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

I have been with ActiveRain since they were a mere 3 weeks old.  I am member number 471 out of the current 160,289 members! 

Over the months and years, I have blogged about many things.  I've blogged about my listing appointments, my buyer appointments, why I turned down a listing, why I fired some buyers, and many more topics.

I've also blogged about my family and activities we do through the year, like Zilker Park, the Bounce Houses, and the Zoo.

The memory that I can never forget, because it seems like no one here at ActiveRain has forgotten is when I blogged about being at the hospital, my water had broken, and I was about to have my daughter.

It seems, more and more, people use my pregnancy moments as the moment they started following me here in the rain.  I've even had past clients tell me they have read all about those times.

My daughter is the single most important thing in my life, and I'm so happy I was able to share her with everyone, even the day she was born.

Happy Memories!!

My poor little girl was crying and crying, and there was nothing I could do to stop her.  After 20 minutes of screaming, I decided to take her to the Hill Country Urgent Care in Bee Cave TX. 

We didn't wait one minute.  They immediately took her back and took two X-Rays for the "just in case", but they already knew it was Nurse Maids, where the elbow dislocates.

The doctor came in, bent her arm up, and in less than 2 seconds, Alyssa stopped screaming.  About a minute later, she was back to cracking jokes!  She thinks it's funny that her fingers are "wrapped".

The Hill Country Galleria Bee Cave TX is more than just a mall.  It is also a place for hosting many events throughout the year. Each season, they host a concert series.  Some friends and I went to see Matt Skinner and Amanda Brown, opening by Drew Kennedy, on Saturday night.

We got there early, but Drew Kennedy had already started. Talk about not having to wait around.

In between the acts, the kids took it upon themselves to run around and enjoy the beautiful evening we were having, so here are some pictures of Alyssa just having some fun.

Then, Matt Skinner and Amanda Brown began their set.  I had never heard them before,  but apparently that's one of the good things about Austin Texas is that there is so many musicians, you can hear someone new everyday.

To keep up with all of the events, visit the Hill Country Galleria website for further information.

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Hill Country Galleria Bee Cave Austin TX - Concert Series *

The Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary is located in Austin just West of the 71 and 290 "Y".  Lions and Tigers and Bears... in Austin?  That's right!  Did you know that Austin TX has a Zoo? 

Alyssa and I visited the Austin Zoo on Friday with about 50 of our friends from the Lakeway and Bee Cave Meetup.com group.  The group is always looking for new and exciting things to do to introduce our kids to new things.

Before going, I was told it was a Rescue Zoo.  I assumed that meant it was very small without too much variety.

However, including the Lions, Tigers, and Bears, they also had Cheetahs, Jaguars, Leopards, Monkeys, Wolves, and even a Wolf Hybrid.  The talking birds were hilarious.  It was a small Zoo compared to the Dallas Zoo or San Antonio Zoo, but for a local, rescue zoo, it was a perfect size and a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

I think Alyssa's favorites, besides the monkeys, were the big turtles and tortoises.  There were even some little ones swimming in the reptile house.

The Austin Zoo survives on donations, so anything you can contribute helps keep them open.

Here are some more pictures... my camera had an issue with focusing on the chain-link fences rather then the animals, but you get the idea.

The location is 10807 Rawhide Trail, Austin, TX 78736 and can be reached at 512-288-1490.

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary - Austin TX *

Good news, our new brick has arrived... and then I saw it being driven off again...

Some of you followed the agony of my new house being built.  You'll remember that we had many issues throughout the building process. Issues that I have never seen one of my own clients go through.

To catch up the others, prior to moving in, we had two sections of the exterior brick replaced because the areas looked bad.  Upon moving in, I found myself collecting chips of brick all around my house.  As I picked everything up, there would be more the next day. 

My house is falling apart!!

After being in the house just 2 days, I took my brick chips to the sales office and explained what was going on.  He said to let the builder know and to also send in an offici

al request, which we did.  Several weeks and months later, after numerous follow up visits, calls, and emails, we finally got someone from Boral to look at the brick who had some authority to do something.

