Austin TX Real Estate - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes for Sale

Speechless Sunday - Relaxing in the Hammock

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:13:47 -0700

This was a nice 2 minutes... before everyone starting running around and screaming again.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Austin TX Real Estate and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, CedarPark, 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.

** Multi-Million Dollar Producer Year after Year **
** Platinum Top 50 Finalist 2011 out of almost 9000 agents in Austin TX**
** Five-Star Professional 2011 & 2012 **
** RE/MAX 100% Club **

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Speechless Sunday - Relaxing in the Hammock * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Richardson TX Woods of SpringCreek TurnAbout

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:21:15 -0700

My community, Woods of SpringCreek in Richardson, TX finally received the turnabout they've been talking about for years. Telecom was a dead-end street, but it was never finished off because the plans were to make it a through street.

With enough support from the homeowners, we convinced the City of Richardson to not allow it to be a through street and to keep the traffic away from our small, quiet community. They then agreed to connect two different streets in order to make traffic flow from Plano into Richardson, Los Rios and North Star.

Here is a view from above showing how Telecom stopped at some trees, and how North Star made a pretty sharp turn west in order to connect to Los Rios.

Now, we have a turnabout at the end of the street and much needed landscaping has been put in place so it's nice and pretty to look at when you're at the community park or just walking your dogs or kids around the neighborhood. We also know that we will remain a quiet area without any through traffic coming by at all hours of the days and nights. This was all made possibly with some bond money, and some funds from our friendly neighborhood who own the private property across the street from our community.

This is how the street used to end, with just some ugly baracades...

This is what the landscaping now looks like.

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

ARE YOU PACKED YET?!

Falconhead West - Annual Spring Party - April 29 2012

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:42:22 -0700

FXFW Annual Spring Party is coming up this weekend. That's the Falconhead West Spring Party on Sunday, April 29th from 4-7pm. We'll be at the Falconhead West Community Park on Vail Divide.

There will be Pizza, Ice Cream, Bungee Jump, Bounce Houses, and a Pie Contest!

Come on out and meet your neighbors as the Falconhead West Community is almost complete with only a few homesites left!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Falconhead West - Annual Spring Party - April 29 2012 * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

When Do You Remove a Purchase Contingency?

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:54:02 -0700

I was visiting a real estate forum yesterday, and the questions asked are always an interesting bunch, especially when they come from uneducated real estate agents. There is this new agent who posed this question to an online forum instead of reaching out to his broker for the education. Bright RED flags are waving right there!

The scenario: This agent has a buyer who has a contract on a property to purchase. This purchase is contingent upon the buyers' current house closing. The agent asked when he should remove the contingency as the listing agent told him he needed to.

The short answer? AT CLOSING!!

Buyers and Sellers, please PLEASE make sure your agents know how real estate works as you don't want to be the guinea pig for their brand new real estate career, especially if they're too scared to approach their broker for help.

Let's review this situation. When you are selling your house and you want to buy a new one, the only way to protect yourself from two mortgages is to put your new purchase contingent upon the first property closing (even if you don't have a mortgage, you might not want the responsibilities of two properties). If you waive your contingency for any reason, and the buyer on your current property doesn't close and fund, you don't have a way out of not closing on the second property without breaching the contract and going into default.

This new agent thought that since the inspection was completed on the property, that it meant the buyers were moving forward and the contingency should be removed, afterall, that's what the listing agent told him. Shame on the listing agent to take advantage, though in his mind, he was probably just trying to protect his sellers. All seasoned agents know that things can go wrong right up until the last minute, you just never know.

If your agent is encouraging you to waive your contingency, and you aren't comfortable with that, you need to have a conversation with you agent to make sure you're all on the same page. Granted, if you can afford both properties and the seller has received another contract and has asked you to waive your contingency or else they "kick out" your contract, it's all about your comfort zone and whether or not you want that. You need to know what would happen if you had to put your house back on the market.

To sum up, arm yourself with education. Don't let your agent (or the other agent) bully you. But also know that your agent giving you all the worse-case scenarios doesn't make them a bully, but they're trying to make sure you know all the negatives of what could happen. If you can sleep at night, that's all that matters, right?!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* When Do You Remove a Purchase Contingency? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Hill Country Galleria - Bee Cave TX - Spring Fest 2012

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:36:47 -0700

Come on out to the Hill Country Galleria on Saturday for a lot of fun! We've gone almost every year. You will see a lot of local artists selling their crafts, and you can't miss the Boat Expo. The kids love climbing in the boats!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Hill Country Galleria - Bee Cave TX - Spring Fest 2012 * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Sellers - Are You Prepared to Respond When You Receive a Real Estate Offer?

