IE for Mozilla! MLS won't work in Mozilla? Try it again... - 10/27/06 12:53 PM
Many of the MLS systems (and other websites for that matter) aren't compatable with Mozilla or Firefox. Ever since I first started using Firefox 3 or 4 years ago I was sold. I only use IE when I have to at this point and I know many of you are the … (2 comments)
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First Time Oxymoron, I mean Homebuyer. "Stop calling me a moron." - 10/26/06 08:04 AM
One of my favorite movie lines comes from Sly Stallone's "Oscar", where he's a gangster trying to turn straight arrow. A linguistics teacher (Tim Curry) visits the home to teach him how to "talk like a banker" instead of a thug. At one point the linguistics teacher begins to laugh and … (0 comments)
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Who killed the Nationwide Public MLS? - 10/25/06 12:48 PM
After reading Ben Kakimoto's blog on the NWMLS not renewing their feed to Realtor.com, I couldn't help but write on a uniform Public MLS......or lack thereof I should say.I'd be very interested to hear others comments, but my feelings are all for it!As a real estate investor first, and a REALTOR … (2 comments)
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What Property Taxes? But my payment is only $XXXX! - 10/25/06 12:25 PM
One terrible epidemic that is affecting Austin's growth is that we have a very high number of foreclosures every year. On a weekly basis we have at least 20 -30 HUD foreclosure come up on the market, I don't have the avg new VA or REOs but you can be sure … (1 comments)
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Unemployement Drops again in the Austin Area - 10/21/06 08:22 PM
According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the September unemployment rate for the Austin-Round Rock area totaled 3.8 percent, down from 4.2 percent in August. This rate is also lower than the September 2005 unemployment rate of 4.3 percent.
As I've pointed out in my other blogs, this is due to an … (1 comments)
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Fantastic Fitness Center Opening 2nd Location in South Austin - 10/21/06 08:06 PM
As a Proud Member of Lifetime Fitness, I am very excited to see that it was just announced that a second location will be opening in South Austin off of Mopac. The 1st location is in North West Austin off of RR 620.
Lifetime Fitness Centers all follow the same model … (2 comments)
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News Alert: Agent doesn't return calls! Oh, wait, that's normal. - 10/19/06 09:26 AM
*** WARNING SARCASM PRESENT & AS THICK AS SOME BRAINS***
I read this little piece on Forbes.com, and couldn't help but sympathize with the journalist. The qoute I'm talking about in the article is this one:
"Crooner Diana Ross, 62, is selling her nine-acre Greenwich estate in the exclusive Belle View enclave. Asking … (1 comments)
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New Poll shows Austin as STONGEST MARKET - 10/17/06 11:01 AM
A qoute from the recent report is that, "Austin Remained the Strongest of the Top 20 Markets On Every Metric in September"Other notable facets of the report were that there were 17,076 single-family permits in 2005, Autin is the 19th largest market in the country.Reasons for Austin's Market Strengthe were due … (3 comments)
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Another Reason to Move to Texas!! A BIG reason for ME! - 10/16/06 08:31 PM
BUFFALO, N.Y.(AP) Residents were digging out and cleaning up Saturday after a record-breaking early snowstorm walloped the Buffalo area, leaving thousands without power and killing three people. NO SNOW!!!! I used to live in Rochester, just 45 min east of Buffalo and I owned a Truck that had a lift kit, … (1 comments)
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How much House can you BuY? Before you Buy? - 10/16/06 08:12 PM
My sister and her new husband just bought their first home about a year ago and recently I was talking to her about some updates my wife and I are doing on our home.
She responded by saying that she wasn't prepared for how much money goes into home ownership.
We went … (2 comments)
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Whew! What a Weekend! Poor clients :( - 10/16/06 07:47 PM
I'm actually looking forward to sitting down and writing after all the running around I've been doing for the past couple of days.
I have a client that I feel so bad for. They moved here a year ago on a job transfer and needed two years make sure the job was … (1 comments)
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Unrealistic Expectations from an Investor - 10/13/06 08:19 PM
I have an agent that just helped a client buy a property that he wants to "flip". They were able to buy the house considerably below market value and closed on it last week. It only needs minor work to get it fixed up nice enough to flip.
They decided to put … (13 comments)
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Client: "I'm NOT Stupid, Stop Treating me that way!" - 10/13/06 07:50 PM
NO, that was not directed at me! That was a client of mine recently telling me why she liked working with me.NO, not because I make her feel Stupid, but because, in her words, "The other agents I talked to acted like I was Stupid. I just wanted to say, I'm … (2 comments)
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You have Great Marketing! Really? How? - 10/13/06 06:20 PM
Yesterday I was meeting with a buyer and at the end of our journey of looking at homes, she just just said kinda out of the blue, "You know You have Great Marketing!"I was kinda surprised, mainly because this client called me about a property on my site that was from … (3 comments)
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Why aren't neighbors friendly anymore? - 10/11/06 11:54 PM
I'm just wondering how neighbors have gone from this: to this Almost every one of my clients requires "privacy" in their back yard. 7 - 8 foot Wood Privacy Fences are a MUST, but usually not enough. "Greenbelt would be better", I hear. Where I grew up in Tennessee, we didn't have fences … (4 comments)
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Even the FEDS report that the Texas economy is growing. - 10/11/06 11:26 PM
There was a fantastic article in the Austin Business Journal reporting that Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas states that "Texas' economy remains strong and is continuing to outpace the national economy.
