people don’t know this, but Seniors [...]

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Austin Rental Market – April Update

May 10, 2007

The number of homes leased in Austin this April 2007 dropped quite a bit from April 2006, down 17% from 671 homes leased last year to 554 homes leased in April of this year. I’m not sure why that is, but I’ll talk to some property managers and see if they are having more renewals [...]

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Feds Want Real Estate Customers to use Discount Brokers

May 9, 2007

I saw the article below in today’s Wall Street Journal. I’ve also seen expanded, much longer versions of the same story from different news outlets the past two days, but this one keeps it short and to the point. The Federal Government, to put it simply, wants you to use Discount Brokers. Since that particular [...]

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Wilshire Homes in Belterra Keeps its Word

May 3, 2007

One of our buyers just purchased a new home from Wilshire Homes in Belterra. Since the buyer had returned to his out of state home, I took care of the final walk-through with the builder. First, since it was an already completed home, we had our third party inspector perform an inspection, which revealed some [...]

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Why I’m Bullish on Buying South Austin Real Estate

May 2, 2007

Last Friday’s April 27th Austin Statesman had an article about the expansion of the South Park Meadows Shopping and Residential development in South Austin. The article outlined some things that I often tell buyers and investors when they ask why I like South Austin. Here are a few of the quotes. The entire article is [...]

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