Austin TX Real Estate - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes for Sale: December 2006

'Tis the Season... 

Keep in mind that it's the simple things in life that are appreciated the most, and not how much something cost or how many presents you received this holiday season.

I admit that I get frustrated this time of year because I get gifts where I just want to shout out, "What were you thinking?!"  I can't really give examples because my family checks my blogs every now and then, but believe me, there have been some doosies! 

I'm a simple person.  And just like Oscar here, I'm easily amused...  Isn't he cute?  Just make sure you let your family know how much you love and appreciate them.  That should be all they need as a present. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I saw the post yesterday about making sure your lead picture is desirable.  In the below example, the lead picture actually isn't that bad.  What this picture says to me is that it is a quiet, mature house in an older area.  Since the newer communities don't typically have trees for several years, this picture shows the unique size of the trees which many of our relo buyers like.

BUT, boy was I wrong!!  Look at these pictures!  Are they selling their house, or are they selling their "stuff"?  Stuff is such a nice word. I can't tell what most of the rooms are.  I saw one that has a chandelier in it, so I would assume that's a formal dining room, but beats the heck out of me!  If you were a buyer, would you see "potential" in this house, or would you just skip by it because you couldn't picture your own things there?

Just to let you know, this was emailed to me by one of my buyers asking why someone would market their home like this.  She is definitely one of those who would skip right over it as it doesn't match her personality.  Even though her own things would go in the space, if she can't picture the space, it does no good!

I think these pictures are going to cost the home owner THOUSANDS of dollars with time on the market and having to lower their price to get it sold.  What do you think?

I hate shaking people's hands.  It's not that I don't want to greet them nicely and professionally, but being a woman, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to shake hands.

Many women do the dainty, limp fish hand shake, which is why I'm sure men don't always know how to shake women's hands.

For example, I'll gage the gentleman and think about his personality, and I'll think he's going to have a hardy grip.  I go in with a firm grip, and he's barely touching my hand... oops.

If I think he's a less aggressive person, I'll go in with a less firm grip, and then he's squeezing the life out of my hand... oops again.

Women are the worse! I have this client who is very loud, very stern, very knows-what-she-wants-and-she's-going-to-get-it, and she was buying a house site-unseen.  When I finally meet her in person, she's definitely not what I would call a fragile person.  I go in to shake her hand with a very aggressive grip from knowing her for the past 4 months, and I get the limp, dead fish... I was shocked.  My hand was glued to hers and I couldn't release the grip.  I felt so bad.  I thought she would be coming in with the same grip.

And then there are those women that are dainty and very feminine and as I approach with my non-threatening grip, they're giving the firm grip, and I feel like an idiot.

What are the rules for a handshake??

I've been sick all week, and I must say, it's been one of my busier weeks in the past couple of months.  My phone has been ringing off the hook.  I try to ignore it and get some rest, but that didn't work.  One of my buyers called 4 times in a 5 minute period, so I called her back and we put together an offer on a house.  She constantly low-balls and each house she's written an offer on has had multiple offers, so we don't get it, and I should have just stayed in bed.

Another buyer I have been sending listings to since April decided she no longer wants a house $150-200k, but she wants 10-20 acres of land and she'll pay cash up to $1M!!  I'm glad I called her back timely.

I have another buyer who wrote an offer on a short sale property.  We're finalizing details there, but that commission is somewhere around $15k, depending on the final number, so I'm really glad I had the strength to call him back and deal with the  bank.

Do others work this hard when they're sick??  Yes, I got bored just watching tv when my phone wouldn't ring for an hour, so I would check my emails and read a couple of blogs, but I really didn't have the strength to be working as much as I did this week. Oh, and I'm writing two offers today for a couple of new contruction homes.

This week was one of those times I wish I had an assistant, but I'm sure I would have been calling every hour to check on things as I'm a control freak! At least I actually slept through the night last night!

My husband, Mike, has decided to take up Golf again.  He used to play, but got frustrated with it, but now he's falling apart (38 years old) so he gets more frustrated with the Wakeboarding (knee, wrist, ankle, shoulder, and back injuries) and has decided Golf would be good again.  So, he's gotten new clubs (several times over so he could find ones he likes), new clothes, new bag, and he's probably going to ask for new golf shoes for the Holidays.

TiVo has been very busy recording Golf.  Each infomercial says you must have this or you must have that to be successful.  Hmmm, each seminar I go to about real estate does the same thing.

