Austin TX Real Estate - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes for Sale: February 2008

Honey, Hun, Sugar, Baby, Sweetie Pie, Dear, etc... these are all words that flow off some people's lips.  They don't flow off mine.  Nor do I appreciate being called these names.  Never have, probably never will.  I've been trying to use "Sweetie" or "Baby" on my 15 week (tomorrow) baby, and the words sound funny.  I stick to "Pretty Girl" and "Happy Girl".

I received a call from an agent a couple of days ago, asking about one of my listings.  Every sentence started with "Hun".  Hun?  I'm not your Hun.  I'm a "Colleague".  I run a business and I expect to be spoken to in a business way.

I went through college waiting tables and bartending.  People would call me Sugar or Honey or any of the above mentioned words, and I would turn around and say, "As I said, my name is Donna.  If you need anything, just let me know."

To me, the words sound degrading. I understand that some people have used those words their entire life and don't perceive the words in the same manner, but please listen to yourself talk and ask yourself if it sounds professional to speak to other adults in a business setting (not personal setting) in that manner.

My name is Donna.  It's not Honey, it's not Sugar, it's not Baby... my sister in law is "Sweetie" since my brother has forgotten her name, and my parents and I just roll our eyes every time he says it.  We remind him that her name is Kathy, but he doesn't get the joke.  I dated a guy once who called me "Precious" and all I could think about was my Grandparents' dog named Precious.  Blah!

Are there other words that people say that bother you while trying to maintain a business conversation?

Why are you still over pricing your house even after all the education I try to give and explain? Over pricing will get you no where.  It might get people in the door since people are looking in all types of price ranges, but as soon as they walk in, they'll say, "This house is not anywhere near a $350k house in this neighborhood, how could they price it at $369,900?"

The answer, the owners are investors and they're in the RED.  Do I care they're in the red?  Does a prospective buyer care they're in the red?  Isn't the best way to get out of the red to cut your losses as quickly as you can and sell the house instead of staying further and further in the red?

I had a listing appointment for the opportunity to list two houses for these investors.  They chose an agent for one of the houses, not me.  From the details of the listing, the investors were not interested in an actual marketing package since there are sloppy pictures in the MLS, and there is no virtual tour (which I do for every single one of my listings no matter the price range), and I found the listing no where online except the MLS sites.  They must have been motivated by something else the agent was offering that I can't see, like reduced commission?

Then these investors had the nerve to contact me to go take a second look at another house they needed listed.  I politely declined, pointing out that they already made their choice when they didn't chose me on the other property.  They told me they weren't set on that agent to list this other property and really wanted me to take a second look.  After some back and forth, I reluctantly agreed.

I walked in the house expecting to be WOW'd since they had previously walked me through the house explaining the rest of the updates they were going to do.  Instead, I walked in saying to myself, "HUH? What are they thinking?"  I wrote down about 50 things about the house that needed to be done in order to sell for top dollar.  I asked them to confirm if this and that would be done so I could come up with a good asking price.  They had no plans on fixing about 90% of the things on my list. 

I told them that all they did was turn a foreclosure into a house that looks like someone ran through, slapped up some paint, changed out appliances, and expect to profit.  The house comps out about $330k.  At the first meeting, I told them that if it was completely updated and made me go WOW, that we could possibly do $350k, and maybe a little higher depending on the final finish out.  At $350k, they're in the red.  I went over my marketing and explained how I'm going to get people to realize and understand the value.  They acted like they liked everything I had to say, except they asked a couple of times about Open Houses.  Open Houses do not work in the Dallas market. They're from CA, and they might work there, but they don't sell houses here, and when there is an occasional open house, people barely walk into them these days as they have better things to do on a Sunday afternoon.  It's usually the neighbors and people in the wrong price range not working with a REALTOR® to help them which means they're also probably not approved for a loan or the mortgage person would have also suggested an agent for them to work with... anyway, I digress...

Apparently they didn't care about any marketing again because they ended up using the same agent as the other house, and they scheduled an open house.  However, there is no virtual tour, and I see no internet presence.  There is, however, a "slide show".  A slide show is where they take the still photos they already have in the MLS, and put them to music.  Yippie!  How does that present the house better?

