travis county real estate: Tax Free Weekend is Coming to Texas
- 07/22/09 02:05 AM
I saw on the news a couple of days ago that some states are canceling their "Tax Free Weekend" next month because they can't afford to do it. Texas WILL still have a "Tax Free Weekend". What does this mean? This means that many of the items you would buy for "back to school" for your kids or yourself would not be taxed. Items such as jeans, shirts, socks, tennis shoes, and sandals are all exempt from tax. There are several items that are not exempt, like specialty items, such as cleats (soccer shoes), baseball pants, and most any sports related … (8 comments)
travis county real estate: REALTORS® can't Discriminate, but a Buyer Can? Double Standard?
- 07/16/09 09:49 AM
I woke up this morning and checked my emails, as usual. First thing I noticed was an email for a referral. Don't we all love referrals? They're our life-line of business!! It was about 6:30 in the morning, so I emailed her to let her know I would call her after my morning appointment. Right before I was heading out the door, I noticed the returned receipt that she read my email, so I decided to go ahead and call her even though it was only 7:30am her time. I called, apologized for calling so early, and explained that I saw … (22 comments)
travis county real estate: Press Release for the Austin TX Top Ten Real Estate Deals
- 07/13/09 05:38 AM
I just received an email that a Press Release was sent over the AP and other major online news aggregators featuring the Austin Top Ten Real Estate Deals and me, Donna Harris! Talk about national exposure!! You can see the PR here. If you're a homeowner in the Austin, TX area and would like to have your house listed and marketed with a REALTOR® with exposure like this, contact me TODAY! Here's a link so you can see the regular updates of the list. **Are You Packed Yet?**
Donna Harris, REALTOR®RE/MAX Austin Skylinewww.DonnaHomes.comDonna@DonnaHomes.com Austin, TX real estate and the surrounding areas of … (14 comments)
travis county real estate: What's the View Outside Your Window?
- 07/10/09 06:00 AM
Do you have an office with a window? If so, what's your view? And do you find yourself wasting time looking at your view? Or do you not pay much attention to it? Here is my view right outside my office window left to right...
It's a vacant lot with a bunch of dead trees next to a house being built. I thought it would be really annoying trying to work with all the building going on around me, but I've actually found it to not bother me at all. They work "quietly" and I hardly know … (9 comments)
travis county real estate: The Adventures of Lakeway City Park
- 07/05/09 01:24 PM
I was told by many people that the Lakeway City Park should definitely be a place for us to take Alyssa. Why? Because it had a nice beach and water front area where you could dip your feet on a hot day, and also feed the ducks.
Here is the Lakeway City Park beach...
Is it missing something? Yes, that's a lot of sand with a sign that says to Swim at Own Risk. How far away is the water? Mike, Alyssa, and Oscar are walking in the middle of where it should be as you can see the pile … (6 comments)
travis county real estate: Have You Signed the HVCC Petition? Only 40,178 people have
- 06/25/09 01:09 PM
Have you signed the petition for the HVCC? Have you seen the petition? It's amazing that so many people are complaining about the HVCC, there's a petition to do something about it, however, only 40,178 people have signed it. Aren't there 1.3 MILLION REALTORS® out there? With that number alone, there should be several hundred thousand signatures already... but there aren't. Aren't there like 5 appraisers for every Realtor? Ok, I know there aren't that many, but there have to be several hundred thousand appraisers across the country. Why aren't they all signing this if they're that upset? Have most given … (73 comments)
travis county real estate: Can You Identify this Creature?
- 06/25/09 01:28 AM
You guys did so well helping me figure out what this creature was, the katydid, that I've got another one for you... What is this?? Here it is laying on its back kicking up its legs and I have it compared to a penny.
Here it is completely stretched out hanging on to the side of the step for dear life.