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:47:08 -0700

As a Realtor, when I go on a Listing Appointment with a potential home seller, I go over the entire selling process. I discuss the current market, how long properties have been staying on the market, how properties are priced, how properties are selling as a percentage to their asking price, how to show the house, what companies are relocating to the Austin TX area that would effect an influx of buyers to the market, etc... I try to cover everything I can possibly cover so my sellers are not blind-sided during the process.

That also means that we talk about what happens when an offer comes in. We talk about how buyers will sometimes ask for closing costs to be paid. We talk about seller traditional expenses like the Owner's Title Policy for the buyer as well as a home warranty. We talk about whether or not they have a survey to supply. We talk about the inspection period and what it means for the buyer.

Most importantly, we talk about potential scenarios and what we're going to do when we get an offer. Why is this "most importantly"? Because it's extremely important to know what to do once you have an offer in hand and how you should respond to it. Do you nit-pick the tiny things or do you focus on the main, bottom-line.

Again, why is this important? Because you don't want to scare off that buyer who just took the time to write an offer on your home, right? Here's an example for you. I had a buyer a few weeks ago write an offer on a house. The neighborhood had not had a single pre-owned sale for more than 6 months, as every single sale was a brand new home.

It took the seller 3 days to respond to our offer!! Yes, 3 days!! Does that instill confidence in a buyer? Does that show a buyer that the seller really wants to sell?

From my perspective, it shows that the agent didn't prepare her sellers for an offer. She didn't prepare them with market data. She didn't prepare them with response expectations... When the sellers finally responded, we were a little dumbfounded by their counter. I did prepare my buyers for an unfavorable counter, and also prepared them to walk away if they didn't get the response they wanted, or could work with by countering back. The way the counter was presented back, several days later, my buyers decided to walk away from the house.

Would the buyers have decided to walk during the inspection period? Maybe, maybe not. Would the buyers have changed their mind during their financing contingency? Maybe, maybe not. Would the buyers have been more confident about buying the property if the sellers didn't take so long with their response, definitely!!

If the sellers had responded promptly, the buyers wouldn't have continued to check new listings. If the sellers had responded promptly, the buyers would have been very excited about this property. Instead, after no response the second day, the buyers looked on the MLS for new listings. They found others they liked and wanted to look at. The excitement of this other property had disappeared...

This property has now been on the market 249 days and counting... my buyers made their offer just about a month ago, so even at more than 200 days on the market, the sellers weren't prepared for an offer on their house... so sad...

If you're looking to sell in today's Austin TX real estate market, please contact me for the facts and arm yourself with the information you'll need to help yourself make an informed decision.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Sellers - Are You Prepared to Respond When You Receive a Real Estate Offer? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Austin TX Ranked #2 - Best Cities to Buy a Home Right Now - Forbes

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:56:25 -0700

Forbes has another new list and Austin TX is ranked #2 for The Best Cities to Buy a Home Right Now.

It's so true! Our Austin Real Estate Market is really pumped up. In many areas, there are multiple offers on most homes, in all different price points. Just this month, I had a multiple offer on a house listed at $112,000 but also on $485,000. The one at $485k had 40 offers! I have one right now that is listed right below $250k and there are 9 offers. We have to submit the multiple offer addendum today to stay in the running.

Some stats that Forbes is showing is the Median List Price in Austin TX right now is up 12% year over year, at $229,500. The Inventory level is down 19% year over year, which is creating a Supply and Demand issue in many areas. And most importantly, the unemployment rate is a mere 6.1%... lots of jobs here and moving in.

If you've been unsure about whether right now is the best time for you to buy or sell, take it from Forbes, Austin is in a great place right now. Call me!

**Image of Austin Courtesy of the Forbes Website.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Austin TX Ranked #2 - Best Cities to Buy a Home Right Now - Forbes * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Texas Bluebonnets in Full Swing

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:27:34 -0700

In Texas, Bluebonnet season is short but sweet. The Bluebonnet is the official state flower. It comes into bloom in March, and they pop by the second week of April... and then they're gone, just like that. Last year, the bluebonnets didn't come in because of the drought. This year, everyone has been scrambling to get their pictures in the bluebonnets again.

We drove and drove until we found this little patch of bluebonnets off the side of highway 71 with a white picket fence. We got a lot of great pictures!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Texas Bluebonnets in Full Swing * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Can Consumers Trust Market Data Received in the Mail?

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:03:57 -0700

I really hate receiving real estate marketing flyers in the mail, especially when the data is wrong. They are usually not factual and the average consumer doesn't know that they shouldn't believe what they read.

In yesterday's mail, I received a marketing piece from an agent that claimed he can "save my sellers and buyers thousands of dollars." He never actually says how he can save them money, but he then talks "facts" about the immediate area. He claims that in the "Lake Travis Southshore Area" that there are currently 552 active listings and 64 sold in February. He's trying to tell people that there is an 8.6 month absorption rate and that it indicates a "buyer's market" and that he can help the buyers get a deal on a property.

