austin 8 - Crossland Real Estate

View Austin Real Estate Listings from your iPhone

iphone and realtor.com Realtor.com has a nice iPhone specific url that allows you to view real estate listings from your iPhone. I’m not sure what percentage of U.S. listings are fed into Realtor.com, but I would be suprised if it isn’t most of the major metro area MLS listings. And they are all at your finger tips with your iPhone.

Reality Check
OK, so what? Big deal. Who cares? What problem is solved by having access to nearly all of the Realtor listings in the U.S. through an iPhone? Why not just go home and log in from your web browser if you want to surf listings?

Well, I’m with you. I’m not impressed with “gee wiz” technology just for the sake of technology, but I can think of at least two ways in which this technology benefits me personally and professionally.

First, it’s not uncommon to be showing houses to buyers, and they ask about homes we drive by that are not on our list. This happens all the time.

Normally, if it’s not on our showing list, it’s because it didn’t fit the parameters of the search, or I eliminated it for some other reason. But I don’t always know or remember at the moment the question is asked. If there are flyers, we get one and find out the price and specs, but flyer boxes are usually empty, and sometimes the price isn’t printed on the flyer (because the agent wants you to call and ask, so they can convert you to a “buyer lead”.

I can also call the agent number on the sign, but what do you think the chances are that the call will be answered? Not good. Realtors hardly ever answer their phones.

So instead, now all I have to do is enter a quick search and pull the listing up, complete with pictures and basic details. The screen shot above is the home page you’ll see if you visit iphone.realtor.com with your iPhone.

Let’s walk through more screen shots and see if this is cool and useful, or not. Oh, and I’ll get to reason number two of why this isn’t a complete waste of time eventually, but for now, let’s just see what you can do with Realtor.com and an iPhone.

Austin Real Estate Market – May 2008 Update

by Steve Crossland

The average sales price for houses in Austin increased 5.14% in May from $259,958 in May 2007 to $275,711 May 2008. Sales prices had been flat or falling since Feb 2008, but May has us heading the other way again. We continue to have a large number of “failed sales” listings though, and days on market continues to creep upward. In short, there are a lot of mixed signals in the sales data. Here is a brief summary followed by charts below.

• Number of homes sold is down 24% from 2,630 May 2007 to 2,006 May 2008.
• Average sold prices in Austin were up 5.14% over the same month last year to $275,711.
• Median sold price was up 7.01% over the same month last year to $199,925.
• Avg sold price per square foot is up 4.02% over May 2007 to $124 per sqft.
• Avg days on market is up 11 days (22%) from 50 last year to 61 this May.
• Median days on market is unavailable because our $1M/yr MLS software, MLXChange, won’t produce it this month. I’ll leave it at that before I go off on another “MLXChange Sucks” rant.
• Number of “Not Sold” (exp or withdrawn) is up a whopping 56% over the same month last year.









  


Austin Real Estate Market Update for May 2008


All Austin / Central TX MLS Areas – Houses Only




      

Apr 2008


May 2008


May 2007


Yr % Change



# Sold

1826


2006


2630


-23.73%



Avg List

$254,318


$275,711


$259,958


6.06%



Med List

$194,935


$203,037


$189,900


6.92%



Avg Sold

$245,483


$267,231


$254,169


5.14%



Med Sold

$189,000


$199,925


$186,832


7.01%



List/Sold % 

96.52%


96.92%


97.77%


-0.87%



Avg SQFT

2117


2155


2132


1.08%



Med SQFT

1924


1941


1928


0.67%



Avg $ SQFT

$116


$124


$119


4.02%



Avg DOM

63


61


50


22.00%



Median DOM

39


*


*


not avail MLS



# Expired

519


509


306


66.34%



# Withdrawn

586


599


473


26.64%



Not Sold

1105


1108


779


42.23%



Not Sold %

38%


36%


23%


55.71%










On the Market (houses) as of June 23, 2008:


12,466 =  Active Res Listings in Austin MLS (12,066 last month) 


10,335 = Total Single Family Homes listed (9942 last month) 


1870 = Condo/Townhome/Loft/Garden Homes listed (2026 last mo.) 


97 = Mobile/Manufactured Homes (97 last month)

For the Year-to-Date numbers, the sales prices for Homes in Austin are about even for Jan-May 2008 over Jan-May 2007.

Remaining Cheerful When Under Verbal Assault

by Steve Crossland

I had an angry Realtor unleash a vulgar cursing tirade on me today and challenge me to a fight. He said he’d come to my office “and settle this man to man”. I declined, not because I’m a wussy, but because it wouldn’t be prudent or professional. Plus, I have nearly a three decade streak of not putting up my dukes and this didn’t seem like an issue worthy of breaking that streak. I’d rather it be a noble cause such as defending and protecting the honor of another.