Year-to-date employment in Texas through August was 2.7 percent, an increase of 177,300 jobs. This is more than twice the national … (1 comments)
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Ugly Vacant Albertsons will have New Owners - 10/11/06 11:16 PM
Ross Dress for Less is reported to have just bought the many of the Albertsons buildings and are expected to fill the stores as soon as possible.
Due to a recent buy out of Albertsons by CVS Corp, many of the stores abruptly closed and subsequently have remained boarded up, vacant and … (4 comments)
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Austin Area's Appreciation through Sept 2006 - 10/10/06 09:23 AM
Here is my monthly update for the Austin Area's Appreciation YTD by MLS Area. In the month of Sept we are beginning to see the first signs of some slowing down in the real estate market as there were 122 more new listings in Sept 06 compared to Sept 05, but 4 … (2 comments)
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Your Area BOOMED, now it's BUMMED...what's up with that? - 10/09/06 09:52 AM
Throughout many parts of the country the housing industry seemed to go crazy. I have a friend that bought three brand new homes in Phoenix area and 1 year later sold them for $100K each. $300K in 1 year for median priced homes...I'm sorry, that's insane! Now it appears that many … (3 comments)
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What is your value? - 10/09/06 09:28 AM
This may stir some people on AR, but this is just my opinion.I recently had a conversation with a client on my "value" to them as a "full service Realtor". I explained that I work for 3% to the buyer and 6% to the seller. I then spouted off a list … (14 comments)
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Red River Shootout !! Go Horns!!!...or Work - 10/07/06 10:54 AM
UH-OH! The biggest weekend in Austin's college football schedule is here!!! The RED RIVER SHOOTOUT, between Okalahoma Sooners and THE Texas Longhorns! And what am I doing during gametime? Well, I was planning on being out in a boat listening to the game, but I had a call late last … (2 comments)
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Hyper Housing Bubble or Economic Downturn? - 10/07/06 10:43 AM
There will always be a some sort of growth in real estate, but sometimes just as in the stock market, if there is high appreciation (or price increases) mainly due to hype, then there comes a time when the "market corrects itself" This is the so-called bubble effect. It's not … (3 comments)
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A couple of Well Known Companies adding stores to AUSTIN - 10/06/06 09:48 PM
I like to post article having to do with job growth, because to me jobs mean homes. More jobs mean more homes, less jobs mean less homes.
Two of the newest announcements are that Panera Bread Company and Tiffany & Company are opening sites in the Austin Area.
Panera Bread offers a variety … (1 comments)
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Austin is County's MOST IMPATIENT CITY!! - 10/06/06 09:33 PM
There was an article in the Austin Business Journal on a study done which found Austin to be the "MOST IMPATIENT CITY".
A small excerpt in the article states that Austin beat out other contenders by a slim margin with the highest per capita "in and out" gyms, quick-copy centers and quick-change … (2 comments)
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More medical Growth for the Round Rock Area - 10/06/06 09:10 PM
In a previous article pertaining to the growth potential and future of a subdivision in Round Rock called Teravista, I stateds as one of the factors of continued growth was the medical facilities that are being built near and around this subdivision. Another NEW development will soon be underway.
According to the … (0 comments)
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I'm not a know-it-all, I'm a find-it-all! - 10/05/06 03:13 PM
My personal phrase about my personal knowledge of real estate and the market in general is, "I may not know all the answers, but I know where to find them."I try to stress this to all of the agents on our team. I find that having knowledge is very important in … (0 comments)
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Communication is Viral - 10/04/06 11:28 PM
Vital! I meant Vital! Oh well, doesn't matter, you know what I meant. I think it's vital to communicate when we confuse our clients. I mean converse with our clients. It's important when we deal out our coworkers. I mean deal with our coworkers. Communication is a key to working with … (8 comments)
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Condo/Hotel Combos - 10/04/06 10:57 PM
Recently I was approached on a fairly new concept that apparently started in the South Beach area of Miami, but is steadily expanding to other areas. The concept is the Hotel/Condo Complex. Apparently it's takes a bit of the 2nd home market, the timeshare market and the vacation rental market and … (7 comments)
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Teravista Update!! Movieplex coming soon!! - 10/03/06 12:53 PM
I wrote an article yesterday on the Teravista area of Round Rock and how I think it's going to be a continued hot neighborhood because of all the growth. I don't know how I didn't know about this but Cinemark is about to open a 14 Screen Movie Theatre right next … (0 comments)
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Buyer’s Agent Disservice - 10/03/06 12:07 AM
I recently received a desperate call from a buying client that had to be out of his home in just 4 days. He had talked with me a couple of weeks earlier and I actually showed him some homes that were in his price range. The client told me the … (0 comments)
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Austin's New Home Building Continues to grow - 10/02/06 12:27 PM
According to a recent report from a market research firm, Residential Strategies Inc, the Austin Area had 17,000 new starts within the past 12 months.
A qoute in the Austin Business Journal confims some of my previous blogs on Austin's Appreciation.
"While Austin builders are concerned about the housing slow-down reported in … (0 comments)
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North Round Rock on Verge of EXPLODING...in my opinion - 10/02/06 12:08 PM
I often have prospects ask me my opinion about one neighborhood vs another. More & more I'm being asked, "What do you think about Teravista vs "Any Other"." Which would be a better investment if I were to move there?
Whenever the question has been brought to me for the past few … (0 comments)
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