Posts Tagged ‘Austin’
Travis Country Stunner – Sold in 4 days!
Staged kitchen in Travis Country home
This recent sale goes to prove two essential elements in real estate. If a home stands out among the crowd through pricing and presentation, it will sell. Not only will it sell, it will sell FAST. This home in Travis Country sold because we priced it right – at market value – and the sellers did everything right as far as staging and preparing the home to get on the market. Things like paint touch ups, fresh mulch in the flower beds and “de-cluttering” the home went a long way to make this home stand out from the other homes in the area.
Manicured Yard
Pricing was the second essential element to make this one stand out from the crowd. We priced this fairly for the market – not too high and not too low – and got very close to the asking price. Overpriced listings don’t sell. A home can be flawless and move-in ready but if it’s priced too high, it will sit on the market.
I’m not using this post to brag about our abilities (but I do think we do more than 90% of the realtors out there) but instead using it as an example of what happens when the fundamentals of pricing and presentation are properly executed.
Austin #1 City for Young Adults
Portfolio recently named Austin, Texas the #1 city for young adults. Through their 10 part analysis, Austin took top honors with factors including employment growth, per capita income and income growth, education and cost of living.
According to Portfolio, ”two qualities help Austin to stand out among the nation’s largest metros:
— Two thirds of the nation’s major markets have fewer jobs now than five years ago, but Austin added 99,200 jobs during that span. Its annual employment-growth rate of 2.8 percent is the fastest in America.
— Austin has the strongest concentration of young people among the 67 metros. Twenty-eight percent of its residents are between the ages of 18 and 34.”
The southwest region as a whole is a thriving one for young adults, home to five of their top 10 cities. Portfolio also published an interactive map of their results, so you can see how your city stacks up.
Austin continues to stand out for employment and income numbers, but also quality of life. If you would like an emailed or mailed information packet on the work and activities Austin has to offer, contact us today.
SXSW Panelists Debate Austin Relocation
South by Southwest is a 10 day event every spring in Austin that brings together people from all over the world for great music, films and related events. Many people from in and out of Austin are familiar with the shows to see, but many are less familiar with many of the events also occurring during the week that shine the spotlight on business and technology news.
SXSW Interactive includes a tradeshow for business and technology insiders to display their new gadgets and services, as well as conferences and panels discussing news and issues both locally and globally. Many travel from around the country or further for these exclusive Interactive events, particularly from Silicon Valley and the West Coast. This year especially, many of these visitors were discussing staying.
For “Making the Move from California to Austin,” local software developer and journalist Jason Levitt and Chair of Urban Transportation Commission and CEO of Less Networks Richard MacKinnon led an interactive panel of about 25 people, half from Austin and half from the West Coast. The two panelists presented information presenting Austin’s strong economic growth (that made it the “Best City for Jobs” and the only metro area to grow in the past year), the low recession impact and pro-business environment, and local high-tech industry.
Lake Travis Acreage
An informal vote following the panel showed that the west coast visitors considered Austin an upgrade. One participant, considering a wine-import company start-up, said, “I want to live somewhere with people who are friendly, laid-back and accepting. Even in the few days I’ve been here, talking to the locals, I know Austin has these qualities.”
Moving your business or home to Austin, big or small, is a strong choice with many benefits. Ask us today about information on relocation.
Pictured: Lake Travis Acreage
Austin Ties #1 for Best Economic Recovery
Austin
On March 2, Forbes released their list of metro areas in the U.S. with the best economic recoveries. Austin, Texas sits on top of the list along with Washington, D.C.
According to Forbes, “jobs have been lost nearly everywhere in the last three years, but between December 2007 and December 2009 the number of jobs in Austin rose by 0.98%; more than any of the other major cities we looked at.”
Economics professor Daniel Hamermesh points out Austin’s strong housing market as one of it’s biggest advantages. “The first advantage is that we haven’t had a housing boom, and therefore there isn’t much of a housing bust. The second advantage is that we have a diversified economy with lots of government and high-tech jobs.” The third advantage, Hamermesh says, it Austin’s desireability as a place to live: people stay even when “things go bad.”
The state as a whole fared well through the recession in the housing market.
Says James P. Gaines, Research Economist for the Texas Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, “the housing market got lucky, if you want to look at it that way. We didn’t have excessive overbuilding, so we don’t have a big overhang of unsold new homes, and because Texas has among most affordable housing in the country, the demand sustained.”
“If one state is a poster child for economic recovery, it’s Texas,” writes Forbes.
Says Governor Rick Perry: “This Forbes ranking highlights the relative economic strength of our state’s major metropolitan cities, which is good news not only for the people who live in Texas, but for those looking to move to a state with a strong economic future. Texas continues to be the best state in the nation to live, work and raise a family thanks to our low tax burden, predictable regulatory climate, skilled workforce and principled, disciplined spending.”
Photo: View from the 555 Condo
You’re invited!
Please email thedavemurrayteam@gmail.com to RSVP.
For more information on the home, see the listing or virtual tour.
Great Family Home in 78704!
You can walk to the Barton Hills Greenbelt from this home in the coveted Barton Hills area of 78704.
This well maintained home is a 4 bed/2 bath, 1,954 square feet, on a quarter acre lot.
