Texas- Fastest Growing Small Communities - 10/27/06 01:38 PM
When people think of Texas, they think of Dallas (1.2 million people), Fort Worth (624,000 people), Houston (2+ million people), Austin (690,000 people), and San Antonio (1.3 million people) which are the 5 largest Texas cities across the state.
However, people forget about the smaller cities.  They forget about them because we don't really give them their own identity as we group them into the larger city.  Below is a list of the top 11 faster growing smaller cities in Texas.  Fate, Little Elm, Murphy, and Frisco are all considered "Dallas".  Hutto, Kyle, Bee Cave, and Leander are all considered "Austin".  In … (3 comments)

Texas- Property Tax Valuation Arbitration - 10/27/06 09:00 AM
I just spent the last three days taking a 30 hour class o Arbitration.  Something new has come to Texas and it's very exciting!  Unlike many other states, Texas homeowners are sent a new tax value the first week of May every year.  If a home owner is unhappy with the value, they are allowed to fight the value assessed.  This value is not necessarily the market value of a home, or what a buyer will pay for the home.  This is just the tax value of the home that the appraisal district assesses.
Once you receive your notice, you have a … (3 comments)

Dallas Area Foreclosures Reach Highs of the 1980s - 10/20/06 10:14 AM
This is scary.  I was only in elementary school in the 80's, so I don't remember what real estate was like, but I can imagine it was pretty bad since I've heard many times about the interest rates of the 80s being upwards in the high teens.  We moved to Texas in 1984, and when I sold that house about 5 years ago, I noticed my parents had assumed the loan in order to buy the house.  I guess assumptions were the main way to keep your rates low, though I can't believe they paid what they paid back then just … (4 comments)

Frisco Rejects Extended Drinking Hours - 10/18/06 12:22 PM
Frisco, TX, a fast growing suburb of Dallas, has been trying to extend their drinking hours for years.  Currently, restaurants and hotels and other type establishments can only serve alcohol until midnight.  The time is extended to 1am on Saturdays.
There are arguments on both sides, but I think the best argument is to keep people local.  If you extend the drinking hours, you're going to have more people in the restaurants and out entertaining which brings in more tax revenue.  As it stands, people from Frisco must go to a neighboring city where they serve until 2am.  During the week, and … (1 comments)

The DOW Hits over 12,000 - 10/18/06 11:58 AM
The DOW started out the day over 12,000 for the first time ever.  It hit about 12,049 before dropping back down.  This is significant because it took over seven and a half years to go from 11,000 up to the 12,000 mark.
It took only 24 days to go from 10,000 up to 11,000 back in 1999, but then we were hit with many things around the country and world to stop the climb many times.  In the past two weeks, there have been 7 closing records.
It looks like we're moving strong again with consumer confidence also rising.  When consumer confidence rises, so … (1 comments)

Dallas Real Estate- The Wright Amendment for Love Field - 10/17/06 12:45 PM
The President signed off on the Wright Amendment and the FAA finalized it this week.
Southwest just unveiled it's not flight schedule this morning.  Love Field will now be flying to 43 cities instead of just 18.  With at least a 14 day notice, fllights will be as low as $99 for one-way! 
American Airlines will also announce their new schedule as soon as they can figure out how to work around their automated system for Kansas City and St. Louis.  People will now be given the choice to fly from DFW International Airport or Love Field.  Prices are supposed to be … (2 comments)

Buyers- Married or Single - 10/17/06 11:12 AM
A good portion of my buyers are Singles.  When I first got into real estate, I thought it was weird for singles to be buying homes.  I was also single at the time, and my train of thought was that it was easier to rent while single than having so many responsibilities with owning a home.  When was I supposed to do maintenance and mow the lawn?  After a year and a half of selling houses and not owning one myself, I bought a house as I thought it was hypocritical of me to preach the benefits of home ownership over renting.
Yesterday, I … (0 comments)

Texas- Family Oriented? - 10/17/06 10:58 AM
Texas currently has the lowest credit scores in the Nation.  Texas is currently in the top 5 for Foreclosures.  Dallas is rated #27 as the drunkest city across the Country...
According to "The Gay and Lesbian Atlas", Gays and Lesbians are more likely to have children in TEXAS than in any other state!!  San Antonio holds the #1 spot and the Fort Worth/Arlington area hold the #5 spot. 
Texas, once again, stands high at the top of a list!  This is actually a really good statistic.  Texas is supposed to be a "Republican" state, but day after day, it's things like this that … (5 comments)

Collin County, TX- Warrants are Due! - 10/16/06 06:28 PM
Collin County law enforecment is out in full force this week.  They plan on rounding up all the people with outstanding warrants against them.  This takes a lot of man-power and man-hours to go door knocking and showing up at people's homes or offices.
Their goal for the week is 300!  That sounds like a lot, right? There are 7 days in a week.  That's almost 43 arrests a day.  I'm not sure they'll be working 24 hours around the clock, but even if they work only 7am-9pm, that's just over 3 arrests an hour.
Collin County people, you better get to the … (0 comments)

Dallas Real Estate- Commutes to Work are Increasing - 10/16/06 01:44 PM
The Associated Press put out a brief report this morning saying that commutes are increasing.  More and more people are leaving for work between 5 am and 6:30 am.  When I was in corporate America, I remember leaving for work at 7:35 am in order to be at work at 8am.  What a difference!  If I had to leave at 6:30, I wouldn't be a hampy capper (happy camper) throughout the day due to lack of sleep.
There has been a 50 precent increase  for commutes over 60 minutes from 1990-2000.  However, many more commuters are going from suburb to suburb instead … (3 comments)

