Steve Crossland

Steve is a Real Estate Blogger, UT Austin Grad, Real Estate Broker and owner of Crossland Team at Bramlett Residential in Austin TX.

Dear California: Keeping Passing More Laws, Please!

by
regulations

From my inbox recently a familiar news update: “California-based 58Phases, an online affiliate marketing company, said it is moving its headquarters to Austin to take advantage of the lower cost of business here.” Article can be read on Statesman.com. “We’re doing interviews from California by Skype and hoping to hire as quickly as possible,” said Dylan Ramsey , 58Phases co-founder and CEO.”

California just keeps making it harder to do business there, for all types of businesses, which continues to drive new and existing businesses to Texas and Austin. There is a new Carl’s Junior burger joint down the street from me. I remember these growing up in San Diego but I had never seen one in Texas. When I read the writeup about Carl Juniors’ expansion into Texas, it had similar quotes about Texas’ business friendly environment.

“We’re going to do a lot of restaurant development in Texas over the next 10 years,” Puzder (CEO) said. “We’re considering maybe moving some of the headquarters — or all of the headquarters — here if we have a good business reason to do so, because the tax structure is certainly right, and the business-friendly environment is right.” …

“It’s much easier to build restaurants in Texas,” Puzder said. “There’s a lengthy list of regulations that you have to comply with in California that make doing business virtually impossible. If you’re going to grow, you want to grow someplace like Texas“.

And it seems there are news stories like this with quotes like this almost weekly in Austin. And this, during a bad economy. Wait until things turn around nationally.

That said, is the City of Austin itself becoming more like California than it is Texas? Is the City of Austin starting to overburden business owners with petty regulation and red tape? Absolutely. So, Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock, Kyle and other surrounding cities in the greater Austin Metro area may come to see Austin as as good a source of new business as Texas now sees California.

What are some examples of Austin’s over-regulation and attempted over-regulation?

Read more

Austin Property Tours: Beneficial to Sellers and Listing Agents?

by
Austin 15 Passenger Van

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.

This particular tour was a van tour. There are two types of Realtor tours – caravan or van.

Caravan Tour
On a caravan tour, agents travel in a caravan either alone or carpooling. This limits interaction and always results in the caravan getting stretched out with the faster ones getting way ahead and the slower ones getting way behind. So, the last few listings end up having the agents straggle in at staggered times and then that listing agent has to lock up and in turn becomes the final straggler on the next home. This is a bummer, but that’s how it goes. It’s also a huge waste of gas to have 11 agents travelling in 7 cars.

Van Tour
On the van tour, we all ride together, talking on the drive in between homes, and there is more interaction and discussion about the houses and the market. This is better in every way except one. When riding in the van I lose track of where I am because I’m not driving or paying attention to where we’re going. This affects my ability to offer an accurate pricing opinion on the feedback sheet. It’s not easy to say how much I think a house is worth if I’m disoriented and fuzzy about the neighborhood I’m in.

Imagine being blindfolded, driven to a property and let out in the front driveway. You walk inside, look around and then have to write down a price opinion. That’s what it’s like. Yes, I know I’m in Millwood, but which side of 183? Which schools does this one attend? Wait, are we down the street from that park? Can you hear the railroad tracks from here?

This disorientation doesn’t happen when I drive myself into a neighborhood and up to a house with buyers. When I’m driving, I have a clear sense of where I am. I’m taking notice of the street and the other homes as I approach the subject property. Now I see why buyers sometimes get turned around and confused about where certain homes were that we saw, because they are riding instead of driving.

So, are property tours even worth the time and effort and is the opinion I wrote down on the 10 feedback sheets today worth anything to the listing agent and the seller? Are the 10 feedback sheets I received for my listing helpful? Yes, here’s why.

Read more

Keith Richards, Harry Potter and the Austin Home Buyer

by
Keith Richards

I recently read the autobiography Keith Richard’s Life. In it, Keith Richards, of Rolling Stones fame of course, talks about becoming a songwriter and how it changed his perspective on life. It caused him to more closely observe people and how they behave. To more closely listen to comments and phrases people use, always keeping an ear tuned for that next catchy song line. Explaining how the songwriter part of him is always active and aware, “never turning off. Unconsciously constantly running.”

