Austin Real Estate News

Rain on the Way to Texas

2012-01-23T15:11:00.000-06:00

Anyone who has followed the news at all knows about the horrendous drought much of Texas has been in. The Lake Travis rain gauge recorded less than half its average annual rainfall last year. That has caused many Lake Travis waterfront properties to have no water. There are boat docks sitting on dry ground all over the place.

Well it looks like at least a little relief is on the way. The forecast for Austin calls for a 50% chance of rain Tuesday and 90% Tuesday night. The LCRA Weather Blog, which Bob Rose hosts, is calling for 1-2 inches of rain and boy can we use that.

I just took this photo looking straight up. The sky has what look like advancing cloud waves. It looks to me after studying some satellite loops and radars that we will get Pacific moisture combining from a front that is dumping snow right where it is needed - Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

It looks to bring enough energy with it to generate heavy rain and embedded thunderstorms. My wish is for no violent weather, but for as much rain as we can get. I would love to see 4-8 inches across all of Central Texas and the basins that feed into our lakes.

By the way, in addition to being a weather enthusiast I am a Lake Travis real estate agent. So if you are considering buying on Lake Travis, please give me a call at 512-293-2422.

The Homestead Exemption

2012-01-19T14:48:00.000-06:00

Did you buy a home in Travis County, Williamson County or Hays County last year? If so you may be able to reduce what you owe in property taxes by applying for the homestead exemption. You can download applications for the homestead exemption for these counties from my website on my homestead exemption applications page. You will find links there to county pages where you can learn more about other exemptions as well.

Question about Austin homes? Call me at 512-293-2422.

10 Metro Areas in For a Great 2012

2012-01-15T10:15:00.000-06:00

2011 was a lot like 2010 – nothing much happened and it seemed like almost every city everywhere struggled. But who is in the driver’s seat for 2012? According to MainStreet, Austin and other cities (so what else is new) are in the top 10.

New Orleans was at the #2 spot, but after a few years dwelling at the bottom, why not pick it to see significant improvement. Tampa is at #5 and some of that is because the RNC will meet there this year. That will draw a lot of attention and bring a lot of money to the city. London (yes, the one in England) is at #7. The Olympics will be held there this summer and that always has a huge impact on a city.

Coming in at the #9 spot is Austin. With an unemployment rate of just 6.6% (we normally consider that way high) and the price of Austin homes 5% below the national average, Austin’s economy is practically thriving. The University of Texas and state government also have a huge impact every year. Add to that the enormous music festivals South by Southwest and the Austin City Limits Festival and Austin is a hotbed of activity.

Houston follows Austin at #10. Can you say oil and gas? I’ve also read that Houston should see a huge number of new home starts this year and that home prices may go up as much as 10%.

Coming in at #11 is my birth place, Rochester, NY. I left when I was almost 3 years old and have never been back. With both Xerox and Kodak going under, I find it pretty amazing that Rochester made the list at all.

See the complete article and list here.

If you are interested in homes in Austin, call me at 512-293-2422.

Three Central Austin Neighborhoods

2012-01-03T15:57:00.000-06:00

Central Austin is home to a variety of neighborhoods. Just like any other large American city, many central Austin neighborhoods are fairly old. What I am about to do is highlight three central Austin neighborhoods.

Let’s start with Breezy Hollow. This is a tiny neighborhood south of Koenig Lane between IH 35 and Mopac Expressway. Most homes were built in the late 1940s or 1950s and many have been nicely updated. However, there are still homes in the neighborhood that could use some work. No Breezy Hollow homes are for sale right now, but 4 sold in 2011. The sold price averaged a little over $221 per foot and homes got over 98% of list price.

Northwest Hills Lakeview is in the hills of northwest Austin just north of RR 2222. There are currently 6 homes for sale in the neighborhood and one of them is currently under contract. They range in price from $469,000 to $900,000. During 2011 there were 5 home sales in Northwest Hills Lakeview. The median sold price was $540,000, which was almost $165 per square foot. Sold homes fetched just over 92% of original list price and took an average of 177 days on the market before selling.

Oakmont Heights is a bit closer to downtown Austin than the other two neighborhoods. It is just off Mopac between Bull Creek Road and West 35th. There are currently 4 Oakmont Heights homes for sale in the Austin MLS. They range in price from $360,000 to $725,000. During 2011, 10 homes in Oakmont Heights sold. The median selling price was almost $343,000, which was almost $251 per square foot.

You will see that the price per square foot for many central Austin homes is quite high. You should also note that the smaller the house, the higher the price per foot. Homes in Northwest Hills Lakeview are larger and even though they are very nice, they don’t get the same price per foot as remodeled smaller homes.

Questions? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Home Sales in Austin Area Neighborhoods in 2011

2011-12-30T15:33:00.000-06:00

Well, the year is about to come to a close and I thought I would share some information about home sales in some Austin area neighborhoods.

Rough Hollow in Lakeway – 20 homes in Rough Hollow have sole this year in the MLS. I say MLS because builders are active in Rough Hollow and some homes having been built will have not been in the MLS. Of the homes sold, the median sales price was $457,670 and the average days on market before selling was 173. As for Rough Hollow homes currently on the market, there are 21 and they range in list price from a little under $297,000 to over $5 million. Two of the homes for sale are under contract.

Bella Lago is a neighborhood just west of Westlake Hills by Lake Austin. There have been 26 homes in Bella Lago sold this year. The median sold price was a little over $766,000, which is about $164 per square foot. The average Bella Lago home sold this year was on the market for 112 days before selling. There are currently 5 Bella Lago homes for sale and they range in price from $694,000 to almost $2 million.

Sendero Springs in Round Rock has been very active this year. There have been 110 Sendero Springs homes sold so far in 2011. The median sales price was over $269,000, which is almost $93 per square foot. Average days on market before selling was 90. There are currently just 3 homes for sale in Sendero Springs.

Home sales in Northwest Hills has also been very active in 2011. There have been 68 sales so far this year with the average sold price being almost $444,000, which is around $173 per square foot. The average days on market before selling was just 66. There are currently 28 Northwest Hills homes on the market with 10 of them being under contract. The average list price is almost $588,000.

There is a community in Buda, which is south of Austin, called Elliott Ranch. There have been 13 Elliott Ranch homes sold so far in 2011. The average selling price has been $382,000, which is close to $118 per square foot. Currently, there are 9 homes on the market in Elliott Ranch and one of those is under contract. List prices run from around #303,000 to $625,000.

Interested in Austin area homes? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Central Austin Neighborhood Update – December, 2011

2011-12-26T09:41:00.000-06:00

Central Austin covers a lot of ground and it contains a lot of neighborhoods. From the Coronado Hills to Rosedale to Hancock, there is a lot of variety in terms of homes and home prices. I will highlight a few central Austin neighborhoods below to show this.

The Cliff Over Lake Austin can be called a central Austin or northwest Austin neighborhood. There are no Active listings in the neighborhood right now, but 5 Cliff Over Lake Austin homes have sold this year. They range in price from under $400,000 to over $2 million. Days on market before selling ranged from 41 to 158.

Alta Vista is a neighborhood closer to downtown than the Cliff Over Lake Austin. There are currently 2 homes for sale in the neighborhood ranging from $349,900 to $489,000. Just 1 Alta Vista home has sold this year.

University Heights is a very small neighborhood close to the University of Austin. There is 1 home on the market in the neighborhood. It is a 2,740 square foot home built in 1927 and the list price is $675,000. No homes in University Heights have sold this year.

Walsh Place is a great neighborhood west of downtown Austin close to Lake Austin. There is currently just 1 Walsh Place home on the market. It is listed for $995,000 and has been on the market for 111 days. Six homes in Walsh Place have sold this year including 3 that sold for more than $1 million.

Austin Photos are Worth More than Thousands of Words

2011-12-23T15:40:00.000-06:00

Austin and the surrounding area have some truly amazing scenery. Rather than write about it, I have decided to post photos I have taken. Here goes:

Looking over Lake Austin and Mount Bonnell homes from the top of Mount Bonnell in central Austin.

Looking across Lake Austin to the Austin Country Club and Davenport Ranch.

A magnificent sunset over Lake Travis from Lakeway.

An incredible $15 million home overlooking beautiful Lake Travis.

The view from close to to the top of the huge, granite dome of Enchanted Rock.

The middle falls at Pedernales Falls State Park.

Amazing Krause Springs.

Even more amazing is Hamilton Pool. See the rail on the sandy beach across the pond? It is around 3 feet high. That should help you understand the enormity of the collapsed cave.

By the way, as I took all of these, consider them protected by U.S. federal copyright laws. Questions? Leave a comment or call me at 512-293-2422.

Home Prices Across Parts of Austin

2011-12-20T13:01:00.000-06:00

Austin, like many other large cities, has a broad range of home prices and different parts of the city have different kinds of neighborhoods with homes at very different price points.

In general, homes just west of downtown are very expensive. Prices go way up for homes north of that area and east of Mopac Expressway. Just west of Mopac and Camp Mabry are neighborhoods filled with expensive homes. The reason for this is how the neighborhoods originally developed. Buyers were generally fairly wealthy individuals who were some kind of business professionals and they wanted to settle in very nice neighborhoods close to downtown Austin and the University of Texas.

After these neighborhoods built out, people started looking to the west of downtown Austin. Just west of Lake Austin is the beginning of the Central Texas Hill Country. Hills are not huge, but the quick change in elevation makes for steep roads and some amazing views. Some of these homes overlook Lake Austin and some have stunning views of downtown Austin. Take a look at some neighborhoods and home prices highlighted below.

Balcones Park, which is a bit north and west of downtown Austin, has 3 homes for sale today ranging in price from $325,000 to $835,000. The average price per square foot for an active listing in Balcones Park is almost $260.

Highland Park, a neighborhood close to Balcones Park, has 9 homes for sale at this time. They range in price from $379,00 to $1.75 million. The average price per square foot is $291.

Edgemont, which is just east of Mopac Expressway and south of Pemberton Heights, another very expensive Austin neighborhood. There are currently 4 Edgemont homes for sale ranging from $627,000 to $1.9 million. The average price per square foot of a current home listed for sale in Edgemont is over $366.

If you want to look at even more expensive homes, take a look at some of the area in the hills west of downtown. West Rim is a great example. There are currently 4 homes for sale in West Rim. Prices range from just under $1.9 million to $6.5 million and the average price per square foot is a staggering $425. Many West Rim homes have absolutely spectacular views of downtown Austin as they sit close to 250 feet higher in elevation than downtown.

If you have an interested in Austin homes, please call me at 512-293-2422.

2011-12-19T11:38:00.000-06:00

The image at the top is of kids and parents playing in fake snow (ground up ice blocks) at the Hill Country Galleria Mall a couple of days ago. The other image is of the huge and nicely decorated Christmas tree at the mall.

Families came from all over the area including neighborhoods like Saddletree Ranch, the Coves on Lake Travis, Apache Shores, Spanish Oaks and Lakeway. The Hill Country Galleria Mall is located at the intersection of Hwy 71 and RR 620 in the City of Bee Cave.

Cedar Park Neighborhood Update - December, 2011

2011-12-14T10:54:00.000-06:00

Cedar Park is a city just northwest of Austin that has seen tremendous growth over the last decade. It is home to many neighborhood many offer fairly affordable housing. Below is real estate activity in some Cedar Park neighborhoods.

Bella Vista – 3 homes for sale ranging in price from $245,000 to $549,000. There have been 10 Bella Vista homes sold during the last 90 days.

Bellamy - 3 homes for sale ranging in price from $242,500 to $273,629. There has been 1 Bellamy home sold during the last 90 days.

Breakaway Park - 4 homes for sale ranging in price from $800,000 to $1.999 million. There have been 2 Breakaway Park homes sold during the last 90 days including one I sold to a couple looking for a larger home on acreage.

Carriage Hills - 30 homes for sale ranging in price from $128,500 to $209,900, with 5 of these being under contract. There have been 25 Carriage Hills homes sold during the last 90 days. Obviously, this is a very active neighborhood in terms of home sales.

Cypress Creek - 30 homes for sale ranging in price from $140,500 to $249,000, with 1 of these being under contract. There have been 9 Cypress Creek homes sold during the last 90 days. Obviously, this is a very active neighborhood in terms of home sales.

Forest Oaks - 24 homes for sale ranging in price from $154,900 to $379,900, with 1 of these being under contract. There have been 4 Forest Oaks homes sold during the last 90 days. Obviously, this is a very active neighborhood in terms of home sales.

Interested in Cedar Park homes? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Austin Neighborhood Real Estate Update – Austin Lake Estates

2011-12-13T06:59:00.000-06:00

Austin Lake Estates is a fun, little community around 20 minutes west of downtown Austin. There are currently 4 Austin Lake Estates homes on the market and they range in price from $165,000 to $299,900.

There are currently 2 homes on the market in Austin Lake Estates that are under contract and 2 have sold during the last 60 days. Of the home that sold, they took an average of 85 days on market before closing.

