Austin TX Real Estate - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes for Sale: September 2010

Short Sales in the Austin TX market are not abundant. In many neighborhoods, they are scarce.  In others, they are more prevalent. It's mostly price range driven, with most in the lower, first time home buyer price range.  Here are some great Austin TX Short Sale stats I posted.

Even though Short Sales as well as Foreclosures are not as common in Austin TX as they are in other markets, it's still good to know what they are and how to accomplish one timely in case you end up in this situation.

What's a Short Sale? A Short Sale, in general terms, is when a lender accepts a short payment to pay off a loan in full. For example, if you owe $200k and the lender agrees to accept $180k, you are paying the loan short, hence a "short sale". YES, this will go on your credit report! YES, it will show you didn't pay it in full. YES, a Short Sale looks better and scores better than a Foreclosure.

No, you may not buy a house immediately after going through a Short Sale. You must wait 2 years... though I'm sure the lenders are working on some kind of exceptions to some rules as I believe many relocation buyers don't have a choice if they're following a job.

How can a Short Sale get through the process in a timely manner? Work with an agent, like me, who knows what to do and also has a team of people who specialize in getting Short Sales approved and closed! Sometimes, a Short Sale can take longer than 6 months to finalize. That's just ridiculous! If you have your ducks in a row, timely approvals can happen much quicker than that. In many cases, under 60 days, but I tell people to prepare for at least 3 months.

3 Months to close on a house? 6 Months to close?  When do I know to move out? Believe me, you'll know! Once your bank gives an actual approval on the Short Sale, all you wait for is the buyer's lender to approve their loan, and that's about 3 weeks, so you'll have plenty of notice.  NEVER wait until the last minute to figure out where you'll go once closing arrives.

How do I know what the bank wants for approval of my Short Sale? That's where an experienced agent comes into play. I have a checklist of every possible document the lender might need. By sending in everything at once, they can't come back weeks and months from now asking for more. You, as the home owner, need to work with me to jump through the hoops the lenders provide.

Hoops? What kinds of hoops?  Hoops of Fire!!  Just kidding...Most of the hoops, you'll never know about as I'm taking care of that from my end. The other hoops are the endless amounts of documents and paperwork they will require and you MUST provide. Because of their requests, you must be willing to go with the flow when I tell you that I need this and that. When you question or refuse to provide something needed, you hold up the process.

Working together as a team through an Austin TX Short Sale, we'll get your home sold quicker so you can move on with your life quicker and begin your fresh start rebuilding your credit.

If you're an Austin TX home owner, and you're in trouble with a potential foreclosure in your future, give me a call YESTERDAY, and I'll help you through the process. Waiting even one more day or one more week can put your options at jeopardy. Not everyone qualifies for a Short Sale, so let's get going on it now!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 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 * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

I know I had a birthday a couple of months ago which always means you're getting older, but did AARP really need to send me an email for a membership today? Aren't they a couple of decades too early?

 

Are they hurting for membership that much that they're signing people up early so they're locked in at today's rate instead of paying their rates in 15+ years?

I think I feel a little insulted right now... do I look anywhere near 50?

**Graphic courtesy of the email I received.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* AARP is Already Trying to Recruit Me - Do I Look 50? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Last month, Alyssa made some art for her baby brother's room. I felt it fair that she could make some art for her own room as well. Almost 4 hours later, we have our masterpieces...  All four images are made with her hand prints.

She painted the sky and the grass, and did her prints. Of course, I did have to help with the necks and legs of the flamingos, as well as the sand on the bottom. She picked the colors of the flamingos, and they turned out great.

Again, Alyssa painted the sky and the grass. I painted different colors on her hands for the butterfly prints. It didn't turn out the greatest, but nothing is perfect... When I had to paint her arm for the tree trunk, apparently that tickles a lot as it was hard to do... She painted the tree leaves with a sponge, and made flowers.

We'll be finding a place in her room to hand these!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* An Artist's Master Piece by a Two Year Old * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Austin TX makes another Forbes magazine list for 10 Markets Most Likely to Appreciate. Though we didn't top the list, Austin TX real estate came in third!

A real estate research firm, Local Market Monitor, looked at a mix of jobs and growth industries, in addition to markets that were seeing a large influx of population growth prior to the down turn, in which Austin TX saw a 16% population growth in the prior five years.

