They are not, it's all really relative to your market.

That's the problem with a lot of the national news coverage you hear, they report Real Estate/home value news, that's based on a broad view, and tend to generally paint every area with the same paintbrush.

This is absolutely not true, and any Realtor, who knows their stuff will tell you Property value is based on the individual market.

lol..now, that I'm off my Soapbox :P I'll get to the good stuff. :)

The Austin-Area market is doing Great!!, and we're currently celebrating our 2nd highest year in Austin Real Estate History, which means that homes sales, and our average median home price is up!

• Austin Homes sales are up 4%
• Median sales Price is up 7%
• Austin-area homes are staying on the market for about 4 months
  

this is compared to a national view that home sales are down about 13%, with median home prices down 6%.

So if you're in ATX (Austin) Now is a great time to buy, the interest rates went way down last month, I'm talking in the 5.something% range , and are kinda beginning to stabilize now, but, I expect that they'll still be decent for a while. I got a quote last week for 6.25 on conventional, and 6.125 on FHA, which is still pretty darn good, i think.

So if you want to search for homes in the Greater-Austin area, e.g, Austin, Pflugerville, Round rock, Leander, Cedar Park, Hutto, Elgin etc areas click here and begin your search I'll bet that you can find something in your price range, that you like.

LOL!,

well at least one German Police department thinks so :P... basically a police station in Duesseldorf, Germany is outfitting all of their police dogs with itty-bitty shoes...so those lovable big critters wont be getting their feet dirty anymore :P.

The rational is that their pampered-pooches (German Shepherds and Belgium Shepherds) have been cutting their paws on glass and things like that while working, so they will get to wear fancy lil blue shoes to match their cop partners :).

Read full story here

Hey guys,

I know I haven't blogged as often, but I've been busy busy, here are some recent stats for home sales in Williamson county, which includes Round Rock, Hutto, Leander, Georgetown, Cedar park etc.... as reported by Williamson County Board of Realtors.  This is important info for anyone looking to invest in Williamson county, or even move here.

Williamson County Weekly Statistics –

The market is beginning to creep back up again.  

Yup!, you guessed it...Round rock TX is in the # 1 spot!!.

 Here's an excerpt from the article from Yahoo news  & Entrepreneur.com

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/104278/Best-and-Worst-Places-to-Buy-a-House 

" ............................

The Top Places to Buy

Whether you're an investor like me or you're looking to purchase that next move up, here are my picks for the best areas to buy a home:

• Killeen, Round Rock, Austin, Texas: Killeen has the lowest average home price in any market in the nation while still maintaining quality. Round Rock and Austin have seen incredible job growth and very stable home prices despite the downturn nationwide. Jobs continue to grow here -- a factor for keeping inventory low and prices stable.
• Mission Viejo, California: Mission Viejo has the lowest crime statistics in the nation. With no murders in 2007 and a low rate of violent crime, this is a good place to raise a family. Prices are relatively stable, and the job market in the nearby cities of Irvine and San Diego means there is consistent demand from job seekers.
• Palm Beach, Florida: I'm taking a risk here because this area has been pummeled by foreclosures in 2007. But there are also a lot of boomers retiring, and Palm Beach is looking mighty attractive. If you don't like this high of a risk (which translates to great prices), check out Tampa or Clearwater in the same state.
• Las Vegas, Nevada: Yes, Las Vegas has been hit hard by incoming investors, who watched their home values disappear and then left those homes empty. Las Vegas comes in quite high on the national foreclosure list, almost always within the top three metro areas. But there's an upside -- a very strong job market. In 2007, Las Vegas experienced a 12 percent increase in population, partly driven by retirees looking for Sunbelt states to move to. Coupled with low prices, we could see inventories reduced here, which would also stabilize prices. Be careful what you buy, but I like it.................."
  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Honesty, it's hard for people to believe me when i travel out of town and tell then that Real Estate is relatively stable here in the Austin-area, and this problem of misconception is somewhat prevalent even here in Austin, cause hey, lets face it, everyone watches 20-20, but the thing that most people don't realize that even though, the nation is feeling the crunch, from all the mortgage industry issues, there are still some great areas to live/invest into..and that the state of property ownership, and value really is defendant on where you are, and what's going on around you.

Boy am I glad I live in Round rock, TX, and I'll bet you'll be happy about it too, when you move here ;) 

Yes, Indeed, I voted in early voting for Proposition 6 to pass today.

Check out my Blog from earlier this week to see what Prop 6 is all about

http://activerain.com/blogsview/254594/TEXAS-A-Vote-that

or go to http://www.voteforprop6.org/

In short, we are voting for prop 6 to stop the government from unfairly taxing vehicles used by people who use one car for both personal and business purposes.  This will affect Realtors, Mary Kay/Avon people, Pizza guys, Contractors, Consultants..etc...basically anyone who uses one vehicle for both things.  So if you're a Texan and have the right to vote, then VOte!  Early voting ended today, but you can still vote on the actual voting day November 6th.  