Austin Lake Estates is an interesting community as it is surrounded by some very expensive subdivisions. Homes in the small neighborhood are very affordable compared to others in areas like Seven Oaks, Rob Roy and Barton Creek.

Interested in Austin Lake Estates homes? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Where Are Austin’s Most Expensive Luxury Homes?

2011-12-09T15:02:00.001-06:00

There are currently 35 Austin luxury homes for sale at prices at or above $4 million or more. As one might expect, a good number of these properties are either Lake Austin or Lake Travis homes or they over look one of the lakes.

The most expensive home for sale in the Austin market right now is a home with a truly magnificent view of the main basin of Lake Travis. Sitting on over 10 acres, this 15,000+ square foot home has 6 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a 5-car garage, library, wine cellar, theater, media, game, entertainment bar, fitness, massage, and an indoor basketball court. The photo you see is of the home as it was under construction. I took it back in 2004. This home is listed for $15 million.

The second most expensive Austin listing right now is a home on Lake Austin in the community of Greenshores. This is a 12,000+ square foot home on almost 7 acres with around 300 feet of Lake Austin frontage. This property actually has multiple structures on it. There is a main house, guest house, carriage house, boat house and caretaker's house. This home is listed for $12 million.

An almost $12 million home sits on the bank of Lake Travis in the Coves on Lake Travis. This home on 4 acres contains over 16,000 square feet. The home has 9 living rooms, 7 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a gym, music room and a craft room. Above the 4-car garage is a 2,000 square foot apartment.

Closer to downtown Austin is an almost 16,000 square foot home sitting on 80 acres next to a nature preserve. This spectacular home in West Lake Hills has 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, 8 living rooms and 9 garage spaces. The pool overlooks the nature preserve so the privacy is amazing.

Other very expensive Austin homes for sale are in neighborhoods such as Enfield, West Rim, the Island at Mount Bonnell, Seven Oaks and Rough Hollow, a very nice Lakeway neighborhood.

Bear Creek Estates Real Estate Update – December, 2011

2011-12-06T10:10:00.000-06:00

Bear Creek Estates is a Dripping Springs neighborhood off Nutty Brown Road a little to the southwest of the subdivision of Circle C Ranch. As of today there are just 2 homes for sale in Bear Creek Estates. List prices range from $325,000 to $629,000 and the average Days on Market is 81 days. Bear Creek Estate is a relatively stable neighborhood in terms of turnover of homes. The last home to sell in the neighborhood sold back in September, 2010.

Questions about Dripping Springs neighborhoods and homes? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Dripping Springs Neighborhood Ledge Stone Real Estate Update December 2011

2011-12-03T09:01:00.001-06:00

The Dripping Springs neighborhood of Ledge Stone is less than 10 miles to the west of Austin. As of today there are 9 homes in Ledge Stone for sale. List prices range from $233,000 for a 2,299 square foot home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that was built in 2008 to $360,000 for a 3,501 square foot home with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms that was built in 2008. Of the Ledge Stone homes for sale, 4 are new and 2 are currently under construction As for home sales in Ledge stone, there have been 2 sales within the last 60 days and one home is currently under contract.

Interested in homes in Dripping Springs? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Highpoint Homes Update - December, 2011

2011-12-02T11:54:00.001-06:00

Highpointe is a master-planned community in the Dripping Springs area around 25 minutes west of downtown Austin. A great place for families with kids, there are community pools, playgrounds, ball fields, hike and bike trails and more.

As of today there are 20 single-family homes for sale in Highpointe. Of the homes for sale, 3 are new, 5 are under construction and the remainder are resale properties. List prices range from $265,000 to $560,000.

Over the last 30 days there have been 3 Highpointe homes sold. There are also 5 pending sales right now. Pending sales are homes that are under contract and one can assume that most will close within around 30 days.

Highpoint is located south of Highway 290 off Sawyer Ranch Road just past one of the entrances to Belterra, a neighborhood very similar to Highpointe. I recently added neighborhood pages for both communities to my Austin real estate website.

Austin Neighborhood Austin Highlands

2011-12-02T09:27:00.001-06:00

I was looking for areas in Austin the other day that might be up and coming for investors who want to buy older homes and fix them up for rental properties and the south Austin neighborhood of Austin Highlands caught my eye. The location of Austin Highlands puts it close enough to downtown Austin and the University of Texas so a commute would not be too bad, yet far enough to be a bit less expensive than neighborhoods that are closer in.

Added Austin Neighborhoods to My Austin Real Estate Website

2011-11-21T15:10:00.000-06:00

In an attempt to give users and search engines a better experience using my Austin real estate website I have been adding a lot of neighborhood pages. Each has a brief description of the neighborhood and a few have photos. Following that are homes for sale in the various neighborhoods. Added today were:

Mount Bonnell, Barton Creek West, Austin Lake Hills and a few others. I will continue to add neighborhoods and I probably have around 100 left to go.

Texas is Thriving

2011-08-18T10:44:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not thriving in an absolute sense, but compared to most other states we're doing pretty darned well. I just read an article about why Texas is thriving and it made some very good points. Among them:

Oil prices are up. In addition, the fracking (hydraulic fracturing) going on in south central Texas has had a huge impact on our economy. Thanks to this relatively new way to get at natural gas that otherwise could not be retrieved in a profitable manner, there is a new gas boom in Texas.

High tech is big in Texas and even when we see a national or global economic slow-down, people still need things from tech companies. Texas is a huge exporter of high tech products.

Military spending is huge in Texas. We have huge bases in El Paso and Killeen and the military presence in San Antonio is also huge.

The story also cites things like Texas having a lot of consumer spending, cheap labor, not having had a housing bubble, government growth and drug trafficking as being economically beneficial to Texas.

Drug trafficking is beneficial? Doesn't seem right when you first think of it, but around half of the illegal drugs entering the US come through Texas, where they are repackaged and sent on their way. Money is spent by the people doing this. They spend money on housing, gasoline, food and everything else that would be spent by any legitimate business.

Check out the full article here.

New Homes Directory

2011-08-12T15:14:00.003-05:00

I was asked to post monthly stats for the Bee Cave real estate market on NewHomesDirectory.com. A link to the page about Bee Cave real estate market conditions is in the title of this post.

The directory has been about new homes in the past but is not including statistics on new and resale homes in many markets around the country.

There are 6 neighborhoods in Bee Cave. They are Lake Pointe, Falconhead, Falconhead West, The Homestead, The Uplands and Spanish Oaks. Bee Cave is a small city around 30 minutes northwest of downtown Austin.

How Hot and Dry is Austin?

2011-07-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

Pretty stinking hot and dry. I'm visiting my dad in Helotes, a suburb to the northwest of San Antonio. He saw a dusting of snow at the end of last year and perhaps 30% of the rain he normally sees this year. It is so dry, almost nothing getting supplemental water is blooming. One result of that is hummingbirds and wasps are fighting over places on the hummingbird feeder.

I went out to water some of what little landscaping dad has and within 30 seconds of turning water on, wasps, yellow jackets and hummingbirds were buzzing around. The hummers kept their distance, but the wasps and yellow jackets were pretty aggressive about trying to get water.

One problem people who own Austin homes or homes almost anywhere in Texas are having is a dying landscape. Watering restrictions are pretty strict with many areas banning anything but watering by hand either early in the morning or after sundown.

Another problem some home owners are facing is sticking doors and windows. Even on rock, which is what many Hill Country homes sit on, foundations will flex a little if there is not enough soil moisture. The way to fix this is to have a drip irrigation system around the foundation. When the ground becomes as dry as it is now, foundations will sag a bit and that causes sheetrock cracks and sticking doors and windows.

If you have questions about homes in the Austin area, please call me at 512-293-2422.

Walmart in Henly TX

2010-09-10T14:25:00.002-05:00

Someone left a comment here about having heard a rumor of a Super Walmart being built in Henly, TX. Henly is a tiny town of around 60 people 10 minutes west of Dripping Springs. Dripping Springs doesn't look large enough to have a Walmart and the closest cities besides Dripping are Blanco and Johnson City. Each looks to be around 20 minutes from Henley. I have not found anything online about Walmart anywhere near Dripping or Henly so I doubt there is anything to the rumor.

Austin Home Sales Slow

2008-04-21T10:24:00.004-05:00

The statistics for March, 2008 show that home sales in Austin dropped for the 9th month in a row. Home sales dropped 21% from a year ago. The average price of a home sold also dropped for the first time in a very long time. Is this a correction? Not in my opinion. Austin has been adversely affected because of buyers being cut out of our market. Many can't get loans because of tighter credit standards. Many can't buy because they are waiting for a house to sell in another area.

What does the future hold? Dell announced a 900 person layoff here recently. AMD just announced that it will cut 215 jobs in Austin. As the global demand for chips and related items drops, the Austin high-tech sector may see more layoffs.

But wait, there is good news as well. The Austin annual job growth figure came out the other day, as did our area's unemployment rate. Jobs grew at an annualized rate of 2.9% and unemploument was at 3.6%. Those are very strong numbers, especially considering what is happening in other parts of the country.

Within about 60 days, the University of Texas at Austin is expected to announce the creation of a medical school here. Think of the jobs that would bring both during construction and when in it is service. The new Cedar Park Regional Medical Center opened in December of last year. Lakeway is getting a large, regional medical facility with a Level II Trauma Center, medical offices and retail space. That too will bring jobs.

So Austin might balance the bad with the good. However, as the national economy goes flatter, Austin will continue to see the effects. 2006 and the first half of 2007 were on fire in terms of record home sales. The current market doesn't stand a chance of keeping pace. The only direction is backwards until around October.

October is the month last year that the credit crisis really slammed our market. What I want to see is the stats from October and beyone compared to 2007.

OK, it is now April, 2009 and sales are still slow. We're down around 30% in terms of homes sold compared to last year. Prices in some parts of town are holding fairly steady and they are dropping in others. The south Lake Travis area, for example, is seeing extremely slow sales and prices are off almost 10% compared to the same last year.

Fasf forward to now - April, 2010. Pending sales are up and that means more closings for May and June. Things are moving more quickly closer to downtown. The Lake Travis and Spicewood areas are slow. My fear is that after the spring buying season winds down, we may see a very second half of the year. Interest rates are higher, the tax credits will be over and I have doubts that the economy will recover. Not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic.

Austin Home Values Still Rising

2008-04-16T14:30:00.003-05:00

Home values still rising was a huge headline in the Austin American Statesman this morning. What a crock! This irresponsible article was talking about the tax appraisal districts in the area increasing the appraised value of houses. The very last part of the article said that the values they were talking about were for spring and summer of 2007. Well guess what, folks? That was before the sub-prime mess hit and before Austin started slowing.

The latest stats I just got from Alamo Title Co. showed home prices across the 5-county area having dropped just over 2% in March compared to March, 2007. Certain parts of Austin are healthier than others, but the truth is that our market has weakened and prices have started to come down.

The biggest problem with this article is that sellers will read it. If they don't read it carefully, they may not price their homes properly. Overpriced listings will not sell. People who really need to sell will start dropping prices. As they drop month after month it may look like they are desperate. The reality will simply be that they are adjusting to where the original price should have been.

Lake Travis Fire Rescue

2008-04-11T15:02:00.002-05:00

The Hudson Bend Fire Department is now Lake Travis Fire Rescue (LTFR). The name change isn't the big news, the drop in the ISO rating is.

The Insurance Services Offices (ISO) Public Protection Classification (PPC) is dropping from a 5 to a 2. What this means to people who own homes and businesses in the LTFR coverage area is a decrease in insurance premiums. There are other factors besides the ISO rating that will have an effect. Things like distance from a fire hydrant and distance to a fire station also play a role.

How can you find out if your premiums will drop? Call your insurance agent. I called mine yesterday and he had not heard this news. Not knowing means not checking policies to see if rates will drop. Now he will not only verify the information, but he will mail all of his clients within the LTFR service area notifying them of the change.

Pearson Ranch Austin

2008-04-06T16:15:00.002-05:00

As the "national" housing market has cooled, so has Austin, but... I put the word national in quotes because there is no such thing as a national housing market - it is all local. Regarding Austin cooling, I am specifically referring to the number of new homes starts and that number has plummeted. The reason? A lot of it has to do with the fact that large nationwide builders are having trouble in many markets. In order to to conserve capital, these builders have cut back in Austin.

OK, that brings me to my point - the Pearson Ranch community is back on track. This area of 195 acres in north Austin had been a Centex Homes pulled out of. Now, developer Bob Wunsch is planning over 400 new homes and also apartments there. This is the developer of the huge Austin subdivision of Anery Ranch. The development is between Texas 45 and Brushy Creek Road, east of 183 around 5-10 minutes. I have a feeling that one of the reasons that Wunsch is taking the project on is because of Texas 45.

