SellAustinTexas

The Austin Statesman recently published “8,000 Reasons to Buy,” re-capping a great program that is nearing its end. A lot has been said about the $8,000 Tax Credit, but there are a few things to remember:

1. The credit increases your refund, dollar for dollar. “For first-time home buyers whose income falls within certain limits, purchasing a house, condominium or townhome might make them eligible for a tax credit worth 10 percent of the purchase price of their home, or $8,000, whichever is less. This amount reduces the amount of taxes you owe, or increases your refund, dollar for dollar, according to the IRS. For example, if you normally would have a refund next spring of $100, with a qualifying home purchase your refund could be $8,100.”

2. It takes little effort.  ”It’s money in your mailbox,” as one agent says. She likens the amount to 4% appreciation in value on a $200,000 home.

3. Now is the time to find a house. You need to have closed on a house by the deadline, and loan approval is taking four to six weeks, as the Statesman reports. The house should be under contract by later this month.

4. There are more reasons to buy a home now, not just the tax credit. “Interest rates are at a historic low. Because the market has dipped, you will be buying at a lower price point instead of a higher one,” says a 28 year real estate veteran.

Other sales promotions and tax breaks exist. For instance, Freddie Mac is offering to pay 3.5% closing costs and offers a two year warranty on Freddie Mac owned homes. For this program, you need to have made a first offer on a home before October 30.  You must first contact a buyer’s agent for this program to be valid.

Texas and Austin both offer unique first time homebuyer programs, as well.

If you have any questions about buying an home and are interested in looking, talk to your real estate agent today.

When it comes to investing, particularly in real estate, there are two big schools of thought: investing for capital gains, and investing for cash flow. Purchasing a home and watching it appreciate in value is an example of investing for capital gains. Purchasing a home then renting it to tenants is an avenue for cash flow.

Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” and writer of Yahoo! Finance’s “Why the Rich Get Richer” column, recently wrote about these two investment styles. He always advises readers first and foremost to educate themselves on investing, and to always prepare for the worst when it comes to managing your money. Then, in this article, he prefaces: “the following are the steps I did to prepare for the worst. I do not recommend my path; I will simply state why I did what I did and what benefits were gained.”

He then explains that for himself, he invests for cash flow. When the real estate market hit trouble, he explains, most people had invested for capital gain and either “lost a lot of money or are afraid of losing more money.” Investing for cash flow has kept money coming in for him, even through hard times.  “Even though the real estate market crashed in 2007, my rental properties continue to produce cash flow.”

1915 Cullen

Further, when the market turns down, these options become cheaper. “The good news is, when prices crash, cash flow investments become more affordable.” Now is a great time for investors, even new ones, to add these real estate investments.

1915 Cullen, for instance, is an Austin duplex with two units that rent for $1,790 a month together. Currently for sale at $269,000, this charming Crestview home, pictured, is a great investment.

This past weekend, Austin City Limits wrapped up another successful festival weekend. The talk of the weekend is the rain and the mud. Wet weather had fans in ponchos and under umbrellas while they attended three full days of their favorite bands’ music. Even on grassy fields, the revelers trudged through mud “like melted chocolate Haagan Dazs ice cream,” the Statesman wrote. Still, the clouds broke at points and brightened the weather, and you’re likely to hear nothing but fun stories and good reviews from sun-kissed faces.

Austin360.com offers thorough reviews of many shows, photos from around the event of the best-dressed and candid moments, and updates on the status of Zilker Park’s closings for cleanup. (Zilker’s great lawn will be closed until at least October 16, and C3 Productions, who organizes the event, will pay for the cleanup and repairing the grass as it has in years before.)

If you missed the event, KLRU airs many of the acts during their season of Austin City Limits, which you can see Saturday nights at 7 pm. Now in its 35^th season, here is what the show will air and when:

       Oct. 3: Dave Matthews Band

       Oct. 10: Ben Harper and Relentless7

       Oct. 17: Kenny Chesney

       Oct. 24: Andrew Bird / St. Vincent

       Oct. 31: M. Ward / Okkervil River

       Nov. 7: Elvis Costello / Band of Heathens

       Nov. 14: Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel

       Nov. 21: Pearl Jam

       Nov. 28-Jan. 2: Encore episodes

       Jan. 9: Allen Toussaint

       Jan. 16: Mos Def / K’Naan

       Jan. 23: TBD / Heartless Bastards

       Jan. 30: Steve Earle / Kris Kristofferson

       Feb. 6: Madeleine Peyroux / Esperanza Spalding

       Feb. 13: Them Crooked Vulture

Yesterday, Forbes released their feature on US Cities on the Rise: vibrant cities welcoming the most newcomers. They’re not the big cities you’d think they are – in fact, New York is at the bottom of the list. It turns out Americans are most attracted to “job growth centers,” and college towns.