I totally understand. It’s like that for me as a real estate person. Not that I’m literally “always thinking about” real estate, but I easily connect real estate concepts and the behaviors I observe in people to things outside real estate. It happens automatically, whether I want it to or not. When I go into a house I’ve never been in, such as a friend’s house, I notice things about the house automatically. Not that I judge good or bad, I just notice. If I was quized later about ceiling height, flooring, layout, updates, etc., I’d probably be able to recall whereas a normal nRealtor wouldn’t pay attention to those details.

I also take note quite often of how people make choices and decisions. This can happen in line at Amy’s Ice Cream, in the parking lot at Barton Creek Mall (it’s curious the effort people go through to get a closer spot, or “better location”), or even eating out and observing the phenomenon of how often “I’ll have the same thing” is selected. Decision-making just interests me, which is why I like working with and helping home buyers so much.

Thursday night last week I escorted my youngest daughter and her friends to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II. We arrived about 8:45PM, waited in a line for a while, then we were let into the theater at 10:30PM, an hour and a half before showtime.

As we were about middle in line, the best seats were already taken, but there were plenty of good ones remaining in the top section, though they were filling fast. Our group of kids stalled at the bottom entrance as they scanned the remaining supply of seats. I said bluntly “Don’t think, just go”. and one of the boys said “good idea” and they immediately hauled it up to the third row from the top where they claimed 5 seats in a row, relegating me to sit a row below on an end seat (most likely to the delight of my 15 year old daughter, who would have preferred an even greater distance I’m sure). This actually proved to be an excellent vantage point from which to observe the slow stream of remaining viewers enter the theater and look for seats.

Latecomers to theater seating exhibit almost the same behavioral attributes of buyers in a sellers market, where there are no easy pickings. Here’s what I observed.

Read more

Navigating the Yelp Review Jungle for Real Estate Agents

by
Yelp Reviews

Earlier this week someone I’ve never met, Paul B from Round Rock, blessed Crossland Real Estate with a disparaging 1-Star review on Yelp. It reads:

Unprofessional and unpleasant demeanor.  General lack of realistic market knowledge and trends.  Probably better suited as a property manager, but lacks the proper people skills to be effective as either a listing or selling agent.  Argumentative and combative.

Definitely would NOT recommend, especially as a listing or selling agent

It’s hard to describe how jarring this was to read at first. Hit me smack in the face. I haven’t felt a jolt like that since the final scene in Boogie Nights. Crossland Real Estate has escaped all such “bad reviews” online until now, though I knew the day would come. After the initial shock and dismay, it settled in that Crossland Real Estate now had a 1-star rating on Yelp, which in turn displays next to certain search results. Not good. Not the sort of visual indicator that motivates a prospective new client to click through to our website from a search results page. For a moment I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling and thought, “it was so much less complicated in 1993”.

To add insult to injury, Yelp has “filtered” the two legitimate 5-star reviews and the 4-star review written by actual past clients of ours because the reviews are deemed “suspicious”. Yelp considers those reviews “suspicious” because they are the only Yelp reviews written by those reviewers. I actually talked to a Yelp rep about this last year and he said that the automatic “filtering” system hides solo 4 and 5-star reviews to prevent abuse. That makes sense, but these are actual client reviews, not bogus made up reviews. Yet, since Paul B from Round Rock has written 12 reviews, he’s considered a valid Yelp reviewer, even though, as I reported to Yelp, he’s never been a client of ours and we know not who he is or why he wrote what he wrote.

So, determined not to let a 1-star review from Paul B of Round Rock stand as the only visible Crossland Real Estate review on Yelp, I decided I needed to somehow dilute Paul B’s opinion with some rebuttal reviews more reflective of the truth. But this needed to be done without running afoul of Yelp’s rules. Here’s what I did.

Read more

Central Austin Homes: Buyers Often Frustrated and Deflated

by
Central Austin Houses for Sale

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 we did get lucky and find a newer home in an older Allandale area and my buyers got exactly what they wanted at the price they wanted. More recently though, after exhausting all available inventory in Allandale, a different set of buyers finally gave up. We eventually found a great house in a Northwest Austin “family subdivision” of cookie-cutter homes that is now awaiting closing. The buyers are, however, very, very happy with the home they are buying, having decided against being hard core Central-Dwellers.

This is a common outcome for buyers who start off in love with Central Austin. Many end up in a newer subdivision further out because the just can’t handle the Central Austin housing stock.