The article was quick to point out that they aren't trying to predict what markets will have a massive jump in home prices. They're just trying to point out that where the people are, and where jobs are, people are going to start buying again, and we'll be in a supply and demand situation which will bring home prices back up.

Keep in mind that Austin TX real estate never saw a downturn that other markets across the country saw. Yes, we saw a little slow-down, but at a fraction of other markets. The buyers are still out there buying and many sellers trying to take advantage of the low rates so their current homes have been put on the market.

1. Raleigh-Cary, N.C.
2. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
3. Austin-Round Rock, Texas
4. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.
5. San Antonio, Texas
6. Colorado Springs, Colo.
7. Albuquerque, N.M.
8. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo.
9. Springfield, Mo.
10. Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Makes Another Forbes Magazine Llist - 10 Markets Most Likely to Appreciate * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Why are banks and PMI companies trying so hard to make people jump through their hoops? I have a closing that was supposed to happen yesterday, but since it's a foreclosure, docs were supposed to be turned in by last Friday. It's a week later and they're still twiddling their thumbs.

These buyers have great credit and are putting down 20%. Model borrowers.

Wanna know what they want today?? They want MY social security number!!  Yes, Mine! What do I have to do with this transaction??

Apparently, "Donna Harris" appears on the GSA list. What's GSA? When you Google it, you get lots of different acronyms, but this GSA is General Services Administration. After reading about it on Wikipedia, I still don't quite grasp the concept of what this has to do with me... but, the processor for the mortgage summarized it that if someone appears on this GSA list, they are not allowed to obtain Government Funds.

Ok, great, so some "Donna Harris" out in the world did some bad things, but what does that have to do with my buyer's closing? The Government isn't paying me, the seller is! The buyers aren't even getting a Government loan, they're obtaining a Conventional loan.

Why are the banks and PMI companies trying to find any excuse to not allow people to buy homes when these are definitely credit-worthy people. Go scrutinize the ones with iffy credit and little money down and leave the good ones alone!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* The Lender Wants MY Social Security Number... What Do I Have to Do With My Buyer's Loan? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

These were taken back when Alyssa and Oscar were friends... Now, Alyssa wants nothing to do with Oscar and screams every time he licks her or tries to play with her. Granted, he has a huge, nasty tongue with bad breath, but I'm not sure why she screams bloody murder when he licks her.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Wordless Wednesday - A Girls' Best Friend * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Austin TX Real Estate Pricing Strategy can make or break your selling experience.  You can end up staying on the market longer than you should, and also making you net less than you probably would have if you don't think about your strategy in advance.  I have two examples...

One Austin TX Seller got an unofficial appraisal of his home for $750k. But you don't have the report? No, says Mr. Seller. The appraiser came over and looked around and such and told me a number.  Oh great...  It comes time to list it. He thinks his house is worth $750k because an appraiser "looked" at his house, and doesn't want to see what information the agents, multiple agents, presented to him on value, which were in the $650k range.

He does conceded $750k might be a little high, so he lists at $699k. He picks a "newer" agent because a "newer" agent would be more hungry for a sale and would have more time to market the property. There are many things wrong with that statement, but the biggest one is, if it's a newer agent, does that agent know how in the world to effectively market in order to get the sale?  The seller didn't think about that one.

In this example, the seller was at $699k for so long, and didn't do any effective price reductions. By the time they reduced it to market value, it was on the market about 6 months.  People weren't looking at it anymore.  These sellers ended up reducing to $570k eight months later and sold for $525k. If priced right from the beginning, they could have gotten a heck of a lot more rather than being a stale listing.

A second Austin TX Seller listed for $350k back in September 2009. It's still on the market today. I was looking at information and it looks like it comps out about $320k. Not a gross overprice, but still overpriced. Over the past year, they have reduced and reduced and reduced, but put a 5 month gap in between the critical reduction.

It's currently on the market for $289k and could have sold over $300k several months ago if it was priced right at the very beginning.

In these examples, was it the agent who overpriced, or was it the sellers? In the first example, I know for a fact it was the seller who overpriced his home. I competed for the listing!  In the second example, I can only assume, but as soon as the seller switched agents, the house was priced well, and it will probably sell fairly quickly.  I think the first agent priced this one wrong...

Austin TX Real Estate is going strong, but if the seller and their agent aren't on the same page, pricing can screw up the end result they both want!

