February 2008

The Problem with Over Price Listings (and their sellers)

February 27, 2008

Let’s say you’re a buyer, you’ve traveled to Austin to find a home, spent the weekend looking at homes with your Realtor and found a home you like. In fact, you’ve found your top three picks, but one stands out as your favorite. Problem is, it’s way over priced. Do you make an offer anyway, [...]

18 comments Read the full article →

Advise for those thinking about Real Estate as a Career

February 26, 2008

I was reading an interview with web design guru Eric Meyer, and was struck by his answer to one of the questions and how much that answer rings true for real estate as well as technology fields. Q: If you could give one piece of advice to people starting out in the field, what would [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

More Reasons to Stay Away from Starter Home Areas

February 25, 2008

Buyers I’ve helped buy property in Austin have heard my real estate mantra – stay away from starter home areas. I don’t like starter home neighborhoods. I don’t own property in starter home areas and I never will. I advise buyers to be very, very careful if considering a home in such an area. I [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Austin Real Estate Market Update – Jan 2008

February 22, 2008

The real estate market in Austin was very slow for January 2008. Number of homes sold was down 15% over the same month last year, yet we continue to see sold price appreciation for the homes that do sell. I’ve added a new metric to my chart below. I’ve decided to start tracking “Not Solds”. [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

How to Leave a Proper Voice Mail Message

February 16, 2008

As a Realtor, I leave and receive a lot of voice messages. Sometimes dozens a day or more if I’m showing a lot of occupied homes, or have a hot rental listing in Central Austin. The most I’ve ever had to return was seventy-something. One learns to get to the point when you have more [...]

8 comments Read the full article →

Would you live next to a Strip Club?

February 8, 2008

I was driving up S. Congress the other day, checking out the progress on the SoCo Lofts and wondered if the units on the north end, which overlook a strip club and its parking lot, will sell for as much as the others. The photo you see here is of the north side of SoCo [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

Austin 2007 Real Estate Appreciation by MLS Area

February 4, 2008

Below are the 2007 Austin real estate appreciation breakdowns by MLS area. Despite the negative media attention given to the real estate market nationally, Austin continues to see notable value appreciation in many areas. Overall, average sales prices in Austin were up 6.62% to $254,883 (excludes condos) and average sold price per square foot were [...]

7 comments Read the full article →