I love the Forest Creek community in Round Rock, TX I live there and have many friends and great neighbors there as well.  I have a great home with a fantastic view, covered patios, balcony and back porches.  My husband and I love to sit out back listening to the birds and the hooty owls.  It is usually all serene and peaceful.

Even when it is cold we sit outside because we have a patio heater.  So, with that said, yes its 40ish degrees and yes I am sitting outside with the heater but I have my house shoes and sweats on.  Yesterday, I came home and was headed to sit outside and noticed my house shoes were not there. I looked high and low, inside and out and they are gone. We aren't talking flimsy little house shoes we are talking heavy and thick.  I never found them.

Having an extra pair, I went upstairs and got the other pair to wear thinking I have set the other pair aside somewhere and have had a senior moment.  BUT NO...I caught Mr. Squirrel hauling off one of the other pairs that I took out last night....Why would they do this?  The other pair was so heavy, I would be surprised if they could take it into a nest or tree.  But there he was running off with the second pair. ARGH!  These little sneakers are so smart, guess I will have to start hiding my stuff.  I still love Forest Creek even if I have to put up with Crazy squirrels.   

I am so excited, I am fixing to list a gorgeous home in the 78704 zip code in Austin, TX.  What's so great about that you say? Well, this house is so cool I can't even begin to describe the wonderfulness of it.  First, for those that don't know 78704 zip code is on the south edge of Downtown.  It is an ecclectic neighborhood of new and old homes with nice size yards framed by loads of established trees.  Location is key here and it is great, minutes to DT, where there is boutique shopping, recreation like Zilker Park, Lady Bird Lake, the hike and bike trails, The Long Center, The Erwin Center, UT Campus and stadiums, upscale restaurants, music venues, coffee houses and taquerias...Some of the best food and food trailers are located minutes away. 

Ok back to the house...there are 3 large bedrooms plus a study/office.  The home is 3 stories, with the master located on the 3rd floor with 2 balconies that has views of Austin DT Skyline and St. Edward University on the other side.  You can see forever, it is gorgeous!!  The First floor has stained concrete floors, designer paint, high ceilings and great windows that look out to your covered wrap around porch.  Kitchen is open to the den and dining area and has been updated by recent granite counter tops.  It is hidden away in a culdesac.  Look for more pictures and  information in the upcoming weeks.    

Dance, dance, twirl, bow, swing around a lamp post.  Ta Dahhhh.  Can you tell I am a happy camper this morning?  I am happy, the market is good here in Austin, TX.  It was like January 2nd hit and the gates were open!!  I guess people finally realized HELLO....rates have never been lower, homes are priced reasonably, you will never know if you will be at a certain job forever and you can't predict the future...

It is going to be a great year for Real Estate!! Hope you enjoy it...

Can you tell I am hungry?  Yes, I am going to need to eat something and soon.  I have been watching the news and am not sure how, I can say, that I haven't lost my appetite with all that is being reported.  But I am having a hard time tearing myself away from the constant craziness. 

There is the jerk that shot a female Park Ranger unnecessarily, then goes into the forest and dies.  He brings his car full of armory and a paper trail of mental illness.  Why do these things happen?  How does one not see that there is trouble brewing?  If he was a son, friend, fellow employee to someone, where were they? 

Then there is the race for the Republicans. Bleck!!  I am surprised I haven't vomited all over the place with this calamity of old white men who are so out of touch with reality, they just keep moving somebody to the top until someone sticks.  Kinda like throwing $&(* into the fan...one day your hot and the next day your not...   

Next the arsonist in LA who just decided he was PO'd because they (?) were going to deport his mother who was here illegally...What is going on?????? Full Moon? The crazys have arrived and are going Postal.  It is scary that these people have lost it.

I guess I will stand back, hide and watch the Carnival proceed.  What a way to start the new year.   

In Austin, we have a huge party downtown for New Years Eve. Start at 6th street and work your way down thru 2nd and 3rd Street.  There is so much good food to be had with the many restaurants and then toast at the hundreds of bars along the way.  One of my favorites is Maria, Maria on 4th.  This restaurant/bar is owned by Carlos Santana (my fav)...great food and ambiance. 