If you're a seller in the Austin TX area, contact me today, and I'll give you an honest, non-cherry-coated opinion about pricing for your home to net you the most and sell in the quickest time!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Sellers - Your Pricing Strategy Can Make or Break Your Net * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Alyssa made cookies for the very first time... and my first time in over 10+ years!  She had fun mixing all the ingredients and watching the mixer spin, but I think eating the batter was her favorite part of it all!

She was very patient watching the first batch cook... but not so patient the rest of the batches as she didn't understand why I had to keep checking on them and making more.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Speechless Sunday - Alyssa Bakes her First Cookies * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Does a death or suicide need to be disclosed by a seller or a listing agent? I haven't been asked many times over the years, but it comes up every so often.  What's Texas law?

Texas law states, in summary, that disclosure is only needed if the house caused the death. What does that mean? The biggest example always used is say a house was a known drug house. Someone got mad and did a drive-by shooting and someone died. Upon resale, the death would need to be disclosed because if word does not spread around the drug community that the house had been sold, the new owners might be at risk.

An example of where murder does not have to be disclosed is if there was a home invasion and the robbers tragically murdered the home owners. It could have been any house, so the house wouldn't remain in harms way.

Suicides and death by natural causes are not caused by the house and also do not have to be disclosed.

When I was 12, I lived in a haunted house. The little old lady slipped in the bathtub and drowned. This was not disclosed, not because we were just renting, but because it was an accident. The house didn't cause the death. When the agent was questioned, her response was, "That's Florence. She's really very nice, but just doesn't like when there are a lot of kids around." She would turn lights on in the master bedroom. She would move candles and turn pictures around. You would feel a gust of wind slamming a door after friends would leave.

Legally, Florence did not need to be disclosed and she wasn't... until asked. That's where there is a fine line. If an agent knows there was a death, murder, or suicide in a home that legally doesn't have to be disclosed, it must be disclosed if/when asked. As a licensed real estate agent, we cannot lie to a direct question like that.

Many people say it's best to disclose before the buyers find out from a neighbor. Possibly. I think it's a case by case situation. If there was huge news coverage and a known fact to the general public what happened, maybe it's best to advise the sellers to disclose. If it was something years ago and no one really pays attention, what's the point in mentioning it? Many people in older homes like to die peacefully in their own homes, and it would be ridiculous to have to disclose every natural cause death.

If you feel information like that would make you object to a house, I suggest you ask if the box on the seller's disclosure notice is marked as no.  A listing agent cannot volunteer this information without explicit instructions by their seller or they could be considered hindering the sale and reveling confidential information.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Does Death in a Home have to be Disclosed? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

What is Alyssa pointing at??

It's a lizard of course! They're all over the place. It's a known fact that having lizards around your house brings good luck. She loves pointing them out, so this time I took a picture of it!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Foto Friday - Austin TX Good Luck Creatures * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Yesterday, I posted information about Austin TX Foreclosure and Short Sale Listings being a small part of the Austin TX overall real estate market. Today, I wanted to put more of those numbers into perspective for you.

You can read the Austin TX MLS numbers in this post, but it basically boiled down to a mere 7.56% of 6335 listings currently on the market are either in the Foreclosure status or trying to be sold as a Short Sale prior to going into a foreclosure.  Some people still think it's realistic to focus on only these 479 listings, but here's some more reality for you.

So I don't have to repeat numbers, I'll be combing the foreclosure and short sale listings for these numbers...

If you're in the price range of under $100k, you have 60 properties to look at. But, you want to be in Round Rock schools with at least 4 bedrooms. You're left with only 2 options.

If you're in the price range of $100-200k, you have 285 properties to look at. But, you want to be in South Austin with at least 1800 sqft. You're left with only 15 options, which is actually a nice number, until you go further with your criteria. Do you have an age or bedroom count cutoff as well?

Here's one for you... you want $300-500k in the Lakeway and Bee Cave area with at least 4 bedrooms and 3000+ sqft.  There has to be a lot of people who bought out of their price range and must be hurting in this range, right?? WRONG!!  You would have only 4 properties to choose from!

What I'm trying to help all the Austin TX home buyers understand is that just because you've heard somewhere that Foreclosure and Short Sales are a great deal and in abundance, you should really look at the local data as that will tell you the true story. I'm here to help explain it all to you so you make an educated decision.