I'm not exactly sure what he means by the "Lake Travis Southshore Area" as that's not a term that is used, but the areas that are bordering and south of Lake Travis are Lakeway, Bee Cave, and Spicewood. Since I couldn't get his numbers to match up, I ran numbers with just the zip codes of 78734 (Lakeway and Travis County area near Lakeway) and 78738 (Bee Cave and The Hills) as well as numbers with 78734, 78738, & 78669 (Spicewood).

With just Lakeway and Bee Cave, there are currently 463 Active houses for sale. Through March, there were 253 pending and sold properties. That equates to about 84.3 sales a month, which is 5.49 months of inventory. That means, if no other properties came on the market and each current listing had to sell, it would take about 5 1/2 months to sell them all. That's an absorption rate.

With Spicewood added into the mix, there are currently 657 Active houses for sale. Through March, there were 307 pending and sold properties. That equates to about 102.3 sales a month, which is 6.42 months of inventory.

What's my point? My point is that a market is deemed to be "balanced" at approximately 6 months of revolving inventory. I don't see how this agent can tell people that we are in a Buyer's Market with 8.6 months of inventory when it's just not true. I didn't eliminate builders' inventory homes. I didn't eliminate by age or size. I only did houses and not condos, but there aren't many condos in this area, so the numbers wouldn't change enough to add up to the numbers this agent is presenting.

If you receive marketing statistics in the mail, please have the sense to question the information presented. We are NOT in a buyer's market in the Austin TX Area. Sales have increased and overall, Austin is selling on average at 97.07% of asking price in 80 days, while the median is 97.7% of asking price in 50 days.

Buyer's Market? Really? It's more like a Supply and Demand issue as inventory shrinks and sellers are asking the right prices for their homes!

Call me if you would like factual information about the Austin Real Estate market.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Can Consumers Trust Market Data Received in the Mail? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Speechless Sunday- A Little Dirt Never Hurt Anyone

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:27:37 -0700

Yes, eating dirt while sucking on bubbles is an everyday occurrence in our household!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Speechless Sunday- A Little Dirt Never Hurt Anyone * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Appraisers Need to Stay in Their Market Areas!

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:00:44 -0800

Austin is looking at changing their MLS program, and they've asked the membership for help in the decision. There are 3 programs we're looking at. I attended the meeting on Monday to go through the overview of the systems. The meeting was open to anyone who is a member.

The gentleman in front of me was asking question after question about a system to share data in the different MLSs in the state, which was not what we were there to talk about. At one of the breaks, I find out that he's an appraiser. There's this program called Data Co-op that is used in many areas where MLSs overlap, like New York. In Austin, we have our main system. NW of Austin about 1 1/2 hours, there is a different system, and then San Marcos, about 45 minutes south of Austin has it's own system before you get to San Antonio with its own system.

These areas are very distinct areas so I would not consider the Austin MLS having an overlap of systems. This Appraiser started talking about how it's so expensive to join all the different boards in order to have access to all the data he needs for his appraisals, and wouldn't it be great if the Texas systems would participate in the Data Co-op like other areas? (Most systems do participate, they just don't share the data with other systems)

All of a sudden, it clicked what he was really talking about...

I said, "No offense, but I want my appraisers to be local. I'm sick and tired of appraisers in one area thinking they can do an appraisal in another area that they're not from. It's people like you that are causing problems on many transactions because you're not familiar with the areas."

I told him about an appraiser coming up from San Antonio to do an appraisal north of Austin. I told him about an appraiser that I accidentally got black-listed from a lender because I asked him about his CA area code and how long he had been in the Austin area, and he threw a temper tantrum. This appraiser agrees that my concerns were valid.

This appraiser doesn't admit that he's doing anything wrong, however he does tell me to continue to report appraisers that I feel aren't doing good jobs. How could he think my concerns are valid, but continue to do what he's doing? The Data Co-op system isn't supposed to be used for people to do their job outside of their market. Why don't appraisers understand that real estate is local, and it's not possible to know everything about every neighborhood in a 200 mile radius? I'm licensed in the entire state of Texas, but I don't go sell houses in Abilene or Corpus or any other area I'm not familiar with. It's a disservice to the clients.

Appraisers, don't bid the job just because you're free that day. Bid the job because you're capable!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Appraisers Need to Stay in Their Market Areas! * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Painting with a Twist - New Art Craze in Town

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:30:43 -0700

This weekend, I decided to do something new and exciting. Some of my friends in Dallas discovered this new craze called Painting with a Twist. I looked them up online, and they have an Austin location, so I signed up.

