Austin Texas Real Estate Blog (and other stuff)

Excited about Our Upcoming Conversation with Chris Brogan on Social Media Edge!

2009-11-23T23:36:01Z

Ken Cook and I are very pleased to announce that Chris Brogan will be joining us for our next show. We've had a string of terrific guests, but Chris is arguably our most well-known guest to date. I have a feeling that this show will probably break our previous listener records, but time will tell. I would like to publicly thank our friend, Cathy Browne, PR pro, for booking Chris. Cathy has been in charge of booking talent for a few months now.

Chris' blog at ChrisBrogan.com has over 30,000 subscribers, and he's the co-author of "Trust Agents", which became a New York Times best seller earlier this year. He is a highly-sought-after speaker these days, and I highly recommend both his book and subscribing to his blog.

Here's a quick review of "Trust Agents" that I wrote previously:

"Trust Agents" - Chris Brogan & Julien Smith - Quick Book Review

Clearly, the guy knows a bit about social media.

Join us on Tuesday, November 24th at noon Eastern (11am Central, 10am Mountain, 9am Pacific) right here LIVE to hear Chris (and us, too!):

http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc

I think the segment with Chris will start around 25-30 minutes into the show. It promises to be an hour of fun and learning.

On another note, if you have any questions that you would like for me to ask Chris during our time together, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I'll do my best to work them in, depending on how many I get.

If, for some odd reason, you are simply unable to listen live, you can always listen via the archive recording. All of our previous shows can be found on our Facebook page: http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge thanks to Mike Mueller!

So, here's the list again in case you missed anything above:

1. Tune in to listen to us and Chris LIVE Tuesday morning.

2. Post any questions you might have for Chris below.

3. If you miss it, listen to the archive recording.

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology - Austin, Texas - Abysmally Bad Service from Manager

2009-11-19T14:25:35Z

I felt the need to help spread the word about Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology, since I was shocked at their truly bad customer service with regard to a penalty that they charged which was related to my late mother-in-law's illness. My wife dealt with them again today, which resulted in the following that she wrote. I think it's more powerful and compelling in her words:

"These guys took $50 from us for a "missed appointment." It was unfair, and they boldly refused to return it, clearly indicating they didn't care about losing our future business or the business of anyone who happens to read this, even after I explained that this would likely appear in many places online. After looking at the current reviews, I guess I can understand that they don't really mind one more bad one floating around out there.

Here's the story: My mother injured herself severely in March of 2007. She stayed in bed quite a bit, barely able to get to dialysis to keep herself alive. Because of a household mishap, she injured herself even worse in August of '07. That's when I took her to the hospital for surgery. She was on a lot of painkillers for her constant, excruciating pain, which made her delirious. By October of '07, she was so delirious, she needed to be hospitalized, because everyone thought she had had a stroke!

Unfortunately, during this time, she missed an appointment at Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology. Nobody knew where her calendar was, or that she had an appointment, so we had no chance of making it to the appointment. They charged us a $50 no-show fee, which my grandmother paid, because she didn't want to fight them. I held on to their letter, however, because I didn't think it was just.

I realize that waiting a long time to ask for a refund is inconvenient for businesses. However, this is a special case, in my opinion. My mother was delirious; she did get better later, but the painkillers had a terrible effect on her. Also, during the time between now and then, I have been occupied taking care of my mom, my three kids, my own illness, and my then-unborn child. Another reason I'm trying to collect this right now is that I'm now the executor of my mom's estate.

My mother was victimized by many people during her final days, and I thought that Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology would see that they had not treated us rightly, and try to rectify the situation. They did not. Their statement was that "It's only fifty dollars," but if it's such a small amount, then why not return it? When doing business with them, please ensure that you do not overpay, and that you watch how much you really need to pay them, or the same thing may happen to you.

They were willing to make life-long enemies of our family over fifty dollars, which is a small sum to them, by their statement. They hung up on me today, (twice). That is how much they value their customers. Do they not understand that, in today's economy, $50 is a significant sum to some families?"

As you can clearly see, this clinic showed no mercy with regard to this situation, which strikes me as particularly ironic considering their line of work. The sites I looked at today are filled with bad reviews for them (particularly the Yellow Pages online), so I guess we'll throw another one on the fire, so to speak.

I don't often use this platform for truly negative content, but if I can prevent them from harming others, it is well worth it. Clearly, we won't extrapolate any further than necessary, as I want to stick to the truth of our own experience.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Stone Canyon - Round Rock TX Home for Sale - 8402 Lofty Lane - Offered at $349,900

2009-11-18T20:37:56Z

One of our agents listed a terrific home for sale in the Stone Canyon subdivision this week. It has some phenomenal landscaping in the back yard, along with a terrific floorplan from David Weekley Homes.

