From the monthly archives:

May 2008

Texas Real Estate Market Update April 2008

May 31, 2008

TEXAS (Real Estate Center, MarketWatch) – A total of 21,638 existing homes were sold in Texas last month, a 10.3 percent decline from April 2007 according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. The median price rose 0.6 percent to $147,300 during the same period, and the state finished [...]

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My New Truck (2008 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab) Buying Experience

May 29, 2008

I’ve just emerged from the murky and bizarre world of the new vehicle shop-and-purchase experience. I am happy to claim 100% satisfaction with the final outcome, but most of my interaction with Austin new car dealerships and salespeople gets a thumbs down. I’ve only bought 4 new vehicles in my life. I generally think new [...]

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Three Austin High Schools in Newsweek top 100 list

May 23, 2008

NEW YORK (Newsweek) – Fourteen Texas public schools were among the top 100 on Newsweek’s list of top U.S. high schools. The schools were ranked according by the number of Advanced Placement, Intl. Baccalaureate and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors. All of [...]

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Downtown Austin Condos

May 22, 2008

The 360 Condonimiums in downtown Austin is completely sold out of all 430 units and has a waiting list of over 200 people. New residents start moving in next week. Today’s Austin Statesman has an article about the project and downtown condos in general (link below). The outlook among those quoted in the article remains [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market – April 2008 Sales Update

May 21, 2008

The Austin real estate market average sales values fell in April 2008 compared to the year before, yet there remain many areas in Austin with strong sales. The average sales price of an Austin home in April 2008 is $245,483. Last year in April it was $254,846. That’s a price drop of 3.67% overall, but [...]

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Latest in Staging Tips for your Austin Home

May 16, 2008

There is a big difference between decorating your home and staging your home to sell. To start, stand at the street in front of your house and look. What do you see? Is your home inviting? Is the landscaping fresh and well groomed? Is there maintenance that needs to be done? I can’t tell you [...]

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Scorpions in Austin Hill Country

May 16, 2008

I was stung by a scorpion in my sleep the other night. This was the 5th or 6th time since 1999 I have been stung in my sleep by a scorpion crawling in the sheets. There are many upsides and positive aspects to living in Austin, but the scorpions might be viewed as a negative [...]

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Austin Energy-Efficiency Property Upgrades at Point of Sale

May 6, 2008

Some weeks ago I received an interesting email from the Austin Board of Realtors government affairs committee. It was a scare letter warning us, as Realtors, that we need to take action to oppose a new ordinance, and it has since been making the rounds on Realtor email lists and forums in Austin. What struck [...]

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Is Your Austin Realtor a Beta Test or a Production Version?

May 3, 2008

I was evaluating some Property Management software recently, which was still in the “beta” stages of development. Beta software is commonly thought to be ready enough to function, but is expected to have undiscovered bugs and flaws, and may not be ready or stable enough for production use. I decided against this particular software because [...]

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