This morning, I received a call from an agent about a lease listing I have in East Austin. “Will the owners consider selling instead of renting?” she wanted to know. “Let me guess”, I responded. “Your buyer wants East Austin but you’ve shown all the available inventory and it’s all either over priced or too ratty, or you keep losing out to multiple offers”.  Bingo.

The buyer, I was told, has lost out on multiple instances of multiple offers, losing the last one even after bidding $14K over list price. Ouch. Been there, done that with buyers myself. Very frustrating. Welcome to the Central Austin home buying experience.

So, the Austin everyone falls in love with – the non-cookie-cutter central areas with charming homes on tree lined streets close to everything, walking distance to the funky little coffee shop and the hip new restaurant and 6-12 minutes from work – contains these older Austin homes that are actually not suitable for the majority of buyers who fall in love with the neighborhoods in which they are located. That’s the reality of it.

It’s sort of like being enamored by the aura and ambiance that cool, funky hippy chick you met at the party last Saturday night. The conversation was great and you had the time of your life! You think about her constantly for three days and you’re certain it’s real love. Then over lunch in the light of day three days later you realize she has some deal breaker “issues” going on that you’d really rather avoid dealing with.

Central Austin is that cool hippy chick and you’re just some poor dude with good credit who wears Dockers, works in a cube and wants desperately to be anything other than a bland, normal person. You want to be a cool Austinite, or that cool couple living in Central Austin, near a park where your dog can run. But when you and/or your wife get inside that charming Craftsman in Hyde Park and get your first look at that grungy small bathroom, you immediately feel repulsed and rule out that house. Could you really be expected to get by in a 5×8 master bath with a commode, standard tub and a one pedestal lavatory sink? “Who can wake up to that every day?” you might wonder.

And this continues until frustration and deflation cause a rethinking of either your price range, home size/condition and/or location. Suddenly, Circle C, with big soaking tubs and separate showers, separate commode closet, double vanity sinks and huge master closets seems much closer to downtown than before, especially when you walk into a $350K home in Circle C and compare it to what you get for $350K two blocks from the cool coffee shop.

So how does one actually find a suitable home in Central Austin? You have to either lower your standards or raise your price. One word: Compromise.

Read more

Austin Housing Market Update – Midyear 2011

by
Real Estate Market Stats

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.

Austin Housing Market Graph - 1999 thru June 2011

It’s impoortant to understand what a graph like this is and what it isn’t. It’s not an indicator of the value of your specific home. Many homes in Austin still won’t sell for the price they sold for in 2007. Many will sell for more now. It’s very dependent on activity and demand in your local area.

We recently listed a home in Avery Ranch at a farily agressive price and had multiple offers right out of the gate. That actually surprised me. Many other homes in Avery Ranch are just sitting though. We put our listing through a lot of prep and staging in preparation for the market, and the market responded. I see a lot of listings that may look similar on paper, but when you walk in, they fall flat on preparation and staging, often with dumb things left undone such as minor touchup paint and yard cleanup.

Meanwhile, one of our Central Austin  listings which is priced well (a 3/2 under $250K) in a great location off S. 1st  in the 78704 zipcode isn’t receiving the level of activity we’d expect at that price point in that location. It’s staged and well prepared as well (though it did have tenants occupying it at first). But we’re still waiting for the right buyer. This is frustrating. I know this house is a good deal but can’t explain why the market isn’t responding.

So, “prices in Austin are up” doesn’t apply to every home.

Nevertheless, the chart is meant to show the overall macro trend as indicated by the data in the entire Austin MLS for all homes sold. From that viewpoint, the Austin real estate market has surpassed the former peak of 2007 and looks to be experiencing increased values overall. Eventually, a rising tide floats all boats and that’s where I think we’re heading. I think Austin is on the leading edge of what may be a steady 4 to 7 year up cycle. Not a boom per se, but steady and reasonable value appreciation of 3% to 5% annually.

Read more

Why we don’t maintain the Refrigrator, Washer and Dryer

by

When you rent a house in Austin, you get the house, and some basic appliances. Usually this includes built-in stuff such as the dishwasher and range (technically not a built-in, but treated as such), sometimes a built-in microwave. If one of these items breaks, the landlord pays to fix it.

What about a refrigerator, washer and dryer?