New Ordinance for Sex Offenders - 10/13/06 08:45 AM
Come November, people in Richardson, TX will be voting on a new ordanance for registered sex offenders and where they can live.  The debate is whether or not the boundary should be after 1000 feet of the "premise where children commonly gather" or after 2000 feet. 
If you spread it out past 2000 feet, you limit many many areas as Richardson has many parks and schools.  Either way the vote goes, my immediate area is "safe", but if they only need to be 1000 feet away, part of the southern part of my community would be a place of interest.
Overall, right … (3 comments)

Beer and Wine Coming to Richardson? - 10/13/06 07:48 AM
The petition to add a Beer and Wine vote to the November election was sucessful!  Richardson has been "dry" for way too long.  Dallas to the south is mostly full wet which means the majority of Dallas can sell Beer, Wine and Liquor.  Plano to the north is "moist" which means it can only sell Beer and Wine.
For years, Richardson residents have always had to plan a drive in order to get Beer, Wine, and/or Liquor.  Hopefully, those times are coming to an end.
The vote has the basic stuff like they can't sell within a certain distance of a school or … (2 comments)

Dallas Real Estate- Texas Foreclosures - 10/11/06 01:43 PM
There's some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that Texas saw a 16% decrease in foreclosures in September over August.
The bad news is that Texas saw a 23% increase in foreclosures in September '06 over September '05.
There are 11,988 homes in some type of foreclosure, and since many people are just late on their payments, this isn't the actual number that will be foreclosed on.  With these numbers, Texas is 1.5 times the national average... so sad...
… (3 comments)

Time Management- Bathroom Breaks - 10/11/06 01:22 PM
I've read lots about Time Management, and I've taken a couple of classes that also talk about scheduling and learning to manage your time.  My problem with all this information is that I've never seen or heard anything about how to schedule in Bathroom Breaks!
Bathroom Breaks are very important, and sometimes I'll have to go for a couple of hours before finding 30 seconds to "sit down."  It's not good for your bladder or your kidneys.  What's funny is that I'm typing this because I've been trying to get to the bathroom for over an hour now, but emails keep coming in … (18 comments)

Flu Shot - 10/10/06 01:00 PM
Is anyone getting the flu shot this year?  I got the flu shot for the first time two years and after two weeks, I got so sick and was sick for about 3 weeks... it  was horrible.
Last year, I didn't get the shot because of the shortages in the area.  They weren't allowing the average person to get the shot.
This year, even though a shortage was delivered to the area, there are no restrictions so I got the shot this morning...  I'm really hoping I don't get sick like last time, but I'm feeling quite dizzy and getting hot flashes... and … (7 comments)

Dallas Real Estate- Sales Down in September - 10/10/06 07:42 AM
Sales are down in North Texas and inventory is up.  We still have less than a 6 month supply, so it's still not technically a Buyer's Market like some would think.  However, many buyers are waiting to buy thinking they'll get that massive deal overnight.  Most Buyers are listening to National news which is typically quite different that our local news since the report came out a couple of months ago showing we're 18% undervalued compared to the rest of the country.  Still, people like to sit and wait.
Median sales price dropped 3%, a  decrease for the first time since September … (3 comments)

Unlicensed and Wanting Referral Fee - 10/04/06 02:57 PM
I got a call yesterday from a gentleman saying he saw my listing and wanted to put a contract on it. I'm saying, Great! Do you have an approval letter, or are you paying cash?  He responds that it'll be cash.  Great!  Can I get a letter from your bank showing proof of funds.  He says that's not a problem.
He tells me he's in Phoenix right now, but will be back in Dallas in 10 days at which time he then wants to look at the house before moving forward.  I explain to him that there has been a lot of … (18 comments)

Dallas Real Estate- Cottonwood Art Festival - 10/02/06 02:35 PM
 
This coming weekend, October 7 & 8 is the bi-annual Cottomwood Art Festival in Richardson at Cottonwood Park.  The Festival is from 9am-6pm.  This year features over 800 artists.  There is also live entertainment for people of all ages.  THe kid's corner always looks like so much fun, but until I get one of those "munchkin things" running around, I just watch.
Mike and I have been in our home just over a year now, and the walls are bare.  We'll be looking for some nice art to make a splash!
For more information, go to: www.cottonwoodartfestival.com
… (1 comments)

Dallas Real Estate- State Fair of Texas - 10/02/06 02:25 PM

The State Fair of Texas is now upon us.  This year's fair runs from Sept 29 through October 22. 
This also means that the Texas/OU game is this weekend!  That means lots more traffic and longer waits at the restaurants, but these are the reasons Dallas begged the two schools to continue at the Cottonbowl for the next few years.
As for the actual fair, you can get more information at http://www.bigtex.com/.  Don't forget that there are many ways to not pay full price.  Why pay full price when you don't have to!  There are Coca-Cola days, Dr. Pepper days, after 6pm … (2 comments)

 
Donna Harris, REALTOR®, CDPE & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes, Donna Harris, REALTOR®, CDPE & ASP - Hill Country (Regent Property Group) Rainmaker_large

Donna Harris, REALTOR®, CDPE & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes

Donna Harris, REALTOR®, CDPE & ASP - Hill Country

Austin, TX

More about me…

Regent Property Group

Address: 7035 Bee Caves Rd #204, Austin, TX, 78746

Office Phone: (512) 592-7127

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This blog is to help educate Buyers, Sellers and even other Realtors across the country.  Each market is different and the way Real Estate is done is different.  Austin Real Estate is completely different than Dallas, California and Florida and everywhere else in between.  Some times there will be other things besides real estate as I like to rant and rave as much as the next!!  Come back often!

Donna Harris, REALTOR® with RE/MAX
Donna Harris, REALTOR® with RE/MAX
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