No matter how long I’m in this business there remain pleasant surprises around every corner. The agent flipped out because his client’s rental application was not accepted. I had received multiple rental applications on a rental property and chosen another application to approve.

Multiple rental applications are much like multiple sales offers in that it’s the seller’s or landlord’s choice to either pick one, respond to all requesting better offers, or reject all. In this case, being the owner of the home myself, I decided not to try to shop the applications against each other for higher rent offers because I am happy enough with $1,295/mo. and I didn’t want to drag the application process into the weekend. I decided instead to pick the application that was received first, because on face it was not deficient in any way. Had that first application failed to meet the required criteria, or contained undesirable terms, I would have chosen from the remaining two.

Is a landlord required to accept a rental application based on first come, earlier move-in, or any other criteria? No. This other agent has no clue how leasing works, which is common, but his gutter mouthed tirade was unlike any I’ve ever experienced coming from a Realtor.

What is the best way to respond to a verbal assault from a crazed Realtor?

Gas Price Pain – Media Hype and Consumer Illusion?

by Steve Crossland

I just bought a new 2008 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab and have been taking some heat for it from friends and on this blog where I wrote about the purchase experience, how I got a great deal, and the experience of interfacing with dealerships.

The main themes: “How shortsighted”, “wouldn’t a smaller vehicle have worked?”, “You’ll regret it”, “gas prices will eat you alive”, etc. Even one “I thought you were smarter than that”.

Does anyone do the math on these sort of judgments? I did. Here is what I came up with.

Assumption: $3 per gallon was higher than we liked a year ago, but it didn’t generate the hysteria and behavior modification and purchase modification that $4/gal. seems to be creating, so I base my comparisons on $3/gal vs. $4/gal.

Case Study 1 – my driving habits
I drive about 1300 miles a month in the truck. It gets 15 mpg so far (same as the old one – 2001 Silverado).

That’s 86 gallons of gas per month that I purchase. At $4 vs. $3 per gallon, I’m paying an additional $86/mo. over last year to drive my truck. Nobody thought less of me a year ago. Now suddenly I’m a fool, according to some, for not taking measures to eliminate an additional $43/mo. cost of living.

Austin Real Estate Market – April 2008 Sales Update

by Steve Crossland

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 further below I’ll explain how this is misleading and that 75% of the MLS areas in Austin have appreciating values, many over 10%.

Median sold price is up 0.53% from $188,000 a year ago to $189,000 this year. See the chart below and a further rundown on what’s happening in the Austin real estate market below.









  


Austin Real Estate Market Update for April 2008


All Austin / Central TX MLS Areas – Houses Only




      

Mar 2008


Apr 2008


Apr 2007


Yr % Change



# Sold

1736


1826


2227


-18.01%



Avg List

$252,657


$254,318


$260,935


-2.54%



Med List

$197,478


$194,935


$189,900


2.65%



Avg Sold

$242,395


$245,483


$254,846


-3.67%



Med Sold

$190,000


$189,000


$188,000


0.53%



List/Sold % 

95.94%


96.52%


97.66%


1.12%



Avg SQFT

2130


2117


2087


1.44%



Med SQFT

1949


1924


2120


-9.25%



Avg $ SQFT

$114


$116


$122


-5.04%



Avg DOM

69


63


55


14.55%



Median DOM

45


39


26


50.00%



# Expired

551


519


296


75.34%



# Withdrawn

481


586


412


42.23%



Not Sold

1032


1105


708


56.07%



Not Sold %

37%


38%


24%


56.29%










On the Market as of May 19 2008:


12,066 =  Active Res Listings in Austin MLS (11,522 last month) 


9942 = Total Single Family Homes listed (9410 last month) 


2026 = Condo/Townhome/Loft/Garden Homes listed (1845 last mo.) 


97 = Mobile/Manufactured Homes (267 last month)

The Austin real estate market continues to be sluggish for April 2008 overall, according to our stats, but with many well performing pockets. Number of sales dropped 18% from the same month a year ago. Average list price is down 2.54%. Average sold price, as noted above, dropped 3.67% year over year for April. This is the second month in a row with a 3% drop in average sold price. Median Sold price is up half a percent.

Latest in Staging Tips for your Austin Home

by Steve Crossland

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 how many times I have looked at a house where the gutters were so crammed with dirt and leaves that plants were growing up out of them! This is definitely time to get your gutters cleaned!

As far as the shrubbery, the best age for shrubs and plants in landscaping is 2-3 years. Anything older starts looking bedraggled, so add some younger plants in front of older ones to give a tiered or layered effect. Lantana and Mexican Heather are good for this for this.

View Austin Real Estate Listings from your iPhone

Austin Real Estate Market – May 2008 Update

Remaining Cheerful When Under Verbal Assault

Gas Price Pain – Media Hype and Consumer Illusion?

Austin Real Estate Market – April 2008 Sales Update

Latest in Staging Tips for your Austin Home

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