Getting around in Austin has become more and more difficult over the last 5+ years. This area isn't known for being good about developing the infrastructure to get people from place to place quickly. Well known for being anti-growth in ways, the Austin area has been terrible about improving highways to move traffic more quickly. Love or hate them, toll roads have become part of the Austin scene. Texas 45 is just that. What used to be a pretty long commute to the downtown area is now much faster.

Rollingwood Building Boom

2008-03-31T07:30:00.002-06:00

Rollingwood, a small city tucked into the Austin area just minutes west of downtown, is booming in a way. The city has generally been built out for a very long time, but the addition of city sewer has changed the area dramatically. What used to be a community of relatively modest homes has seen many of these homes torn down to be replaced by new and much larger homes. Gary Keller, the Keller of Keller Williams, is a perfect example. He tore down homes on two neighboring lots and replaced them with an almost 8,000 square foot home.

The Rollingwood boom isn't new to Austin, but the reason for it is different than what has been seen in other areas. Until the city installed sewer, any home owner who wanted to expand a house in Rollingwood would have had to replace the existing septic system. Having a septic system in the yard also prevented people from adding pools in many cases. Rollingwood remains a very nice, quiet neighborhood. It just has newer and larger homes now than it did 10 years ago.

Pedernales Falls State Park

2008-03-21T16:46:00.002-06:00

If you live in Central Texas and like the outdoors at all, you need to know about Pedernales Falls State Park. This is a park that is around 90 minutes north of San Antonio, just a bit east of Johnson City and around 45 minutes west of Austin.

The park is named for the series of short waterfalls that the Pedernales River formed as it carved its way through the limestone hills. The rock that the falls goes over and through shows signs of the many years of erosion. You can also see bent trees and debris high on the hill beside the river and in trees from past floods.

This is a great area in which to hike, take photos and jump into a cool river in the middle of the hot Texas summer. Take a look at my Pedernales Falls photos now.

Selling a House? Look Up

2008-03-11T09:13:00.004-06:00

I was just reading Nickie Rothwell's Home Staging Blog and the title of her post caught my eye and made me think. The title was When Staging a Home for Sale, Remember to Check the Roof. Nickie was talking about wind damage, but here in central Texas we have more than wind to consider.

If you are selling an Austin home right now, look at the roof. As an owner, you should know the age of the roof and whether or not you have had hail or wind damage. If the roof is older than 10 years or if you have had hail you may want to consult with a roofer. Any buyer will probably have an inspection done. Although they may not be licensed roofers, inspectors will look at the roof. These folks can see signs of hail damage or wind damage and they will make note of it. Another thing inspectors will look for is tree limbs close enough to run on the roof during wind storms or limps actually resting on the roof. Such limbs are a problem and need to be trimmed back.

Is it better to replace shingles before putting the home on the market? Right now I would say yes. Sales of homes in Austin are slow compared to a year and prices are beginning to trend down. Knowing this, your house needs to be in better condition than your competitors, especially if prices are similar for similar homes.

SXSW - Austin Music Festival

2008-02-28T10:40:00.002-06:00

SXSW stands for South by Southwest, Austin's premier music festival. Started in 1987, SXSW has turned into one of the largest music festivals in the country, with bands coming from all over the world. The financial impact on Austin is huge. According to a study commissioned by the festival, SXSW brought around $95 million to Austin's economy in 2007. Economist Anglos Angelou estimates that the festival also brought around $12.8 million in media attention.

OK, SXSW is huge - so what? In addition to giving people in the central Texas a lot of really great entertainment, this showcases Austin to thousands of people from outside the area. Face it, when people who have not been to Austin think of Austin, they think that is like Dallas or Houston because that is all they have seen on TV. Once you get someone west of Mopac Expressway into the hills, they are pretty stunned by what they see.

I have a client in Hawaii who is really excited about moving to Austin. He was here to record a song with Willie Nelson and loved what he saw. He and his wife will visit in April and I can't wait to show them around.

I can't claim that a lot of people get out of the downtown area to check out the lakes and Hill Country while here for SXSW, but I'm sure many do.

If you want to check out the SXSW website, click here. The festival is only a week away.

Pick of the Month

2008-02-16T13:51:00.002-06:00

I started something for people I have helped purchase who are from outside the Austin area. This has been especially great for people from outside of Texas. Austin is very different than what most people think of when they think of Texas. Some of my picks of the month really hope show that. Check it out by clicking the title of this post.

Or take a look at a few below.

Westcave Preserve
Hamilton Pool
Pedernales Falls State Park

Google Comes To Austin

2008-01-24T13:08:00.000-06:00

The Austin American Statesman confirmed rumors I have been hearing for months this morning. Google has leased 25,000 feet of space in downtown Austin. Google follows another California tech firm in bringing people to Austin. According to Data Knowledge Center, PayPal has leased 37,000 square feet in Austin in which they will place 300 developers to build PayPal's global payment platform.

The Austin Chamber of Commerce quotes a PayPal director and general manager of PayPal Data Services about how Williamson County will benefit from PayPal's presence there. Williamson County is home to Dell, which has its headquarters in Round Rock.

Google and PayPal are two more examples of tech companies coming to Austin for the right reasons. One reason is the University of Texas, which cranks out many engineers who want to remain in Austin because of the great quality of life. Another is the relative affordability of Austin compared to California markets. Austin is more affordable in commercial space and housing for new engineers and other employees.

Austin Slow, Lake Travis Hot?

2008-01-09T13:58:00.002-06:00

I posted some stats yesterday showing the slow-down of the Austin area real estate market. Funny thing, but the area covered by the Lake Travis Independent School District (LTISD) got hot again. That area had followed the trend of the Austin Board area for October and November, but December saw almost as many homes closed in December of 2007 as in December, 2006.

What that tells me is the area started seeing more home buyer interest in October and November. Most closings in December probably saw offers and negotiations in October and November. The next question is why was the LTISD area so much more popular.

Perhaps one big factor was the opening of the Hill Country Galleria Mall in Bee Cave. Dillard's opened September and the first phase of the rest of the mall opened shortly thereafter. It may sound silly that a mall could attract more home buyers, but think about it. The Lakeway, Hudson Bend and Bee Cave area, which has the bulk of the population that the LTISD serves, was 30 minutes from the nearest mall until the Galleria opened. The only significant services not in the area besides major shopping until the mall opened was a hospital (and one is on the way in Lakeway). By the way, another factor was the opening of the 500,000 feet of retail space across from the mall

The draw to the area the LTISD serves is a lot of things - hills, golf, Lake Travis, great schools. However, mom s (and dads) having to travel 30 minutes to major shopping was a bit of a headache. Want to see more growth? Just wait for the hospital. If it built, and every indication so far is that it will be, I think we will see a lot more growth, especially in older residents who want and need to be closer to health care.

One of the developments going in is very high end. The Reserve at Lake Travis is expected to have home sites ranging in price from around $300,000 to over $2 million for waterfront sites. As Lake Travis waterfront home sites have become more scarce, prices have shot way up. Will the growing services in the area support a development like this? Time will tell.

New Market Stats Update

2008-01-08T15:23:00.000-06:00

From Alamo Title Co.:

December 2007

Units for Sale:
(compared to the same month in 2006)
New listings are up by 35.91%.
Pendings are down 43.09%.
Solds decreased by 27..28%.

As for Average Prices:
The "New Listings" average list price is up 8.61% to 294,316.
Sold average sales prices increased 7.90% to $252,417 compared to $233,939 in 2006.

That doesn't look good, does it? October and November were also slower than last year. I went to the Austin Board of REALTORS, but they don't have stats later than October yet. It is frustrating to wait for the Board to post stats. How does Alamo Title get theirs so quickly? They're good!

OK, so what is really going on here? My thought is the same as I have had since the mortgage meltdown. Austin isn't a market that suffered from a bubble, but things were bound to affect our market. Sub-prime buyers out of the market, people who used creative financing not getting loans, overbuilding in some areas, people wanting to relocate here not being to sell in other areas and buyer psychology thanks to the national media is negative.

Austin Homes are Undervalued

2007-12-26T09:53:00.000-06:00

Many real estate markets in Texas, including Austin, are undervalued according to a study by Global Insight. Studying information about 330 markets in the country, it was found that despite declining housing values in 171 of the 330 markets, Austin is actually undervalued by more than 9%. In order to determine whether values were above or below where they should be, taken into consideration were prices, interest rates, household income, population density and other historical statistics for real estate markets around the country.

One reason that Texas markets, like Austin, are not overvalued is that this area never saw a rapid run-up of home prices like we saw in markets in California, Arizona and Florida. Bearish, you probably will disagree with this report, but these are stats by people who don't appear to have an interest in any of these markets, besides reporting about them.

If you read the methodology behind the report, you will see a remark cautioning people about their perception of overvalued markets. Just because a market like Bend, Oregon, which according to the study is overvalued by 70%, this doesn't mean that prices will drop by 70%. The reverse is also true. Just because Austin is undervalued by 9% doesn't mean that prices will shoot up. Real estate markets generally see prices adjust gradually.

Moving to Texas?

2007-12-21T10:31:00.000-06:00

If you are relocating to Texas, there are some things you will need know. You will need to know about getting your car(s) inspected and registered, where to get a Texas driver's license, registering to vote, etc. Click here for that information and more.

Home Buyers - Don't Try to Time the Market

2007-12-12T15:16:00.002-06:00

A lot of buyers out there right now seem to be wanting to wait for real estate prices to bottom out before making an offer. I personally don't believe you can time the housing market any better than you can time a stock. How can you know when any market has hit bottom? It starts going back up and keeps going back up. If this happens, you've already missed the bottom.

What may be more realistic is to get with a competent REALTOR® and get good comps for the house you want. Then make a realistic offer. What may be realistic in one place may not be realistic in another. In markets where houses are taking forever to sell, a seller may entertain a lower offer than in markets that are doing better. Just as things are different in San Diego than they are in Austin, they are different from neighborhood to neighborhood in Austin. So do your homework.

The worst thing to happen if you buy now is that prices could drop. But just like the stock market, what goes down usually goes back up. With stocks, you may do dollar cost averaging. Unless you're buying a lot of houses, you can't do that with real estate. So when you see something you really like, be informed and make an offer.

Questions? Go to my website to search Austin homes or call me at 512-293-2422.

New Super Walmart and Target

2007-12-11T13:19:00.000-06:00

Where? According to a San Antonio Broker who I have known for over 20 years, these stores will go at the intersection of Hwy 281 and 311. But wait, that is half way between San Antonio and Blanco and Blanco is 45 minutes from Austin. What does that have to do with Austin real estate? Well, it has to do with Central Texas real estate, for which where Austin is a major hub.

Click here to see a map of this intersection and then zoom out a bit. What you will see is that the area these stores will serve include the town of Blanco and the Canyon Lake area. Canyon Lake isn't a Lake Travis (nothing is), but it is a lake near the major cities of Austin and San Antonio. Walmart and Target don't build where they don't expect growth. They are somewhat like McDonalds in that they do tons of demographic research to select real estate to build on.

The area west of Austin toward and beyond Dripping Springs and toward Marble Falls is growing like crazy. If you start at the Bee Cave area and go northwest to Marble Falls, then down 281 through Johnson City and Blanco to 311, then follow a line close to Canyon Lake and through Dripping Springs, you get almost right back to Bee Cave. This will be a high growth area for a long time.

What kind of developments are we likely to see? First, large ranches in the area that aren't right on a major road like 281 will sell and the price per acre won't be terribly expensive. By this I mean that the more rural ones will go for $15,000 to $25,000 per acre. These will probably be developed into areas that have lots between 5 and 25 acres or more. A good example of this is Waterstone. Waterstone isn't in the triangle I just drew, but it is representative of the kind of development that is likely. Waterstone is a community along the Guadalupe River between Bulverde (north of SA on 281) and Boerne (NW of SA on IH 10). I drive by it every time I visit my parents in the San Antonio area.

The other thing I drive by on 3351 between Kendalia and Bergheim are a bunch of gentleman's ranch properties. This is an area that 20 years ago was out in the sticks. I have made this drive quite a bit over the last 20 years and noticed significant changes just over the last 3 or so years. The first thing I saw was a lot of cell towers going in. That meant that the phone companies knew something I didn't know. I also saw cable laid along the road this year. Then I saw ranches slowly changing in character from large, open spaces to areas with new homes going up. My guess is that these are 25-100 acre size properties that developed as ranches were sold off and developed. Then it was places like Waterstone. That is exactly what I expect in the Bee Cave, Marble Falls, Blanco, 311, Dripping Springs, Bee Cave triangle and I think the momentum will pick up rather quickly.

Of all the counties in Texas, 9 of the fastest growing 25 between 2000 and 2003 are in Central Texas, where San Antonio and Austin are located. If we had data available today, I'll bet those numbers would continue to hold true.