Some of the highlights:

4 Bedrooms (Master downstairs, and 3 bedrooms up)
3.5 Bathrooms
4 Living Areas (including Study/Office)
2 Dining (Breakfast & Formal)
3589 square feet per tax records
Built in 2000
Front & Back Porches
Fully Updated, Loaded w/ upgrades
Tandem 3 Car Garage
Granite Counters
Custom Cabinets
Double Ovens
5 Burner Gas Cooktop
Wood Floors
Lush Carpet
Recent Interior & Exterior Paint
Sprinkler & Security Systems
OnQ Network Wiring System
Exemplary,Blue Ribbon, Fern Bluff Elementary School
Excellent Location, convenient to everything!

If you would like to set up a time to see this home, please give me a call anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email me at jason@austintexashomes.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon. You can also visit our primary Austin TX real estate site at www.austintexashomes.com.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

North Austin Home for Sale - 11208 Amaranth Lane - Offered at $144,999

2009-11-18T20:13:02Z

We just listed a home in north Austin which is nestled on a greenbelt, with no neighbors to the left or to the rear of the property.

Features:

3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms
1571 square feet per tax records
Built in 1996
Well-maintained (super-clean!)
Breakfast area and formal dining room
Open floor plan
Fireplace
Upgraded tile in kitchen and breakfast
Slate in master bath
Over-sized patio
Full sprinkler system (front and back)
Convenient to Dell Childrens' Hospital, University of Texas, & downtown Austin
Located in the Harris Branch subdivision

Offered at just $144,999, this one promises to sell quickly.

If you would like to set up an appointment to see this home, please contact Matthew Layman at 512-771-0754 or email him at mlatxrealestate@gmail.com.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

What Are Your "Can't Miss" Events for 2010? Here are some that I have in mind for myself

2009-11-16T17:08:08Z

Over the past few days, I have been reading tons of updates from my friends who are attending the NAR conference in San Diego. Of course, I expected this, since I probably know several hundred of the attendees by now. I came within a hair of attending myself, then I decided that I didn't want to leave my wife alone with four kids for a week.

However, I do want to attend some conferences and events in 2010, in order to bring my social media efforts to "real life" meetings. During my time blogging and interacting online via the mainstays of new media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), it seems like I get invited to an event every few weeks.

Here's what I have in mind for 2010 at this point:

I will be attending the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in mid-March - it's local, so that seems easy enough. I'll probably go ahead and splurge and attend some of the Film part, too, since it just seems just plain cool to me. I would do the music part, but as I am approaching 40, I have come to realize that live music isn't really my thing anymore, unless it's a big-name band that I have loved for years (think U2) or something more mellow (think acoustic).

Many of my friends will be attending the RE TechSouth event in the Atlanta area in late March, including Ken Cook (my radio co-host) and Jeremy Blanton. Since they have both become good friends, I would like to meet them in person and I have heard great things about this conference from several sources. I plan to be there.

I am strongly considering going to the NAR mid-year conference in May in Washington, DC. Even if I don't attend the event, I think we will make a trip to that area as a family. I have never been, nor have my kids. There are a number of things I would like to see, most notably the Smithsonian, so we are likely going. My wife is already excited about this one.

Lastly, since next year's big NAR conference is in New Orleans, this is a no-brainer for me. I have been to New Orleans several times, though it's been about 20 years since my last visit, if memory serves. That is an easy drive - I will be there, too.

I have a feeling that someone will be organizing at least one RE Barcamp in Texas in 2010 - if so, count me in. I don't know that I have time to be the primary organizer, but I would love to attend, and I would be happy to help promote it, too. :-)

I hope to have the chance to meet many of you in the upcoming year. One of my friends told me awhile back that I am a "super-networker". If this is indeed true, the time has come for me to put those skills to use!

Thanks for reading, as always.

Photo credit: Jeff Turner (I'm in the picture - can you find me?)

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

"CRUSH IT!" by Gary Vaynerchuk - Highly Recommended Reading. Period.

2009-11-14T19:39:59Z

Recently, I bought a handful of social media books via Amazon. Since I have been doing some consulting and teaching on the side, I thought this would be a worthy investment. I intend to review each of them here on my blog. First up is "Crush It!" by Gary Vaynerchuk. If you're not familiar with Gary, he started WineLibrary.tv, which is his video blog wherein he gives his (very) honest opinion about various wines. This may sound boring to you, but I would urge you to check it out. You can feel Gary's enthusiasm coming off of the screen.

Using this tool, Gary took his family-owned liquor store from $4 million to over $60 million per year in sales. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. He is @garyvee on Twitter, where he has amassed a simply huge entourage, with over 850,000 followers as of this writing.