Washers and Dryers are not normally included with a rental house in Austin. Refrigerators are more commonly included, but still less than half of rental houses in Austin include a refrigerator. At the time of this writing, for example, there are 844 Active rental house listings in the Austin MLS. Of those, 356 are advertised as including a refrigerator. Many of those will stipulate that the refrigerator, washer or dryer is not maintained by the landlord. If you are renting a house in Austin, you should expect to bring your own refrigerator, washer and dryer unless they are provided for in the lease agreement.

If a refrigerator is included, who pays to maintain it?

It depends. For the properties we manage, we normally do not include maintenance of “left behind” or “orphaned” appliances. From a management standpoint, I’d rather let tenants bring their own appliances and maintain them. But we often inherit or end up with appliances being left in a property either by departing tenants or owners who no longer need or want them. When this happens, we could simply have them hauled off or sell them on Craigslist, or we can leave them in the property for the next tenant to use.

Often, a departing tenant who brought their own fridge will have bought a new home and the builder provided an appliance package. That tenant will call and say “we don’t need our fridge. It’s about 8 years old but works great, should we leave it there in case the next tenant wants to use it?” And I’ll say “yes, go ahead and leave it. If the next tenant doesn’t want it, I’ll get rid of it”.

Read more

Austin Rental Home Search – Zillow and Hotpads Worthless

by

If you’re looking for a home for rent in Austin TX, you are no doubt looking online. And a lot of you are using sites such as Zillow.com and Hotpads.com to browse Austin rental listings. I receive info requests from these two sites more than any other. There are approximately 30+ internet sites to which our listings are automatically fed. Most of the requests I receive are for rental homes (and sales listings) that are already leased or under contract for sale. But as a web searcher, you have no way of knowing status based on what these internet sites show you in the listing details.

For example, if you look at the current Crossland listings displayed on Hotpads.com, there are 10 listings total. Of these 10, half of them currently have a status of “Pending” in the Austin MLS, meaning they are under contract waiting to close (for sales listings) or have an accepted/approved application. We mark these listings “Pending” in the Austin MLS, so agents will stop showing them, but internet searchers don’t know the status and keep inquiring.

So, for the entire 30+ days a home is under contract, or the days that a homes is Pending with an accepted application but awaiting tenant move-in, these listings appear as “Active” or “Available” on the most popular internet search sites, when in fact they are not. In fact,  half the Austin Rental listings that you see on Zillow and Hotpads are already leased, yet you’ll waste your time inquiring about these Austin rental listings because those sites show them as “Available” or “Active”.

What should agents and searchers do about this?

Read more

Should You List Your Austin Home For Sale at Memorial Day?

by
home for sale

Memorial Day is Monday May 30 this year, less than two weeks from now. Austin home sellers may wonder if this traditional kickoff of the summer selling season in Austin actually produces offers. I have a listing for a home in Austin coming up that will be ready the weekend before Memorial Day. Would it be a waste of market time to list a home in Austin the Thursday before Memorial Day, right before everyone heads out for vacations, or should a home be placed on the market for sale as soon as it’s ready, regardless of holidays?

The potential downside could be that putting a home up for sale before a big holiday weekend will accomplish nothing more than earning it additional days on market with no hope for a fast offer. I mean, who spends Memorial day weekend looking at houses anyway, right? Might as well wait until the Tuesday after, if following this logic. But let’s see if the assumption is supported by data.


 Listed Before Memorial Day Weekend
Year # Sold Med/Avg DOM % OLP
2010 218 47/65 92.78
2009 319 35/64 94.85
2008 361 39/69 93.42
2007 461 30/55 95.49


The chart above shows the stats for the past 4 years for homes sold in the Austin MLS with listing dates the Wed-Mon preceding and inclusive of Memorial Day for each year. In other words, these homes in Austin were listed for sale either just before or during the actual Memorial Day weekend.

The fist column is # Sold, the next is the median and average days on market before the home sold. The last column is the percentage of Original List Price for which the home sold. If the assumption that these homes suffered “holiday lag time” is correct, then that should be revealed in the next chart, which will show homes that were listed for sale immediately after Memorial Day weekend for the same 4 years.

