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

Lake Pointe Austin TX is a very diverse community.  It's not in Austin and it's not in Bee Cave, but it sits within Travis County boundaries.  Some people refer to it as Austin, while others try to give themselves the Bee Cave identity. And it's located just minutes from The Hill Country Galleria and feeds into the Lake Travis school district.

Lake Pointe has properties in the mid to upper $200's, but they also have properties in the million dollar range that come available every so often.

So what's been going on in Lake Pointe this Summer?  LOTS!!

I pulled the sales history of the entire community for just the past 3 months.  Even though there are currently 42 properties available for sale, there are 9 that are contract pending and 14 that closed!!  That's some good, "RECENT" activity as that took 23 properties off the market.

Why haven't more sold?  Let me break it down for you.

PENDING- With 9 properties currently pending, they average 3.79 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3181 sqft, and built in 1999.  The average asking price is $433,850 with 94 days on the market.

SOLD- With 14 properties that sold in the past 90 days, they average 4.21 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3122 sqft, and built in 2000.  The average asking price was $434,539 with 106 days on the market.

As you can see the asking prices of the Pendings and the Solds are very comparable in size and age, and what they were asking for on price. 

I'll ask again... why haven't more sold??

ACTIVE- With 42 properties currently active on the market, they average a different story... They average 4.19 bedrooms which compares to the SOLDs.  They average 3.28 baths which is better than both the SOLDs and PENDINGs.  They average a size of 3500 sqft!  This is more than a 350 sqft difference.  They average 109 days on the market which is longer than the others.  WHY?  They average an asking price of  $583,371.

Let's break this down further and compare the activity to my report just 2 months ago that looked at the activity 6 months back...  You can find the original report here.

Less than 2 months ago, the average SOLD property was approximately $348k.  Now, we're looking at $434k.  That's great for the neighborhood!  At that same time, the average ACTIVE property was asking $571k and now the neighborhood is asking $583k.

Yes, there was a substantial change from selling at $348k up to $434k, but the actives back then were also on the market for only 79 days.  They are now on the market for 109 days.

This tells me that many home owners took advantage of the prices coming up, so they priced higher, however, there is still a $200k difference between the SOLDs and the ACTIVEs.

Until those prices connect more smoothly, Lake Pointe is going to continue to have more properties on the market than what they sell each month.  How do we get them sold?  Their prices say it all... 

If you would like a breakdown in a particular area you're looking in, please don't hesitate to contact me as I'll be as straight forward about the numbers as the above.

**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 moved around A LOT as a child and lived in several different homes and neighborhoods.

I was born in Germany and moved to Seattle, WA when I was 6 months old.  After that, we moved to Tacoma, WA where I lived until I was 8 years old.  I loved that house! 

We backed up to a park that we could go play at whenever we wanted and didn't need a parental unit watching our every move.  We had lemonade stands outside the park entrance.  My brother and I had to walk 2 miles to and from school everyday because we went to the "wrong" school.

When I was 8, we moved to Richardson, TX, the first suburb North of Dallas.  I lived in 5 different houses in Richardson before moving to Arlington, TX for college.  After graduation, I moved to Lewisville and then a couple of places in North Dallas.

From there, I bought my first house in Sachse, TX, 5 minutes North East of Richardson.

Then, I came full circle and moved back to Richardson.  This would be the house I grew up in... I got married here.  I turned 30 here.  I had a baby here... I learned so much about me and my life while living in this house.

In two days, this will no longer be my house.  I have moved to Austin, TX and my Richardson "home" has a contract on it and if the buyers' lender would submit their final docs to the title company, we can close this thing.

That would put an end to the chapter of my life in Dallas.  I lived in the Dallas area for 4 months shy of 25 years.  That's a lifetime!

Here are some memories of that house: 

And then we had to clear it out for the movers...

It's now a blank slate, waiting for the next family to make their own memories...

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

Falconhead in Austin, TX was built on Spillman Ranch and surrounds the PGA Falconhead Golf Course.

The greens are beautiful and very well kept.  My husband can be found on the course or at the driving range at least a couple of times a week. 

Falconhead is a community that started back in 2003, however, there are still new homes being built today.  They are currently in "close-out" mode, which means LOTS of deals are to be had!