Why? Well, there are a number of reasons:

Frankly, people want to know how to make a lot of money like he did
He has an engaging personality
He actually makes an attempt to respond to others on Twitter, unlike most "celebrities"

His passion for wine has taken him to a number of appearances on national television, including one very notable segment with Conan O'Brien where he managed to get Conan to eat a cigar and dirt while explaining wine flavors.

When I received "Crush It!" via UPS on my front porch, I was a little dismayed that it wasn't thicker (i.e. more pages). My concern was soon allayed as I waded in and started reading.

Much like watching Gary speak, this book has an energetic tone that you don't find in most business-related books. In fact, I'm not sure if I would categorize this strictly as business. It's a morale builder.

In essence, the thesis of Gary's book is this: It takes a LOT of hard work to make a LOT of money. With that in mind, why not work doing something you really are passionate about?

Gary also emphasizes the importance of loving your family above the work, which I certainly appreciate as a father of four and husband of nearly 17 years.

Upon finishing, I was happy to conclude/realize that in many ways I have already been on the right track with my social media efforts over the past couple of years, although reading this book and a few others has led me to start working on a couple of outside projects/sites, too. My guess is that this book will have a tremendous impact on people who are languishing in jobs they hate.

The book is a relatively quick read, and you will find the story to be a compelling one. Raised in New York in a Russian immigrant family, Gary's tale is a modern, web-based version of the American Dream.

Thanks for channeling your passion into this book, Gary. I hope to crush it myself starting....now.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Downtown Austin Condo for Sale - 300 Bowie Street #1606 - Offered at $279,999

2009-11-14T18:30:58Z

One of our agents listed a unit in the Spring Condominiums yesterday. This luxury high-rise condo in downtown Austin features some phenomenal upgrades and a beautiful and relaxing view of the hill country.

Features:

One bedroom, one bath
565 square feet per tax records
Complete Bosch kitchen appliance package
16th Floor unit with Premium SW views overlooking the hill country & Lady Bird Lake
Gas range/cooktop
Hardwood and tile flooring
Granite Counters
Glass tile backsplash
Quick access to downtown for work or play
Building features rooftop pool
Very near Sixth Street entertainment district & lots of live music!

Don't miss this opportunity to live in the heart of the action, near the hike and bike trail, State Capitol, and the party district, too!

If you are interested in setting up an appointment to view this particular unit, please call Matthew Layman at 512-771-0754 (cell).

You can visit our primary Austin TX real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Vintage Georgetown TX Home for Sale - 510 Myrtle - Offered at $150,000

2009-11-14T16:27:09Z

I just listed a home in Georgetown yesterday that I hope to sell very quickly. It's a quaint cottage located just 2-3 blocks from the town square. It's walking distance to several restaurants, a coffee shop, the Palace Theater, banks, and several stores.

The tax records indicate that it was built in 1890, although the owners think it was probably the 1930's.

Some of the key features:

2 Bedrooms, 2 Full Bathrooms
1379 square feet per WCAD
Original long leaf pine flooring in some rooms
Lots of built-ins
Wall of bookshelves with rolling ladder, just like in the movies!
Large formal dining room
High ceilings
Nice-sized kitchen with modern appliances
Utility room
Sun porch was enclosed to create more living space
Shaded backyard
Huge front porch perfect for relaxing or entertaining

If you are considering a move to the Austin/Georgetown area, you might be interested in reading my online relocation package here: Austin Texas Relocation Package

You can also visit my primary Austin Texas real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Adventures in the Creek: Making the most of your social media efforts

2009-11-12T21:49:06Z

When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents' house. They lived nearby, and I later realized what a blessing this was for me, since I really got to know them. When I was over there, I had a different set of friends from my own house. They were a little rougher around the edges than the kids in my own neighborhood, frankly.

Rather than delving into stories about them (and believe me, there are stories), I wanted to talk a bit about one of our favorite activities when I was 10-12 years old: Exploring the Creek.

Believe me, it was even less sophisticated than it sounds. In fact, we didn't even name it. We just spent a good portion of the day walking along the creek as far as we dared to venture before turning around and heading home. Sometimes, the creek was quite full, and we would dread returning home with mud up to our waists. Other days, it was more dry and we would go to the pond part and skip rocks. I am still a champion rock skipper, in case you were curious. It's an acquired skill. :)

Rarely did we encounter anything truly dangerous during our excursions, and these memories are almost all happy ones for me, except for the time my friend Marc Newman shot me with a BB gun in the leg for no apparent reason.

Where am I headed with this?