Boral agreed to replace our brick so we got to start the process all over again with driving neighborhoods and looking at different houses to see which brick color to choose.

You see, we couldn't pick the same color mix.  It was a very new mix when we picked it, and apparently, it's not a very good mix for it to be falling apart the way it is.  Also, it's coming from a particular plant in Oklahoma that is near a lot of gypsum, and the white gypsum particles were causing the vast majority of the problem.  Our house looked orange with white polka dots.

With that, we had to get information on different plants that Boral uses in order to narrow down which houses we could go look at.  That took a lot of driving since the main two colors we liked were an hour away to go look at...

So this morning, I'm sitting at my desk trying to get a HUD approval on a closing, and I see a truck of brick outside my window.  I'm thinking, "The guy must be confused because he's delivering bricks to a house that already has brick on it!"  Mind you, I'm in a brand new community with a lot of construction going on, so he thought he had the wrong address.

I see the truck start to leave, and I send my husband out to stop him.  After awhile, the brick was agreed to be dropped off across the street at a vacant lot so they didn't mess up our yard or block our driveway...

And then, all of a sudden, the brick is being loaded back on the truck!!  WHAT??  I run out there.

"Where are you taking my brick!!??"

They were told to take it to the brick yard off site.  Right, so the builder could use that as an excuse to slow down the time it's going to take to redo my house...

I got the builder on the phone, but no matter what I said, he didn't care.  He told the brick guys to take my brick away...

I'll update further when my brick comes back and some masonry guys come along with it!

Why did I just walk away from another listing for Spicewood TX Homes for Sale?  Because the seller knows more than me!  How can I educate someone who won't listen because he thinks he already knows it all.

How does he know it all?  Because he's been on the market for 2 years!  Yes, since 2007, he's been trying to sell his house.  He's gone through 5 Realtors already.  It might be six, but I'm not wasting time to look his property up again.

This round, he met with me and another agent.  I received the call from Mrs. Seller yesterday saying that they chose me, YEAH!  We discussed the terms since there was some back and forth at our meeting about what those terms would be.  The rest of the contract was standard stuff like exclusions and protection period.

He wanted to change the protection period to 30 days.  No biggie.  The protection period doesn't mean anything if they go and list it with agent number seven, eight, or nine if it expires anyway as it's only good if they do not relist the property.

Here's where Mr. Seller knows what's in his best interest rather than listening...

There is a section in the listing agreement, as well as the purchase contract, that states what comes with a house.  There is a paragraph about "improvements" as well as a paragraph below that about "accessories".  Under "improvements", it lists "... satellite dish system and equipment..."  Then, under "accessories" is listed "... controls for satellite dish system..."

The dish is connected to the house as a fixture, and the equipment must remain so the dish is operable.  Just like with a house that has a pool, the sellers must leave all the pool equipment and pool cleaners, and everything to make the pool functional.

This is saying that if there is an improvement like a satellite on the house, the accessories must remain with the house as well. If there is no dish, of course there are no accessories to leave so there are no exclusions to list.

This particular seller has a dish on the house.  He doesn't use the dish and therefore doesn't have the "accessories" to make it functional.  Because of this, I put in the listing agreement for the seller to exclude the receivers and controllers so a buyer wouldn't expect them to come with the house.

He demanded this verbiage be removed from the listing agreement.  I tried to explain to him four times why it was there.  I even turned the explanation around and asked if he was prepared to buy the buyers a brand new receiver after closing if the buyers got into the house and realized there was no equipment to operate the dish and demanded the "accessories". 

He further raised his voice stating he wasn't buying anyone anything, to which my calm response, again, was that was the reason it was written in there... to PROTECT him from buying the buyer new equipment. 

He wasn't having it.  His eyes were closed, his ears were shut.  Is this the type of seller I'm going to be able to work with? 

Then, I remembered how they had an offer on the house last year for about $70k more than what our asking price is going to be, and they turned it down.  Why did they turn it down?  Because they were asking over $100k more for the property at that time, and the seller knew best that his property was worth more.

