March 2008

Tenant Eviction in Texas

March 29, 2008

I had to file eviction in JP Court on one of my tenants this month. I’ve evicted more than 80 tenants in Austin since 1990, but it’s been about 4 years since my last one. In the old days (the 1990′s) when I managed 4-plexes and some lower end properties, eviction filings were more frequent. [...]

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Texas Dominates Top Growing Cities List

March 27, 2008

The following is from my Realtor e-newsletter today. It shows Texas as having more fast growing cities than any other state with 4 out of the top 10 being Texas cities. Though we’re not immune to market slowdowns, we’re positioned to weather it better than almost anywhere else in the country at present. The fast-growing [...]

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My Real Estate Interview with KXAN-36 News

March 24, 2008

I received a call from a KXAN-36 reporter today who found my blog and wanted to ask some questions about the Austin real estate market. I answered some questions and then she asked if she could come out and interview me on camera. I said “sure, come on over” so she and her camera man [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market -Feb 2008 YTD MLS Area Breakdown

March 21, 2008

Below is Year to Date breakdown for sales of single family homes in Austin by MLS Area. Something interesting happened when I was running these stats that reminded me of the big swings that can be caused by just one or two sales when we are looking at small sample sizes. About half way through, [...]

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Bad Advice for Non-Producing Realtors

March 20, 2008

It is with great amusement that I read an article in today’s Realtor Magazine email newsletter. The article, which I will excerpt below, offers suggestions and advice to Realtors dealing with market slowdowns. For career real estate agents in the business for the long haul, a slower, “down” market is beneficial to our careers longterm. [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market Update – Feb 2008

March 14, 2008

The average sales price for single family homes in Austin FELL in Feb 2008 compared to Feb 2007. In the 2 and a half years I’ve been posting Austin real estate stats on this blog, this is the first year over year drop. How much did prices fall? Well, -0.07%. But it’s a number with [...]

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Austin Rental Market Update – 2007-2006 Comparison

March 13, 2008

For 2007, the Austin Rental Market continued to see gains in average and median rental rates for single family homes. But we still lag behind the rental rates landlords enjoyed 6 and 7 years earlier, if you can believe that. The graph below shows where we were in 1999 through 2007. You can see the [...]

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Why will an Austin Realtor take your over-priced listing?

March 8, 2008

Let’s say you want to list your home for 8% above it’s market value. You’ve interviewed three Realtors, seen three different market analysis (that price the home in a narrow range), know what your home should sell for, but you still believe your home is special and will fetch a higher price than the market [...]

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