Anyway, I'm going to continue to watch these houses and see what happens.  The first one has already had a price reduction.  The second one has only been on the market a couple of weeks.  Bottomline, if you're in the red and need to sell your house, you should use common sense and hire the agent that has a marketing plan to get it sold fast, not one that does something just because you think it is necessary when you don't know the market like an educated REALTOR® should and does.  The first house, listed just below $115k, should have sold already and it's been 2 months... so sad when people won't allow educated people to educate them about something they're unfamiliar with.

As a REALTOR®, would you have agreed to an Open House just to get the listing?  As a Seller, would you rather someone blow smoke up your buttocks, or tell you the truth so you understand what the final results will be instead of being disappointed when you get that first low-ball offer?

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!! 

 ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

Does the look of neighboring houses effect the value of your house?  Do you have a neighbor who doesn't mow their lawn as often as you would like?  Or even if they mow it, is the yard all weeds instead of grass?  Do you have a neighbor who loves huge rose bushes, but doesn't know how to maintain them, so they make the house look really bad and not taken care of?

What if you were looking at houses in a very nice, suburbian neighborhood in the $400k price range (in the Dallas area, that's over double the average sales price) and you saw bars on the windows of one of the house?  Would you all of a sudden think it's an unsafe neighborhood?  Or would you think that they were "decorative" bars? 

This is a house in my neighborhood.  I don't like it.  It's not just that there are bars, but the bars don't even fit the windows like they should.  We've complained to the HOA, but there is nothing directly in our bylaws that can prohibit them.  We've all asked very nicely to remove them.  Instead, the bars used to be only on a couple of windows, which looked really bad because it looked like they messed up and forgot the other windows, so upon people asking them to do something, they promptly ADDED more bars to make sure all the windows were covered.

Maybe if the bars went all the way up the windows like they're supposed to, they wouldn't stick out as much, but as they are, people can't help but stare and wonder if the neighborhood is safe.

How do you set your buyers at ease when they make a comment about them?  Do you say "to each their own"?  Or do you call the listing agent to ask the home owner what the crime is like?  Would you want bars on windows in your neighborhood? 

If you want to be friends with your neighbors, you might want to blend in a little better. Who knows, when you're ready to sell your home with bars, your neighbors might do something to lower your value like let their grass grow over the 12" limit.  Let's all be good neighbors!

I've read many people's blogs about the membership of their Realtor Associations going down and people getting out of the business.  National news makes real estate sound so bad these days.  Once again, the Dallas area is outside the National trends.  I contacted the MetroTex Association of Realtors on Friday to get the official count of Realtors for the area.  There are several Realtor Associations in the area, but MetroTex is the largest covering most of Dallas and Fort Worth so I figured their information would show the trend that is also probably happening in the smaller associations.

The membership numbers are as follows:
January 2006- 14,061
January 2007- 12,101
January 2008- 13,299   + 9.9% Change over 2007

This is not the trend you would expect to see as you hear over and over again how real estate has gone in the toilet.  All I keep telling people is that real estate is local, and you must look at the local numbers, not National numbers.

While writing this, I did contact a couple of other associations, but only got the numbers from one.  Collin County Association of Realtors went from 4191 members in 2007 to 4280 members in 2008.  That is a +2.1% increase over last year's membership.  Not as large as MetroTex, but still consistant with the trends that the REALTORS® in the Dallas area are not giving up their license and heading back to corporate world, but they're here ready for a great 2008!

If you count in all the smaller associations, we probably have about 30,000 Realtors in the Dallas area.  That's a lot, but we have over 47,000 properties currently on the market, and we need agents to sell them.

It's official, the George W Bush library is coming to the campus of SMU, Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, TX.  There has been much heated debate about this library and what it would stand for.  The campus was split on wanting it and not wanting it.

This will be the 13th Presidential Library across the country.  Construction is to start in 2009 and they expect it to take five years to complete.  That sounds like quite a project!

SMU is also where the First Lady, Laura Bush, graduated from.  Dallas is also going to be where the Bush family makes their home after his term is up.  There have been rumors on what part of Dallas he'll live in.  He used to live in a very modest home in Prestonwood.  I'm sure he'll be moving his price range up a few hundred thousand dollars from that home.

Here is the rest of the article posted.

Graphic courtesy of SMU's website.

Here is your first reminder to file your Texas Homestead Exemption form if you closed on your home by December 31, 2007.  I like to remind people towards the end of February because hopefully you're done with your Holiday bills, and worrying about your W2s (1099's) from your employer, and you're starting to get your tax information ready.