Here's the kicker... he stated that he liked the other agent's marketing much better than mine.  The wife already told me yesterday that my marketing was superior to his.  I asked why I was the one who received the call yesterday to list the house instead of the other agent.  He had no answer.  I told him to use the other guy.

Two listings in two weeks that I've turned away...  my husband doesn't think it's very smart, but he doesn't see the big picture months down the road when I'm complaining about how horrible the sellers are to work with. 

So, when I left their house on Saturday, Why did the chicken cross the road?  To get away from this seller!!

The really sad part is that the wife really wants to sell this house and get rid of it and stop paying mortgage payments on a house they haven't lived in for two years... but the husband doesn't want to sell, and he's making every effort not to sell. I feel bad for Mrs. Seller, but at least I have another property to keep an eye on to see how many more months and years it takes to sell!

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Spicewood TX Homes for Sale - Sellers Know Best *

This was a very HOT Summer yet, Austin TX Weather Missed the Record!  But in fact, it was the hottest Summer ever recorded!!

The 2009 average temperature for June 1 - August 31 was 89.1 degrees.  That includes the overnight temperatures!  Each and every day was miserable, especially since 2008 had the second hottest average at 86.7 degrees.

Within all these hot days, we were trying to break the all time record of 69 days over 100 degrees.  At day 48, it looked like an easy record to break.  At day 60, it still looked like there would be no problem... and then we got a cool front with highs only in the mid- to high 90's. 

No problem, we still had a couple of weeks left... and we made it to day 68!  One day short of tieing the record.  We went through all this scorching heat to be in second place! 

However, there were a couple of more records we set this summer:
July and August 2009 are the top two hottest months ever recorded with 89.5 and 89.1 degrees respectfully.

And since everything is bigger in Texas, and we like to go out with a bang, yesterday was officially the last day of summer and we ended with a high of 96 degrees.  Today is the first official day of Fall and we're barely in the 70's right now with a lot of rain. 

We like rain as we didn't get much of any this summer, and we're in a 2 year Austin drought, but what a huge change in seasons in just one day.

You won't dare catch me saying we can break that record next year.  I hope we never come close to that record again!

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Weather Missed the Record *

364fs9pmrj

I was told to sign up on this site probably 4 years ago, and just never did.  Now, I'm being told to do it again, and I'm definitely doing it!! I see Technorati all over the place now, but at the time, I had never heard of them and thought it was just something else I had to sign up on...

Kinda like Twitter, I waited and waited and waited, and now I'm regretting waiting.

I'm not one for Garage Sales, but we were in the Steiner Ranch area of Austin TX last weekend, looking at brick colors to put on our house, and it happened to be during the big Steiner Ranch community garage sale where about every 10 homes had their garage door open and they didn't have to do their own marketing or advertising to get people to come.

We were looking at this particular house and discussing the colors, and I inches forward a little to see the sides. In doing so, I noticed a house that had a little tricycle thing with a handle.  That looked cute... how much is that, I wondered...

I hate garage sales because of the potential confrontation.  Someone is asking $20 for something that is clearly worth only a couple of bucks, and I don't want to insult them by walking away empty handed, but I also don't want to haggle the price.

However, I slowly and cautiously walked up the driveway... it was $5.  Look at all the fun Alyssa can now have for only $5!!

She can touch the peddles, but doesn't understand how to actually peddle, so her feet keep falling off, but that's what the handle is for, so I can push her along as she learns.

What a great $5 spent, plus we found a great color brick to go on our  house to replace the bad brick, but that's another story...

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Steiner Ranch - Austin TX - Neighborhood Garage Sale *

Spicewood TX Real Estate is unique with houses next to farms. I was leaving a listing appointment in Spicewood TX on Saturday afternoon.  I pulled out of their driveway, turned right, and almost immediately had to slam on my breaks...

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? 

The old answer is still correct, to get to the other side.  There was no rhyme or reason for these chickens and roosters and hens and GOATS to be out roaming around.  However, they felt as soon as I pulled up, they had this urge to get to the other side.

