Qualifications of a Great Real Estate Agent; hire a short sale specialist

Many people are asking, why should I hire you, a short sale specialist to help me buy or sell my home? First of all, just because I call myself a short sale specialist doesn't mean I do not provide representation for traditional buyers and sellers.  Not all short sales are for all brokers.  It requires a certain personality to be able to do short sales daily. I am a successful short sale listing specialist, having completed several short sales.  Here are the qualifications of a successful short sale agent:

• Master patience, persistence, empathy for homeowner's financial and personal distress;
• Ability to manage the negotiation side - doing most of that work yourself
• Extremely focused and organized.  Commited to relationship building with a range of lender reps.
• Learn the variation in how deals are done.
• Be an excellent comminicator.
• Commit to staying up to speed with the industry - and to educating others about it.
• Ready, able and willing to be very, very, busy.
• Ability to provide lender's requirements rapidly and stay on top of files,
• Be able to time block and have business planning skills,
• Be able to keep up with the changing short sale guidelines
• Great marketing skills - ability to target investors and buyers

In summary, a short sale agent must have excellent communication skills, focused and organized, patient, persistence and have empathy, great negotiation skills, good marketing strategy, and keep up with the real estate trends.  Hmm, aren't these the qualifications that you would want in your realtor?  So if you are looking for someone with the above qualifications, you just found the right agent!

Real Estate Market in Austin, TX for May 2011

What is the Real Estate Market in Austin, TX like?  Thanks to Alamo Title of Austin who religiously provide us, realtors the above graphs and charts so that we can provide these to you.  In summary, Alamo Title reports the following:

New Preliminary May 2011 Data:

Units for Sale: (compared to May 2010)

New listings are up 3.21%.

Pendings are up 55.88%.

Solds decreased by 10.58%

Here comes the interesting part:

Units for Sale:(compared to the same week in 2010) For May 29, 2011 - June 4, 2011

New listings are down this week 2.27%.

Pendings are up this week 41.32%

Solds are up 35.69%

So, you tell me is it a good time to sell in Austin?  Oh yeah!  Is it a good time to buy in Austin?  Absolutely, we are seeing multiple offers in my Keller Williams' Lake Travis office.  I can break down these numbers based on your area so call me today to make an appointment at (512)786-7355.

San Jose chipmaker is coming to Austin

It looks like another California based company is going to open a research and development facility here in Austin, TX!  Altera Corp. signed a 10 year lease in the Travis Oaks area by Southwest Parkway.  This will be close to other hi tech companies such as AMD and Freescale Inc.  Read the announcement from Austin Business Journal's site.  This is extremely good news for our economy. This may also mean more people relocating to Austin.

So for you Altera Corp. employees, if you read this post, I can imagine you will need housing.  I would love to help you find a home to buy or lease.  My office is only 15 minutes away from the R&D facility.  Wouldn't you want someone who is familiar with the area to help you? Call my "SELL" phone at (512)786-SELL/(512)786-7355.