Great Austin Area Schools

2007-12-07T12:30:00.000-06:00

Texas Monthly Magazine has an article in the December issue about the best public schools in the state. A couple of local districts have most or all of their schools on the list. National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) looked at three years of data to compile the list. Using the NCEA's College and Career Readiness benchmark, schools that were in the top 5% were automatically included in the list. The other factor used was TAKS test results for elementary schools and higher than expected TAKS growth for middle and high schools. Read about the methodology here.

The Eanes and Lake Travis ISD schools were tops in the area. Eanes has 5 of 6 elementary schools, both middle schools and its only high school on the list. Lake Travis has 2 elementary schools, both middle schools and its only high school on the list. Click here to look for a school or district in Texas.

Out of approximately 8,000 public schools in Texas, just 859 made this list.

List Your House During the Holidays?

2007-11-28T15:33:00.000-06:00

Sure, why not? The last month of the year is a great time to have your house on the market, as long as you are realistic about price. Your house will probably show really well. It will look great if you have decorated for Christmas. Visitors love the festive look. It will also be pretty neat and clean as you are probably doing some entertaining and have others over to the house during the holidays. And if you bake pies or cookies your house will smell good as well. Many people driving around during the holidays are listening to Christmas music, looking at decorations and this generally puts them in a good mood. These are the people you want looking at your house. Finally, people actually do shop for houses over the hilidays. People visit friends and relatives during this time of the year. While in your town they may very well want to look at houses. If yours is on the market, you may get some good showings.

Happy Holidays

2007-11-22T08:25:00.001-06:00

Just a quick note to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. I don't know about you, but I have a great deal to be thankful for. I'll bet you do to.

KW Masterminds

2007-11-06T17:31:00.001-06:00

I was part of a two person panel fielding questions about internet leads today. It was part of something that Keller Williams calls Masterminds. One thing we talked about was the effectiveness of blogging. I offered two websites for real estate blog info. One was using a blog platform from realestatewebmasters. The other was a site to go to for real estate blogging ideas and guidance. It is a site called http://www.netamorfasis.com/. If you happen to be someone who was at that session and found your way to this post, please contact me to tell me that you found it.

Post updated April 10,2009 to replace a useless url with netamorfasis.

FHA Reform - An Irresponsible Congress Again Fails to Act

2007-10-31T15:15:00.000-06:00

With alacrity unbecoming on this Congress, the House of Representatives passed the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007 in September. After passage of the bill, Rep. Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity stressed its critical nature. "There is an affordable housing crisis in America. In recent months, that crisis has exploded beyond the poorest renters and homeowners to threaten the domestic economy." said Chairwoman Waters.

The Senate Banking Committee promptly passed its own version of FHA reform the very next day by a 20-to-1 bipartisan vote. Chairman Christopher Dodd promised to "fight for swift passage so that homeowners can get the relief they deserve." But here we are more than a month later, and all that urgency seems to have dissipated. According to the Washington Post's Kenneth Harney in a 10/27 column, "the Senate FHA bill doesn't even have a number and has not been sent to the majority leader's office for scheduling a floor vote. A spokesman for Dodd, Marvin Fast, said committee staff work on the bill is underway, but he had no explanation about what happened to earlier promises of quick action to aid homeowners in distress."

Congress must have breathed a sign of relief when foreclosure filings dropped 8% last month. I hope they caught their breath again when it read that the September reading is still double the number reported a year ago and is the second highest monthly total on record.

The problem is still very real. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson estimates that 500,000 subprime mortgage borrowers could wind up in foreclosure when their interest rates adjust upward over the next 18 months. A consumer advocacy group pegs the number two to four times higher.

The FHA reform legislation would provide relief by raising loan limits in high-cost areas of the country, reducing required down payments, and opening up FHA lending to more competition. Many consider it a crucial relief measure for homeowners who need to refinance out of adjustable-rate loans to avoid foreclosure.

One cannot help but wonder if the Democratic Congress is more interested in manufacturing a campaign issue than in helping strapped homeowners.

The Democratic leadership held a news conference on 10/3 to bash the President for his handling of the mortgage crisis. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "This is a national crisis. Too bad it's taken so long to realize that we have a crisis." He joined Dodd and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in calling for President Bush to make an emergency appointment of a "mortgage czar" to respond to rising delinquencies and foreclosures.

Where have these guys been? For two years, President Bush has sought legislation revamping the Federal Housing Administration but Congress has done nothing, according to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "To place even one family at risk is irresponsible, and Congress should stop playing politics with homeowners' financial security," Jackson said.

Written by guest author Steven Bray of Texas Lone Stat Lending. Email Steven or call him at 512-261-1542 or 877 -546-7079.

Top 10 Cities to Recover Quickest

2007-10-29T09:46:00.001-06:00

I found an article on the CNNMoney site about the 10 cities that will be the first to bounce back from the depressed market. Check it out by clicking here. If you've kept up with anything at all it should be no surprise that three of these are in Texas - Austin, Dallas and Houston. It is interesting in the title that it is said that they have found the top 10 cities that "have just about hit rock bottom." It doesn't look to me like we have hit a bottom, but that we have just had a pull-back. Our underlying economic conditions have been strong. Oh well, that's the press for you.

Update in April, 2009: I hope the list is right as Austin is feeling the pinch now.

Hudson Bend Fire Department and Area Growth

2007-10-25T14:10:00.000-05:00

This is a map of the coverage area for the Hudson Bend Fire Department (HBFD). There is a proposition on the ballot for a November 6 election to provide additional funding for the HBFD. Why? There were some great statistics about growth in this part of Travis County in a mailer I got about the proposition for the HBFD coverage area.

The City of Lakeway has grown 50% since the year 2000. The Lake Travis ISD is projected to have an additional 11,000 homes by 2016. Steiner Ranch is expected to add 1,900 homes by 2015. It is estimated that 115,000 people will live in the triangle between Hwy 71 and US290 west of Oak Hill over the next 25 years. The number of emergency calls rose 25% between 2005 and 2006.

We have known about huge growth in the area, but this is only the second time I have seen actual statistics to back up what we have been hearing and seeing.

Technorati Profile

A Little Magic in Austin

2007-10-18T11:20:00.001-05:00

OK, not a little Magic, but a rather tall one. Magic Johnson, that is. Magic and his private equity fund has $50 million going into a little project, called Block 21, going up in downtown Austin. The $260 million project will have a W Hotel, upscale condos and a new set for Austin City Limits. When ACL isn't being filmed, Willie Nelson and his nephew will use the facilities as a live music venue.

Lake Travis High School Institutes of Sudy

2007-10-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

The Lake Travis High School (LTHS) did something awesome a few years ago when it created six Institutes of Study. What LTHS did three years ago was develop six Institutes that are sort of a high school version of a college major. They are the Institutes of Advanced Science and Medicine; Institute of Veterinary Sciences and Agriculture; Institute of Business, Finance and Marketing; Institute of Math, Engineering and Architecture; Institute of Fine Arts and the Institute of Humanities, Technology and Communication.

One of the most interesting things that has happened recently is a grant from the Texas Education Agency of $50,000 to support the Institute of Business, Finance and Marketing. The grant is intended to assist with the development of the High School of Business (HSB), which is one of only five such programs across the country. The HSB is a "rigorous, project-based curriculum for future MBAs," according to the Lake Travis View.

During the last school year, the Lake Travis ISD received over $70,000 in grants to support a variety of programs. So far this school year, the LTHS has gotten almost $95,000 in grants. In 2006, the Siemens Corporation gave the LTHS a multi-year grant to help the developing Institute of Math, Engineering and Architecture. The grant will help support engineering students’ preparation for post-secondary education, including internships, scholarships and college entry. According to a spokesman at the Siemens Corporation, the company is dedicated to fostering Lake Travis High School students into viable post graduate preparation, and future candidates for local engineering firms. The company selected Lake Travis to serve as the model site in order to develop best practices for engineering academies for the next four years, which will be replicated across the country in years to come. For a sample student curriculum, click here.

I've been very impressed with what LTISD Superintendent, Rocky Kirk, and school Principal, Charlie Little, as well as people at other levels in the district and school, have been able to do to advance and enhance the educational opportunities for kids in the LTISD.

If you are interested in buying a home in the Austin area and want some really great schools for your kids, check out homes in the LTISD area. The district serves an area from Hudson Bend, to Lakeway, to Bee Cave, out SH 71 just beyond the Pedernales River and out Hamilton Pool almost to the county line. I live and work in that area, so contact me or call 512-293-2422 for more information.

Google Coming to Austin?

2007-10-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

There is a buzz going around about Google opening a satellite office in Austin. I hope that the rumors are true, both for Austin and for Google. Austin has a lot to offer Google. We have the University of Texas cranking out great engineering grads. We have a fabulous lifestyle. Part of the buzz is that if Google comes here, they will want to occupy around 30,000 square feet of kind of funky real estate. Google is known for being cutting-edge. Austin is all about keeping it weird. What a great marriage this could be.

Google's headquarters is in Mountain View, CA, which is at the south end of the San Francisco Bay area. Stanford is near by and I'm sure Google attracts a lot of talent from that school. The Bay Area is great, but it sure is expensive. It is also geologically unstable. Austin is inexpensive compared to Mountain View, has the hills and lakes and is geologically stable. I'm sure that Google has back-up servers for its HQ in other places and I am aware that they have data centers all over the globe, but Austin would be a pretty cool for Google to set up shop in. Would we ever see a corporate relocation? OK, let's not go there. Let's just see if Google sets up an office here.

By the way Google engineers, need a house in Austin? I know someone who can help! Email me or call me now at 512-263-9090.

Why Live In Austin?

2007-09-28T13:32:00.001-05:00

I keep three blogs and even at the risk of having duplicate content, I am posting this list on all three because there are so many great reasons to live in Austin. Take a look:

• Austin ranks as the 4th Best City in Overall Standard of Living by Expansion Management, June 2006

• Austin ranks 2nd among the Top 10 Best Big Cities in the country by cnn.money.com, 2006

• Austin ranks as the 3rd Smartest City in the country by Bizjournals.com, June 2006

• Austin ranks in the Top 5 “Smart Places to Live” by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and the Austin Business Journal, June 2006

• Austin ranked 28th in Best Places for Business and Careers by Forbes, May 2006

• Austin ranks 2nd in the 50 Best Places to Live by Men’s Journal, March 2006

• Austin ranks 6th in the Top 10 Cities for Walking by Prevention magazine, August 2006

• Austin ranks as the Best Place to Live in America for Hispanics by Hispanic magazine for the second year in a row, August 2005

• Austin ranks as the 2nd Best Place to Live for Moviemakers by Moviemaker Magazine, December 2005

• Austin ranks 3rd Best Wireless Place to Live in America by Livescience.com, June 2005

• Austin ranks 2nd among the 10 Best Places to Live, judging on financial, educational and quality of life criteria by Money magazine, July 2006

• Austin was included in the 8 Cheapest Places You'd Want to Live survey by Sperling's BestPlaces.com and msn.com, July 2006

• Austin ranks 2nd among the 50 Best Places to Live comparing the combinations of adventure,
attractiveness, and affordability by Men’s Journal, April 2006

• Austin was voted the Best Place to Live for Future Business Locations by Expansion Magazine, August 2006

• Austin ranks 9th in the Top 10 Hot Cities for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur.com, September 2005

• According to DogFancy Austin is one of the Top 10 Cities to Be a Dog, November 2005

• Austin ranks 8th of America's Cleanest Cities by Reader's Digest, July 2005

• Austin ranks 10th in the Top 10 Healthiest Cities in America by Sperling's, July 2006

• Austin ranks 11th in the 25 Best Running Cities in America poll by Runners World, July 2005

• Austin makes the cut as one of 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live by Gregory A. Kompes, December 2005

• Austin ranks 2nd on Vegetarian Times' Ten Greenest Cities list, July/August 2005

• Pollstar names Austin City Limits Music Festival the "Festival of the Year" during it's annual Concert Industry Awards, February 2006

• American Way magazine features "The Top 10 Lists of Great American Music" and Austin appears on three of the lists including "great music towns," "great bigger-is-better music festivals" for the Austin City Limits Music Festival and "sacred ground" for Threadgill's restaurant, June 2005

• Austin ranks 6th in a study by Silicon Valley naming the nation's Top Tech Hubs. The study compared business and quality-of-life issues, claiming Austin has affordable housing, electricity and state taxes, September 2005

• Austin is among the Coolest Cities for Young Professionals according to Kiplinger.com, September 2005

• Austin ranks 1st among U.S. cities in the fourth annual Mayors Challenge rankings of the Best
Cities for Future Business Locations by Management magazine

• Each year, Intel ranks the Top 100 U.S. Cities and Regions with the Greatest Number of
Commercial and Public Wireless Internet Access Points and Austin ranks third, October 2006

• Austin ranks 3rd in a list of America's Most Innovative Cities by the Wall Street Journal

There are very cool places to visit in and just outside of Austin. A couple of my favorites are Krause Springs and the Oasis.