Three of the cities on the list are home to major universities, including Austin, Texas. Many young professionals, and everyone in thes areas, are very welcoming to newcomers. “If there are lots of newcomers, it’s easier to make friends; there’s a sense of vibrancy there,” says a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, about these areas. “Places that don’t have a lot of new migrants tend to be older and more stagnant. They’re also more close-knit.”

Another draw to these cities are the universities themselves: universities are top employers and offer a steady flow of jobs. The population is educated, and it helps cities like Austin thrive. Says a senior fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, “these places retain people after they’ve graduated, and attract like-minded people.”

Austin sits at #4 on the list of US Cities on the Rise, with a population just over a million people and just over 6% of them having relocated to the area in 2008.

Customer satisfaction with home builders is up, driven by "intensified competition"

The New Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Survey from J.D. Power and Associates generates satisfaction ratings for 24 markets across the US, including Austin. 12 home builders in Austin were examined and rated.

For the second year, overall customer satisfaction in the 24 markets is up, to an average of 811 points out of 1,000 – up 32 points (from 779) in 2008, with overall satisfaction increasing in 22 of the 23 markets studied both years.

Problems reported decreased in all of the 23 markets studied both years. (The most common quality issues were landscaping, heating/air conditioning, and kitchen cabinet quality and finish.)

The reason for the positive increase in consumer ratings? Researchers have tied it to increased competition among home builders in the recession. “Fierce competition among home builders has led to a market where only the strong survive,” says Paula Sonkin, VP of the Real Estate and Construction Industries Practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “This is great news for new home buyers – particularly first time buyers – since builders are offering unprecedented high levels of quality, value and service at relatively low prices.”

Customers can also expect their homes to be completed faster: homes delivered both completely finished and on time increased to 76%, from 70% in 2008.

In this market, what consumers value has changed: the importance of workmanship and quality “increased notably” from the year before, whereas the builder’s sales staff and construction manager became less important. Buyers are looking for more quality for their money, and care less about the customer service experience.

Peaceful Hill Country Escape, featuring a green rainwater collection system

Another point of interest for buyers is the Green factor: 31% of buyers qualify their home as environmentally friendly, but 65% say their builder did not indentify their house as being so. Buyers are seeking out Green homes to save on power and heating, to save water, and to reduce their impact on the environment, in that order. According to Sonkin: “Builders that neglect to point out environmentally friendly home features to buyers are missing a very important opportunity. New home buyers are increasingly seeking out green home features and the benefits they bring in terms of energy and cost savings.”

Austin area home sales pending to close in the month of September are up 10% from a slow August, the Austin Statesman reports. Should the almost 2,000 transactions go through, September’s home sales for the city will be 18% higher than September 2008.

This is a positive return from August, which saw home sales down 10% from August 2008, and down 11% from Austin’s strong July. While home sales were down, median home prices took less of a fall, at 4%.

BBVA Compass bank economists are predicting a return to growth for the State of Texas in 2010 - partly because of the stabilizing housing market in this region, according to their chief economist Nathaniel Karp. They predict a 4.5% increase in home sales for 2010 (along with a 1.2% increase in jobs and a 1.7% increase in gross domestic product).

There has been a lot of discussion about the role of the $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit and its effect on sales. The IRS reports that 1.4 million homebuyers have taken advantage of the credit, and Austin has seen the effect, particularly in homes under $200,000. There has been talk of extending the credit, and some congressional leaders are pushing a six month extension or more, a move the White House is considering. Currently, however, there is no announcement, and the credit is set to end November 30. With how long it takes to process a mortgage application and other pre-closing requirements, buyers must have a house under contract a month ahead of the deadline, ideally even earlier, according to the Washington Post.

As reported in the Austin Business Journal, according to a new national forecast by IHS Global Insight, Austin (along with San Antonio) will be the first US city to recover from the recession. The report says the two cities are expected to return to their pre-recession job levels sometime in 2010. (Elsewhere in Texas, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are among eight metro areas named that are expected to recover by 2011.)

This matches reports that Austin and San Antonio will be the two US cities to see home prices rise this year.

IHS Global Insight is an economic research firm out of Massachusetts, and recognized as having the most consistently accurate forecasts available.

Austin and San Antonio are the only two cities expected to see prices rise this year.