So, I stopped my car, and did what anyone else would do... I took pictures!  I thought it was just a handful of them, but then when I looked outside my side window, I saw at least 50.

This was a little startling, to say the least.  I wonder if this activity would hinder the sale of the property.  No word as to whether or not I got the listing yet, but I did receive an email saying they were impressed with my marketing.

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Spicewood TX Real Estate - Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?? *

Falconhead West Bee Cave TX's TailGate party was a huge success!  Each time I drove by, there were tons of cars.

Alyssa and I stopped by at one point so she could bounce in the bounce house, however, we never made it that far.  Instead, I went into the Falconhead West Bee Cave TX's builder's model to ask the sales rep some questions about my new, soon-to-be neighbors as I noticed a "sold" sign in the yard next door the day before.

While waiting for him to become free, I gave Alyssa her first "real" Popsicle, which she loved and made a huge mess with!  Oops, it was a RED one!

Since I'm a nosy person, I was listening to the conversation the sales rep was having with this nice couple.  By the time they left, they had asked me for my card and my opinion about the area, and on and on.  They lived only a few miles away in the Lake Pointe community, but we made a connection because they're also from the Dallas area.

With popsicle all over Alyssa and me by this time, we ran out of time to get to the bounce house, but it wasn't a waste of time as I've picked up some new clients!  I wish I hung around all day to pick up more new clients, but I had a listing appointment... always working!

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Falconhead West Bee Cave TX - TailGate Party was a Success *

Yesterday, I went to my very first ESPN Gameday event as it was held on the University of Texas at Austin Campus.  I didn't go to UT as I went to UTA (University of Texas at Arlington), however, my husband went to UT and is a huge fan, when they're winning!

I think we spent more time trying to find a parking spot than we did at the actual event.  Alyssa seemed to have a blast as she ran around in the grass and climbed up and down the stairs to the UT Tower.

Lance Armstrong even made a guest appearance.

Here are some of the pictures from this fun morning.

And Texas did go on to beat Texas Tech, hook em!

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* University of Texas at Austin Campus - ESPN Gameday *

Falconhead West Bee Cave Austin TX, part of Hill Country Austin just West of the city, is a fabulous community that has been growing and building strong.

There are currently about 70 houses that are owner occupied, and approximately 20 houses being built right now.

You can see everything first hand this weekend, September 19th for the Falconhead West "Tour and Tailgate" Party.  From 12:30-6pm, stop by the model homes to view the homes and neighborhood along with catching some college football on the outside, big screen tv, eat, drink, and have some fun!

Why is Falconhead West Bee Cave TX one of the best values in the Austin area?  Taxes are only 1.9% and that's before the Homestead Exemption!  Why pay 2.67% or 2.4% like some neighboring communities when you could take that money you're saving and put it towards something you've been wanting to buy yourself.

If you have any questions about the Falconhead West Bee Cave Austin TX community, please let me know as I'm not just a REALTOR®, I'm a home owner in the community!

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Falconhead West Bee Cave Austin TX - Tour and Tailgate Party *

Are you looking for Real Estate in Hill Country Austin TX?  Homes for Sale in Austin TX are selling, and you've come to the right place!  My website has instant and FREE access to the Austin MLS listings.  It's updated in real time, so you'll always have the most up to date information on listings that I have.

Go to my website here, and then search around as much and as often as you would like.  You will also see numerous reports on buying and selling homes in Hill Country Austin TX and the surrounding areas.

How is the Austin TX real estate market doing, you ask?  We're going really strong!  Buyers are buying and sellers are selling.

Are you a First Time Home Buyer?  Or maybe you just haven't owned a home in the past three years?  There is still about 3 weeks left for you to find a home and take advantage of the $8000 tax credit that is being offered.

This $8000 tax credit is available only to these buyers if they close on a home by November 30, 2009.  Today's underwriting is taking extra time, so that means you need to give the lenders at least 45 days to process your loan.  That's why I say you only have three weeks left, because you need to be under contract by early to mid-October to ensure a timely closing.