Read more

Volunteering in Austin

by
Sylvia Crossland - Westbank Comunity Library Volunteering

For the last six months I have made an effort to find ways to help my community by giving back my time. This is particularly helpful to me especially when I start hearing those violin sounds in my head “…Poor me……poor me….nobody is helping me clean, cook or take care of my house…everyone in my family is too busy, so I have to do everything by myself…” These thoughts get pretty loud sometimes, but I have found that doing something for others is a perfect way to feel better and give back to the community. That’s why I volunteer. Since September 2010, I volunteer 2 hours a week at the Westbank Community Library. Mostly, I check in books and put them away. If someone has reserved a book, I find it on the shelf and put it on the reserve shelf. I lucked out when I joined up and got the … Read more

Popcorn Ceilings – Are They Really So Bad?

by
Popcorn Ceiling

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2011 and has been updated in 2025 for clarity and current standards.

TL;DR: Popcorn ceilings aren’t as scary as you think. They’re a cosmetic issue, not a dealbreaker for most buyers. But in 2025, smooth ceilings are still trending, and removing the texture can help your home feel more modern. If your popcorn ceiling is in good shape and doesn’t contain asbestos, it may be just fine to leave it alone – or paint it. This post breaks down the pros, cons, costs, and options.

In 2011, as I was suffering with Austin allergies, praying the medicine would work, and wishing I could at least start to half-breath again, I took respite on my living room sofa and laid there for a while, like a zombie, staring at my ceiling, meditating and trying to will my sinuses into operation.

As I did so, I made an odd observation. “This is one of the nicest popcorn ceilings I’ve ever seen!”, I thought. I continued examining the ceiling, from corner to corner. Not a blemish, stain or evidence of previous repair or patchwork anywhere. No discoloration around the A/C vents. No defects at all. The popcorn ceilings in my house are, in a word, pristine. Not bad for a late-1970s ranch-style home that’s spent over half its life as a rental.

Many home owners scrape their popcorn ceilings (aka Acoustic Ceilings). In 2025, professional popcorn ceiling removal typically runs between $3.00 and $5.00 per square foot in Austin, depending on factors like ceiling height, finish quality, and whether asbestos testing or remediation is needed.

When we list homes in Austin with popcorn ceilings, and seek feedback from Realtors who show the home, we’ll often hear “the buyers didn’t like the popcorn ceilings”. So, when selling, you have to take that into account as it can affect the value of your home. Often, a listing in 1970s Austin neighborhoods will boast of the popcorn removal. In our Austin MLS right now, there are comments in listings that say (actual quotes):

  • … popcorn removal & paint already done
  • … NO popcorn here
  • … ceiling popcorn removed
  • … owners have gone through the trouble to remove the popcorn ceilings
  • … NO POPCORN ceilings

People hate popcorn ceilings. But as I look at my own vintage 1978 popcorn ceilings, and how perfect they are, I wonder what all the fuss is about.

Read more

When is an Austin Rent Payment Considered “On Time”

by

One of the most misunderstood agreements that tenants have with Austin Property Managers and Landlords is when rent is actually due. It’s clearly spelled out in the written lease agreement, but confusion exists nonetheless. Most lease agreements require rent to be paid on or before the first of each month. All Crossland Property Management leases have a due date of the 1st, no exceptions. Many of my tenants, however, consider the “due date” to be the last day of the grace period, which is the 3rd for us. This is not correct and can lead to undesirable outcomes for tenants.

Most Texas leases include a provision that states the day upon which late fees begin to accrue for unpaid rent. The period of days after the 1st, but before the “late fee date”, is called the “grace period”. In fact, a 1-day grace period is mandated by Texas law, meaning the first day that a Texas landlord can lawfully charge a late fee is the 3rd of the month (assuming the lease states a due date of the 1st, with the 2nd being the 1-day grace period).

At Crossland Property Management, we have a 2-day grace period (giving an extra grace period day), meaning rent can be paid late on the 2nd or 3rd without a late fee, and the late fee starts on the 4th. But this does not make the 3rd the “due date” for rent, as so many tenants seem to assume. It works like this:

Rent Paid on or before the 1st – This is an “on time” rent payment. You are performing as agreed in the lease. You are an A+ rent payer.

Rent Paid on the 2nd or 3rd –  This is a “late payment” for which no late fee is charged, because of the 2-day grace period. You are a B- rent payer.

Rent paid on or after the 4th –  This is a late payment for which a late fee is incurred. You are a D rent payer. If I have to send an eviction notice before you pay, you earned an F. This will cost you not only in late fees, but in other ways explained below.

Tenants often mentally convert the due date to the 3rd instead of the 1st. In fact, in any given month, about one third of our rent payments are received late ON the 3rd. It’s human nature. We think in terms of consequences. A late payment each month on the 3rd seems to have have no consequences to most tenants, and many in fact consider it to be “on time”. But in fact is not correct.