So Please Go out and vote FOR 6 on the 6th!!!  

...Well at least not yet. :). 

Usually, we would turn our clocks back on the last sunday of October every year, but remember back in 2005 the Energy Policy Act changed all of that.  We are set to fall back and turn our clocks back an hour next Sunday, Nov. 4th at 2am.

And no, your machines haven't gone mad, it's just that any electronics with clocks made before 2005 are likely to be affected, so until Sunday, you'll have to annually adjust it, and then adjust it again on Sunday, or you could of course just leave it be till SUnday, and it should be ok!

So don't forget!, Fall back on Sunday @  2am :)

LOL...and yes, there is actually a small town for sale down here in Texas...about 70 miles outside of Austin called Albert Texas..although the asking price is $2.5 Million, the last I checked the ebay bid was well below 10K :).

Albert Texas is about 13 acres, has a School house, a dance hall and an ice-house

Check out the pictures here http://www.alberttexas.com/home/pics.php

I know I don't get any money for further advertising this property, but hey, I've got to share this story :).  How many times to get a whole town for sale? :) 

so check out http://www.alberttexas.com for yourself to see what Albert Texas is all about!, and if you need a buyers agent, I sure can help you out :)!! 

Vote FOR  Proposition 6 on Nov 6th to stop unfair taxation that will hurt anyone, not just Realtors, who uses their vehicle for business & work

Or vote today..early voting is going on till Nov 2nd, otherwise Vote YES for 6 on the 6th :) .

You're probably wondering what Proposition 6 is, and why you should be voting FOR it?

This is important for anyone who uses their car for business and personal use.
In simple terms, proposition 6 is an amendment being proposed, so that people who use their cars for both business and personal use, will not have to pay property taxes on their cars. 
Here is an excerpt from the website that has more information about the proposition.

Protect your car and yourself ... from unfair taxation
Texans have an opportunity to protect our cars from an unfair tax by voting for Proposition 6 on Nov. 6! When passed, this amendment to the state constitution will guarantee that independent business people in Texas will not have to pay $600 or more per year in property taxes for their personal vehicles. Read more about this issue , see who could be affected, and find out out what you can do to help

Click here to find out more info about this proposition.
http://www.voteforprop6.org/

FYI: you don't have to vote on  every proposition, all you have to vote on are the ones that you care about 

So, even though I'm not a native Texan, I have come to learn a few things about Texans since I've been here.  First if all...the truth that everyone know, which is that everything is Bigger in TExas!  Bigger hats, bigger Football, Bigger Plates, Bigger Land!, and of course Bigger houses for your money!

Another thing about Texas is that Texans love to make everything uniquely theirs ( I would say ours, but I'm still earning my stripes ;)) for instance we have Texas Burgers, Texas Steaks, Texas Chili (I'll talk more about that later) and even Tex-mex food :)

Have you ever seen anyone else wear a T-shirt that proclaims pride about belonging to their state?? 

You don't see many people with "Proud to be a an Illinoisan" plastered across their chests on shirts or even on skin.

(I can attest to this, cause I lived in Chicago for quite a while, once upon a time). Texas is a Unique place, and if you're ever considering relocating, to somewhere that's warmer, and maybe a little bit friendlier, and not to mention Unique in many ways think about Texas; more specifically think about Austin, TX.  It's not the Biggest city in Texas, but neither is it the fattest, or most congested ;).  I dare say it might actually be the most beautiful one...so hey, maybe that's part of why they picked it to be the capital ;) 

So onto Texas Chili :), which is traditionally made without the beans down here in Texas.  Independence title held their 3rd annual Chili cook-off last week in Round rock, TX.

And Our Williamson county Keller Williams office competed against other Real Estate Agencies and title companies, and ended up taking away 2 out of the 3 Prizes awarded that day :)...GO KW.   One for People's choice, and one for SHOWMANSHIP!....and boy oh boy did we earn that one :p.  Our theme this year was "Knock-out Chili".

So we Created an actual Boxing ring around our tables, complete with punching bag, boxing gloves, and even a cow-bell we used as the round bell :).  We were able to claim the prize with all of this, along with a staged boxing match b/w a supporter and myself :).  I got a great big kick out of this, since I have my own gloves, and they actually do get used :).  Each each got knocked-out and caught by other KW agents in concurrent rounds, and had a great great time, and made way too much noise :)...but hey, we won, and we had fun doing it.

here are a few pics of the action..Enjoy!

                         Knock-out Ready                                                          Eastwood and Ali, anyone?

A Realtor that knows how to laugh at herself, can make a lot of things lighter for you, and keep you happy while she works for you. Don't you think so?  i do!

till next time

Funmi!