Keller Williams Austin

2007-09-27T10:08:00.000-05:00

I have been posting on this blog for almost two years and I don't know that I have ever talked about Keller Williams and why I am here. Keller Williams began in Austin back in 1983. Since that time, KW has evolved into the fourth largest real estate company in the country, with Market Centers in all 50 states as well as Canada. With around 1700 agents in Austin, we dominate the market.

August, 2007 statistics indicated that Keller Williams dominated the Austin area with an over 36% market share. We closed 459 buyers and 465 sellers in August, 2007. That is a lot of real estate. On September 5, Keller Williams had over 17% of all home listings in Austin. Our closest competitor had just 6%.

But that doesn't explain why I went and stayed with Keller Williams. Sure, part of it is market share. Having KW signs all over town in front of homes for sale makes for great name recognition. But there is much more to Keller Williams than market share. There is a culture about Keller Williams that I just love. We are about ethics, honesty and doing the right thing. We have a win-win philosophy.

Keller Williams is also very big on education. In addition to an excellent new agent training series, we offer a lot of mid and advanced level classes. In my market center alone, there are classes on buying HUD properties, contract to close, staging a house to sell, how to hold a successful open house, effective listing presentations, how to correctly price a property, making, receiving and negotiating offers, how to build an effective real estate website and much more. Many classes are taught by agents from within our Market Center. We also being in outside vendors to talk about things like loan programs, septic systems, home building, title and home inspections.

Another thing I like a lot is that people are generally open and helpful. If I have a question and someones door is open, I can pop in, ask if the agent has a minute and then get all the help I need. I was amazed when I started at how much help I got from so many agents in the office.

One thing I also love is the fact that we are open 7 days a week and a receptionist is on staff even on the weekends. If someone calls in and needs help or stops in, there is someone here to answer questions. That is more of an indirect benefit to me, but it shows Keller Williams commitment to our customers.

If any of you are considering getting into real estate or are getting licensed and want to know more about Keller Williams, please email me or call me at 512-293-2422.

Second Hill Country Galleria Mall Anchor

2007-09-27T10:02:00.001-05:00

I was at my Rotary Club meeting a couple of weeks ago when the project manager from the new Hill Country Galleria Mall (in Bee Cave) presented to the group. One of the questions at the end was about the second anchor. We were told that the name of the second anchor was going to be released at the grand opening of the mall. Yesterday I got an email from a fellow agent and it had an attachment with the latest layout of the mall. It was interesting to see that the second anchor site looked to have half it to be occupied by Dick's Sporting Goods. Was that the big surprise? Probably not - the second half of that approximately 52,000 square foot pad still showed nothing. So what's the big secret? I guess we will have to wait and see.

By the way, I was in the new Dillard's with my daughter two days ago. Dillard's had a soft opening on the 21st and the grand opening yesterday. My daughter needed shoes and while in the store, which was pretty empty, there were people unloading boxes and stocking all over the place. Help wanted signs were still out. It was clear that Dillard's wasn't exactly ready for a huge crowd, but that they opened on time despite all of the construction delays due to excessive rain in June and July.

Austin Home Sales Drop Again

2007-09-25T08:27:00.000-05:00

The Austin American Statesman had another article this morning about Austin home sales lagging. The article talked about the Austin market starting to feel the impact of the "national" housing problem. I put national in quotes because I still believe that you can't judge real estate as a global thing - it is market by market. Some stats to support the Statesman article come from Alamo Title Company's weekly email:

The week in review:
September 16 - 22, 2007
(compared to the same week in 2006)
New listings up 51.84%.
Pendings down 29.42%
Solds down 25.17%.

As for Average Prices: Sept 16 - 22, 2007
(compared to the same week in 2006)
The "New Listings" average list price increased 8.41% to $291,751. In 2006 the new listing average sales price was 269,111.

Sold average sales prices increased 11.62% to $237,970.
In 2006 it was $213,199 for the same week.

Did you notice that prices kept going up despite the number of pendings and solds having gone up and dropped respectively?

Let's look at what has been selling and what has slowed down. In August, according to the Austin Board of REALTORS®, sales of homes under $200,000 dropped by almost 17%. Sales of homes over $800,00 dropped by 14.5%. These are two segments hit by the "subprime" meltdown. I put subprime in quotes here for a couple of reasons. One would wonder why loans for expensive homes would be lumped in with low priced homes. That is because jumbo loans, those being loans for over $417,000, have something in common with subprime loans. Many times, people looking for jumbo and subprime loans are similar in that they are interest only, or zero down, or no doc (not being required to provide proof of income) and assets, stated income and a couple of other creative loan programs.

Let's look at what was selling well in Austin in August. Homes from $600,000 to $699,999 went up 20%. Sales of homes priced from $400,000 to 599,999 went up almost 11%. People buying homes in these price ranges probably put substantial amounts of money down or didn't went with conventional loans.

Conclusion: Austin is still much more healthy than other parts of the country, but we are feeling the impact. Job growth is still strong and unemployment is low, but there is no way we can can not feel the pinch from other markets. I really feel that we will recover faster than many markets and I don't feel that the long-term outlook is bad.

Austin Photos

2007-08-31T12:48:00.001-05:00

I decided to add a few pages to my Austin real estate website a while back and have decided to post some highlights here.

This is Lake Austin. We're looking down from Mt. Bonnell. The view, as you can see, is stunning.

Mt. Bonnell is physically just a few miles north-northwest from downtown Austin and this is what you will see if you take the 70+ steps up to the top.

This is a photograph from the Flintrock Falls golf course. Flintrock Falls is in Lakeway, which is west of downtown about half an hour.

As you can see, Flintrock Falls is right in the Hill Country and offers some excellent views.

Wondering about the course? It is a Jack Nicklaus design.

This photo shows one of the many amazing parts of Hamilton Pool Preserve.

This shot was taken last November on a cool and crisp morning. The cypress trees had dropped their red needles on to the creek.

Hamilton Pool is an amazing place that is about 45 minutes west of downtown Austin.

This is Lake Travis about a year ago when it was fairly low. You usually don't see an island here

This lake starts northwest of downtown about 45 minutes and winds over 63 miles to the northwest through the Hill Country.

The water clarity and color is amazing.

This is the Pennybacker Bridge, also referred to as the 360 bridge. This takes traffic on Capitol of Texas Highway (aka Loop 360) across Lake Austin right by the Austin Country Club.

The Pennybacker Bridge can be easily seen from atop Mt. Bonnell. It shows a pretty cool design, don;t you think?

Here is a little waterfall on the Bull Creek Greenbelt. The greenbelt is right off Capitol of Texas Highway in the middle of a bunch of residential and office buildings.

I don't think you would expect this in the middle of a developed area.

Want more? I've got more and I am constantly adding to it. Take a look at my Austin Photo Tour page. Comments? I'd love to hear from you!

By the way, if you want to see a larger view of any of these, and you really should, just click on the photo you want to see.

Austin a Hit According to Inc. Magazine

2007-08-24T14:27:00.000-05:00

The issue of Inc. that will come out in September has the ranking of American cities that are the most entrepreneurial cities and Austin is #3 in the cities with populations of over a million (Austin is under a million, the metro area is over). The magazine cites Austin as having 72 of the fastest growing companies. It even cited Keller Williams as an example. Pretty cool!

SOS Rules to Change?

2007-08-09T13:41:00.001-05:00

An Austin City Council member has proposed would allow for more development in the Barton Creek part of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Current SOS (Save Our Springs) rules allow for a restricted amount of impervious cover. Environmental concerns are that any more impervious cover means that pollutants will collect on these areas and then be washed off into the recharge zone. Some of the pollutants could then make their way into the aquifer and the area's water supply. The proposed change would be a trade-off, allowing developers to have more impervious cover than current rules allow if the developer paid the city to buy more green space and also if the developer used modern water quality controls.

What might this result in? More retail, commercial and residential as well as roads and sidewalks over the recharge zone. The other thing it would add is green space that would remain natural. A good trade? Many will like it. Many environmentalists will oppose it. Will the change take hold? Depends on who has more lobbying power.

Lakeway Retirement Community

2007-08-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

Right across Lohman's Crossing from my office is a field that has been the focus of controversy over the last year or so. A high density retirement community that was planned for the area never was developed. A new buyer came in and submitted to the city of Lakeway plans for a 55 and older community that would have 200 houses and 10 apartments. The Lakeway City Council just approved that plan.

I spoke with a client a couple of weeks ago who called asking what I knew of this development. One of her concerns was that there was a requirement for an emergency medical facility and a restaurant to be in the immediate area. As I understand things, the nearest emergency care is at least 10 minutes away on Bee Cave Rd. There will also not be a food service facility in the development, which apparently violates Lakeway zoning for a development such as this.

The previously planned development never took in enough reservations to have the development actually start. Many feel that was a price issue. The new development is supposed to have homes starting around $200,000.

Austin Real Estate Market Slowing?

2007-07-31T11:18:00.000-05:00

From Alamo Title Co.:

New Listings are up 12.78% this week over 2006.

Recently, I was asked where the majority of new listings coming from?

The majority of the units increasing are classified as "Garden" homes with "Condos" coming in second (based on what is input into MLS). "Homes" have seen an increase of over 10% from 2006 to 2007 when we looked at active listings compared from year to year.

Please enjoy reviewing the numbers and browsing our site for additional information on the current market.

The week in review:

July 22- July 30, 2007
(compared to the same week in 2006)
New listings up 12.78%.
Pendings down 19.50%
Solds down 1.85%.

As for Average Prices: July 22- July 30, 2007
(compared to the same week in 2006)
The "New Listings" average list price increased 20.94% to $296,826.

Sold average sales prices increased 6% to $256,263.
In 2006 it was $241,749 for the same week.

The month in review:

June 2007 - July Data Coming Soon!
New listings were up by 9.06%.
Solds decreased by 3.27%.

As for Average Prices:
The "New Listings" average list price is up 11.68% to 310,809.
Sold average sales prices increased 6.64% to $254,211 compared to $238,378 in 2006.

That we had 9,572 active listings during the same week in 2006? Today there are 10,685active listings! That is a 11.63% increase from 2006.

From me:

So what's up with the heavy number of listings and the apparent slow-down in sales? I think the Austin are is still very healthy. The drop in sales seems to be a result of home sales in the $130,000 and under price range. These are the homes that have been affected by the tightening of lender requirement sof sub-prime buyers.

Austin High-Rise Spring To Break Ground

2007-07-19T15:03:00.001-05:00

A 42 story condo tower, Spring, is about to break ground in downtown Austin. One of many planned high-rise projects, Spring is supposed to break ground Tuesday, July 24. Read more about Spring in Austin.

Austin Home Sales Brisk in May

2007-07-07T12:59:00.000-05:00

The stats from the Austin Board of REALTORS® show that home sales in the Austin area were up about 2% from May of 2006. The median sale price was up from $174,480 to $183,160. The number of active listings is up from May of 2006 by around 700 homes. So as the national market continues to struggle, Austin is still healthy.

If you are reading this and want Austin real estate and related news and thought more often, please visit my Austin Real Estate Guy blog.

Dripping Springs vs Lake Travis - Schools?

2007-06-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

Sue left a comment on my blog stating that she is considering a move to Austin and asked me for a recommendation on Dripping Springs vs Lake Travis. I am assuming that Sue is talking about school districts so here goes...

Both school districts are quite good. I am much more familiar with Lake Travis schools and I can only talk about Dripping Springs schools through what I have read. The best thing I can do for Sue is post some websites that show various ratings and comparisons for school districts in Texas:

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/2006/index.html x.html
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/pocked/
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/src/2005/campus.srch.html rch.html
http://www.just4kids.org/jftk/index.cfm?st=US&loc=home

When looking at school ratings, there is much more than just the TAKS test scores

There is much more to the area that these districts to talk about besides schools. The areas have similarities and differences. Both cover quite a bit of ground. In either area you can be in a subdivision or pretty rural. In each area you can have privacy or views. The Lake Travis ISD area is more developed than the Dripping Springs ISD area. The LTISD has more shopping, restaurants, banks, etc. The DSISD area isn't as developed yet.

One of the most difficult things about either DISID or LTISD is the difficulty for graduating seniors in terms getting into state (Texas) schools. How can this be? Texas has the top 10% rule. If you are in the top 10% of your graduating class in terms of GPA, you gain admission into state schools. The problem is that both schools produce kids who have great SAT scores, high GPAs, excellent extra-carricular activites, etc. This is a problem? Yes, in a way. A graduating senior from either district who is below the top 10% will look more attractive to colleges and universities than top 10% in lesser school districts. A student in DS or LT may have a GPA higher than the top 5% average in other districts, but because the student is not in the top 10%, she won't get into a state school her first year. That is an example of how good the schools are.

If Sue is reading this, I will tell her that I would welcome a phone call if she wants more specifics. I can be reached at 512-293-2422.

The Dripping Springs

2007-06-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

Did you ever wonder about why the town of Dripping Springs is called Dripping Springs?