You may think, “ok, I understand what you’re saying Steve, but there’s still no downside to paying on the 3rd, so I’ll just keep doing that”. This is where most tenants don’t know what you don’t know. There are in fact financial consequences to paying late each month, even within the grace period. Mainly, I don’t offer the same renewal rates to tenants who consistently pay late as I do to tenants who consistently pay on time. I also don’t provide as good a rental refernce for late payors as I do for those who pay on time.

Here’s how it works for lease renewals.

Read more

Texas BBQ and Wussy Austin Bikers

by
I have clean hands sticker

My 14 year old daughter and I like to catch lunch at Rudy’s BBQ on Sundays after her volleyball practice. I love everything about Rudy’s, especially having one two minutes from the house.

Yesterday was a typical Sunday at Rudy’s on 360. Great cross section of Austinites, young and old and of all stripes, including a table of bikers. More on that in a minute.

One of the cool features of Rudy’s is the really nifty hand washing machine. Think of it as a hand jacuzzi. You stand before this contraption which has two cylinders into which you put your hands. Upon doing so, a swirling cascade of warm water starts spraying on your hands, for about 30 seconds, then stops automatically. You then remove your reinvigorated wet paws, shake them dry (or use a paper towel if you have manners) and then place one of the provided “I Have Clean Hands” stickers on your shirt. Sort of like the “I Voted” stickers you get after voting, but for some reason the “Clean Hands” sticker provides a greater sense of accomplishment.

So it was this Sunday, that my daughter and I treated our sticky BBQ stained hands to the epidermal delight. I went first, then she, and as we stood there, a biker in full dress stepped up behind us. What happened next ought to be illegal in a Texas BBQ Joint.

Read more

Austin House Hunting Gets Boost from Daylight Savings

by
Austin House Hunting Gets Boost from Daylight Savings

If you’re currently searching for a home in Austin – not online but physically touring homes with an Austin Realtor – you know that one of your biggest limitations is available daylight time. That’s about to change over Spring Break as we move to daylight saving.

Starting in Early November each year, sunset happens before 6PM. That makes looking at homes on weekdays after work nearly impossible. Buyers don’t like looking at homes in the dark. Tonight, sunset will be around 6:30PM but, starting tomorrow, you’ll have an extra hour of daylight to view homes with sunset after 7:30PM. By mid April, sunset moves to around 8PM and by mid-summer you have until 8:30PM.

We all know the real estate market in Austin is better in the Spring and Summer. The accepted reason is that Spring/Summer is a more convenient time for making moves, especially for families with children in school. But I also think there are secondary factors.

One of the main secondary factors is the notion of “daylight shopping hours”. It’s just easier to buy a house when you have more daylight to work with. Also, I think buyers actually feel more like buying in warmer weather with longer days.

Read more

Austin Rental Values vs. Zillow Zestimates

by

Zillow now offers “Zestimates” for rental properties in Austin. Want to see how much a home might rent for? Just look it up on Zillow the same way you would the value of a home in Austin. Let’s see how accurate it is.

I took a look at some actual homes I manage, from all areas of Austin, and compared the actual rented value to the Rent Zestimates for Austin.

Area Zillow Actual Difference
SW Austin 78736 $1,260.00 $1,295.00 -2.70%
South Austin 78745 $1,276.00 $1,195.00 6.78%
South Austin 78748 $1,394.00 $1,395.00 -0.07%
SE Austin 78741 $1,195.00 $995.00 20.10%
Central Austin 78704 $1,539.00 $1,795.00 -14.26%
Central Austin 78705 $1,332.00 $1,650.00 -19.27%
Central Austin 78756 $1,319.00 $1,595.00 -17.30%
NW Austin 78759 $2,429.00 $2,495.00 -2.65%
NW Austin 78729 $1,417.00 $1,395.00 1.58%
Cedar Park 78613 $1,252.00 $1,300.00 -3.69%

 

Looks like Zillow Rental “Zestimates” either get it pretty close or way off. Of the 10 homes reviewed, 4 are incorrect by 14% or more with three of the four underestimating the rent, and one over estimating by 20%.

Five out of the remaining six were within a margin of error less than 5%. Not bad, actually. These were mostly underestimated as well.

