austin realtor

Austin Realtor Agent Performance Stats Now Live on Redfin

October 1, 2011

The Real Estate company Redfin recently announced the release of its Agent Scouting Report in its various markets around the US. This allows Redfin “clients” (term in quotes because anyone can sign up at Redfin.com and instantly be a “client”, whereas most agents think of a client as someone who has signed an actual Listing or [...]

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Staying in Touch with Past Clients without being a Pest

September 27, 2011

One of the toughest things to balance as an Austin Realtor is finding the right frequency and methods for staying in touch with our past clients. On the one hand, we have the National Association of Realtor (NAR) surveys of buyers and sellers showing that over 90% of real estate consumers never hear from their [...]

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How Much is a Dollar Worth to You? It Depends

September 18, 2011

Last year I made (saved) $120 by spending 3 minutes on the telephone. All I did was call Sheraton Hotel in Seattle and say “I’d like to convert my reservation to the internet rate“. A couple of minutes later it was done. No fuss about it. I then paid $30 less per night during our [...]

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Austin Property Tours: Beneficial to Sellers and Listing Agents?

August 18, 2011

Today I attended a property tour for my listing in Great Hills. There were 11 homes on the tour, including our listing. The other agents on the tour were the listing agents for the other 10 houses. This gives us a chance to see each other’s listings and to offer feedback on pricing, staging, etc. [...]

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Central Austin Homes: Buyers Often Frustrated and Deflated

July 6, 2011

I’ve been working with buyers recently looking in Central Austin neighborhoods. A recurring scenario always develops. Buyers are in love with neighborhoods such as Allandale, Travis Heights, Zilker, Barton Hills, Hyde Park, East Austin, etc., but cannot find an acceptable home to purchase in the Central Austin areas they love. A couple of months ago [...]

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Austin Housing Market Update – Midyear 2011

July 4, 2011

Homes values in Austin are trending up overall. This graph shown below can be deceptive though, because market activity is highly localized within pockets and neighborhoods. Let’s have a look and I’ll discuss further below. It’s impoortant to understand what a graph like this is and what it isn’t. It’s not an indicator of the [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market – 2010 Breakdown by MLS Area

February 20, 2011

Below is a chart breaking down the 2010/2009 sales comparisons by MLS Area for the Austin real estate market. This time I’m adding a couple of new things. First, there is color coding on each of the summary rows for each area. A green shade indicates “improvement” in the measured metric. I put “improved” in [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market – Year 2010 Summary and 2011 Predictions

February 6, 2011

The Austin real estate market finished 2010 with increased overall sales prices. The market is roughly a bit higher than the peak 2007 values. See the graph below for an illustration of Austin home sales values from 1999 through 2010. The graph can be deceiving though. It simply represents the cumulative data from all MLS [...]

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Vacation Rentals in Austin – Good or Bad?

January 30, 2011

Last week I attended the VRBO “stakeholder’s meeting” held by the city of Austin. The meeting was the first in response to growing complaints from neighborhood groups and individuals about the burgeoning VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner) business in Austin. There were over 100 attendees representing both sides of the debate, as well as some just there [...]

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The Best time to Plant a Tree in Austin

January 27, 2011

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now. ~Chinese Proverb I ran across this quote on Facebook about a week ago and it struck me how true this is! Especially now, in the cold of winter in Texas, it is time to plant your trees. All [...]

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