Jim Gilbert's (austinhomesbyjim) Blog

If you have thought about owning a Bed and Breakfast in the beautiful northern Vermont ski country, give Idyllwild East a gander. Located at 1387 Route 101 in North Troy, Vermont, Idyllwild East is for sale by its owners (FSBO). This beautiful B&B is located just 5 miles from the Canadian Border....

According to the Austin Business Journal today, the U.S. Mint is about to begin a pilot program in Austin and in three other cities to promote the use of the new $1 presidential dollars. Efforts of the mint to get us to use other dollar coins (Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony) have failed. Maybe th...

Being in the right place at the right time can be uplifting. On a recent return trip to Austin from Hot Springs, AR, we drove through Pittsburg, TX. I remembered while we were there that there is a bronze statue (created by artist Max Greiner) of Jesus washing Simon Peter's feet. The Bible says t...

Well, well! Some stations in the Austin, TX area have dropped their prices to $3.41 a gallon! The crazy thing is thinking that I am getting a bargain. That helps to explain my theory of relativity: everything is relative. If gas had not gone up to the $4/gallon range, I would be fussing now about...

I have discovered, like many real estate agents, that I do not know sometimes (most of the time?) where my next business is coming from. In July, I had the opportunity to assist a high school friend with a home purchase in my Sendera Austin neighborhood. I don't believe that I had seen James sinc...

Here's another report by the Austin Business Journal today: An Allstate Insurance survey indicates that almost 40% of renters in the Austin, Texas area have no renters insurance to cover their property. My wife and I learned (almost the hard way) in our first apartment. We were wakened by sirens ...

As reported today by the Austin Business Journal, the Mortgage Bankers Association says that the number of applications for home loans has reached a near-8-year low. Wow! There are a lot of potential homebuyers sitting on the sidelines - waiting to get into the game later. I am thankful that ther...