Updates include a new roof, new gutters, new interior doors, new paint (interior and exterior), new carpet, new bath tile, and landscaping.
Inside the home is a big living area, with brick fireplace and doors to the patio. The kitchen is very clean, with wood cabinets and a breakfast area. 
At the entry is formal dining. The floorplan features a private, second floor master suite with walk in closet and full bath, and three bedrooms with a full bath in a wing of the home.
The patio is the perfect place for sitting in the shade, enjoying a view of the large, well maintained yard and mature trees. A rainwater collection system wraps around the home. The location is fantastic, 5 minutes to downtown Austin and a short walk to the greenbelt.
You can read more about the home, and see a slideshow of pictures, by viewing the listing.
Rainwater Collection System; Back of Home
The Best Time of Year to Sell a Home: It’s Not What You Think
- Bella Tesoro
Conventional wisdom tells us that spring is the best time to sell a home. Especially in late spring and early summer: families can move without uprooting the kids from school, and curb appeal is at its peak. Demand goes up that time each year – this has all been true every year in the past decade.
But Forbes’ latest analysis says that home sellers should forget this conventional wisdom, that the best time to sell a home will be different this year. According to them, the extended tax credit that now expires in June, paired with the historically low interest rates, will see a busy selling market as early as, this year, February.
Says Nicole Hall, editor-in-chief of lendingtree.com: “This year, we’re anticipating sales will peak earlier…The best time to get your house on the market will be February or early March, and maybe even earlier if you want to avoid competition.”
Ultimately, however, much of the housing market’s strengths or failures depend entirely on your area, and more specifically, your neighborhood. Ask your local Austin Realtor about the market in your area to see when might be the best time for you to get the most out of your listing.
Big Changes in the Month of March
The Fed reiterated last week that in March of 2010, they will be ending their Mortgage Security Buyback program, a big part of what has kept interest rates low throughout 2009. It won’t be a sudden drop-off, rather a slow decrease in these purchases until March, when there will be no more.
With the Fed no longer spending the tens of billions of dollars monthly on mortgage securities, we will only have the private sector to fill in the gap. When that happens, we can naturally expect mortgage rates to rise. “The difference in monthly mortgage payments of 5% or 6% can be measured in tens of thousands of dollars over the life of a loan,” one writer explains.
The Atlantic Monthly writes that the credit markets need securitization, and warns that it will only become more difficult to borrow money (and those loans will come at higher interest rates) as the Fed program ends. “If you think banks aren’t lending enough now, then you’d find a world with no securitization much worse. Yet, that might be what you get if the Fed ends its program.”
Why would the Fed remove such a successful program? The analogy of a bike with training wheels is often given – if you want an economy to strengthen, recover and stand on its own, at some point you need to take the wheels off. If the Fed keeps rates too low for too long, inflation will rise higher and you will expect to see rates rise anyway. Home loan rates will increase as demand is met, naturally, with or without the Fed.
We can expect the end of the first quarter of 2010 to be a telling time for the economy’s recovery, but the heavy favor of the buyer and borrower is going to change. These will be some of the last months we’ll see that are such great markets for buying a home or land. If you are considering buying, you should begin your search now.
Holiday Happenings in Austin
Shows
Classic Holiday Movies at the Paramount
Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker
“Santaland Diaries” (and more) at Zachary Scott Theater
Lights
The Zilker Tree Holiday Festival
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Shopping
Keep Austin Bizarre Christmas Bazaar
Activities
Whole Foods Outdoor Ice Skating
Austin 360’s 2009 Holiday Guide
Courtesy of: The Dave Murray Team
Go Green While Saving Green
- 1611 Westlake makes use of shade and multi zone air conditioning
Austin architect Peter Pfeiffer and Dallas architect Betsy del Monte have devised a Energy Use Pyramid, to determine which strategies save or create the most energy for their cost. Like the food pyramid we learned about in elementary school, the Energy Use Pyramid has a base of the most efficient green tactics working up to ideas that, like icing on the cake, are nice to have but less important.
The base of the Pyramid may surprise many – it has nothing to do with solar panels or windmills. To keep your home the most energy efficient for your money, according to Pfeiffer, has to do with design of the home and landscape, and proper insulation. An ideal house is oriented to avoid direct western exposure (which creates even more heat in the summer) and to use southern exposure to capture heat in the colder winter months. Shade trees and strategic overhangs create much of the same effect. Houses created with this mindset are smaller, and insulated with no air leaks. These ideas to maximize heating and cooling are the best investments you can make to keep your house greener.
The middle of the Pyramid deals with appliances and other electricity using items in the house. For example, one Energy Star front-loader washing machine uses 75% less energy, 60% less water and reduces more dryer time than a standard top-loader. Another strategy is CFLs – florescent lights that use a quarter of the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs, reducing your electrical bill by around 10% if used throughout the home. They also create less heat for your air conditioner to cool – dropping that bill by as much as 15%.
The top spot of the Pyramid goes to the energy you can harness yourself with solar and wind power. While this is a great way to stay green, it is not the most cost efficient. Simple home improvements like correctly sized windows, efficient two-zone air conditioning, and big shady trees affect the aesthetic value of your home, resale value, and energy use. 1611 Westlake
Follow us on…