Anyway, the point of this post is to say Happy New Year to all my AR friends and to suggest that if you get a little loose downtown tonight, have a DD, take a taxi, stay in a Hotel.  SoberRide has been shut down so that is not an option...have extra money tucked away for your alternative...  Happy New Year.    

Austin's new home sales is rebounding due to demand and lot scarcity which in 2012 will create a housing recovery and higher priced homes.  This is great for re-sales and new homes and hopefully will turn into a seller's market as opposed to a flood of homes on the market that we have seen in the past couple of years.  What that tells me is that any potential Seller should be preparing their homes to put on the market.  Your competition will be new homes, so your property needs to shine and have the WOW factor that will be needed to compete. If you need a market analysis and someone to come take a look at your home to get it ready to put on the market.  I specialize in that.

Sellers don't believe it when your friends tell you everything in your home is just fine.  You need a new pair of eyes from an unbiased party also from someone who does these critics day in and day out.  Hire a local Realtor to get top dollar for a top property.  Happy New Year!!  

All over the news the poor Republican party want-to-bes are struggling to be the one, the leader, the front runner.  Now, with each one of them having been the front runner only to fall from grace or to drop to the bottom of the pile.  It is freaky scary that not a one of them is bright enough to be a leader or a politician.  Lord knows I have to live with the shame of having the OOPS Governor - who is an open mouth, insert foot kind of guy.  Rootin' Tootin Pow Pow.

So, It got me to thinking... are you the front runner in your sphere? I am not sure I want to be at this point. I do want to be more visual and referrable, but I am not sure I want the stress to stay ahead of the pack of ankle biters.  I do know I am going to start a mail campaign on top of all the other things I do asking for more referrals and I am definately working on more face time with past clients.  Are you going to drop to the bottom of the pile in 2012?  Are you going to be a front runner (too much stress) or are you going to be like me?  I am more like the story the tortoise and the hare...I am the tortoise - fastidious and true.  Loyal and lucky.  Happy New Year all!!      

I am not sure when this happened but my local Realtor Association is calling itself the WC.  This stands for Williamson County which is the county where I live and am involved in the Williamson County Association of Realtors formerly called WCAOR now referred to as the WC.  Again, I am not sure when they shortened it but am kinda baffled about it.  Are we so lazy that we can't say Way core (WCAOR) anymore? 

So last night in the WC - we had our annual banquet and Installation for the Board of Directors.  I am excited to say I was installed as a new Board Member and look forward to serving the WC or WCAOR whatever you want to call it.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! 

As a progressive city, Austin is really making an effort to swim with the latest trends.  No smoking anywhere, parks totally off limits for smoking or pooping dogs, back in parking on major streets which has only made things worse (traffic wise), all kinds of weird rulings, stay exactly 3 feet away from bicycles, walk only on the right side of the street on odd numbered days (just kidding) but the list goes on and on.  The slogan for Austin is "Keeping Austin weird."  No problem there.  

So, today in the paper, it says the City MAY ban MOST paper and plastic bags.  This is to start in 2016, hopefully by then some of the weirdness from our City Council will be gone.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am all in for the plastic, I recycle faithfully.  I do... I use the plastic bags to pick up dog poop and cigarette butts in the park or when the neighbors don't have the courtesy to pick it up, I use them to put garbage in, I take some back to the store so they can reuse them. I get it... but I don't want to be told what to do with stuff. Especially when it comes to dragging in those tacky green grocery bags to and from our cars.  I honestly have to be reminded to drag those in and out of my car, my home and the grocery store.  ARGH!! 

Maybe instead of employees to assist us, we can go thru the self-checkout lines and then have monkeys carry out our groceries in non-paper/plastic bags. Thats good right, keeping costs down by doing it all yourself. Then let the city council figure out how to pick up the Monkey poop.     

Ok I love growth and totally understand how it affects my bottom line.  So, I am reading the Austin American Statesman, our local paper and also my facebook page and I see that Costco is coming to Cedar Park.  Why am I excited? Because they are going to be closer to me than the one in the Arboretum area (Northwest Austin) and it will be newer than the Sam's that is close to me. AND it is going to hire 300 people which is great for the Cedar Park area. What that shows me is the confidence Costco/Sams/Walmart is very confident in our area.  As I always say, if Walmart doesn't have it, the Gantner's don't either.... Merry holidays everybody.