What you are looking at is the part of the Edwards Aquifer where water drips out of the springs in the town of Dripping Springs. A long-time favorute hangout for the Tonkowa Indians, this area was also a stop on the stage coach run from Austin to San Antonio. As the area developed and wanted a post office, it needed a name. The name Dripping Springs fit perfectly.

If you are looking for a home or land in the Dripping Sptings area, please contact me.

Austin Home Sales Rise

2007-05-21T16:37:00.001-05:00

After a few months of being a little flat, sales of homes in the Austin rose again in April. April saw a rise of 6% in the number of single-family homes sold. Along with that increase was an increase in the median price of $185,000 which was an increase of 6%. The average price climbed to $200,179. Interestingly, the average days on market remained the same as April of 1006 at 58.

At the lower end of the price spectrum there were far fewer homes available than last year. In the $100,000 to $109,999 range there have been only 206 homes sold year-to-date and they sold in an average of 28 days. In the $120,000 to $129,999 range there were 466 homes sold year-to-date, a 16% drop from a year before.

Homes in the middle of the spectrum did relatively well. In the $180,000 to $189,999 price range there have been 314 sales so far this year. This is an increase of 12% over the same time period in 2006. From $300,000 to $399,999 we saw 259 sales in April, an increase of over 11% over April of 2006. Year-to-date sales in this price range improved 9%.

As you get higher in price sales generally slow down, but there were some interesting numbers. In the $500,000 to $599,999 price range, April saw 65 sales, an increase of almost 3%. Year-to-date in that price range we saw an increase of 26% year-to-date. From $800,000 to $899,999 we had 18 sales in April and 48 year-to-date, an increase of 17% over 2006. Homes in the $1 million and up range increased 1.4% in April and 3% year-to-date.

Days on market at the higher end remained relatively high. In the million and up range, the days on market averaged 314 year-to-date. Days on market in the $800,000 to $899,999 averaged 205 year-to-date.

The hottest MLS areas of Austin were 2N, 1N, 10N, 10S, 2, N and NW. All of these Areas had an average days on market of under 25. The slowest Area looks like LS, which is the south side of Lake Travis. Why? Too many new homes. There are currently 725 homes on the market in LS and they have taken an average of 137 days on the market to sell.

So for all you numbers people, these are some of the latest Austin real estate market statistics.

Search Austin Real Estate By Map

2007-05-11T10:53:00.000-05:00

I added a new search capability to my website that allows users to search by map. You can zoom in and out, click and drag the map to see different areas, hover over properties to see details, etc. Click the title of this post to check it out.

New Austin Real Estate Blog

2007-05-05T12:08:00.000-05:00

Hey readers, I have been posting more often on a different blog than this one. If you want to check it out since I don't post that much on this one any more, please visit my Austin Real Estate Guy Blog. The information there will be just like what I have posted on this one. As the new blog is tied to my website it is much easier for me to use it. So go there for updates on the Austin real estate market, market conditions and statistics, stories about neighborhoods and developments in various areas of town and the Hill Country

Relay For Life Lake Travis Photos

2007-04-27T11:09:00.000-05:00

Well, the 2007 Relay For Life of Lake Travis was a week ago and I now have photos uploaded. This was a overnight fundraiser I chaired for the American Cancer Society. Most of the photos were taken by Scott Payne, who owns Periscope Photography. Check out the photos by clicking the title of this post. If you want to make an online donation to the American Cancer Society, it isn't too late - just click HERE.

Industry Offers Solutions for Rising Foreclosure Risk

2007-04-19T16:38:00.000-05:00

Almost everyone agrees that foreclosures are not in the best interest of anyone. However, a solution to the elevated number of mortgage delinquencies is complex. Many mortgage loans are packaged and sold as securities, and this limits the flexibility of the lender to restructure the loan terms.

The latest foreclosure statistics from show that foreclosure filings rose 7% from Feb to Mar. Of the 149,000 filings posted nationwide in Mar, five states - CA, FL, TX, MI, and OH - accounted for half the total. The Feb number was down 4% from Jan but up 12% from Jan 2006. (RealtyTrac provides a "Heat Map" that shows the relative foreclosure activity across the U.S.)
Solutions.

Can anything be done to stave off a rise in foreclosures? Most politicians, Democrat and Republican, agree that a federal bailout of delinquent mortgages is not the answer.

The mortgage industry has responded with some creative solutions that will provide flexibility and allow borrowers to rework the terms of their mortgages. These initiatives come from a broad spectrum of players in the mortgage market.

FannieMae, the largest purchaser of home mortgages, is rolling out the "HomeStay" program, which will relax underwriting standards to help refinance homeowners who are facing payment shock due to resetting adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). Fannie will overlook unpaid bills on borrowers' credit reports and offer 40-year terms to lower payments. Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd said about 1.5 subprime borrowers could qualify in the next year to refinance under the program.

FreddieMac, the second largest purchaser, is developing loan products for subprime borrowers that will limit payment shock by offering reduced margins, longer reset periods, and longer fixed-rate terms. Freddie expects to roll out the products by midsummer. Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron said the company will purchase $20 billion in loans to help subprime borrowers refinance into more affordable mortgages.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has partnered with NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit organization, to help borrowers in danger of foreclosure stay in their homes. The partnership will support a national campaign that links homeowners to free counseling and establishes foreclosure intervention programs in cities with high rates of foreclosure.

EMC Mortgage has created the "Mod Squad," a 50-member team of loan modification experts that creates custom solutions for borrowers who no longer can afford their mortgages. The team reaches out to individual EMC borrowers, publicizing their work through consumer and credit counseling organizations and educational meetings in cities where delinquencies are rising. The object is to search for changes in rates and terms that will permit the borrowers to remain in their homes, pay down their loans, and avoid foreclosure.

In an effort to help WaMu borrowers with subprime mortgages avoid foreclosure, Washington Mutual has committed to refinance up to $2 billion in subprime loans at discounted interest rates. The company said, "WaMu subprime borrowers who remain current on their existing loans and anticipate pending payment increases may apply for new discounted fixed-rate loans."

All these solutions have been announced in the last few weeks, and it is likely that others will appear in the coming weeks. If you are having trouble managing your mortgage payment, the bottom line is contact your lender or one of the organizations offering free homeowner counseling, such as the Homeownership Preservation Foundation. Alternatives are available, and people are available to help.

Thanks to guest author Steven Bray of Texas Lone Star Lending for this post. You can contact Steven about loan programs in Texas at 512-261-1542.

Why do I Blog – an Admission

2007-04-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

I’ve kept an Austin real estate blog for almost two years. I started it for two reasons, but a benefit I wasn’t expecting also came to pass. I started blogging to inform anyone interested about the real estate market in Austin about what is happening here. I post market stats, I post about new developments like the Hill Country Galleria Mall in Bee Cave and I post about anything that I think readers might be interested in.

I also post to generate leads.

Lead generation is the first requirement of anyone in the real estate business. After all, as much as I love to give back to the community and enjoy time with family and friends, I have to eat. I have a daughter in college and another on the way. I need to think of the lean times that can hit at any time. I need to think about my retirement, if that indeed ever happens. Makes sense, right?

Is it working?

I have run into a number of people here in Austin who read my blog. Lenders, other real estate agents and the general public are who these people are. But has anyone come to me with business? Has anyone referred anyone to me who is looking to buy or sell a property? I can’t track any lead specifically to my blog.

However, when I check the stats on my website traffic, I see a lot of people jumping to my site from one of my real estate blogs. Have any of these turned into business? I don’t know as I can’t specifically track what web visit turns into a lead unless the person actually tells me – and that hasn’t happened yet.

Oh, the benefit… as I post to one of my blogs, it reinforces into my memory what I am posting about. It helps me to stay informed. As I look for things to post about, I do research. I like to think that this keeps me a step ahead of many other real estate agents in town.

So am I writing this? I’m asking for business. If you are a reader, you are the one to judge the value of what I write. If I have been helpful to you, I am asking for help from you. Call me or have a friend or relative call me. I’m here to help.

Austin Photos

2007-04-16T10:30:00.000-05:00

Would you have ever guessed that this is actually in Texas? Well it is - Austin, to be exact. This photo was taken from atop Mt. Bonnell looking northwest toward the 360 bridge. The hills, rivers and lakes make for a pretty cool area. Click the photo to enlarge it for better detail.

This is a photo taken from the bridge over 360 looking over Lake Austin at the Austin Country club.

I've got a lot more photos that show off the natural beauty of the Austin area. Check out my Austin photo tour.

Chicken Little and Mortgages - What?

2007-03-27T13:43:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of press lately about the "implosion" of the subprime mortgage market. In fact, some lenders have already gone out of business because of some terrible lending decisions made in the fairly recent past. I asked Stacy Bray of Texas Lone Star Lending about this and we had a long discussion about it. Stacy had her husband, Steven, write an article for my website, which he calls Chicken Little Meets the Mortgage Market. Click on the title of this post to go to the complete article.

Austin Economy Hottest in the Country

2007-03-22T12:13:00.000-06:00

Austin Mayor Will Wynn stated that the Austin economy is clearly the strongest metro economy in the country. That is a pretty big statement to make. What he was talking about was all the jobs that have come to the Austin area. The Austin area has added just under 81,000 jobs in the past 3 years. We have had 36 corporate relocations come here. Samsung is building its largest U.S. chip manufacturing facility in Austin. Nineteen were from California, which is more than any other state. That goes along with a lot of what the agents in my office have seen in terms of California buyers – they’re everywhere.

Donate to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life

2007-03-14T10:19:00.000-06:00

Relay For Life is a fundraising event that benefits the American Cancer Society. I am event chair for the 2007 Relay For Life of Lake Travis, which is just west of Austin. If you would care to make a donation in any amount, you can donate online with a credit card. If not here, look for a Relay For Life close in your community and get involved. There will be somewhere around 5,000 Relay events in the U.S. this year. When added together, Relay For Life is the largest fundraiser in the world.

Northcross Mall Wal-Mart

2007-03-06T14:07:00.000-06:00

There will be an open house this coming Monday for the public to learn about design changes to the Wal-Mart planned for Northcross Mall. Austin residents, specifically people who live close to the mall, have complained about having a Wal-Mart at all in the mall. Others are OK with Wal-Mart, but not with the size. On the plus side, Wal-Mart would help revitalize the mall and it would bring lower cost goods to the area. On the flip side, it could generate a huge amount of traffic on roads that are already quite congested at times.

The open house will start at 5:30 and will be in the Norris Conference Center, which is in the mall.

U. S. 183A Open!

2007-03-04T13:38:00.000-06:00

U.S. 183A opened yesterday. That will make the commute from Leander into towm a breeze compared to what it was with all the stop lights. Other tool roads are coming on line pretty quickly as well. Want a quick way on and off the toll roads? Get a Tex Tag. A Tex Tag is a sticker that goes on your windshield with a chip embedded in it. The chip communicates with the electronic equipment above the toll lanes. You register at the state to set up an account and the Tex Tag gets you on the roads without having to stop. Learn more about Tex Tags. Have more questions? Go to the Tex Tag FAQ page.

Austin On Best City For Jobs List

2007-03-02T14:46:00.000-06:00

According to Forbes.com, Austin is one of the top 25 U.S. cities for jobs. Forbes looked at the largest metro areas in the country using a variety of criteria. The criteria were unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living. Other cities in Texas also made the list, but Austin was best in the state of Texas. What Forbes didn't address was what a great place Austin is for recreation, live music and scenery, but what the heck does that have to do with jobs anyway?

Check out the Forbes best cities for jobs article for more information.

New Georgetown TX development

2007-02-27T15:35:00.000-06:00

Georgetown is just north of Austin in Williamson County, which has been one of the nation's fastest growing counties lately. Georgetown is getting a pretty interesting development that will mix higher end residential real estate with multi-family, commercial, retail and green space. Called Water Oak at San Gabriel, the development will be west of Georgetown between Texas 29 and Leander Road. Part of it will be on the San Gabriel River. The plan calls for about 650 acres our of the 1900 acre project to be conservation area that will not be developed. As for the homes, they are supposed to be priced from $250,000 to $1,000,000.

Lake Travis ISD New Attandance Boundaries

2007-02-23T17:03:00.000-06:00

The Lake Travis Independent School District has finalized its new LTISD school attendance boundaries. This might be important to anyone with kids who will be moving into the area. The south Lake Travis area is growing rapidly. With all the growth, new schools will be needed over time. There is a new elementary school being built way back in Lakeway near the new Rough Hollow development. While many residents, especially those farther out toward Spicewood and Briarcliff, are unhappy about the location of the new elementary, it looks like they will get what they want in the not so soon future. With the population growth projections done, most of the growth will be out in that direction in terms of elementary aged children. Look at Lake Travis ISD committee recommendation to the Board of Trustees. Toward the end will be maps of school zones showing population projections into the future.