The thing that really hit home was when Mike was watching the Pro Lessons last night. He's been watching a lot of the professionals give lessons so he can take bits and pieces and see what works for him.  All of a sudden he says, "Each Pro does something completely different than the other and I'm more confused than ever!"

With that comment, I related it to Real Estate.  Take a new agent, for example.  A new agent comes into your office and asks to pick your brain.  If you're online reading this, you're probably telling this new agent about all the online presence you have and how you are going to concentrate your efforts on marketing and advertising online since you know the latest reports show that over 80% of buyers are looking online for properties before contacting an agent.  You're telling them about creating their website and SEO and how to drive traffic to their own site in order to pick up leads.

However, that new agent, trying to gather as much information as possible, then sits down with an agent who has been in the business 30+ years, because we all know that agent should know how to get business in his/her sleep.  Well, that agent then tells the new agent about his/her experience with door knocking and cold calling (even with the Do Not Call rules, eliminating those not to call) and farming a particular neighborhood for the same 30+ years.

As our new agent finds another agent to talk with, this other agent just talks about taking as many phone-duty shifts at the office as possible and holding Open Houses every weekend in the hopes of getting new buyers to walk through the doors.

Which agent do you want to be like?  I know which one I am, and I know which ones need to get into the 21^st century.  However, different things work for different agents.  Is there a wrong way to do real estate if you're successful with it?  I would only say you're way is wrong if you can't show any production.

As a new agent in a weird market, you need to look at all the information given and try each way and see what will work for you.  Maybe you like sitting inside a house by yourself and a good book for a few hours on the weekend while you wait for buyers to approach you. Maybe you've been in your neighborhood for years, and knocking on doors makes sense for you for the face to face contact.  Maybe you like to make contact with as many people as possible within a short amount of time, so you find the internet is the way to go for you.  Whatever you chose, make it your own.

Back to Golf, my husband has tried to take tips from several different pros to see what will work for him.  However, a friend of his is a golf pro himself and he doesn't know how to teach anyone how to swing a club who doesn't swing it the way he wants.  So, Mike is left with the dilemma with learning how to swing a swing that is productive and works well for him, or with learning a swing that works well for someone else, and not feeling comfortable with the swing himself.

Which way should he go??  I'm sure more advice will only help him!!

There is currently a state law that requires a person to let the county appraisal district know about any and all tangible, personal property that is used for income producing reasons.  In 2003, legislation came through imposing penalties for anyone who failed to render their property for taxation.  With this, REALTORS® were required to render their vehicle and any property used within their business like computers, fax machines, phones, etc...

However, in 2005, the Legislation passed HB 809 which plainly stated "an individual who is the primary operator and owner of a car or light truck and uses that vehicle for both personal and business purposed is not required to render that vehicle for taxation", but several appraisal districts continue to send notices for taxation.  The reason they have for this is that they say there is no specific exemption for the vehicles.  I could have sworn that I just mentioned above that if the vehicle is for personal and business that it is exempt.  I always wonder how things so clear to most get interpreted so wrong by others.

So, even with it clearly written in the law, the upcoming 80^th Legislative Session, TAR (Texas Association of Realtors) will lobby for a constitutional amendment to exempt mixed-used vehicles from taxation altogether.  Personally, I think this is silly and is going to be a waste of our lobbying money.  It's clear in the law, and the appraisal districts need to get over it.  Instead, they're going to spend thousands of dollars to get it through both houses, which will need 2/3 votes in each house, and then it will appear on the Fall 2007 ballot in which it can only pass if the majority of Texas voters vote for it...  Now, they're leaving it up to all the Realtors to educate all the voters so the voters know what they're voting for.

Does this sound stupid or is it just me??  Any thoughts, from Texas and non-Texas people alike?

NAR has headed south of the border into Mexico, and as of January 2007, all Mexicans that are members of AMPI (La Asociacion Mexicana de Profesionales Inmobiliarios) will be considered REALTORS®.

This is the first joint relationship that NAR as formally signed with a foreign real estate organization.  The have been ongoing liaisons over the years, but this is a much larger step in bringing REALTORS® together.

NAR announced at the convention in New Orleans that they will launch a 4-hour course called "Doing Business In Mexico" with an online version available later in 2007.

Is this a start of NAR actually becoming a "National" Association of Realtors and not just considered National as in Nationwide over America?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this relationship?  Do you see yourself or your investors buying properties in Mexico and this being an important relationship?  How do you see this relationship being of benefit for your business?  Being in Texas, I would like to hear other's thoughts.