Well, my own social media journey started right here on ActiveRain in 2007. Since then, I have developed an almost academic interest in this topic. My friends here have led me to lots of other sites, each of which has been productive to varying degrees. Some of them are certainly more "social" than "media", I suppose, but that's okay. Some "gurus" will tell you to concentrate on finding and befriending others in your industry or your local area, which is sound advice, but I don't think there's any reason to limit yourself. In my business, everyone has the ability to refer a buyer or seller to me, right?

If you are just finding your blogging legs, so to speak, I applaud you for making the jump into an unfamiliar landscape. If you are a seasoned veteran, this post may not speak to you as much.

I would encourage you to "explore the creek" from time to time when it comes to social media. There are a lot of different paths, and most of them will provide some measure of fun and learning. You will find your own favorite spots as you dive in. You can stick to the well-worn path, of course, but I assure you that a bit of courage will go a long way.

After all, you probably won't even end up covered in mud, unless you choose to do so.

Thanks for reading!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/91393778@N00/3050548670/

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

A Night at the Opera - Austin Lyric Opera - "La Boheme"

2009-11-12T13:59:25Z

Last year, I wrote about our outing to see "Carmen" at the Long Center for the Performing Arts, which is located on the southern edge of downtown Austin. As a result, we ended up getting season tickets for this year. Last night, I took my son to see "La Boheme". My wife would have gone, but it's a little trickier when you have a seven-month old baby who doesn't yet take a bottle.

We had a great time, and I have to re-state that I think the Austin Lyric Opera puts on an absolutely top-notch show. The Long Center itself is a beautiful facility with a dramatic view of the downtown skyline. Outside, they have a large, open, rounded patio with a smaller underlit section that's fun for photos and just for playing. It reminds me a little bit of the disco floor from "Saturday Night Fever".

I hadn't seen this show before, so I had to read up on it ahead of time in the program to make sure I knew the basic story line. That being said, one of my favorite things about seeing a foreign-language opera at the Long Center is.........the subtitles. It sure makes it a lot easier to track what's happening when you can read the English version. :) You can probably see the small screen above the stage here:

I dressed up for the first time in a long while (see photo). I made my wife take a quick picture to prove that I still knew how to wear a tie. After seeing this picture, I am halfway motivated to wear a jacket more often.

Overall, it was a really fun time with my kid, and I look forward to the next one, which is in early January.

I hope you enjoy the pics! I didn't have a camera, so these were taken with my iPhone.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Halloween at the Crouch House

2009-11-09T22:05:10Z

Yes, I realize that it's been a week and a half since Halloween.

Sorry it took me so long to get around to sharing the picture below. My son was dressed as Mario, and my oldest daughter is a mermaid. Our three-year old is Sleeping Beauty, and our 6-month old (seven months old today!) is dressed as some sort of flower fairy. I am dressed as a real estate broker. Clever, huh?

Couple of highlights:

We went to see my wife's grandmother in the assisted living place, and the people there thought that my son was dressed as a train conductor: "Hey, train man!" Needless to say, he didn't know they were talking to him.
The older kids' stamina seems to get a bit longer each year, although now we have to balance that will two smaller kids, which means our new double stroller is a must.
My three-year old daughter got a huge haul of candy, largely by lingering near the door while multiple rounds of kids approached and left. We didn't figure this out until later, but I think she got several "doses" at some doors. :)
Every Halloween since 2003, I am reminded of when my oldest daughter first went trick or treating - she caught on very quickly, and her catch phrase was simple and to the point: "Gimme.....candy."

I think next year, I may dress up again, since I will be 40 then and I will have even less shame than now.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Are you supporting "Movember"? Check it out!

2009-11-06T19:26:21Z

Last Sunday, my good friend Ben Finklea was here enjoying an afternoon of NFL football, when he suddenly asked me if I had heard about "Movember".

Nope. Not until that moment.

It turns out that Movember is an initiative to raise money for prostate and testicular cancer research. It involves not shaving for an entire month in an effort to grow a mustache/goatee/chin beard, etc. I have seen a lot of people talking about it this week.

I am not participating myself as a "grower", for a couple of reasons:

I am not very good at growing facial hair, and I don't want to scare anyone. My talent is growing a nice thick neck beard. Gross.
My wife hates me with facial hair. Enough said.

However, I did take some time to donate $20 to each of the two friends who asked, since it's a good cause and they are embarrassing themselves publicly, and who doesn't enjoy that?

Incidentally, I am either too old (or young) to have ever heard a mustache referred to as a "mo" before now. But I digress...

If you would like to donate, check out Ben's page right here:

http://us.movember.com/mospace/214457

I promised Ben that I would help to spread the word, so stop by at the link above and donate ANY amount to the cause. Even a single dollar will help.

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Should I Really Care About What You Think? Learning to be more transparent

2009-11-05T22:00:02Z

When I was a young(er) man, back before I was a father of four, or a Realtor, or a blogger, my wife Pam and I used to do our grocery shopping at around 11pm to miss the crowds. We got to know the nighttime checkers and managers at the local store.