Taylor Morrison is finishing up the rest of their inventory homes and have no lots available to build on.  Monterey Homes has a couple of inventory homes available, however, they actually still have about 20 lots to choose from to build your own.  Each lot is 80' wide, so you can't just reach out and touch your neighbor.

Here are some pictures of houses in various stages that are available.

Along with these new homes, there are also a few resale homes available.  If you don't want to go through picking out the blinds or putting in a fence, there are a few resale homes where all the work has been done for you by the current home owners.

With the Hill Country Galleria just minutes away and the community feeding into Lake Travis ISD, this is a great place for everyone!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

Saturday, August 1, 2009 is not a date to be missed! Please read below, and come to the Barton Creek Resort from 9am-5pm for the Austin Real Estate Investors Association Expo.  If you can't make it, there is a live radio broadcast from 1-2pm that would be worth listening to; 1370 am The Common Sense Real Estate Investor Radio Show.

This expo is for everyone involved in some kind of real estate, investors, brokers, agents, first timers, seasoned professionals, anyone...

As you can see, the day is broken up into segments so you can come and go as you please. You can never network too much!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

According to Forbes, the Austin-Round Rock, TX area is the BEST city for Recession Recovery across the country.

Why?  Many factors...

One is that unemployment is low at 5.8% (however, the local news reported unemployment even lower, at 5.4% so I'm not sure which number is correct).

Second is that the area has a very diverse economy from Tech jobs at Dell to Government jobs at the State Capital, to Teaching jobs at The University of Texas.

Third is that Austin, like many Texas cities, did not have a "bubble" like what happened in other states.  Granted, there are pockets of communities within the area that saw some bubble action, but overall, the appreciation stayed steady, about 3-5% each year, and that's what helps real estate stay steady.

San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, and McAllen were three other big areas of Texas that are showing to have a good recession recovery.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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 have a couple of Spanish Oak trees in my backyard, and I also back up to a Natural Greenbelt area with thousands of Spanish Oaks.

Here is a picture of the leaves on the Spanish Oak tree:

Well, it looks like my trees are having an identity crisis.  Look at the leaves that are currently growing in clusters all over the trees...

What is this, and why is it happening?  They are two very distinctive kinds of leaves. These trees have to be OLD as this was untouched land prior to my community of Falconhead West being built here.

Does anyone else have examples of their trees having an identity crisis and switching species or growing completely different leaves?

 

Falconhead West in Bee Cave, TX, a small suburb just West of Austin, TX, is growing and growing so fast!

Just a few weeks ago, I talked about how the Builders had sold all but a couple of their inventory homes, and new construction had slowed down a bit... and then all of a sudden, new house after new house started going up. 

There are currently approximately 20 houses in various stages of building.  Some are in frame stage.

Some are in Sheetrock and Exterior stage, such as stucco, stone, or brick.

And some have the exterior almost complete and they're focusing on the inside.

It was also confirmed last week that Falconhead West will be getting it's very own Community Park so we don't have to share the one in Falconhead.  There are kids of all ages within the neighborhood, so the community park would be great to bring these kids together and allow the parents to all meet.

And the Falconhead West park would be in addition to the brand new City of Bee Cave park that is opening this Fall, 2009!!

Remember, there's a style and size of house for everyone in Falconhead West.  There are 60', 70', and 80' sections so if you don't want as much yard maintenance, stick with the smaller lot.  There are tile roof and metal roof options. There are stone, stucco, and combination exteriors as options.  There are front porches, there are balconies, there are 1 story homes along with 2 story homes.

What's your pleasure?  Let me know and we'll figure it out together!!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

Are you always looking for a good deal when going out to eat?  Do you like to try new restaurants as long as they're offering something for you to stop by?

Here's a great site that I found with a list of all the daily restaurant discounts in the Austin, TX area!!

Some are location specific. Some are hour specific. Look at the address on the right to make sure you're not going to the wrong location or at the wrong time of day.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

**Graphic courtesy of frugalfeaster.com website.

I saw on the news a couple of days ago that some states are canceling their "Tax Free Weekend" next month because they can't afford to do it.

Texas WILL still have a "Tax Free Weekend".

What does this mean?  This means that many of the items you would buy for "back to school" for your kids or yourself would not be taxed. Items such as jeans, shirts, socks, tennis shoes, and sandals are all exempt from tax.

There are several items that are not exempt, like specialty items, such as cleats (soccer shoes), baseball pants, and most any sports related clothing.