You have until the end of April to actually file, but why wait until the last minute.  Also, if you closed in 2008, you CANNOT file for this year.  You must wait until next year before the end of April to file your exemptions.

It's good to do it as soon as possible so when you get your new Tax Assessment that first week of May, all your information will be correct.  There are many companies that will charge you a pretty penny to file the exemption for you.  DO NOT PAY ANYONE TO FILE ANYTHING!!  IT'S FREE!!

All you need to do is go to your county appraisal's website and print off the form there.  Some counties require a notary, while others do not.  It takes less than 2 minutes to fill it out, so there is no excuse about not having time.

Here are some of the county links in my immediate area:

Dallas- www.dcad.org
Tarrant- www.tad.org
Collin- www.collincad.org
Denton- www.dentoncad.com

If you need help, you can call the appraisal districts' number listed on their website. 

This is so crazy!! Nothing ever really happens around here!  I went to JJ Pearce High School in Richardson, TX.  I was part of the graduating class of... hmmm, I know you guys think I'm young, but do you know how young?  Age doesn't really matter when you've been in this industry for 8 years, so I can proudly say, I was part of the class of 1994- graduated with Advanced Honors which isn't too shabby if I do say so myself....

Anyway, premiering on March 5, 2008, they are putting a lot of alumni from JJ Pearce on a "sun- drenched multi-million dollar Hawaiian estate" to see how they have changed, or not changed over a 20 year period.  By saying 20 years, I assume it's the alum from 1988.  But they could be leaving it broad like being around 20 years. 

The site lists the cast of 14 people, but no last names.  It's hard to tell if I know any of them.  My year books only go back to 1991, and my brother's only go one year further into 1990.  I have emailed the information to my high school friends as some of them have older siblings and they might be able to figure out who everyone is.

This is just so exciting.  I'm surprised I haven't seen it on the local news... maybe the cast behaves immaturely and Richardson doesn't want to lay claim to them... who knows.  Either way, I'm going to try to watch or Tivo it.  Sounds like it could be interesting!

HERE is the link for further information.

It's funny how I found this.  Tom Burris wrote a blog yesterday about Google Alerts, so I set one up for Richardson TX and perfect timing for today's announcement of the show.  Thanks, Tom!

Graphics from the JJ Pearce website...

 Jason Kidd was previously with the Dallas Mavericks in 1994 where he played a couple of years before being traded to Phoenix.  It seems like we trade everyone to Phoenix as that's also where Nash went.

There are many things involved with this trade, and I could possibly explain it all, but the main thing is that we get Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright.  We also gave up a couple of first round draft picks for next year.

Jason will be ready for today's 3pm practice and ready to start.

Read more details of this trade on Dallasnews.com.    

At the end of December, I was interviewed for an article in Texas REALTOR® for the January/February issue.  I was excited for the opportunity as I've been contacted more and more about interviews for this and that.  It makes me feel like all my hard work over the years is finally paying off.

What urks me is I did not end up in the article.  I read it, and the main person interviewed was one of my friends and coleagues, and she's also a strong member of Active Rain.  I chose not to mention who she is.  I'm reading this article and thinking to myself, what a bunch of BULL.

The interviewer told me she wanted information on how I track my finances when it comes to my marketing.  The article was actually about how these two people spent money on different programs that tell them how to spend their money each month on their marketing to help keep them on budget.  I was reading this going, HUH?!

I'm sorry, but I don't need a program to tell me how to stay on budget.  I look at how much business I want that year.  I then look at how many "leads" I need in order to get a closed transaction in order to hit my goals.  I look at what I want to do and what I need to do in order to get those leads.  I look at the costs.  I then set up my programs and I know how much is being spent each month.  I don't need a program to tell me how to stay on that budget.  Once it's set, it's set.

Granted, new programs can come along and I reevaluate as needed, and I'll move money around, but that doesn't take a genius to figure out that you shouldn't be spending $50k a month if you bring in $5k a month. I'm not going to break the piggy bank if I can't afford it.  I also don't throw good money after bad.  If I see something isn't working, I look at why it's not working and try to make it work.  If I've given it a fair chance, typically, at least a year, then they program might get dropped.  I don't believe in trying something for a month and saying it doesn't work.

Anyway, I'm just a little ticked off that this lady spent my time asking questions that, in all essense, wasn't really what she was even aiming for in her article.  She also didn't have the nerve to let me know she decided to change her angle even though I asked her to shoot me an email when it came out so I knew to look for it.