Recently, Pam reminded me about how I used to buy "camouflage" foods in an effort to make the cashier believe that we were consuming something with nutritive value, rather than strictly junk food. Today, as I was shopping, I was buying ingredients for a highly decadent Oreo cheesecake that my daughter is making for her Brownie/Girl Scout event tomorrow. I also loaded up on candy, Tostitos, diet sodas, and other stuff that could never be deemed health food. Guess what? I didn't even bother with the camouflage food. Instead, I was perfectly content to roll my cart filled with snacks to the front.

This struck me as analogous to my blogging efforts over the past couple of years. When I started out, I assumed that I was "supposed" to write about business stuff only. At the very least, I thought that I needed to include some market reports as part of the mix so that no one would know that I simply enjoy writing, regardless of whether it results in sales. Thankfully, along the way, I've had plenty of sales, too.

When I am teaching others about social media and blogging, one of the most common questions I get is this:

"But what should I blog about? I don't have much to say."

My answer is a short one: ANYTHING that you feel comfortable writing about publicly is fair game.

There's no magic formula for blogging, and I don't think you should ever listen to self-proclaimed experts who tell you that you should have 20% personal, or 50% business, or 0% fun. Just write, and you will become a better writer over time. Blogging provides another unique opportunity that writers didn't have in the old days - instant feedback!

In the pre-blogging era, authors, journalists, and anyone else who aspired to communicate via the written word would have loved to have comments on their works as they progressed and honed their skills. You and I probably take this for granted now, right?

I realize that transparency is an overused buzzword in the social media arena these days, but I still think it's an important concept for businesses and individuals using these tools. Almost every single sale that I have had (including an astounding SIX in the pipeline right now) have come from my willingness to let people get to know me as a person, not just as a real estate broker.

Writing about real estate all day makes Jack a dull boy.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaboobie/92663750/

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Our First PG-13 Rated Show on Social Media Edge!

2009-11-03T23:33:54Z

Ken Cook and I have been hosting Social Media Edge together now for almost a year, and we have a great time while still striving to provide solid, helpful information. Today, our guest was Jennifer Iannolo of http://foodphilosophy.com.

During today's episode, we discussed the following topics (and in the words of Dave Barry, I am not making this up):

Twitter tattoos
The first social-media generated cookbook
Ayn Rand
Why those who blog get more traffic than those who don't
Dead people on Facebook
Shaved truffles
At least one topic that I can't even mention here

Additionally, if you want to learn the difference between #sexonaplate and #foodporn, you won't want to miss this hilarious episode:

http://budurl.com/smedge110309

I have a feeling that this may end up being our highest-rated show to date, but we'll see. :) In order to listen to any of our previous episodes, visit our Facebook page at http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge.

Incidentally, if you would like your own custom Facebook business page, contact Mike Mueller, master of all things Facebook.

Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Must....Get...Help. Child....Too....Cute.

2009-10-30T16:16:38Z

The title above refers to an old Dana Carvey routine, when he was talking to his son, who asked him, "Dad - does God have feet?" My wife and I use this phrase pretty often around our house, since we've had a series of cute kids over the years.

I just wanted to share some recent pictures of the baby. The first two pictures below were taken a couple of weeks ago at the portrait place in the mall. The last one was taken by my wife, and it makes a really good screensaver for my laptop. :)

I can't believe that Jenny went from sitting up to crawling and now pulling up and even cruising a little bit. She's only 6 1/2 months old, and this is by far the earliest standing child we've had. She also has two teeth now, with two more on the way, it seems.

Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Are Happy Days Here Again? Time Will Tell

2009-10-30T15:23:13Z

This is purely anecdotal evidence with regard to any big turnaround locally, but I have been happy and a little surprised at how much luxury home buying and selling activity we have seen at our company in the last quarter of 2009. Over the past week or so, agents at our company have been working on the following:

Buyers looking at homes up to $3 million
Buyers up to $2 million
New listing for $800,000

Needless to say, this would make for a phenomenal final quarter for us.

As always, I get the same question many times each day, "So, how is the market doing these days?" I'm never one to pull punches, so if things are rough, I say so. These days, whenever I say that we've been really busy in the second half of the year, most people assume it's because of the much-talked-about tax credit for first-time buyers. In our case, nothing could be further from the truth. I have exactly ONE buyer that will benefit from the tax credit (the current one, not the proposed one).

With that in mind, it makes me hopeful for 2010 and beyond, as the economic indicators seem to be improving at last and the general vibe is a positive one. As I've written before, perception becomes reality, so when people think the economy is getting better, they spend money and it happens. The converse is also true. When people are told that times are bad, they stay home and stop spending money.