So how do you know “for sure” the rental market value for a house in Austin? There are some simple rules of thumb.

Read more

Austin Craigslist – A Real Estate Advertising Sewer

by
Real estate ads on Craigslist

We don’t post ads on Craigslist. I’m not sure why any informed buyer, renter or seller would use Craigslist in Austin anymore, as it’s become a sewer of real estate scams and spammy garbage ads. If that’s not bad enough, Craigslist real estate ads in Austin represent the #1 subject of Ethics Complaints at the Austin Board of Realtors, as agents ignorant of advertising rules and the code of ethics try to market other agents’ listings. In short, the real estate section of Austin Craigslist has become a scourge and a menace to the Austin community.

Before anyone emails me or posts a comment about how great Craigslist is in your community, don’t bother. I know it works well in some communities. And I’m sure there are anecdotal instances of good outcomes and success stories in Austin. But it’s worthless as far as I’m concerned.

A scammer today posted our listing for 6010 Long Champ on Craigslist For Rent at $700/mo. This is a $2,400/mo. home in Westlake, for which the $700 price should have been red flag, yet at least 1 person we know of believed the ad. Later they forwarded the correspondence to us after concluding it was a scam.

Tenant Prospect Responding to Scam Ad (personal info altered/removed as indicated:

Good morning,

My husband and I are interested in seeing this home. The price & location are perfect for us –

Please contact us anytime at {contact info}

The scammer replied with the following (unaltered except is was all blue bold text):

Read more

Austin Real Estate Market – 2010 Breakdown by MLS Area

by
Real Estate Market Stats

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 quotes because it’s debatable what that means, and for whom, so perhaps a better word to use would simply be “increase” toward seller’s market. Note that a decrease in Days on Market is an “improvement”, however, as it means homes are selling faster, so a negative number on DOM is coded green and vice-versa, whereas the other negative numbers are red. Confusing enough? I hope not.

Next, I added a new column called SP/OLP which is the Sold Price divided by the Original List Price. I think this is a useful metric to observe as it informs us of the gap between the original list price a seller was hoping to obtain and the ultimate sold price achieved. This is more useful to know than the more commonly reported metric of SP/LP (Sold Price/List Price) because it doesn’t disguise the price drops that occurred before the home eventually sold.

In other words, a home that started at a list price of $300K, was eventually dropped to $270K, and then sold for the $270K list price, would produce a SP/LP ratio of 100%, but a SP/OLP of 90%. The 90% is a more accurate measure of market strength or weakness in a given area. You’ll see below that some areas are right at 95% (which is pretty good) and some are below 90%, which is a tougher market requiring bigger price drops.

OK then, let’s take a quick look at the new format using the cumulative sold data for all of 2010 compared to 2009.

All MLS # Sold Avg Sold Med Sold Avg SQFT Avg PSF Avg Days Med Days SP/OLP
2010 17,709 $255,049 $195,000 2,214 $115.20 73 48 93.19
2009 18,636 $245,765 $190,000 2,177 $112.89 75 47 95.2
Change -4.97% 3.78% 2.63% 1.70% 2.04% -2.67% 2.13% -2.11%


So, with the color coding, this allows a “quick glance” gleaning of which areas saw increases/decrease in the measered metrics across the board.  We can see above, looking at the entire Austin MLS market as a whole, that the average sold price increased 3.78%, median sold also increased, by 2.63%, Sold Price Per Square Foot increase 2.04%, and homes sold faster when looking at Avg Days on Market. But we also see that 5% fewer homes sold (lower demand) and that the median DOM and the SP/OLP ratios worsened. This “mixed” market is in fact what most areas produce.

One last aside, if an MLS Area is mostly red all the way across, such as Area 10S, does that mean buyers should avoid that area? Absolutely not. This is a look in the rear view mirror and doesn’t necessarily predict the future or indicate a trend. Same with areas that did well in 2010. This is just a snap shop of what happened in the given year 2010 compared to the year prior. If you own a home in an area that had a dog year, your particular neighborhood or size/price of home may have perfromed differently, and that won’t be reflected in this type of macro analysis of area-wide stats.

OK, the entire Austin MLS is broken down by MLS Area in the chart below. As usual, questions, comments, observations are welcome.

