Ki's Austin Real Estate Blog

The Austin area added about 3,300 jobs between March 2008 and March 2009, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. That's the good news. The bad news is that the local unemployment rate has gone from 3.8 percent in March 2008 to 6.2 percent this past March. Austin is not immune to the recessi...

Estate planning empowers you and your family to carry out your wishes during and after your death. There are a lot of steps in the process to complete an estate plan. Before you do anything, though, you need to determine who you want to get what from your estate, and who will handle all those mat...

Mortgage rates moved down slightly this week. Even though rates didn't move much this week we are still sitting just a hair above all time lows thanks to the drop from last week. This week the 30 year rate dropped from 4.82 to 4.80. The all time low was reached earlier this month when 30 year rat...

Summer is just around the corner and school will soon be out for summer vacation. Many Americans will be planning vacations and things to do with their families. If you are one of the millions facing a tight budget, don't despair, there are affordable things to do with your family this summer. Th...

A short sale is when a lender agrees to take less than the principle due on your home to release you from the debt obligation. In today's real estate market, many cities are experiencing financial hardship. Financial hardship leads to bankruptcy and foreclosure. Bankruptcy and foreclosure often l...

Mortgage rates dropped this week from 4.87 to 4.82. They did not drop below the all time low of 4.78 that they hit two weeks ago. For the last month, for the most part, we have not seen a lot of movement and instead have just seen the 30 year mortgage rate just bouncing around near all time lows....

There are some conspicuous gaps along the store fronts of South Congress Avenue. Looking for Loft Furniture or Cowboy Cool on Second Street? Both these shops have closed in recent months. Thinking of stopping into long-time clothing shop Flipnotics on Barton Springs Road? Think again. Americans i...

Have you done all you can to settle your debts, but do not have enough income to cover all the debts? Maybe you lost your job, like 90% of the most other individuals who file for bankruptcy. The creditors keep coming at you for collection. They call day and night. One has even begun court proceed...

A short sale is when a lender agrees to take less than the principle due on your home to release you from the debt obligation. In today's real estate market, many cities are experiencing financial hardship. Financial hardship leads to bankruptcy and foreclosure. Bankruptcy and foreclosure often l...

Is the glass half full or half empty? Or maybe that analogy doesn't work in this economy because people really just want to know if we've reached the bottom of this bitter drink of bad banks, busted housing markets and layoffs. The answer seems as hard to come by as a good analogy. However, the c...