Austin TX Real Estate - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes for Sale: April 2009

I never thought having things being convenient could be taken for granted until now.

What am I used to?  From my old house, I had 3 different WalMarts and Sams within 4 miles of my house, all in different directions. 

Which way do I want to go today?  To help with that decision, know that I also had 4 Home Depots and 2 Lowes in the different directions within 2-5 miles.

Where else might I want to go?  There were 5 grocery stores within 2 miles, Super Target had 3 locations, all within 4 miles from my house.  Do I want to grab lunch or dinner on the way to or from anyplace?  Well, then I had 2 Pei Weis, 2 Outback Steakhouses, 2 Olive Gardens, 5 McDonald's, 2 Chick-fil-a's, 2 Panda's, etc... all within a mile or two of my house.

There are tons more places, but the examples I gave above are about having multiple locations no matter what direction I wanted to go.

Now, my new house...

I had to drive 4 miles to get Pizza last night. I had to drive 5.5 miles to go grocery shopping at the nearest store.  I got sticker price at that store, so I went to WalMart this morning which was 14 miles away!  Yes, 14 miles!  There is a Target outside my community, but it's not a Super Target with groceries.  The closest Super Target is 25 minutes away!

I need some shelving stuff and I had to google Bed Bath & Beyond and The Container Store this evening, and both are 35-40 minutes away... their CLOSEST locations!!

About 4 miles away, they are building, what they call The Galleria, but to me, it's just a bunch of Big Box stores and not an actual "mall".  However, they have Old Navy, Marshalls, Michaels, World Market, and a few other stores, but nothing that I usually shop at. 

I guess I'll be changing my "errands" habits.  I usually like to kill a few birds with one stone out the door, but errands are now going to have to be done more planned out as they're all going to be inconvenient.  It took me 2 hours to go to 3 places today.  That is insane!!!

I think I might need a small charter plane to get all my errands done in a timely manner.  Now, that's time management!!

Do you think you take conveniences for granted, or do you live in an area like I described of my new area?

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

Many people have been emailing me asking to see pictures of the new house as I just moved this weekend.  I've been here 4 days... do you really think the house would be set up to show off?  Not on your life!

I remember the first house I bought when I was 24.  I was so excited that I unpacked and set up my house all in 1 day.  Yes, 1 day!  Then, the next house I bought, I had to combine households with my then fiancee, and it took about a week to get all the boxes unpacked...

This time, it's going to take more than a couple of weeks!  We have so many boxes, plus a child added into the madness!

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the house...

Do you recognize the "Temporary Office Chair" from last week?  The kitchen is smaller than my old kitchen and the pantry is also much smaller, so I haven't been able to get things put away yet, but there are two counters that are cleared off!

Here is my Formal Dining Room... Nope, there's no table, just a bunch of boxes.

Here's my Office.  I don't even have either of my printers hooked up yet.  However, we did find my old DELL that I was planning on taking out and smashing to pieces a few years ago... Maybe I'll get to that now.  Look how thick that thing is. It's very HEAVY!

Mike has been working in my Temporary Office Chair this time... At least I have a computer on my desk.

And not even the Guest Room is set up so my mom can't come and visit just yet.  My question is, who is going to take that box off the top of the stack?  Why do movers do that??

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

Thus far, it's been raining the entire time I've been in Austin!  Granted, that's only 4 days, but still, it's 100% of the time!  It is so humid, my hair is sticking up on ends.  I feel all sticky!

The dog has been a nightmare because we don't want him in the house getting under our feet while we're unpacking, but it's all wet outside... we have a covered patio that he has made his home during the days.

We've been trying to get DirecTv set up, but after an hour at the house yesterday, the guy wimped out with all the lightning... I haven't watched TV in a week now.  What the heck is Swine Flu?  And why are pigs getting sick?  Is this like Mad Cow?  I tried Googling it, but I didn't readily see anything that actually says what it is.  How do people go without TV for this long?

I went grocery shopping last night at HEB.  Yikes, did I have sticker shock!  I decided to go to Walmart today to finish buying things I didn't want to pay HEB prices for... The freakin' Walmart is 14 miles away!!

I passed 2 Home Depots before I got to the WalMart.  What kind of place is this that allows two Home Depots within a spam of area where there aren't any WalMarts?

Did you try Target? you might be asking... There is a brand new Target right outside my community, but it's not a Super Target. The closest Super Target is about 25 minutes away as well as the closest Sams!

What have I gotten into??

I walked around my house for the last time last night remembering all the reasons why we bought it. It's a great floorplan with great features throughout!

Good-Bye Family Room... I love your plantation shutters and your slate surround fireplace.  I love the view of the spiral staircase, and how open it is to the Kitchen.