Spin the wheel and see what falls into your search parameters. If it's a Foreclosure or Short Sale at a great price, by all means, let's go for it, but don't eliminate other listings in the area to minimize your search. Austin TX Foreclosures and Short Sales might not work for you. You will probably need to expand your search into traditional listings, which are usually easier and shorter time frames with a little less stress.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Real Estate - Foreclosures and Short Sales in the Market Part 2 * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Austin TX real estate is low on Foreclosure and Short Sale Listings compared to the rest of the country. I get calls and emails all the time from prospective buyers wanting to buy a foreclosure or short sale property because they can get a "better deal."

Really? What exactly is a better deal? And what happens if what you're looking for can't be found in a foreclosure or a short sale that we look at?

"But Donna, there are so many to choose from, and this is what I'm looking for..."

Really? So many to choose from?  Is that because you saw it on the 6 o'clock National News?

Here's the reality check... Currently in the Austin TX MLS, there are 6335 Active "House" listings in the immediate surrounding cities of Austin which include Austin itself, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Lakeway, and Bee Cave. This excludes Condos, Townhouses, Duplexes, and anything not a "house".

Of those 6335 Listings in the Austin TX MLS, 264 are foreclosures. That's a mere 4.17% of the listings.  215 are short sales which is a mere 3.39% of the listings. Combined, there are only 479 listings that are either foreclosures or short sales which makes up this tiny number of 7.56%.

Wow!  Do you see what I mean now? If I show you 13 houses, maybe one of them will be a short sale or foreclosure.  But let's reverse things a minute. If you only want to look at foreclosures and Short Sales in the Austin TX area, and we go look at 10 houses, you have to eliminate 76 other houses out of your search even though they might be "the one". 

How do you like those odds of finding the right house in a foreclosure or short sale listing now?

By the way, on average, in the Austin TX market, which is different from other markets, Foreclosures and Short Sales are sold fairly close to or above Market Value. Our Market isn't "struggling", per se, like other markets, and the lenders know it. They'll compensate for condition, for example, if a house has a market value of $250k but the house needs paint and carpet to be comparable, the bank will list it around $235k. Some people think this means they're getting a "deal", but when it takes $15k to carpet and paint the entire house, didn't you just break even with the neighbors?

Let me help you understand our market. If you're a buyer in the Austin TX area, let's sit down and discuss your buying strategy. If you're a seller needing to sell, call me today! I can help you with a traditional sale or a short sale. If you're thinking about a short sale, you need to contact me as early in the process as possibly so we can avoid the foreclosure notices that you'll get on your door if you stopped making your payments!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Real Estate - Foreclosures and Short Sales are a Small Part of the Market * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

As you know, Austin TX ranks high on many many surveys that have been done in the past. Surveys about Best Place to Raise a Family and Best in Recession Recovery and Lowest Unemployment Rate, to name a few...

Here's a survey just released by Men's Health magazine that puts Austin TX at the top of another list, and you won't believe it...

Austin TX is the Capital of Copulation. Yes, Austin TX has been named the most sexually active city in the country with Dallas right behind as #2.

You might be thinking, Huh? How could they possibly know something like this?

According to the study, they went off of condom sales, birth rates, sex toy sales, and the rates of STD's.  Not sure if I agree with their methods of tracked information as there are too many people who don't use or get any of the aforementioned things above, but I'm sure there is some kind of calculation that takes it all into account.

And it gets better... Texas has 7 of the top 15 spots!! I guess we're trying to move from the second largest state to the largest by population!!

Here's the link for the brief article along with the top 100 cities...

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Ranks at the Top of the Newest Survey by Mens Health - Can you Guess? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

 

Would you operate on yourself?? No??  Why not??  What if you read enough things online or watched enough TV to know what you think you need to do?

One of the greatest myths in real estate is that REALTORS®/ real estate agents sell homes. That is the farthest thing from the actual truth. Homes sell themselves, but also the home owners sell homes, not real estate agents.  Let me explain in generalities, though I know there are exceptions...

A house is what it is. You can't change the location. If a buyer doesn't like the location, I, as the agent, cannot force my buyer to like it and purchase it. If the floorplan isn't what the buyer is looking for, like the master bedroom is up instead of down, I can't force my buyer to like it and purchase it. Condition and cosmetics can always be changed, so I'm not necessarily talking about those things. It's unlikely for a buyer to lift a house and move it to another location, and it's also unlikely for buyers to knock down walls and change a floorplan for something major, though I know it's done with older homes with a full rehab.