As a quick example, I still remember the reaction of our clients after 9/11 happened. They froze. Our team closed one deal in the entire last quarter of 2001. Was there less money at that point? Nope. Had any of our buyers who cancelled lost their jobs? Again, no. They were worried about the financial future of our country, so they stopped buying, at least for awhile. Unfortunately, THAT is what made things truly bad, not the original source of the fear.

I never advocate lying when friends or clients inquire about the state of the market, but I do advise sharing success stories if you have them. As economic news (hopefully) continues to improve overall, this could lead to increased consumer spending on many fronts, and we may just see a real recovery.

Quick disclaimer: Although I minored in Economics in college, the stuff above is just my own opinion.

Thanks for reading!

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If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Using my ActiveRain Blog with Current and Potential Clients

2009-10-29T21:12:19Z

I have been here on ActiveRain for two years and two months (sounds a bit like the old Chuck Woolery "2 and 2" quote). During that time, I have been very pleased to see how many consumers have found my blog. I've written over 900 posts, and most of those are "public", meaning that they are indexed by Google and the other search engines.

One of my posts, Austin Texas Relocation Package, was the result of a contest that was the brainchild of one of my friends, Adam Waldman, and backed by Bob Stewart. It has been at the top of Google for a long while now, resulting in almost 31,000 visits (see graphic from my "Statistics" page below). As you can see, it only has 36 comments, most of which came during the first month or so that it was up, but it has averaged about 1500 visits monthly since it was written in early March of 2008.

The post itself is a collection of links and descriptions for 26 other AR posts that I wrote back around that time, including a somewhat-informal introductory letter to buyers, and answers to the most frequently asked questions that I get from people who are considering relocating to the Austin area.

I send this one to most out-of-town and out-of-state buyers that I speak with, and it gets them much further along in the process with very little additional effort. Sometimes, I get calls from buyers who are looking at that post and calling it my "site", as in, "Your site at Activerain.com has a lot of great information." :) It's clearly working.This post is not the only example, but it's the most dramatic with regard to traffic.

Sometimes, when I have a buyer with specific questions, I make sure to send them one of my posts on that subject when I email them. In fact, I would highly recommend using questions from your clients to serve as blog topics. If one client has the question, it's likely to come up again, right?

Frankly, and this may sound a little cavalier to say, but it seems to impress clients if we are discussing an issue, and I tell them, "I actually wrote about this on my blog. Let me send you that article after we finish talking." I guess it's much like the old saying about "writing the book" on any given topic.

I have also used my blog to train and instruct the agents who work at my company. As a broker/owner, this helps me to better leverage my time, so that I don't have to cover the same ground over and over again.

Since I share all of my public posts on Facebook via the "Notes" application there, I often have friends from church or other acquaintances who mention reading stuff that I originally posted here. I am typically surprised by which people took the time to read my blog - I guess I'm less surprised than I used to be, however.

One additional point which you may find helpful came up the other day when I had lunch with Ian Greenleigh of DriveBuy Technologies. We both think it's a good idea to peruse blogs outside of AR in an effort to get additional exposure and gain more friends/contacts. If you comment elsewhere regularly, you can become one of the "regulars" there, too. I realize that there are only so many hours in the day - it's just an idea to get your name out there a bit more. This notion is also discussed in "Trust Agents", by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Whenever you do take the time to comment, make sure you link back to your AR blog (or outside blog) to gain more potential readers.

Thanks very much for reading!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/barnett/2836828090/

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Austin Takes the Top Spot for Increased Search Activity for Realtor.com!

2009-10-29T17:16:30Z

I am happy to report that our company has been quite busy selling homes lately here in Austin, with the last quarter shaping up very nicely. In fact, this has probably been the most active season for our company in about two years.

My friend Brian Block, who is a broker in the northern Virginia/D.C area, sent me a link to an interesting and encouraging article from Realtor.com, which states that Austin took the top spot in year-over-year search increase on Realtor.com, with a 91% jump from September 2008 to September 2009. WOW! This is clearly very exciting news for us. Brian spotted this article on Twitter.

Thankfully, we have seen similar results with the traffic to our website at www.austintexashomes.com, which is in the top 5 results on Google for almost every major real estate term that I care about.

The other cities in the top five were Las Vegas, New Orleans, Reno, and Tyler, Texas. Tyler came as an interesting surprise to me. My parents lived in Tyler just before I was born and we have relatives in that area.

If you would like to see the entire article, visit http://bit.ly/THTQd.