If you want an interview, great.  But don't waste my time, and I won't waste yours.

Ask about your FREE trip to The Bahamas, Mexico, Dominican or Hawaii when you buy this house! Great 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home with Gameroom upstairs. Looks barely lived in & Move-in Ready. Some updates are 2" blinds, new fixtures, new oven & stove, new disposal, & extended patio in pool-sized backyard which is great for entertaining. Master is down split from the others. Master bath has double sinks, garden tub, separate shower & large walk in closet. Sprinklers, security system, gutters, & so much more...

CLICK HERE for the Visual Tour.  All this can be yours for ONLY $164,500 at 2799 sqft!!

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!! 

 ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

It has just been announced that Barack Obama will be making a stop in Dallas on Wednesday before his debate with Hillary Clinton on Thursday in Austin.  The place has not been announced.  I guess that's too small of a detail to have that when you make such an announcement, but I'll update this post when I hear.

From The Dallas Morning News, " "Sen. Obama is committed to campaigning in communities across Texas and will ask the people of Texas to stand for change with him," Adrian Saenz, the Obama campaign's Texas state director, said in a prepared statement Saturday. "

The primary in Texas is March 4.  We're one of the last states to vote.  The state is typically Republican on a whole, so I'll be watching very closely to see if people vote party lines and for issues, or if they vote for just a person.

Clinton has made no announcement of a stop in Dallas.

The latest report is out and it shows DFW has a surge of 27% in foreclosures going up for auction in March.  However, the number 27 doesn't mean too much in an average.  I say that because it takes into consideration Denton County that had a 42% increase.  But, at 42%, there were "only" 464 foreclosures for the entire county.  When you look at the number 464, you think, that's a lot of homes.  It's not really that many homes when you look at the population (2006 estimated population of 584,238) and how 464 is a very small percentage of properties in the area.

Then, you have a 20% increase in Collin County (2006 estimated population 698,851).  To get to that 20% increase, it's "only" 495 foreclosures.

The Dallas Fort Worth area had over 43,000 foreclosure for 2007.  DFW is ranked 11th across the country.  We were in the top 10 for so long, so it's good to see we're out of that grouping.

D-FW AREA FORECLOSURE POSTINGS

Remember, I work all of North Dallas County and Collin County including Richardson, Plano, Allen, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Rowlett, McKinney, etc... my car will take us anywhere you need to go!! 

 ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

If you find yourself in a bad situation and need to talk to someone about your options, call/email me and we can go over your concerns.

Alyssa started daycare last week.  It wasn't a full week because we played hookie on Friday.  I then took her again on Monday.  Monday night, she was coughing at 2am.  I was livid!  5 days at daycare and already sit?!

She had no fever, and was happy as ever, so I took her back yesterday.  I walked in and asked which kid had been coughing on mine.  They felt really bad, but apparently, they were all sniffly so no big deal to leave.  She sounded worse last night, but she slept through the night, 9 hours!  

Got up this morning, still happy as ever, boy does she smile a lot now.  I stuck her in her bouncey seat in the smallest bathroom we have with all the doors closed while I showered.  I was hoping for the steam to knock all the "crud" loose.  That worked!!  I suctioned it all out, and she was even happier!

She then played for about an hour, and decided she wanted to take a nap at about 8:30.  At this time, I'm thinking, if she falls asleep, we're playing hookie today, and I'm not taking her in.  Grandma wants a Grandma say tomorrow, so is it OK for a 12 week old to play hookie from school 2 days in a row?  I feel a little guilty...

It's still early, and she can easily go to school when she wakes up from this nap, probably at about 9:30 since her naps are only an hour long.... but I'm thinking 2 days home will help her get better sooner.  Or, will she get better at the same pace since everyone who is already sick will also be getting better each day?  Such a hard decision.

This year's Little Sweatheart Valentine Party is February 14 at 10am-noon at the Huffines Recreation Center.  It's for all Richardson citizens ages 2-5 years old.  There will be prizes, games, crafts, and refreshments.

The pre-registration fee is $5 and the at the door fee is $8.  You can register by calling 972-744-7881 or 972-744-7850.

I can't wait until Alyssa is old enough to go to something like this.  All our friends went to the Father/Daughter Valentine Ball that was on Friday.  It sounds like so much fun!