What am I there to do if I'm not there to sell the house? I'm there to help you sell your house by bringing qualified and approved buyers to you. I assist you by taking care of all the logistical paperwork that protects you on the legal side as well as providing expert advice.

One of the largest reasons I'm there is to help you present your "product" to the potential buyers in its best light. I help with the staging and the suggestions to change this and change that. I'm there to point out the negatives buyers will probably point out so we can turn negatives into positives before buyers ever know.  I'm there to help you remove the emotional side of the transaction and look at it from a logistical, business side.

I help make the selling process effortless for the home seller with my professionalism and treating you with top priority. I've been doing this for 10 years now, and have been very successful with my Home Selling System.  If you think you've watched enough DIY or HGTV and read enough Contracts books, by all means, you might not think you need me... but just because I watch the Discovery Health Channel, I'm not going to try to operate on myself!!  I would want the expert, and I would gladly take their advice and opinions as it's their everyday job, not their hobby.

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Would you Operate on Yourself? - Austin TX Home Sellers * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

I'm getting some anxiety about having a boy... today, I met with an old friend I've known since Junior High. We lost touch through college and recently got back in contact. She brought her 10 year old boy and 6 year old daughter over to go to the park this afternoon.

At 10 years old, this boy doesn't know what "gross" is!! He was in the muddy pond water up to his tush! He found a snake and brought it up to us. GROSS! Alyssa thought it was cool and watched it awhile as it slithered in his hands and on the mulch.

She talked to my mom this evening for Grandparent's Day and said the snake was "this long" and held her arms way out wide... it was actually only about 10 inches, but still it was GROSS!! His mom, my friend, wasn't very grossed out by it, but they had lizards before.

I'm not sure I would react so favorably if my son came up to me with a snake... I'm not really ready for that!!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Falconhead West - Bee Cave - Austin TX - Snake in the Pond * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

For my regular followers, I'm not sure you've noticed or not, but I've been more regular with my postings the last couple of weeks. If you're actually a regular follower, you noticed I was slacking a little bit for a couple of months.

I'm not sure what's happened, but my brain has been working more and the wheels of ideas have started to flow again.

Just stopping in today to acknowledge that I know I was bad at posting content for a few months, but I'm back, and if you have any ideas you want me to post my opinion about, just let me know and I'll work it into my schedule!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* The Blog Mojo Has Come Back * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

The City of Lakeway TX is holding its own in the current market.  The below sales chart are the SOLDs from just the first two months of the third quarter.

As you can see, Lakeway TX has home prices that fit almost everyone's budget, from the low $200's well past the $600's... there are million dollar properties in Lakeway TX, but none that have sold this quarter yet...  Look at that blue line... YIKES! Some are well above the chart, which is not good!

Here's another view of Days on Market (DOM) broken down to the properties that have sold.

Now, look at the chart of the DOM for the properties currently on the market still.

Many people, upon first glance of the first sales chart would think properties are selling slow and give the regular "National" mumble jumble about a slow market. The DOM chart for the Solds shows you that almost half of the properties that sold, did so in under 30 days. Not too shabby!  Those sellers priced and presented very well!

Then, when you look at the DOM chart for the actives, relook at the color chart to see what each one means as the colors are different. The dark blue now represents all the properties on the market over 120+ days! Ouch!!

With so many sellers on the market such a long time, I often get buyers thinking they can come in and "low ball" because the sellers must be desperate. Look at this sales ratio chart.

Are the sellers accepting low ball offers? It sure doesn't look like it to me... The properties that have been on the market the longest are actually getting the highest ratio. As I've said before, does that make the most sense?  A home owner spends on average approximately $3500 a month on mortgage, taxes, insurance, and maintenance only to wait an extra 6 months to get that extra $20k out of a buyer.  Who wins? He spent $21k to get $20k. 

Come on, Sellers, do the math!

If you're a seller in the Lakeway TX area, please contact me TODAY so I can help you run the realistic numbers and get your heads out of the clouds. I don't list houses, I sell them. Others might tell you a nice story to get their sign in your yard, but are they delivering?

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* City of Lakeway TX - Market Report * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Why are so many people relocating to Texas and specifically, why are they coming to Austin TX? Look at the unemployment history below...