Many renters and future homebuyers have been watching the housing market with interest, waiting for that deal of a lifetime. (As we’ve written, with rising interest rates, those deals are passing by.)  Homeowners looking to sell have seen a two-year slide in home values “at a stomach-turning pace.” The economists and researchers at Forbes have determined where home prices are likely to rise.

Where are home prices likely to rise, and fast? Austin and San Antonio.

“Although prices in Austin and San Antonio are also expected to have dropped mildly five years out (by 0.57% [Austin] and 1.01% [San Antonio]) the reasons for, and implications of, this drop are quite different [than other national metro areas with slow growth and weak local economies]. These are the only two cities expected to see prices rise this year; their home correction will be late, and gentle. Texas metros Houston and Dallas will only see modest drops by the end of the year and a small lift five years out.”

Most homeowners understand the value of updating and upgrading their home to add value, either because they’re selling their home now, or plan to in the future. But many feel overwhelmed or unsure when considering their options. Some updates are easy and obvious, like adding a fresh coat of paint or replacing the old dishwasher. But if you really want to invest in remodeling to up the value of your home, where do you start, and what do you do? And how do you make sure you don’t spend more in upgrades than you’ll make in return?

On Sunday, the Austin-American Statesman published “Upgrades that Pay Off,” full of helpful tips for homeowners looking to invest in their property. They spoke to experienced home investors for their ideas on money-making home improvements, specifically for homes in Austin, Texas. Here is some of their advice.

- Remember your budget. Because you don’t want the most expensive home on the block, keep your renovation costs at 20% to 30% of the home’s value.

- Don’t overdo, but don’t go cheap especially on core elements like flooring, counters, wall treatments, appliances, and outdoor living spaces.

- Consider your home’s positives and potential. Look at your home, take out a sheet of paper, and list the positives and negatives. Look at the lot, the house, the neighborhood, everything. Every home is unique, and has positives; your goal for remodeling is to bring the house to its potential.

- Keep a time frame. Three months is appropriate.

- Consider the land. Make sure the house and land work together. Make the most of an outdoor water feature, wooded lot or great view by adding a patio or other outdoor living space. (If you don’t have one, consider adding a manmade water feature, such as this.) Outdoor living areas are very much in demand, especially in Austin, and add space and value fast.

- Add privacy like fences or gates, particularly on high-dollar homes.

- Look at the whole house. Beware of completely renovating some areas, and completely neglecting others. You don’t want to redo your whole house, but leave in the old staircase. This will require planning your budget.

Infinity Edge Pool

- Make your home unique (if even just a little). “Every house is going to have a kitchen, every house is going to have a master bath. What many don’t have is those other areas – the wine room, the pergolas, the outdoor places you can see from within the house.” An Infinity Edge (or negative edge) pool, for example, will pop out. But of course, beware of going overboard and making too many exotic choices. Always consider what a buyer would like. You should always assume, no matter how much you love it now, you may one day decide to sell your home.

The photo featured is one of our newest listings. You can see it and other great homes at www.DMTX.com.

CNN Money (from the editors of Money Magazine) and Yahoo! Real Estate have published the 25 counties in the nation with the most job growth from 2000-2008. On the list at number 14 appears Williamson County, just north of Austin’s Travis County and home to Austin suburbs Georgetown and Round Rock.

“Williamson County, TX
Job growth (2000-2008): 53.2%

Williamson County has seen its population more than double in the last 10 years, thanks to its location just north of Austin. While a large percentage of residents commute into the city, major employers like Dell, Wal-Mart and Sears have come to the area bringing many new jobs along.

While farming remains the backbone of the fertile terrain, the health care industry is quickly sprouting roots. Three new hospitals opened in the last two years in Williamson County and a nursing school affiliated with Texas A&M is in the works.

The public school systems in the cities of Round Rock and Leander are also some of the county’s largest employers.”

The health care industry for Austin-Round Rock recently added 59,000 jobs, and four of Austin’s top 25 employers are healthcare networks or hospitals, including Seton, the largest non-profit healthcare network in Texas. Dell and the other tech center employers in North Austin and Williamson County keep Austin as one of the nation’s top tech centers, with the most high tech companies, technology jobs, and workers with advanced degrees.

New Custom Home

Our team has some beautiful homes in this fast growing area of Greater Austin, including this new custom home featuring a half acre wooded lot with a year round creek, this unique custom home on the San Gabriel River, this 60 acre horse friendly waterfront showplace, this estate home on a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course or this stunning home with your own Jack Nicklaus greens and sand trap.