SellAustinTexas

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.

Forbes has once again aknowledged Austin, Texas as an economic and business hotspot, and an ideal place for career motivated individuals and families to live by putting it on their list of Best US Cities to Earn a Living. ”For the exasperated job seeker to whom employment opportunities may seem bleaker than ever, salvation may lie in the Lone Star State,” the article reads. “Texas, home to dozens of energy heavyweights and nearly as many innovative small companies, has three of the best cities to earn a living: Dallas, Houston and Austin.”

Forbes compared cost of living, strength of industry, economists’ predictions for future employment, and salaries to create their Top 10 List. On the list are:

 

Austin, Texas

1. Dallas, TX

2. Houston, TX

3. Minneapolis, MN

4. Austin, TX

5. Washington, DC

6. St Louis, MO

7. Seattle, WA

8. Atlanta, GA

9. Kansas City, MO

10. Denver, CO

While jobs around the country are fewer and farther between, Forbes writes, some markets remain healthier where there are concentrations of top companies, a case for the top three Texas cities.

Austin is a strong market with career potential and great real estate deals you can start seeing today!

Great news to start the month for Texans: Texas has beat the rest of the nation for housing affordability for the first quarter in 2009, according to the Housing Affordability Index compiled at the Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University. The numbers compare the ability for a median income family in an area to purchase a medium price existing home.

“Texas continues to maintain its place as the most affordable high growth state in the country,” says the Center’s research economist, Dr. Jim Gaines.

As the end of 2009 approaches with many state, city and federal tax and homebuying incentives in Austin coming to an end, now is a great time to consider an affordable investment in your financial future, and take look at some of the beautiful homes Austin has to offer.

Turbines

For the second quarter of this year, Texas added 454 megawatts of wind generating capacity, giving the state of Texas’ capacity more than 8,000 megawatts for the first time, and to be the first state that has done so.

One megawatt of wind powers 225-300 homes.

The state of Texas is first in new wind power generating capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Iowa is second, with around 3,000 megawatts. Missouri, Washington and California also appear on the list. Texas was second in wind growth, behind Missouri’s push to expand more than 90%.

Central Texas is home to the Roscoe Project, the nation’s largest wind project, which helped push Texas to its 8,000 megawatts.

According to American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode, “Our challenge now is to sieze the historic opportunity before us to unleash this entrepeneurial force and build up an entire new industry here in the U.S. that will create jobs, avoid carbon and strengthen our energy security.”

Based on numbers of building permits issued from May 2008-May 2009, Texas and its cities lead the nation in new home construction. In perspective, Texas had more permits than California and Florida, combined.

The city of Austin appears 6th on the list of metro areas throughout the country, along with 3 other Texas building hot spots in the top 10.

Top 10 Markets for Single Family Home Building

1. Houston, TX
2. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
3. Phoenix, AZ
4. Washington, DC
5. Atlanta, GA
6. Austin, TX
7. San Antonio, TX
8. Riverside-San Bernardino, CA
9. Charlotte, NC
10. Raleigh-Cary, NC

As reported by the Statesman, builder Scott Felder has bought most of Austin’s Newmark Homes. Newmark had continued building in Austin, after parent company TOUSA in Florida filed for bankruptcy in January 2008. Now, Scott Felder Homes has aquired most of their assets and plans to begin 50 homes in the next 90 days, according to Scott Felder President Steve Krasoff.

“We have always looked at Newmark Homes as a quality company to emulate, with their superior construction, architectural innovation, customer service and integrity,” says CEO Scott Felder.

Scott Felder has announced the acquisition on their website, and the companies have created a cooperative site that presents an interactive map of Austin with planned developments, neighborhood information, photos and video, all available here.

The City of Austin Energy Audit is now in effect.

Read About the Audit

 Forbes has just announced what many Austinites already knew: Austin, Texas is the best city to live in for affordability and opportunities. Austin landed number one on their Top 10 list of Best Bargain cities.

The list was based on five points:

- Average salary of workers (Bachelor’s Degree or higher)

- Annual unemployment statistics

- Cost of living

- Housing Opportunity Index (amount of homes sold that are affordable to family with the local median income).

Austin did well in all categories, particularly the unemployment rate, which at 5.5%, is about half the national average.

Why Austin? Austin has three main contributing features: being the state capital, a university town, and a technology industry based city. Further, Texas as a state offers many incentives for entrepreneurs and business owners; Texas is now home to many California businesses that became too expensive to operate in that state. Four other Texas metropolises are on the top ten (Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth).  Although, even Forbes acknowledges that it’s the charm of the city and the people in it that makes Austin such a desirable place to work and live.

View from 555 Condo

If you have a home within Austin city limits and are trying to or thinking about selling your home, you need to find out how the Energy Conservation Audit can affect you.

Who is affected (you must meet all 3 criteria)?

Homes that are 10+ years old

Homes within Austin city limits

Homes that receive electricity through Austin Energy

Are there any exceptions?

You may be exempt if your home was a participant in the Austin Energy Residential Energy Efficiency program within the last 10 years.  Check with the City of Austin at 512-974-7827.

What are your choices?

The City of Austin has declared the Energy Conservation Audit mandatory UNLESS you complete specific voluntary upgrades through the Austin Energy Residential Energy Efficiency program. A homeowner can choose from a list of approved companies who can consult with them to determine what upgrades would be necessary to complete. The primary upgrades are additional attic insulation, solar screens, and sealing the duct work in the home.

How much does the energy audit cost and what do they do?

The energy Audit typically costs $200-300 for a home with one HVAC unit and prices go up from there depending on the size of the home and number of HVAC units. The energy audit evaluates the home’s windows, attic insulation, HVAC system, and duct work. The report is about 9 pages and points out areas that are inefficient and gives suggestions on how to make the home more efficient. It will be mandatory to supply a buyer with this report if you are selling your home.

What is the benefit to participating in the Austin Energy Residential Energy Efficiency program?

Austin Energy and Texas Gas Service offer incentives to participants to offset costs of these upgrades. Homeowners can also receive a tax credit for these upgrades if it is their primary residence. When you sell your home, you will not have to complete the mandatory energy audit which will save you the cost of the audit and report. The remaining costs vary but in some cases they can be very near the same cost of completing the mandatory energy audit. In addition to all of the immediate cost benefits, you can reap the benefits of living in a home with lower bills and a more comfortable and efficient home.

When will this apply to me?

The ordinance will take affect any home that sells after June 1, 2009.

Why did the City of Austin create this ordinance?

The City of Austin created this ordinance in order to bring our older more inefficient homes up to par with newer construction homes. This will benefit all Austin Energy users as it will lower the impact that we have on our power plants. If we can reduce the dependency on our power plants then we can stop or slow the need to build more which also helps keep our energy bills more affordable.

How do I learn more?

Contact your team of Real Estate agents, the Dave Murray Team, with your questions!