Austin relocation is also a very strong part of our market, so if you're new to the area, please contact me and let me know how I can help you!

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Real Estate Hill Country Austin TX Homes Are Selling! *

PAINLESS PROSPECTING - ** REMINDER **

Come to my 2 hour course, MCE credited, and get back to the basics of PROSPECTING!!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 from 1-3pm at Austin Title's Media Center at 1515 Capital of TX Highway Suite 500.

What are the course objectives, you ask?

* Learn how many leads you need each week, month, year...

* Learn how to generate those leads * Get rid of peaks and valleys

* Get over the fear of prospecting

* Learn the triggers behind each lead that make them buy and/or sell

You may register by clicking here.

Feel free to re-blog.

I look forward to seeing you there! If you can't make it, I hope to see you at my next class on Internet Presence on September 22.

This video is speechless as well as just plain addorable.  We couldn't get Alyssa to say the word Grandparents, but she knows how to say Happy Day.  And just think, this is the version where "day" is not 4 syllables long.  Where in the world is she getting this accent that keeps popping out??

Austin TX Homes for Sale are selling strong, and getting stronger.  Texas, as a whole, didn't see price bubbles like the rest of the country.  Texas also didn't see massive price drops like the rest of the country either.  Both very good things.  It's good to be in a stabilized area.

Even though Austin TX homes for sale are going strong right now, and over the past few months, it's interesting to look at the numbers from a different perspective.

Here is a chart provided by the Austin Board of Realtors for January 2009:

Here is a chart provided for July 2009:

What do these two charts say on the surface?  On the surface, they say that the median home price has INCREASED from $175,500 in January to $191,500 in July.  The average prices of homes in Austin have gone from $231,158 up to $256,526.

So, on the surface, it shows we have had great appreciation over the past 7 months...

But are these surface numbers telling the full story? Look at how many homes sold in January 2009 compared to 2008.  Significantly less. Approximately 36% less.  And then, compare July's.  July sold 1 more home in 2009 compared to 2008. 

These numbers also tell you that July 2008 had an increase over 2009. 

With that, it is fair to compare home sales month to month?  We all know that the Winter months are traditionally slower selling months just because people are involved in holidays, family stuff, and then waiting to get their W2's for the previous year.

Let's stop looking at sales on a month to month basis because there are always going to be the typical changes from season to season.

What is interesting to note is that there is less of a sales difference between the July sales of 2008 and 2009 compared to the January sales.

We might have gone down a little, but keep in mind that it's the lower-end home owners who are taking advantage of the lower rates right now and they're selling their homes to upgrade to larger homes.  More than likely, the people in the higher priced homes are staying put for right now and there are less of their sales to take into consideration for averages and median numbers.

And another way to look at the numbers is that only 834 homes were sold in January compared to 2069 homes sold in July... that looks like consumer confidence is up to me, doesn't it to you?

**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 Austin MLS listings, click here.

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

All my blog posts were first published on donnahomesblog.com.
Copyright© 2009 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Real Estate - Austin TX Homes for Sale are Selling Strong *

This is an awesome deal.  It's no joke either, as I have purchased several myself and it also worked when family members bought some.  There is no gimmick.   Restaurant.com is actually selling $25 gift certificates for $1!!

This has been going on for a couple of days, so I'm sure most of the "good" restaurants are already sold out, but you might as well see if there are any gift certificates you or a client could use.  I bought some for restaurants that I have never been to as I'm going to use my $1 as a way to venture out.

Back, before Alyssa was born, I blogged about one of my Baby Shower Gifts.  I received some onsies that I thought were so cute.

Now that Alyssa is older and they fit, she's actually past the age for "onsies" so I thought they were wasted.  However, this past weekend, I cut the bottoms off to make them just t-shirts.  Genius!!

I put one on her earlier this week and sent her off to school. 

The teachers thought it was so cute.  I also ran into another Realtor while dropping her off. She noticed my Realtor license plates first, and then saw my daughter.  She thought it was a very good idea and to take her everywhere like that.

What do you think?