Don't forget about this year's Home Owner's Association meeting for the Woods of SpringCreek.  It's Tuesday, February 12 at 7:00pm and Canyon Creek.  If you cannot make the meeting, you must submit your proxy for consideration.

Things we'll review are the budget, Telecom landscaping, and our new Social Groups that have been very popular.

I still need a web designer to donate their time to create our new website.  Please let me know if you can help with that.

See you Tuesday, refreshments will be provided.

Every few years, Texas gets a new license plate.  Some look nice, and others are like, "Who designed this, and who approved it?"  Well, this time around, everyone in Texas gets to vote.  Here are your choices:

In my opinion, there is a clear winning with the above choices.  First, you'll notice that Texas is going to a 7 digit plate from the traditional 6 digit plate.  Second, you'll notice that option #5 is the same plate that we currently have, but showing us what it would look like with 7 digits in case people vote to keep what we have.  It would be boring to stay with the same design. 

Option #1 is too white and plain.  Many people have license plate borders so the blue wouldn't be viewed, so it would just be white.  Option #2, the field of bluebonnets, might be a pretty picture, but on the plate, it's just ugly.  Option #4 is one of my pet peeves of having the state name in a fancy script.  I'm a plate reader as I drive, and it's hard to read the scripts from a distance and that's frustrating to me, so I don't like it.

My clear winning choice is option #3!  I really like the look of this.  I VOTED HERE and, thus far, Texas agrees with me too because it's winning with over 202,000 votes and the second choice right now is only at 126,000.

But, this doesn't effect me personally since I have personalized plates from The Texas Association of Realtors.

Which one do you like, and why?

   Major issues going on in Richardson, TX right now.  FedEx is trying to get permission to build a distribution center right down the street from my house!  We cannot allow this!  There is already too much traffic right there, we don't need anymore.

They say the added traffic will only be in the morning and the evening.  DUHHH, that's when everyday rush hour traffic is.  Why do we need to add to it?  FedEx was already turned down by the City Plan Committee a couple of weeks ago.  We all signed a petition, however, FedEx is making a plea, in person, to the council next week.

It will probably be standing room only, but I urge everyone in Richardson and the Garland borders to attend so we can squash this facility.  I signed the petition and am proud of it!  Even if they guaranteed deliveries to our houses for first thing in the morning so we wouldn't have 7pm deliveries anymore, I'm still against.

I don't need more traffic to fight with running to and from appointments!!

This is going to be a great show!  My parents took me to this a few years ago, and I had no idea what it was about or what to expect.  I'm a Jewish girl who doesn't even know much about Judiasm, muchless knowing anything about other religions.

This show is HILARIOUS!  I found myself laughing so hard!  Granted, I didn't understand everything that was said, as I figured they were Catholic "inside jokes", but I laughed along with others since their laughing was very contagious.

The show is not going on very long this year, so I won't be able to make it, but the dates are February 14-17, 2008.  Tickets start at $32 and can be ordered online at www.eisemanncenter.com or by phone at 972-744-4657.

I highly recommend everyone go to see this show if you're looking for a good laugh for a couple of hours.

Let me know what you thought afterwards...

The dates for this year's Wildflower! Festival have been set and it's May 16-18, 2008.  This is a yearly family festival with good food, good music, and good everything.

This year, they are asking for more Richardson student participation.  If you love to sing, you might be able to perform at the festival.  There will be open auditions in March, based on age.  Winners will be announced by April 15.

The requirements are simply.  You must fit into just ONE of these categories:
** Reside in Richardson
** Attend Richardson schools or live within the boundaries of Richardson schools
** Attend a private school in Richardson
Easy requirements, right?

Here are the dates for the auditions:
March 2, Sunday at 1pm for ages 3 up to 6th grade
March 30, Sunday at 1pm for grades 7-12.

Sorry, but no bands are allowed.  They will allow an ensamble of 2-4 people.  Also, if you don't have a tape of your accompanament, you may use the piano provided.

Have fun, and I hope to see you at this year's festival!

The Woods of SpringCreek in Richardson TX are having their annual HOA meeting on Tuesday, February 12 at 7:00-8:30pm.  It is being held at Canyon Creek on North Star.

If you are unable to attend, you must have your Proxy form signed and turned into your street captain by Monday, February 11 so you can be counted.

As part of the Social Committee, I definitely plan on attending, so I'll see you there!