 

Austin Texas Unemployment History

Date
Column 1 - National Unemployment Rate
Column 2 - Texas Unemployment Rate
Column 3 - Austin Unemployment Rate
Column 4 - Austin Unemployed

August 2010	9.6%	—	—	—
July 2010	9.5%	8.2%	7.3%	67,124
June 2010	9.5%	8.2%	7.4%	67,600
May 2010	9.7%	8.3%	6.9%	63,201
April 2010	9.9%	8.3%	7.0%	64,427
March 2010	9.7%	8.2%	7.1%	64,610
February 2010	9.7%	8.2%	7.3%	65,680
January 2010	9.7%	8.2%	7.6%	68,483
December 2009	10.0%	8.2%	7.0%	62,756
November 2009	10.0%	8.2%	7.0%	62,828
October 2009	10.1%	8.1%	7.1%	63,895
September 2009	9.8%	8.1%	7.2%	64,329
August 2009	9.7%	8.0%	7.3%	65,065

Just like Real Estate is local and not national, the job situation is also local and not national. I hear a lot, "Housing is down because of jobs." Really? Austin TX doesn't seem to be doing too badly. According to the chart above, there are approximately only 67k people unemployed (in the city of Austin, not suburbs) with a population just under 1M. 

I wish I knew what went into that 67k number. I know many people who lost their jobs, hence they became unemployed, but then decided to become stay at home moms or dads. Are these people still counted in this number when they are not actively seeking new employment?

All I can say is "think local" and stop watching the national news. What happens in other parts of the country do happen here, but to different extents. The sky isn't falling, but if you continue to think it is, you're sabotaging your own efforts.

**Full charted information here...

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Unemployment Rate - Job, like Real Estate, are Local and Not National * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

Senna Hills Austin TX is having a somewhat slow third quarter thus far. There have only been five sales in compared to Senna Hills' second quarter's ten sales, however, we still have September to go, plus there are currently three properties that are pending.

What interesting trend are we seeing at the moment?  Take a look at the below chart.

Of the 5 that have already closed, 4 of them weren't on the market very long at all. The three immediately to the left, which are the pending properties, are also showing a very low number of days on the market. 

But, go to the far left part of the chart. These are the properties that are still currently active. There are several over the 100 day mark. This tells me and should also show the home owners that if they priced properly, their home can and will sell. If they choose to continue to price high, they will continue to sit...

Here's an interesting chart I have not shown you in Senna Hills before...

The properties that are selling quickly are serious sellers. They have priced their homes, however, they have also realized that if they want to sell, they need to negotiate. Granted, I'm not sure selling at 89% of asking price was the greatest move, and maybe they had inexperienced agents working for/with them, but they realized if they wanted to take advantage of today's rates and buy a new house, they would need to concede something on their current house.

Look at the bar for properties on the market over 120+ days.  They're selling at 99%+ of their asking price.  These are sellers who didn't need to sell, and were just entertaining the idea that if they get what they want, they'll sell. Who wants to keep their house in "show" condition for that many months to casually sell their home?

For example, let's say their mortgage, insurance, taxes and maintenance monthly on the house was $6000, pretty average for the price range of their neighborhood. Let's say they spent an extra 4 months on the market just to get that extra $25k. If they spent $24k to get $25k, was it worth it?  Was it really worth it to keep their lives in a "pins and needles" state waiting for showings, and then waiting for an offer to come in? They made an extra $1k!  And with rates as low as they are, they possibly have lost thousands over thirty years if they don't take advantage of the low rates fairly quickly.

Most times, when you sell at a price out of principle, you're going to hurt yourself in the long run if you only look at the sales price and not the domino effect of other pieces of the puzzle. If you're a home owner in the Senna Hills Austin TX community and want an honest look at your situation, contact me today and let's see if we can move you forward tomorrow!

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Senna Hills - Austin TX - Homes for Sale Market Report * was first published on donnahomesblog.com

When wanting to add a little personality and pizazz to a child's room, sometimes it takes multiple paint colors, painter's tape, stencils, and actual idea samples which can add up to a pretty penny when it's all said and done...

OR...

You can buy these neat sticker decals that go on the wall and don't remove the paint, and I did it all for under $20!!  Alyssa helped, but I'm starting to regret that. I went to put her to bed this evening, and noticed the ones around her dresser mirror were moved. She climbed up there by herself and moved the stickers!! How on Earth, I don't know, but she girl has no fear!!

What do you think?

**Are You Packed Yet?** 

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.coma
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 TX listings, click here.

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

Copyright© 2010 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Decorations Made Easy * was first published on donnahomesblog.com