Household Use of Gray Water Makes Sense

2007-02-16T16:00:00.000-06:00

Have you heard of a french drain? According to Wikipedia, French drain refers to a ditch filled with gravel, rock that redirects surface and ground water away from an area. A french drain can also be a pipe that takes water from an area in a house to an outside area for drainage.

My parents have a house that uses a french drain to take washing machine water out onto a rocky area of their acreage. The water coming out of the washing machine, as well as that from sinks and bathtubs is "gray water." Instead ot letting it drain into the landscape, gray water can actually be captured and reused if done properly.

"Black water" on the other hand, is that water from a household that is so dirty it should not be used again. That is the stuff from the garbage disposal and toilets that needs to go into a sewer or septic tank. There is too much grease and bacteria and other nasty stuff to make this water reusable.

Want to know more? Read more about how you can use gray water to reduce household water use.

Rainfall Catchment

2007-02-14T14:03:00.001-06:00

Rainfall catchment is a term many people don't know. It refers to collecting rainfall from a roof or other surface and storing it. Rain water can be used, with proper treatment, for drinking and other household uses. It can also be used for landscaping. With all the growth in northern Hays and western Travis Counties, anyone buying acreage on which to build who isn't putting in a rainfall catchment system may want to think about their future water supply. Read more about rainfall catchment in Central Texas.

I wrote a post in another blog in June, 2008 about developers and land owners west of Austin. As the LCRA has stopped taking water farther out Highway 71 and Hamilton Pool Road, people need a source of water. Some will rely on wells, but harvesting rainfall is a great way to go in my opinion. If there is any expectation of seeing Austin grow to the west, they will need to realize that the growth may have to find a solution for water besides the LCRA.

Austin Sold Home Price Jumps 37%

2007-02-12T07:43:00.000-06:00

Sold average sales price increased 36.52% to $264,276. That is a sentence from an email I got from Alamo Title Co. this morning. It specifically referred to the week of February 4 through February 10, 2007 as compared to the same time period the year before. As interesting as that figure is, the other figures from that week are also staggering to look at. Are they a true reflection of what is going on within the Austin real estate market? Here are the rest of the figures:

The Week in Review: Feb. 4 – Feb. 10, 2007 (compared to the same week in 2006)
New listings down 2.01%.
Pendings down 31.11%
Solds down 11.30%.

As for Average Prices: Feb. 4 – Feb. 10, 2007 (compared to the same week in 2006)
"New Listings" average list price is up 13.41% to $302,618.
Sold average sales price increased 36.52% to $264,276.
In 2006 it was $193,575 during the same week.

Now let's take a look at the month of January, 2007 as compared to January of 2006.
The Month in Review: January 2007 (compared to the same month in 2006)
New listings were down by 33.69%.
Pendings decreased by 37.40%
Solds decreased by 10.82%.

As for Average Prices:
"New Listings" average list price is up 18.85% to 304,624.
Sold average sales prices increased 7.72% to $238,092 compared to $221,025 in 2006.

So the Austin real estate market keeps plodding along, showing a healthy and not skyrocketing rate of appreciation. What will be interesting is this Spring and Summer. New listings are coming on the the market at higher prices. Will this translate into higher average sold prices? Bookmark this site or subscribe to the RSS feed and come back often to find out.

Hill Country Galleria Mall Floor Plan

2007-02-06T11:38:00.000-06:00

I posted on another blog about tenants for the new mall going up in Bee Cave. I got the names off a floor plan that I got this morning. Some spaces are either unfilled or tenants have not been named. Businesses going into the mall include Dillard's, Cinemark, Barnes & Noble, Wells Fargo, Victoria's Secret and many more. For a more complete list, please click the title of this post.

Have You Heard About the BIG CHANGE?

2007-02-01T13:15:00.000-06:00

The change I am talking about will affect anyone with a computer - and that is probably everyone. The dates on which we spring forward and fall back are changing. It seems like most people either have not heard this or haven't thought about how it will affect EVERYTHING that relies on a computer.

What, pray tell might this include? How about your bank, your cell phone, your home alarm system, your digital watch, the POS system at work - how about just about everything? Remember people freaking out about Y2K? This, in my opinion, is potentially bigger.

Has your bank implemented a software change so the time stamp is correct? Are Microsoft and Apple working on updates for their operating systems (Microsoft is, but what about systems they no longer support like Windows ME?). What other things are really time sensitive? Government agencies, security companies, financial institutions, airports, fire and police, the military, schools, railways, phone companies and the list goes on and on and on.

The new date for the fall time change is the first Sunday in November. For spring, the new time change will be the second Sunday in March, which makes it March 11 this year. Microsoft has extensive information about how they will deal with the change HERE. It is a great read for techies.

Final thought... Do you have kids who still trick-or-treat? They will have an extra hour of sunlight!

Moving to Texas?

2007-01-30T09:12:00.000-06:00

If you're moving to Texas, you will need to know a few things. Registering a car, registering to vote, knowing auto insurance requirements, getting a Texas Driver's License and applying for the Homestead Exemption are a few that come to mind. Read more about things you need to know if you're moving to Texas by clicking on the title of this post.

Austin Market Stats For 2006

2007-01-28T14:03:00.000-06:00

The stats for the Austin real estate market for 2006 are out. The Austin area saw the median price of residential real estate appreciate 6%. Keep in mind that this is a large area with features like availability of land, hills and lakes varying the appreciation rate quite a bit. In fact, appreciation ranged from -6% on the low end to almost 25% at the high end. Get appreciation rates, median prices and comments for the different Austin MLS Areas by clicking on the title of this post.

December Was Hot in Austin

2007-01-23T15:02:00.000-06:00

OK, not just December, but the whole year. The real estate stats are out for 2006 and they were very strong for the Austin area. The Austin Board of REALTORS® report showed that sales of single-family homes were up slightly compared to December, 2005. Almost 2,000 homes sold, adding to the almost 25,000 homes already sold through November. For the year, 2006 saw a 10% increase on single-family homes sold. In December, 2006 the median price of a single-family home in the Austin area went up to $177,500, a 4% increase over December, 2005. For the year, the median price was $174,500, a 6% increase over 2005. The time it took to sell an Austin home also went down in 2006. The average days-on-market dropped to its lowest since before the Austin real estate market (and economy) crashed in 2001. Days-on-market averaged 63 days.

Economists at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M are predicting that 2007 will be at least as good and possibly better than 2006. If what they think comes true, 2007 is going to be a very strong year for Austin real estate.

Austin Job Growth Drives the Austin Real Estate Market

2007-01-20T14:25:00.000-06:00

Central Texas is looking good for jobs. The Texas Workforce Commission reported that December, 2006 jobs at a rate of 3.1% more than the previous December. That is a lot of jobs, especially in December. We usually see a lot of service sector jobs added in December as businesses pick up part-timers for the Christmas buying rush. This most recent job increase saw more jobs in the professional and business service sector. Jobs in these categories include law firms and engineering. The Austin real estate market remained strong in December. Much of this is probably because our area has seen continued healthy job growth. More jobs mean more people. More people mean more demand for housing. Jobs in the professional and business sector mean more people buying more middle and higher end homes.

Job growth in Texas has been good in general. We added over 213,000 jobs in 2006. The Texas unemployment rate in December, 2006 dropped to 4.5%. If you look at the Austin area and compare it to the state, our housing is a little more expensive. If you compare job growth and unemployment figures, Austin is much healthier than most of Texas. It is a simple supply and demand thing. More people wanting homes, especially those with better paying jobs, drives real estate prices up. We’ve seen that trend all last year and it is likely to continue.

Austin is Icy

2007-01-17T14:30:00.000-06:00

The weather has been a mess across the country. I feel very lucky to be in Austin rather than the part of Oklahoma where my brothers live. Although the temperature has been below freezing for about 50 hours and there is ice everywhere, I haven't lost power.

I was thinking of putting a steak on the grill, but I couldn't get into my flip flops...

One down and more to go? I hope not.

This is in my neighborhood. There are quite a few trees that look like they will snap if we get any more ice or if the wind starts to blow. Luckily, neither is likely, but we don't look to get above freezing until noon tomorrow. I've been here for 19 years and have never seen it this cold for this long.

It Isn't a Mess Out There - Yet

2007-01-15T17:22:00.000-06:00

If you have followed the weather over the last few days, you know that Oklahoma and Missouri got clobbered with heavy ice. If you're in Central Texas, you know that we get ice from time to time and occasionally we even get snow. When we ice up, it can be a mess. Sitting in my living room today I have watched the thermometer go from 34 when I got up to 31, then to 28 and back to 30. We had periods of rain last night and today that left a few icicles, but it isn't bad yet. I observed some ice pellets bouncing around as well. I just took a drive on 620 and saw almost no cars on the road. Looking at the radar on TV I see a large area of what looks like freezing precipitation heading our way. Tonight's forecast calls for a mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow. We didn't have a white Christmas, but maybe we'll have a white January 16th!

Leander Growth

2007-01-12T12:56:00.000-06:00

It has been reported that Lowe's may be planning on building a huge store in Leander. This might not be a big deal in many areas, but I'm talking about far northwest Austin suburbia. Leander has grown rapidly over the last few years. The student poplulation in Leander ISD schools has grew almost 200% from 1990 to 2000 to 9884 students. That number is expected to increase to 25,000 by 2007 and over 54,000 by 2017. The entire polulation of Leander has grown approximately 244% from 1995 to 2005 according to the City of Leander.

Lowe's is a little like McDonald's. McDonald's is almost more in the real estate business than in the fast food business. They select locations based on pupulation or expected population growth. Lowe's looks to be doing the same. They are smart enough to see the explosive growth in Leander and what is likely to happen past Leander in Liberty Hill and farther our U.S. 183.

H.E.B is also building a Leander location, which is expected to be completed in May of this year. H.E.B. is the largest and, in my opinion, the best grocery chain in Texas. H.E.B. is another company that does its homework. I spoke with a manager of an H.E.B. store about where the company owns land. I was told that H.E.B. purchases tracts where there is potential for growth and then develops stores as that growth actually happens. If they guess wrong, they hold the land for later or sell it.

With the toll road 183A open, it is much quicker and easier to get to Leander and beyond. Original U.S. 183, although expanded, didn't get very far into cedar Park before going from high-speed limited access to stop lights. That choked everyone. The new road will undoubtedly lead to continued growth for Leander.

More Austin Real Estate Market Statistics

2007-01-09T09:28:00.000-06:00

Check it out at http://www.alamotitle-austin.com/mls_statistics.php
----------
Here are the latest Austin real estate market stats for the month of December, 2006 as compared to December, 2005:

New listings were down by 22.34%.
Pending sales went up by 9.70%
The number of sold properties increased by 3.17%.
Average Prices:
The average list price of "New Listings" was up 16.08% to $270,990.
The average price of sold properties went up 6.98% to $233,939 as compared to $218,682 in 2005.
Check it out at

2007 Big Picture

2007-01-05T17:39:00.000-06:00

A post from my friends at Land Mortgage

So we'll start out by looking at the US economy at large. Things began to slow down in 2006, which was not only needed after its former torrid pace, but also exactly what the Fed wanted to see happen. A "soft landing" for an overheated economy is something you often hear the Fed wants, but rarely can achieve...yet so far, the cooling has indeed been gradual and orderly. We expect more of the same in 2007 - a gradual cooling, without the economy crashing.

Job growth will likely stabilize, and unemployment rates may click just very slightly higher as the economy cools. Overall, the labor market in the US remains quite strong. And this is good news for the housing market, since healthy job markets often help housing markets remain stable. The more susceptible areas for increasing unemployment and flat or declining job growth are where manufacturing plays a key role in the local job scene, since the manufacturing sector never fully recovered as strongly as other parts of the US economy.

"Central Bankers are paid to worry - every silver lining has a cloud."
Former Fed Governor, Dr. Edward Gramlich

The Fed finally did pause in June of '06, with a Fed Funds Rate of 5.25%. This appears to be the top of the current hiking cycle - and in last years forecast, we had expected a pause slightly sooner at 5%. So what will the Fed do in 2007? The inflation-measuring Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) will need to be at 2% or less for two or three consecutive months, before the Fed starts to talk rate cuts. Always wanting to remain ahead of the curve, and fully cognizant of the delay between Fed action and economic impact - the Fed will be worrisome that the economic decline will go too far. So we anticipate a Fed rate cut cycle to start in 2007, but not until the summer or fall.

This will be some welcome news for individuals with Home Equity Lines of Credit. And while it will eventually benefit those with ARM's, the damage has already been done for those expecting adjustments during the year. And with $1.5 Trillion dollars of mortgage loans set to adjust during 2007, to significantly higher interest rates - we have an incredible opportunity to help our clients, gain new business, and increase our own production significantly. But don't expect to have your phone just ringing off the hook - you'll have to be proactive in reviewing your database, personally contacting your customers to congratulate them on the interest saved by using an ARM, and determining if a different strategy may make sense for them at this time.