Also, the items must cost less than $100.  The $150 pair of designer jeans will not be exempt from taxes.  Neither will those $200 designer tennis shoes, or $500 leather coat.

School supplies are also tax exempt like paper, folders, pens, and backpacks.

Here's the thing... the tax rate across Texas is 6.25-8.25%.  That means, when you spend $100, you'll save anywhere from $6.25-8.25.  That's not very much, right?  However, the majority of stores have sales on top of sales. With that, if a store is having a 40% off sale, that's like saving 48.25% instead!! 

That's how you get the savings to add up.  Shop where the sales are to get even more of a discount, and you'll spend wisely on this Tax Free Weekend.

When is it?  It's August 21-23, 2009.

Here's a list of more exempt and nonexempt items from the state's website.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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 didn't post anything last weekend about what we did over the weekend, so I knew I had to make sure to post today.

We had a very fun weekend.  We went to Dallas to visit Mimi and Grandpa.  Here are some of the fun things we did.

Before heading down, I took Alyssa to Hoppin' House so she would get tuckered out and sleep the entire way, but that didn't work.  She only slept for 50 minutes!

She climbed all the way up without my help... unbelievable!  She would not touch this climbing thing last month!

We got sidewalk chalk for the first time and had a blast.  No lines to stay within and she had the run of the entire driveway.  And we went out several times... and by the way, that $1 chalk from Target will NOT fit back in that cute bucket once you remove the chalk!!

We went swimming three times, but didn't get any pictures as we had too much fun!

Alyssa got her first guitar and Daddy doesn't like it... Alyssa absolutely loves Muno, and if you don't know who Muno is, you're missing out!!

And she loves playing, "I'm gonna jump off the couch so you better get me..."  We let her jump this time, right into a pile of pillows.

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

Austin Energy is going around to all 400,000 of their customers and replacing their meters with new ones that are automated and very accurate, supposedly.

They sent out a notice in our bills this month giving people a heads up that their electric bills might be higher than usual.

Why?

... Because they've been testing the old meters as they're being replaced, and several have been running "slow". 

What does this mean?  It means people have been using electricity and not paying for it!  They're going to hate these new meters!

Per Austin Energy, if you have any questions about your bills, they'll come back out and read your meter to make sure it was read accurately.  You can contact them at custinfo@austinenergy.com or 512-494-9400.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

Kids have no fears... She walked right up, planted her feet, and jumped right in...

 

It was getting out that was the hard part!

Hoppin' House in Lakeway, TX turns 1 years old and they're throwing a huge, FREE party on August 1. Hope to see you there!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

 First time with Sidewalk Chalk.

 

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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 got her Daddy a Hummingbird feeder for Father's Day, however we just hung it a few days ago.

Look at the visitor we had!  The Hummingbird is actually blurry because of the speed of the flapping of the wings, but I tried to get a picture as in-focus as possible.

How do they find the feeders?  The internet says they cannot smell it, and to not worry about coloring the water because they can't see it.  How did these hummingbirds know the feeder was there?  They appeared within an hour of putting it out in the tree.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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 woke up this morning and checked my emails, as usual.  First thing I noticed was an email for a referral.  Don't we all love referrals?  They're our life-line of business!!

It was about 6:30 in the morning, so I emailed her to let her know I would call her after my morning appointment.  Right before I was heading out the door, I noticed the returned receipt that she read my email, so I decided to go ahead and call her even though it was only 7:30am her time.

I called, apologized for calling so early, and explained that I saw she was up.  We chatted for a couple of minutes.  She loved my blog and how it was a good mix of business and personal and very detailed.

Then, I get the question...  I've never been asked this so point blank before...

"Are you a Christian?"

Ummm, "Does it matter?"

Yes, for these buyers it matters.  This agent was asked to interview agents for the buyers with the main question being if the agents were Christians and if they were devoted and practised.

I continued to talk with the agent and reminded her that her buyers should want the best agent to work for them and not just the best agent who knew how to pray. 

I asked if her buyers were looking for an agent to negotiate the best deal, or an agent who would hold hands with them in the kitchen of the house and pray for their offer to get accepted.  I told her that if her buyers were educated about the market, like I do with all my buyers, and were willing to put together a good, and competitive offer, no praying would be necessary because I could get the job done.

Her response was that if she ever had any other buyers, she would definitely think of me. 

I'm not a Christian... and I still don't understand why it matters...