Austin remains one of the most affordable and desirable places to live in the U.S. If you're considering making a move, you might be interested in checking out my online relocation package right here:

Austin Texas Relocation Package

I would love the opportunity to help you find the right home in the general Austin area. You can also visit our Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Avery Ranch Home for Sale - 11016 Casitas Drive - $225,000

2009-10-28T22:55:38Z

One of our agents just listed a nice home in the Avery Ranch area overlooking the golf course and a scenic pond, too! It's hard to find places in the sub-$250,000 range like this.

Features:

3 Bedrooms, 2 Full Bathrooms
1937 square feet per tax records
Backs to golf course and pond
Built by Gehan Homes in 2005
Fresh paint and carpet (October 2009)
Island kitchen w/ silestone counters, beautiful mahogany cabinets, and black appliances
Home office with dark wood flooring right off the living area
Light and bright!
Covered patio
Immaculately maintained - Shows like a model

If you have any questions at all or if you would like to set up a time to take a look at this home, feel free to give me a call anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email me at jason@austintexashomes.com. If you are interested in searching all Austin homes for sale, visit my website at www.austintexashomes.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

I have over 10,000 Twitter followers now - What does this really mean?

2009-10-24T21:36:40Z

I remember getting invited to check out Twitter about 2 years ago. Next, I remember thinking that it seemed useless. Months passed....I got emails that said things like, "@delicioushair is now following you on Twitter". WHAT?!? Why?

The notion of someone following me used to strike me as both odd and off-putting. I guess it sounds catchier than saying that someone is "paying attention to you on Twitter", but that's basically exactly what this means. I prefer to think of my subscribers, friends, contacts, and followers as part of my online audience. The better you are at building an audience, the more likely you are to convert this to actual business growth, in my opinion.

Over time, I got the hang of it, and I finally jumped in with both feet just over a year ago, and I'm thankful that I did.

As of a couple of days ago, I have over 10,000 people paying attention to me on Twitter. What's the significance of this? Well, by itself, not much. I had a brief conversation on Twitter with Derek Overbey (@doverbey) after crossing this milestone. He mentioned that quality is more important than quantity, and I agree wholeheartedly. I think having BOTH is pretty nice, too. :)

I consistently see Twitter users with 20,000 or even 50,000 followers who have really only built a very big house of cards for themselves. They never converse with anyone, and they are still trying to use Twitter like a traditional marketing channel, by broadcasting information rather than hanging out and listening.

A few nights ago, I was happy to be able to attend a local "tweetup" (Twitter-based meetup) with author Shel Israel. I even got to sit next to him at dinner, which made my day. Shel is the author of the newly released book "Twitterville" and co-author with Robert Scoble of one of the seminal books on blogging, "Naked Conversations". During dinner, we had an interesting discussion with my local friend Mike Chapman about the fact that no politician has truly utilized social media yet, including President Obama. Obama's campaign certainly did a very effective job of using the tools to broadcast their message, but that's not the same thing as listening and joining the conversation. Shel noted that it would be newsworthy (and bookworthy) for a candidate to do this.

As with the candidates who jump on the bandwagon to appear hip, the same thing goes for anyone attempting to use Twitter to build his/her business. You must listen! Sending links from your blog posts, or just having a profile is not enough. What if someone responds to your post but you aren't even there to see it? In much the same way, having a giant number of followers means nothing if they are all spambots, or if you are never around to speak with them. Raw numbers are not the important part - engagement is.

I am happy to hit this new plateau, but I also recognize that the key to success in any social medium is being consistent.

Over the past 24 hours, I had two of my agents contact me, excited about new prospects that they have. One of them is looking to spend up to $3 million for a waterfront home (fully pre-screened - it's his friend's fiancee), and the other is considering homes priced in the $1 million range. If they both close, I would stand to make $22,500 or more for our company. Why am I bothering to tell you this? Because I met BOTH of these agents on Twitter. It's a phenomenal recruiting tool if handled correctly.

P.S. Just a quick tip: If you want to get serious about using Twitter to build relationships and your business, I would highly recommend using TweetDeck, Seesmic Desktop, or something similar. It makes it easier to pay attention to the people you care about and form bonds with them.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Why I Love Being a Dad (VIDEO proof)

2009-10-23T22:34:58Z

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you probably already know that I truly love my kids. Here's a quick and unedited video that I took tonight of our 3-year-old (Abby) and our 6-month old (Jenny). Abby would probably kiss and hug Jenny all day if we allowed it. In fact, my wife calls it "aggressive cuddling". I really like that term. I hope you enjoy this one. I play the part of the camera man/soon-to-be-jungle gym.

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Top Ten Social Media Edge Episodes (Both Live and Archived) - Just for You!

2009-10-23T21:52:38Z

I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see which of our Social Media Edge episodes have attracted the most attention. We have had 46 shows to date.