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
Mark Twain

Mark Twain might have coined the phrase when his death was reported while he was still alive and well...but it is also a rather fitting phrase for the housing market of 2006. Many so-called "experts" had forecast a housing bubble bursting, a crash, big doom and gloom to grab headlines...the reality was an orderly slowdown, along with some price softening, which we see continuing in '07. Last year, the softest areas included condos, investment properties and vacation homes, and as mentioned earlier, areas with weaker job markets. These areas will continue to soften, but markets that are predominantly owner-occupied with solid employment have and should continue to hold up well.

Reasonably priced homes continue to sell, although time on the market is longer than experienced a few years back - and this pace will continue this year. But look at the bright side of this. Remember how buyers complained that they could barely pull into the driveway of a house, let alone look around and think a few minutes, before having to write up an offer that was way above list price? The cooling off of an overheated market allows buyers to make more reasonable decisions, without rushing into something that may not be right for them, their family...or their budget.

And to help listing agents move their inventory, offer the strategy of a seller-paid 2/1 buydown. This offers a great way for a homebuyer to step into their house payment affordably, with the security of a Fixed Rate...and costs the seller less than a typical price reduction. This won't be a "turnaround year" for housing, but it won't be too bad, and we'll expect to see a modest continuation of the slowdown. The bottom has probably not been reached quite yet, but we feel that we're most of the way there.

Drum roll please...

And of perhaps the most interest - no pun intended - where do we see mortgage interest rates in 2007? Last years forecast was incredibly accurate, which called for rates to be above 6% and below 7%, with an average between 6.25% and 6.625%...which is exactly how the year played out. For 2007, we actually see interest rates slightly lower, within a range of 5.75% and 6.75%, with a sweet spot between 6.00% and 6.375%.

Questions Anyone?

For your courtesy, we assemble a pair of loan officers every weekend so that you always have a professional available to answer questions and assist you with obtaining financing for a client.
If you have any mortgage needs over the weekend, contact one of our on-call weekend loan officers:

Contact Aurelius Sofia - 512-236-1399
Contact Donna Slade - 512 698-1501

Proposed Property Tax Valuation Changes

2007-01-05T11:49:00.000-06:00

Governor Perry has put together a 15 member panel to explore the possibility of changing the way counties value properties for tax purposes. The current system puts a 10% cap on how much the appraised value of a property can rise in any year. What is proposed is a 5% cap. However, there would need to be a source of funds to replace the decrease in property taxes taken in by lower valuations. These funds would come from a .5% increase in the local sales tax. The only counties in which the 5% cap would apply would be in counties in which the sales tax rate is increased.

Another thing I found interesting is the proposed change of requiring buyers to reveal the purchase price of a property. This is confidential information right now. The proposal calls for the buyer to justify to the tax appraisal district a justified valuation of the property within a certain time frame after the purchase. If a justified value can not be provided, the buyer would be required to reveal the purchase price. The justification for this in the eyes of the counties is that they often have a difficult time applying values to commercial properties and high-end residential properties.

2007-01-03T13:45:00.000-06:00

Anyone following this blog is encouraged to leave a comment. Sp@mmers be warned - I do moderate comments and sp@m will not be tolerated. Anyone else, whether a real estate or mortgage professional, anyone interested in buying or selling real estate in the Austin area or anyone just following the market here, is more than welcome to comment.

Austin Real Estate in 2007?

2007-01-03T13:35:00.000-06:00

Well the new year is upon us. What will the Austin real estate market look like this year? Keep in mind that the "Austin area" is a 5 county area that includes Travis and surrounding counties. This is a large area and real estate values are different across the area. Sow what I'm talking about there is what the outlook for the entire area. Parts will be red hot and parts will be a bit slow. Different price points in different areas will perform differently.

Having said that, the overall outlook for the Austin area looks good. Real estate values look to hold up well in most parts of the Austin area. Interest rates, according to Terri Wood of Land Mortgage, look to stay under 7%. According to several economists I follow, we should continue to add new jobs and new residents. Both of these mean that we should see home sales continue to be strong in 2007.

One thing worth noting is that the number of active listings in the Austin are has been increasing lately rather than decreasing as it did through most of 2006. Builders, after setting a record number of new home starts in 2006, look to be slowing down home starts a bit as overall inventory rises. This could be a seasonal thing or it could be something that continues. Either way, it will be worth watching closely. If home sales, though continuing to be strong, slow a bit we could see a flattening of prices in an overall sense.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Sam Chapman.

The Real Estate Balloon

2006-12-27T13:11:00.000-06:00

Real estate markets tend to expand, contract, expand and contract over and over. In other words, demand increases, speculators get involved, prices go up and up and then there is a correction. The popular term for this increase and collapse is a real estate bubble - the bubble grows bigger and then it pops.

I don't really like the term bubble. If you think of a bubble, you may think of something like your kids used to make using soap, water and a little round piece of plastic. As the bubble floats away, something eventually causes it to pop. The water and soap seem to disappear. That is why I don't like the term bubble for a real estate market. Conditions change, but everything doesn't disappear.

I prefer to think of real estate markets as balloons. A balloon expands as the air around it heats up, just as real estate prices rise during hot economic conditions. As the economy cools and demand declines, prices drop. In a cooling environment, balloons get smaller as the air becomes cooler.

Will this term catch on? Probably not. It just isn't as dramatic of picturing a bubble bursting.

New Austin Real Estate Guy Blog

2006-12-26T15:20:00.000-06:00

Back in early November my website provider added something that I really like. They added the ability to blog from within the website. What I'm going to do is maintain this blog while also posting to the new one. If you read this regularly you get the close to same information. I don't just copy and paste from one to the other because I don't want to have duplicate content on two sites (bad from a search engine point of view). So if you want to switch, go to my Austin Real Estate Guy Blog.

Snow in the Hill Country?

2006-12-23T11:14:00.000-06:00

There was a headline in the Austin American Statesman today that caught my eye. It was about Austin getting snow. Not that snow is predicted, but areas west of here might get some of the white stuff. The last time it snowed here was on Valentines Day in 2004.

Above a photo of my street early that morning. The next is my daughter and our little creation in my front yard.

Will we have a white Christmas this year? Not likely, but it is fun to think about! Happy Holidays to everyone out there!

More Western Growth Info

2006-12-22T14:49:00.000-06:00

The Lake Travis ISD just released a new demographic study. With a student population this school year of just over 5,300, the district has seen growth of over 27% since the 2000/2001 school year. The LTISD cover 116.5 square miles of western Travis County. The study is projecting a growth in new homes of almost 11,000 new units between 2007 and 2016. Using a most likely growth scenario, the study is projecting almost 1,800 increase in the number of students between 2007 and 2011 and an additional almost 2,000 students by 2016. That is some pretty healthy growth.

One thing of note is just where the population increase is expected. The study tracked this by using school attendance zone boundaries. The attendance zone for Bee Cave Elementary looks to have the most significant growth, picking up around 1,000 more elementary school children by 2016. They expect that Bee Cave, Lake Travis and Lake Pointe Elementary Schools to be over capacity by 2010 while Lakeway Elementary isn't expected to peak even within the next 10 years. With so many more children being in the western part of the ISD boundaries, people closer to Briarcliff may get their wish to finally have an elementary school.

At the middle school level, the study finds that Lake Travis Middle School (LTMS) will far outpace Hudson Bend Middle School (HBMS) over time. That makes sense as the area covered by LTMS has far more developable land left. The study projects the LTMS area population growth to be more than triple of what the HBMS growth rate will be by 2016.

What does all of this mean? It basically supports my post from a few days ago citing all the growth in the western Travis County area. It also outlines in more detail where that growth is likely to be.

See the entire LTISD Deomgraphic Update.

Austin Grows West

2006-12-19T12:51:00.001-06:00

Western Travis and northern Hays Counties are exploding with growth. Anyone living in Lakeway, Bee Cave or Spicewood has seen it coming. The same is true for the Dripping Springs area. Developers have purchased large tracts of land for new subdivisions. Subdivisions that are well under way include Belterra and Highpointe in Hays County. Belterra is large subdivision off HWY 290 between Oak Hill and Dripping Springs. Highpointe is a Pulte development just south of Belterra. Other subdivisions being developed near Dripping Springs include Scenic Greens and Headwaters at Barton Creek.

In western Travis County the subdivision of West Cypress Hills has been under development for several years. There was a lot of controversy surrounding West Cypress Hills as the initial development had runoff clouding and polluting Lick Creek. That is precisely why many people want development in this very scenic area slowed down and done more carefully. The creeks that flow through the Hill Country are generally very clear. Some contain amazing places like Blue Hole and Hamilton Pool.

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) completed a water line along much of Hamilton Pool Rd. fairly recently. One new subdivision with new homes going up is Belvedere. This is an upscale development with 1-3 acre tracts. The subdivision offers some marvelous Hill Country views. Homes being built are not inexpensive and will generally be in the $1 million and up range.

As more water lines go in, more development will follow. The LCRA estimates that by the year 2035 there will be an additional 45,000 households in northern Hays and western Travis Counties. There are plans on building water treatment plants and water lines all through the area depending on development in the area. See a draft of the LCRA map showing proposed plants and lines.

Another major subdivision planned for western Travis County is the Lazy Sweetwater 9. This is an area of around 1,000 acres on the western side of HWY 71 where Bee Creek Rd. intersects the highway. When I look at the topography of the land and take into consideration streets and green space, my thought is that this development will look sort of like Steiner Ranch. I haven’t seen any plans, but my guess is that lots will be fairly small.

Part of the reason western Travis County is growing so rapidly is the development in the City of Bee Cave. Bee Cave is home to the Shops at the Galleria, which contains about 500,000 square feet of retail space. Under construction now is the Hill Country Galleria Mall. With so much more available in terms of shopping and services, people will flock to the new subdivisions. Not only do the Shops and the new mall mean closer shopping for Lakeway, Bee Cave and Spicewood, but it also puts more shopping closer to Dripping Springs. The drive from Dripping up 12 and across Hamilton Pool Rd to 71 is pretty easy compared to driving into Austin for malls.

One thing of interest is that major employers are not coming to the area other than the service businesses. Because of environmental concerns and real estate prices it is unlikely that any manufacturing, call centers or other large employers will come to this part of the Hill Country. This means that anyone working in town will likely remain working in town. The commute time as the growth charges ahead will be longer and longer.

The Transportation Department estimates traffic along Hwy 71 through Bee Cave to go from over 12,000 vehicles/day in 1997 to over 60,000 vehicles/day in 2030. I'd say that represents pretty serious growth. The estimate for Hamilton Pool Rd. between 71 and 12 are looking like over 38,000 vehicles per day by 2030. The Dripping Springs area will see a huge increase in traffic. Fitzhugh Rd. at 12 looks to have around 23,000 vehicles per day in a little over 20 years. The Y at Oak Hill looks to have around 72,000 vehicles per day by 2030.

I have lived in the south Lake Travis area for about 19 years. I have seen more growth and development in the Lakeway/Bee Cave area over the last 24 months than in the previous 10 years. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Depends on your perspective. People who don’t want to go into Austin for shopping love the new mall and stores. Many people who moved to the Hill Country to own a small ranch and live in peace are opposed to the growth. Love it or hate it, it isn’t going to stop.

Update in June, 2008: Check out a post I wrote today here. The LCRA has put the brakes on supplying water farther out Hwy 71 and out Hamilton Pool Road past Belvedere. Development is stopped unless developers already have a source for water. That is bad news for owners of large ranches who wanted to make a fortune selling to developers. This is great news for the environmentalists. This is also good news for anyone who drives 71 regularly as it will slow the growth of traffic.

How To Read A Title Commitment

2006-12-19T11:32:00.000-06:00

During the period in which you as a buyer have a house under contract and are waiting to close, you will probably receive a title commitment. This is a document from the title company (if you are using one) that is a commitment to issue title insurance. The title commitment is broken down into 4 schedules, each of which examines a different part of the property under contract. Reading a title commitment can be a bit strange if you don't know what to look for. Because of this, I have added a page to my Austin real estate website on reading a title commitment. I hope this information is useful.

What Most People Don't Know About Me

2006-12-16T13:20:00.000-06:00

Did you ever get sort of interested in something and wonder what the people behind it were like? If you follow this Ausrin real estate news blog you know that I am a REALTOR® in Austin, but there is a lot about me you don't know. Do you even care? I don't know, but I thought I'd give you an opportunity to learn a few things about me that most people don't know. Here's the first: my older brother and I drove 10,000 miles the summer of 1974 going from Alaska to Washington state, to Idaho, to California, to Oklahoma, to Ohio and a few other places in between before reaching our final destination in New Hampshire. Want more Sam Chapman trivia? Go to my Meet Sam Chapman page.

ABoR Statistics Update By MLS Area

2006-12-13T15:15:00.000-06:00

I can't figure out how to make a table in Blogger and I want to share statistics on units sold and price change for the month of November, 2006. So what I have done is post the November stats for all Austin MLS Areas on another blog.