Good-Bye Kitchen... I'm going to miss your HUGE island with tons of storage.  I don't have this much storage in my new house.  I'm also going to REALLY miss your walk-in pantry.  My new house has two pantries, but combined, they're still not the size of yours.

Good-Bye Bosch Dishwasher... I'm going to miss my Valentine's Present of 2006.  That Bosch dishwasher is sooooo quiet.  It took us 3 months to agree on a dishwasher which shows tons of thought was put into the decision. 

Good-Bye Office... I've been religated to the first floor at the new house, so I'm going to miss my views out the bay window as well as my walk-in closet.

Good-Bye Alyssa's Lavender Room... I painted this room when I was almost 6 months pregnant.  One coat of primer and two coats of the lavender.  Many hours of love went into picking the color.  I think I'm going to use this same color at the new house.

I'm heading down to Austin today, and the movers drop off our things on Saturday morning. I have grandparents all lined up to watch Alyssa so things can go quickly, but I anticipate the entire day unloading that truck.

I have not seen the completed house yet, so I'll be sure to take pictures.  The above pictures are from my phone, hence, the poor quality.

I'll update with the new house this weekend!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

Below are some pictures of where I worked all week. I actually got TONS of stuff done!

I love that chair!  This is the chair I had to sit in when I was pregnant and too big to walk up the stairs muchless sit behind my desk.

I would sit with the laptop table in my lap that my husband built.  That ottoman is so compfy too!  Sit back in the big, oversized chair and put my feet up while watching other people pack my house and do the manual labor and not have to lift too many fingers... this is the life!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

I've been in Austin all of negative 2 days, as I don't actually move there until Saturday, but I'm the Acting Vice Chair of the Austin Board of REALTORS® Grievance Committee.

I've been on the Professional Standards and Grievance Committee for the State of Texas for about 4 years now.  With the move to Austin, I found out that the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) doesn't play together with the State of Texas' Committee, so I had to join theirs. 

In March, I had to attend a 7 hour training class, which I already took for the 3 time in January in Dallas, but again, since Austin doesn't play with the State, I had to take the class over again.  At the class, The ABoR's attorney announced that he was looking for a Vice Chair.

I sat through much of the meeting waiting to see if anyone was going to approach him for the position.  See, in Austin, you must be on the Grievance Committee for three years before you can be on the Professional Standards Committee.  They look at it as two separate committees, though it's one on the State level.

Mid-way through the class, no one had approached him, so I introduced myself. I told him I was moving down from Dallas and I told him my experience.  Even though they wanted the Vice Chair to have at least 1 year's experience on the Austin Grievance Committee, I told them I might be a better choice.

Anyway, I got the call yesterday that said I'm the new Acting Vice Chair, and as soon as I attend two meetings, I'll be instated as an actual Vice Chair!  I'm so excited!

My husband doesn't like me being on the committee or going to the hearing panels because they take up lots of time and it's FREE, but I like it for a couple of reasons.  The first is that it's interesting to see how other people actually conduct their business.  It's also interesting to see how other people perceive another's actions.

Austin, here I come, and with a vengence!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

Man, this is bad... I'm such a control freak, and for the past 3 days, I've been watching other people pack and move my belongings.

It's so hard to watch them do all the work while I do very little.  Don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share,  and they keep telling me to go sit down, but those who really know me, you know I don't sit still well...

It's so hard to take the control away from a control freak! 

But they're the professionals and I'm allowing them to pack things however they need to to ensure our things arrive in one piece.

And the best part of all is that I've actually gotten a lot of work done!

This weekend has been all about getting things ready for the packers to come on Tuesday. Part of that was an assignment I gave myself to go through boxes in my office that I moved into this house in 2005 that have not been touched. 

I figured, if I haven't needed the stuff in the past 3 1/2 years, why would I need the stuff later, so I was planning on going through them to throw stuff away...

However, I've been procrastinating and procrastinating and doing other things instead... like writing this blog post!!

I finally went to my closet, sat down, and started going through the first pile.  After only 2 minutes, I found a piece of paper I had been dying to find!!  It's a piece of paper that shows payment on a deposit that I gave up hopes getting back. 

You know that when we get into real estate, there are many costs involved.  Some are straight out costs and expenses, while others are deposits.  I have been trying to get back a deposit for the past few months, and have had no luck because I couldn't show the payment.

On the flip side, the person owing the deposit felt they weren't responsible for prooving that I didn't deserve a deposit.  Anyway, I had basically chalked it up to a loss a couple of weeks ago, until now! 

Now, I'm excited that I'm going to see this money again, though I haven't seen it in almost 9 years!!  It's like FREE money!  There really is a money tree, isn't there!!