My husband called it a twig bug, as the body did look like a twig from a tree, but I've never heard of such a thing.... but I haven't heard of many of these new bugs I'm seeing. Wait … (14 comments)
travis county real estate: Public Awareness About Propane
- 06/20/09 03:44 AM
In my new neighborhood, we have Porpane instead of natural gas. I'm told it's because it's too expensive to dig under the river/lake to bring natural gas to many areas... whatever... Thus far, I can't really figure out the difference between Natural Gas and Propane except we can't get our grill to have a low setting. It's either High or really HIGH so you have to watch those cook times and making sure the inside is cooking while the outside gets all black. We do not have a propane tank in our yard, yeah! We have a community tank thing that … (4 comments)
travis county real estate: Austin TX - Top 10 Awards Summary
- 06/20/09 02:04 AM
In the past year, Austin TX has been on 10 Top Ten awards lists for various things. If you're thinking about moving here, here are a few things to look into. July 2008- CNNMoney.com - TOP 10 BEST PLACES TO LIVE- Ranked #7 July 2008- Forbes.com- BEST CITIES FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS- Ranked #10 July 2008- Inc.com- BEST CITIES TO DO BUSINESS- Ranked #2 June 2008- Kiplinger.com- TOP 10 BEST CITIES TO LIVE, WORK, PLAY- Ranked #6 February 2008- Popular Science- TOP GREENEST CITIES- Ranked #10 March 2009- Forbes.com- 10 CITIES WHERE AMERICANS ARE RELOCATING- Ranked #2 February 2009- moviemaker.com- TOP 25 … (2 comments)
travis county real estate: REALTOR® Membership is on the Rise in Austin TX
- 06/15/09 01:25 PM
Many markets are doing very bad, or just mediocur. Austin, TX has been fairly stable, and has also been picking up a lot of activity recently. Many markets also talk about all the REALTORS® who have been weeded out of the business and the worker-bees are picking up their slack. According to the Austin Board of REALTORS®, they're getting another 2-3 members for each one that drops off the radar. As we weed out the ones who can't sell dirt, there are 2-3 new people who think they can.
I asked why they think there are so many new members … (8 comments)
travis county real estate: How Was Your Weekend?
- 06/14/09 01:25 PM
Last weekend, I posted a blog called, How Was Your Weekend, and I think I'm going to continue it as a weekly blog. If others would like to join in, the more the merrier! How was my weekend? My mom came into town for a couple of days, so it was full of activity after activity as things never stopped, except for nap time! Part of my weekend was captured here in my first Speechless Sunday blog playing Peek 'a Boo from behind the couch. We started the morning at 7:30am sitting outside blowing bubbles... My mom will probably kill me … (12 comments)
travis county real estate: Austin TX Ranks at the Top of Another Survey- Big City Job Growth!
- 06/10/09 03:14 AM
Can you say, "Another survey"? There are so many surveys these days, and they all break down the same things and are interpreted differently, but then a new little element is added which changes the results from another survey. From information released a few days ago by the the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Austin TX leads the way in job growth! There were 38 metro areas looked at that have a population of over 750,000. Austin was the only city to GAIN jobs from April 2008 to April 2009. Amazing numbers!! How many jobs did Austin, TX add? 3400, which is … (2 comments)
Either way, there are no city taxes so the tax rate is lower than several communities in the Austin, TX area. Within the Lake Pointe Community, there are, in fact, two different tax rates so you better check before you buy to make sure you know which one is yours. The differences aren't that much, 2.016% verse 2.196%. However, on a $500,000 house, that's … (3 comments)
Alyssa's favorite was the bounce houses. She would get down to put her shoes on to take them off again and climb in the next bounce house.
There was even a "tattoo" section for the older kids. Really, they were just stickers but they called them tattoos to make it sound cooler. The karaoke didn't take off too well until all the pre-teen girls decided to … (2 comments)
travis county real estate: The TopTenRealEstateDeals.com List for Austin, TX is Now Live
- 05/29/09 05:48 AM
A few days ago, I sent out messages and also blogged about the TopTenRealEstateDeals.com page for Austin, TX. I wanted to thank those of you who got back with me. Here is the link to Austin's current deals. Yes, there are many more "deals" out there, and the list will be updated every couple of weeks.
If you hear of a deal, please let me know and I'll try my hardest to include it. If you're from a different market, and you would like to see your market featured within this list, let me know as I've got "connections" with … (8 comments)
travis county real estate: Showing Etiquette While Another Agent is There Too
- 05/28/09 10:02 AM
What is the showing etiquette where you are? What I'm used to is calling a showing service and scheduling my showing. The showing service then tells you if there is another showing already scheduled during that time, but it's just to let you know that someone else might be there too, no biggie. You don't reschedule or anything. You go to your showings. If someone is there showing their buyers, you politely knock on the door (as it's usually wide open), walk in, and introduce yourself. You then proceed to let them know you'll go ahead and take your buyers upstairs, … (42 comments)
travis county real estate: Do You Properly Use Your Popcorn Button?
- 05/25/09 06:57 AM
Do you use the Popcorn button on your microwave? Are you one that says, "Yes, I use it, but it doesn't really pop the popcorn very well"? Is your bag usually not full? Do you have lots of kernels left over? If so, you're not using it properly! I'm going to assume you don't know the little trick. Every time I tell someone, they're so appreciative... Most times, when you hit the popcorn button, you have to hit the 30 second extender, and sometimes you have to hit it twice as the corn is still popping. Who wants to leave all … (19 comments)
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!
I saw on the news a couple of days ago that some states are canceling their "Tax Free Weekend" next month because they can't afford to do it.
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