I'm not sure which one is a more interesting measure of success - "live" listeners or archive listens. Hence, I have included both of them here. All of the top five in the live category garnered over 100 listeners during the recording. All of the top archived shows have received over 600 listens. It's exciting to see the audience grow after the recorded programs are available. :)

Considering the fact that Sarah Evans was the only person to make both lists, perhaps we should consider having her back on the show sometime!

Top five shows for live listeners:

Social Media Edge - Special Guests Reggie and Nicole "Nik Nik" Nicolay

Social Media Edge - Special Guest Cathy Browne

Sept 15th - Special Guests HeyAmaretto, MayaREguru and Lesley Lambert

Sept 1st - Special Guest PR Sarah Evans

Brad Nix, Matt Fagioli REtechSouth

Top five shows for archive listens:

Guest James Shiner of TweeplePages

Very Special Guest Steve McGranahan - "World's Strongest Redneck"!

Guest Andrew Stone - Developer of "Twittelator" for the iPhone

Sept 1st - Special Guest PR Sarah Evans

Bloggers Sued for Product Endorsement?

So, why not take some time over the weekend and give them a listen. I think you'll find that we try to keep things both fun & informative. I would love to hear your feedback on what you think after you listen. Thanks!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

"Social Media Edge" Radio Archives - By Popular Demand!

2009-10-23T19:49:04Z

Every week or two, I get a handful of requests regarding the archives for our BlogTalkRadio show, Social Media Edge. Sometimes these requests are via email, and other times I get quick notes on Twitter or Facebook asking about a particular show that we had before.

In an effort to make it easier to find all of our shows in one place, I had written a post about this a few months ago. Since then, I got too busy to keep that post updated properly, so I would like to publicly thank Mike Mueller, who is a regular part of our show, for keeping the archives up to date.

Mike moved the archives over to our Facebook fan page: http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge.

You can pretty much see where Mike took over, since the summary notes dramatically improved over my own. :)

So, if you have any interest in hearing a previous show, with our phenomenal guests, head over to the Facebook URL above to find some great info from authors like Shel Israel, Paul Chaney, and Tara Hunt, or social media specialists like Sarah Evans, Reggie and Nicole Nicolay ("Nik Nik"), Connie Reece, Jay Baer and Mike Chapman. Once, we even had the World's Strongest Redneck. We liked having the Twitterqueens founders so much as guests, we gave them their own one-hour show on the network!

Mike is now hosting "The M Files" and Diane Guercio, Maya Paveza, and Lesley Lambert now host TQ Radio - both shows air on Monday at the same URL as Social Media Edge: http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc

We hope to continue expanding the network, and I like the sense of community that we've managed to foster. Join us sometime!

Here's this week's episode, to whet your appetite a little:

Oct 20th - Special Guest Mike Chapman

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If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Blackhawk Home for Sale - Pflugerville - 20921 Texas Meadows - Offered at $219,000

2009-10-23T00:33:49Z

I just listed a home today in the Estates of Blackhawk in Pflugerville which I expect to sell very quickly. In fact, I don't think I have seen a home in this price range with the upgrades that this one has to offer.

Take a quick look at some of the features:

5 Bedrooms, 3.5 Bathrooms
2623 square feet per tax records
Built in 2006
Large formal dining room fits table that seats twelve!
Highly upgraded kitchen with Jennaire stainless appliances (including a double convection oven)
Undermount sink
Granite countertops
Large ceramic tile flooring
Master down
4 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms upstairs
Large lot (.232 acre)
Very convenient to 130 & 45 (toll roads)
Dedicated gas stub for grill (Jennaire gas grill also stays!)
Neighborhood amenities include pool, clubhouse, workout facility, and more!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

Virtual REBarCamp - Learn from the Comfort of Your Home or Office! It's FREE!

2009-10-21T17:08:00Z

I was excited to see that the very first virtual Real Estate Barcamp is being held on November 17th. They are anticipating over 1000 agents to attend from across the United States (there are already 272 registered attendees as of this writing). Having attended a live version in Houston last year, I can attest to the value of this event.

They will have some terrific sessions and teachers, from the list I saw earlier today. There are still openings if you're interested in hosting your own session. There have enough virtual "room" for 27 total.

Current session topics include:

Social Media Risk Management
Flickr for Real Estate
Developing Your Brand
Online Advertising Secrets
Facebook for Real Estate
WordPress Training
Daily Goal Tracking
Starting a Real Estate Blog
...and more.

Following the virtual event, there will be many "in real life" meetups around the country. I am considering hosting one of these myself, depending on the interest level here in Austin.

The sessions will run from about 11am to 6pm Central time (9am to 4pm Pacific). You can get more details and track the progress here: http://rebarcamp.com/virtual/. I hope to see you there!

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!