Ok, ok, stop procrastinating and get back to the closet!!

Many of you know that I'm building a new house.  No, I have not closed on this house yet... we're only 3 months behind! 

Here is a picture of the front of the house last week.

Here is a picture of the front of the house yesterday.

What?  You can't see the difference?  Is it only me??  Am I being too picky?  Now, take another look. 

Here is the front of the house from last week.  Look at the middle.  Do the bricks line up?  Look at the nice, straight, red lines I drew.  Do you see that each line on the far right and far left line up, but as you move towards the middle, that they don't line up anymore?

Now, here's another picture of the house from yesterday.  Looks awesome doesn't it!

Yes, this put us further behind as we were going to close TODAY, but is it too much to demand perfection?  I think not!  This is my largest purchase ever, and I want it done correctly!  I hope everyone always looks for the details and demands perfection with things like this.

I've been hearing more and more about Digg so I went today to check it out.  I signed up for a profile because isn't that the thing to do these days?  There are so many social networking sites, ActiveRain, Twitter, Facebook, Wanna Network, Linked In, etc... and I was really reluctant to sign up for another, but I did.

However, upon getting there and trying to find people, I'm finding that not as many people "Digg" as I thought.  I went through my entire subscription list from AR, and only 4 people were on Digg.

For those on Digg, what do you like or don't like about it?  Is it worth spending more time on, yet, another social network?  My time is very thin these days, and I would hate to spend time where it could be spent elsewhere, ya know what I mean?

Let me know! Thanks!

In my 9 years of real estate, I have helped clients buy their fair share of new construction homes.  I'm with them through the entire process, no matter where we start in the construction phase. 

Some buyers build from the ground up, and I'm there to help them pick the perfect lot.  Things to think about is to help your buyers realize why no one has bought "that" lot over there, and why "that" one has a huge discount on it... I help them realize which lots within the community will have the better resale value.

Then, you have some buyers who are buying inventory homes, but there is still time to pick out the interior options like carpet and tile.  It's always good to have me as the unbiased third party helping pick out complimentary colors.

Some buyers are buying homes that are completely finished and all they require is a walk thru and a closing date set.  I'm still there to help catch all the touch-ups that need to be done, and help ensure my clients are getting the best deal I can get them.

No matter what type of buyer on a new construction home you are, most builders are going to throw incentives at the buyers along with letting them know about their own Builder's Mortgage Company, either one that the builder owns, or one that the builder is affiliated with.

Over the years, in my experience, the builder's mortgage company has always been very competitive.  There was only one time where the mortgage company couldn't get my clients approved, but since I always ensure a pre-approval before we look at houses, I knew they were approved with an outside lender, and the builder allowed us to use them in addition to receiving the incentives offered with their mortgage company.  Otherwise, rates and fees have always been compared and competitive...

Until my own experience with my own brand new house.  In the contract of my brand new construction house, I wrote in there that I could use an outside lender, just like I have the builders do with my other clients, so we're all protected for the "just in case" situation.

In applying for a loan with the builder's lender, they verified that my husband's and my credit scores were well over the 800 mark, which concludes awesome credit!  With that, you would think we would be given the absolute best rate from the builder's lender...

Not so fast... The builder's lender actually had me paying 1.687% more points for the same rate as my outside lender quoted me.  Huh?  Do you know how much money that equates to?  That equals over $6100!!  No, that's not a typo.  Why in the world would I pay an extra $6100 for the exact same rate as another lender?  I called the manager of the Builder's mortgage company, and after a very nice conversation, he politely explained that there was nothing he could do.

I took my business to the outside lender and still retained my builder's incentives, but the builder's mortgage company didn't realize I would be able to do that.  What does that matter, you might ask?  They were quoting me a rate and fee with the anticipation that I wouldn't care about the fees because the Builder was paying for it... And?  So?  The builder will pay for it with my outside lender too!  That shut them up...

All this to say that I can't believe that in all these years, I never ran into this situation with any of my clients, but when it comes down to my very own new home purchase, I get put in this situation.

This is also all to point out about the new legislation that is going to take effect come this summer, July 16, 2009, to where the Builders can no longer offer one incentive to use their own mortgage company and another incentive if you use an outside mortgage company.

John Jones with Homewood Mortgage in Dallas, TX explained the situation in great detail in his blog titled,  HUD Suspends New Rule That Would Have Outlawed "Required Use" of A Builder's Affiliated Mortgage Company.  Give it a read and let me know your experience with working with Builders and their own affiliated mortgage companies.