Isn't that discrimination?  We can't discriminate according to the Code of Ethics, so why is a buyer allowed to discriminate.  If I was working with the buyer and then all of a sudden said I didn't want to work with them because they are Christians, I would be slapped with a Professional Standards hearing within 10 seconds!

Why the double standard? 

I was going to make this Members Only, but the wall I bounced this off of suggested it was important for the public to read too.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

Sailing on Lake Travis in Austin TX looks like a lot of fun.  We were out on Lake Travis in our ski boat and so were a bunch of sailboats.  It was almost like they were having their own little race going on as they were everywhere and kept encircling.

Here are some of the shots I got.  Alyssa especially liked the Blue one.

The water is low on Lake Travis, but people are still out having fun and being careful!

As of yesterday, "large" boats are no longer allowed to launch at the last remaining open boat ramp at Mansfield Dam, but small boats can, on a day to day evaluation.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

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

Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, Circle-C, Steiner Ranch, and everywhere in between... Hill Country Austin TX Real Estate and beyond. Whether you're buying or selling an Austin home, I'll be with you every step of the way. 

For real time Lake Travis Austin TX listings, click here.

** #1 Agent in my Office for all of 2008 **

Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Sailing - Lake Travis- Austin TX * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

I just received an email that a Press Release was sent over the AP and other major online news aggregators featuring the Austin Top Ten Real Estate Deals and me, Donna Harris!

Talk about national exposure!!  You can see the PR here.

If you're a homeowner in the Austin, TX area and would like to have your house listed and marketed with a REALTOR® with exposure like this, contact me TODAY!

Here's a link so you can see the regular updates of the list.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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, you guys have been able to name everything I've thrown at you, but can you name this creature?

My husband said it was a dragonfly, but we've seen many dragonflies while on the boat, and this is no dragonfly.

It nicely let me take a few pictures and then as soon as I put the camera down, it flew away.

What am I?

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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 had a great birthday, full of activity!  First, we dropped my daughter off at my in-laws where she spent the night for the first time.  She still hasn't come home...

Then, we went to Manuels Restaurant in Downtown.  It was a nice atmosphere where I had some chicken enchiladas and Mike had some beef fajitas.  I even splurged and got a drink, however, they put a lot of green "stuff" in the drink that kept coming up my straw, so I was fishing most of it out.  It didn't really have any taste, so it wasn't mint like I thought it was.

 

Then we walked some streets since neither of us had been down there in years.  I had not been to 6th street since I was 18 so I definitely didn't recognize anything, but Mike recognized a few places.

There were also lots of homeless people and beggers. I was surprised at the number of beggers down there.  We just politely walked passed.

After that, we made our way up to Central Market, yes, the grocery store.  I laughed when Mike suggested this because I had no idea how to picture what he was talking about.  Central Market has live music, and apparently it's very prestigious to be able to play there.  The band, Seth Walker, was recommended by a friend of his.

This Central Market is very different than the ones in Dallas.  There is a full restaurant, bottles of wine, smoothies, anything you want... there is an outside area, inside area, upper level deck...  There is even a cooking school inside, and I took a brochure in case I wanted to do that in the future.

There was even a play area, that was hard to get a good picture of because of all the trees.  This makes it a very family friendly place to go.  I could imagine when Alyssa got a little older, we could just tell her to go play, we could enjoy a nice dinner, and listen to live music all at the same time.

After all that, we got home, and I got a Wii.  I've been wanting a Wii for years, but I didn't want to buy it for myself. I wanted someone else to buy it for me, I'm silly like that.  Anyway, we stayed up a little bit while I kicked his butt in Golf and Boxing, though he won Bowling.

All in all, it was a very nice Birthday. Thank you to all for the well wishes! 

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.

Barton Springs Pool, inside Zilker Park, is going to be FREE tomorrow, July 11, 2009.  I would say they're doing it just because it's my birthday and I'm special, but they're doing it because it has been HOT HOT in Austin the past few weeks, and everyone needs to cool off.

Why is Barton Springs a good place to cool off?  Because the current temperature is 68 degrees!  Barton Springs is filled from a natural Spring so the water temperature typically remains much cooler than other lakes and rivers where the sun is heating them all summer long.

Granted, you'll still have to pay $3 for parking, but the actual pool is free so come on out and jump in with a splash!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

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

Austin, TX real estate 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.