Read more

What Does it Take to Succeed as a Realtor?

by
How to Succeed as a realtor

I was at the TAR (Texas Association of Realtors) Winter Meetings in Austin yesterday. One of the events I dropped in on was the Professional Development Open Forum. It was announced at the forum that the Texas Association of Realtors is going to start providing a pre-license course for those thinking of obtaining a real estate license in Texas.

The course will provide an opportunity for those thinking of becoming a Realtor to get the straight skinny on what being a Realtor in Texas is really all about. This way, before you waste a bunch of money taking classes that don’t really teach you anything useful about succeeding as a Realtor in Texas (but which are required before you can obtain a Texas Real Estate License), you can decide if you’re willing to do what it takes to thrive in this profession.

This idea is a result of complaints from Texas Brokers about the the fact that most newly minted real estate agents are fairly clueless about and unprepared for the real estate career they just entered into. The state-required classes that are mandatory to become a real estate agent do not prepare one to become a successful practitioner. Those classes are designed to help you pass the real estate exam, that’s it. Your ability to pass the Texas real estate exam does not at all correlate with the actual skills and attributes needed to be a successful Realtor. In fact, few, if any, newly minted real estate agents are ready and able to write up a mistake-free sales contract, or even properly explain the real life implications of each paragraph of a standard contract.

This pre-license education makes sense to me. If was the instructor, I’d make sure those contemplating real estate as a career know about the extremely high failure rate and why the failure rate is so high. I’d make sure they know the truth about what “business” you are really thinking about entering. (hint: it’s not really a “real estate” business). And I’d make sure you understand the harsh financial realities of being self-employed with a highly unpredictable monthly income stream.Let’s see what it takes to become successful Realtor.

what does it take to succeed as a Realtor ?

Read more

Austin Real Estate Market – Year 2010 Summary and 2011 Predictions

by
Austin Home sale statistcs

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.

Austin Real Estate Sales Market Graph

The graph can be deceiving though. It simply represents the cumulative data from all MLS sales. Certainly, most homes in Austin are at or still below the 2007 values. Some are significantly below the 2007 values, especially in the high end at $500K and above. For the entire year of 2010, 48% of all MLS listings departed the MLS as a failed sales effort (expired or withdrawn). Anytime half the listings are not finding buyers, it’s a tough market for sellers overall.

On the flip side, 2010 was not exactly a “buyer’s market” in Austin. There was little to no “low hanging fruit” to be plucked from the market. Sellers were, for the most part, not crying Uncle and were not dropping prices drastically. Yes, we have anecdotal examples of some good deals that were had by some buyers, but most buyers were simply frustrated at the difference between the perceived “buyer’s market” and the actual reality of trying to find a great home at a great price.

The only winners in 2010 were the sellers who were fortunate enough to sell quickly at an acceptable price, and the buyers who allowed for themselves enough flexibility and patience to eventually find the right combination of motivated seller and acceptable home. It was not a good year for picky buyers with narrow parameters, as they kept running into stubborn sellers unwilling to negotiate to the degree buyers thought warranted by market conditions.

Year 2011 will be more of the same in the Austin real estate market, but volume will pick up and I believe sellers will start enjoying a slightly better market. 2012 is the year that things will really bust loose again, in my opinion, but we’ll see. 2011 may have a surprise upswing in store if job growth continues to pick up in Austin. More market stats below.

Read more

Vacation Rentals in Austin – Good or Bad?

by
short term rentals austin

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 to listen, like me. The discussion was lively.

The Anti-VRBO Point of View
Imagine living next to or across the street from a VRBO house in Austin. This home is essentially a guest house for vacationers, year-round. You’re nowhere near a lake or vacation spot. You live in Allandale, or Barton Hills or Travis Heights. Each year, you witness a parade of 50 or more different groups, in and out of the home – every weekend – coming to enjoy UT football, ACL Fest, South by Southwest, and any number of other Austin attractions. Even if the visitors don’t cause problems, have loud parties, or otherwise bother you, you’d still probably rather have a family or other permanent residents living in the home. You’d rather have actual neighbors in your neighborhood instead of a constant stream of strangers on vacation or visiting locals.

The Pro-VRBO Point of View
Imagine you own a home, well located in central Austin. Perhaps you inherited it from a parent, or you purchased it many years ago and kept it as a rental when you moved to the suburbs. For whatever reason, you’d like to hang on to it. Because of the high property taxes, it doesn’t work well financially as a long term rental anymore, with taxes and insurance alone eating up more than half the gross annual rents.

Read more