And when you're ready to buy that new construction home, make sure you have me working for you on your side. Give me a call!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

Alyssa has no idea what she was doing, as we don't celebrate Easter, but her Grandma Cathy in Austin and her Aunt Tiffany decided to hide some eggs and told her to go find them.

Things started out slow as she would get an egg and bring it back to her basket instead of carrying the basket with her, but she finally got the idea... however, after a couple of minutes of carrying the basket, she decided she could carry more using both hands instead of just one.

She had fun filling up the basket and dumping them back out and starting all over again.

Lots of Fun!

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog about Triggers called Why Does a First Time Home Owner Buy a House. I've had many comments about this blog and I just wanted to touch on a few points.

I want to make sure people understand what a "Trigger" is.  A trigger is something that helps create an action.  A trigger is not necessarily a benefit of doing something.

For example, a few people commented to me about the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Credit and also mentioned about the tax breaks.  Those are benefits of buying a home, but those aren't triggers to buying a home.

Another example of a trigger is being tired of hearing your neighbor through your walls and the date they brought home last week was the last straw.

A trigger could be all your home owner friends that keep talking about refinancing and how low of a rate they got and their payments are "only" "this" amount, and it finally dawns on you that owning could be more cost effective than renting.

I hope that explains "triggers" a little better.  Yes, we all love the benfits of home ownership, but most of those benefits aren't realized until after you've bought and moved into the home.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

What makes that first time home owner finally take the leap to buy a house?  Is it the responsibility of the maintenance?  Is it wanting to plant their own flowers in their own garden?  Is it because they want to buy a lawn mower and sweat in the heat of mowing every weekend?

There are many reasons why someone takes that leap, and below is a list of some common triggers that I often hear that helps them make their important decision.

• Writing the rent check month after month- Instead of paying your own mortgage, you realize you're paying someone else's mortgage in addition to putting some extra into your landlord's pocket.
  
• Running from you Car in the Rain- Your apartment complex doesn't have covered parking so every time it rains, you sit in your car gathering everything up in your arms so you can take that mad dash out of the rain... and then you drop your books in a puddle.
  
• Tired of Walking up Three Flights of Stairs- Everytime you need to take the trash out or check your mail, you have to make the long trip up and down three flights of stairs, and you're just wishing you had curbside trash pickup and your mailbox was in front of your house.
  
• You're Tired of the drab Walls- You want to paint the walls something that matches your personality, but you can't afford to lose your security deposit if the landlord doesn't agree with the choice.
  
• Landlord not Returning Calls- Your toilet is overflowing or the AC is broken on the hottest day of the summer, and you can't get your landlord to return your calls to let you know how to go about fixing things. If you get things fixed without approval, you might be out extra money if it costs too much.

Are you renting and not sure if you're ready to make that leap?  Have the above things happened to you that have made you stop and think about your situation?  Give me a call or shoot me an email and let me know how I can help make you comfortable about buying and getting out of the renting cycle.  Together, we can find the missing piece you're looking for to make the leap.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Whether you're buying or selling, I'll be with you through the entire process.

Today is Day 1 of the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge from ProBlogger.  The challenge?  Write an Elevator pitch.

An elevator pitch is described as a statement that can be said within the time limits of an elevator ride.  Does that mean you should be talking during the entire ride, or should you leave room for questions or comments?

What I typically say, briefly, is "My name is Donna Harris and I'm a REALTOR® with RE/MAX.  Whether you're buying or selling your home, I'll be with you every step of the way." I've used this tag line for years.  It's written on almost everything I do, so people recognize it when they see it.

The above gives plenty of time for someone to then ask me how the market is, which opens up a two-way conversation which then allows the other person to be a little more comfortable, in which I can then ask for their card or email address to add to my eNewsletter.

If I can see the other person is just going to continue to stare, I might continue the above with, "I concentrate on Residential real estate, New and Pre-Owned. Have you thought about making a change?"

I really like the elevators with mirrors in them because I can practice to myself when no one else is there.  I think my mouth moves funny when I talk, so I practice my facial expressions.

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com

Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Are you packed yet?

Man, what did we do before email, blogging, twitter, and many more when we couldn't talk?

I have no idea what happened, but yesterday evening, my voice was going a little hoarse, and I woke up this morning with absolutely no voice.  I could whisper, but apparently those are different muscles.

However, email to the rescue!!!  I was able to get so much accomplished today just because of the ability of email and other online avenues to talk with people.

How amazing is that?

Back in the day, like just 10 years ago, if you couldn't talk, good luck trying to get anything done if you needed to "talk" with someone.

Man, my throat is killing me from the talking I did try to do today, but my daughter doesn't know enough sign language to communicate in all signs.

I hope my voice is back tomorrow as there is so much more I need to do that can't be done via email, like YELL at people!!