December 2008

Austin Realtors continue to disappoint me

December 24, 2008

I just finished entering the last listing we’ll take this year (that I know of) into the Austin MLS. I know, it’s Christmas Eve, but I’m all done shopping and don’t have anything better to do before we have a house full of relatives later tonight. Anyway, we signed the listing agreement earlier this month, [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market Update – Nov 2008 Sales

December 22, 2008

The sales volume in Austin fell of a cliff for November, with only 914 sales of single family homes. That represents a 43% decline in the number of homes sold. The number of “Not Solds” (expired or withdrawn) took a big jump also, to 62% of all listings that departed the Austin MLS in November. [...]

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Dotzour’s 4 stage plan to fix America’s housing problem

December 22, 2008

Texas AM economist Mark Doutzer Dotzour has a new video outlining his 4 stage plan to fix America’s housing problems. Regular readers know Dotzour is my favorite economist on these issues, not to mention a funny speaker if you ever get to see him in person. He breaks it down like this; at its essence, the [...]

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Yuppy in Beamer is Butt of East Austin Joke

December 20, 2008

I stopped in Sam’s BBQ on East 12th street today for a late lunch. Sam’s is a gritty Austin BBQ joint in the heart of East Austin. I still had an hour to kill before picking my daughter up from Kid’s Acting on E. MLK and I was hungry, so I stopped in. I ate [...]

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Today is Drop Dead Day for Many Austin Realtors

December 15, 2008

Today is the deadline for Austin Realtors to pay annual board dues. It cost $347 to remain in business as an Austin Realtor for 2009. That may not sound like much, but many agents don’t have the money, and they don’t have any listings or active buyers. For some, it’s a very depressing decision to [...]

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NY Times article on why now may be the best time to buy a first home

December 10, 2008

An article in the Dec 6th NY Times (page B1 of the New York edition) does a good job of outlining why the present, not the future, may be the best time for new home owners to get off the sidelines and buy a house. Here are a few quotes from the article: Five or [...]

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Modifying Mortgages Isn’t Working

December 9, 2008

Was just reading the following in my Realtor email news update: From: Daily Real Estate News – December 9, 2008 Just because their mortgage was modified doesn’t mean that a troubled home owner is out of the woods yet. More than half of loans modified during the first three months of 2008 were again 30 [...]

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Housing prices fall below replacement costs, with further to go

December 4, 2008

This article below came in my Daily Real Estate email news today. Says that housing prices in many places are now below replacement costs, meaning you can buy an existing home for less than it would cost you to build one. Then, in the same newsletter, another article (also below) saying that prices have further [...]

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