What is Painting with a Twist? It's a place where they walk you through painting a picture. You have to go to their Calendar to see what the picture is for the day you want to go, and then everyone in the room paints the same thing. The instructor tells you step by step what brush to use, what paints to use, how to mix the paints for a new color, and exactly where to make your brush strokes. With all that, it's still amazing how different everyone's pictures turned out.

Here's mine!

I love it! I think it turned out really nice. I am so excited to hang it in my house! Right now, it's on the mantel above the fireplace showing off for everyone. There were about 50 other people there, it was crowded. They said we were one of their larger groups.

What's the "Twist"? The twist can be looked at in many ways as it's a new concept. It's a BYOB atmosphere. You can bring food, beer, wine, whatever you want. There are even paintings for kids if you want to go on a family day.

I can see how this can be addictive, and I have a very addictive personality! It's not very expensive. It's $35 for a 2-hour painting and $45 for a 3-hour painting. That includes the canvas, all the paints, the brushes, and the local artist who helps you.

You can even book a private party where you can pick the painting you want to paint! I think it's only a minimum of 10 people required, and viola, you have a party!

Look them up to see if they're in your area. I went on a "couples" night, and was the only non-couple there, ooops... but still had fun and came home with a beautiful work of art! I'll be visiting Painting with a Twist again, and my house will be decorated with original pieces of art!

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Is Austin TX Going Through a Real Estate Recovery or Not?

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:39:59 -0700

Is there a Real Estate Recovery going on in Austin TX? As I've said many times, Austin never saw a big boom like other parts of the country. Because of this, there wasn't/isn't much to recover from. Currently, Austin TX is seeing very low inventory, but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of buyers out there wanting to buy a house. To an extent, in many communities throughout Austin and its suburbs, there is a supply and demand issue going on.

And what happens with Supply and Demand? As supply goes down, and demand goes up, prices go up. Prices aren't necessarily going up, however, sellers are able to sell pretty darn close to their asking prices. In many neighborhoods where I do regular market reports, houses are selling at 97-98% of asking price. That means, sellers price their homes competitively with the comparable sales, and it leaves very little room for a buyer to come in and offer a lower price.

Here is a Nationwide graphic provided by ActiveRain that tells a little more.

As you can see, it says that Austin is ranked #2 in the Top Ten Real Estate Markets, based on consumer confidence. However, if you look below, you'll see that Austin is actually tied for #1 with Ft Myers-Naples. Austin should have been listed first for alphabetical reasons, but maybe as the decimal point goes out, Ft Myers might have had the edge.

With looking at the map, you can see that Texas as a whole is doing quite nicely. 4 of the top 10 cities are all in Texas, including Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston. Again, none of these areas had a "bubble". Texas is known for it's steady market. Most neighborhoods see 1-3% appreciation year over year. That also means that you can't buy a house and sell it two years later and except to "make a profit". On average, with typical closing costs on the sale of a home, it takes living in a house four years before breaking even. Some neighborhoods don't fair as well as others and it could take 6-7 years to break even. It all depends on the type of neighborhood and the area of town as there are always higher sought-after areas no matter where you move.

To summarize, the Austin Texas Real Estate Market is doing very well, and it's holding its own compared to significantly larger metro-areas across the country. We are seeing record amounts of relocation into the area, and we're just trying to keep up with the demand. For the question of "Real Estate Recovery or Not", I would say it's definitely a Real Estate Recovery!

**Further analysis of the Real Estate Recovery or Not.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Is Austin TX Going Through a Real Estate Recovery or Not? * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.

Zilker Park Kite Festival - Austin TX - 2012

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:47:13 -0700

The Zilker Park Kite Festival is an annual event, the longest consecutive running Kite Festival in the country, 2012 was its 84th year! We had a lot of fun. We didn't actually fly a kite, as I think the kids are still too young for that chaos, but I'm thinking we might next year. Landon wouldn't stand still long enough to be able to fly a kite even if we tried. He was running all over the place having a blast!

The Zilker Park Kite Festival is not just about flying kites with a large group of people and seeing if you can stay untangled with your neighbor. It's also about people watching and just being outdoors with your friends and family and eating a lot of fried foods, like the State Fair of Texas! This was a HUGE corndog!

Here are some of my favorite kites this year.

Here are some pictures of the kids playing on the Rocks and Caves.

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Speechless Sunday - Not Liking the Bluebonnets

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:05:20 -0700

**Are You Packed Yet?**

Donna Harris, REALTOR®
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
www.DonnaHomes.com
Donna@DonnaHomes.com
austin-texas-homes-for-sale.com

Copyright© 2012 By Donna Harris, All Rights Reserved. You may re-blog with links back to this post.
* Speechless Sunday - Not Liking the Bluebonnets * was first published on donnahomesblog.com.