Testament from recently closed short sales

My client gave me this wonderful testimonial after a recent short sale closing: 

Thank you Cindy (my listing client)!

 

I can't say enough good things about what Pearl has done for me. I was in my house for over 5 years. Times got gard. I was looking at a foreclosure and years of bad credit, dealing with tons of calls from the bank. Pearl came in and saved me. She dealt with both banks, and all the stress that goes with...

dealing with banks and financial institutes. I wish I would have met her sooner. No stress for me. She was upfront and honest about everything. It was not about the bottom line with her. It was all about doing the right thing. She has a great personality in any given situation. She got the job done quick and ended up with money in my pocket that I wouldn't have before.
My credit was saved from foreclosure to a short sale. Pearl is an amazing broker and knows exactly what she is doing I will reconnect her to everyone I know I will certainly use her in the future. Great experience and again she is the stress buffer between you and your future.

 ~ Cindy

October Real Estate Statistics for Austin

October Real Estate Statistics have been published by Gracy Title this month.  The numbers are looking great and I don't recall seeing them this good!

Gracy Title reports that in October 2012, residential sales are up 27.9% compared to last October (2011).  In Lake South (MLS LS), residential sales are up 37.5% compared to last October. 

 

As for my market center, Keller Williams Lake Travis, our staff also reported that our closed sales in October were record breaking!  This is absolutely great news for our economy!

 

 

Ridge at Alta Vista and Enclave at Alta Vista 3rd Quarter Sales

Ridge at Alta Vista and Enclave at Alta Vista are neighborhoods in Lakeway, TX.  Sales are improving in Central Austin and as proof, here are the 3rd quarter statistics for this neighborhood.  So far, 28 units have sold in 2012 and the year is not over yet.

This is also proof that if you are thinking of selling in Alta Vista, now is the time!

 

Keller Williams Halloween Carnival Oct 25, 2012

Come and join us  to our 4th Annual Keller Williams Halloween Carnival on Thursday Oct. 25th from 5-8pm at 1921 Lohmans Crossing, Lakeway.  Highlights of the carnival are over 40 game booths, City of Lakeway Police Department is featuring the Spook House or mini Hunted House headed by Officer Eric Barto, Trick or Treating, Music, Costume Contest, Clown Show, Laser Tag, Appearance by Sir Winsalot, Gyroball, and more!  The event is FREE to the community.  Food is available for purchase.  Raffle Tickets will be sold for $1 each for a chance to win several items.  All proceeds from the raffle will go to Lake Travis Cares.  Parking is available at Emmaus Church and a FREE shuttle is provided. 

 

The following are the participants to this event: Juany Cleaning, Jessica Garcia of Keller Williams, TexStar Insurance, Lakeway A/C and Heating, Angela Ishee of Keller Williams, Independence Title, Aus*Tex Golf, Amber Hart of Keller Williams, 2-10 Home Warranty, Corrective Chiropractic, Strandz Beauty Salon, Youth2Seniors, Gracy Title, Clyde Goodnaugh, Bath Planet, Lakeway Aquatic, Deb Groom of Keller Williams. Sing Orthodontics, Jimmy Jacobs Custom Homes, Jason Jumper Insurance, Lake Travis Oral Surgery, It Works, Maids and Moore, Jack Underwood Music, A New Day Care, Giving Tree Learning Center, Painting With a Twist, Capital Title, Nunnallee Inspections, Elite Wellness, 4DDance, Ben Archer of State Farm Insurance, Karen Decker of Keller Williams, Joy Jolie Skin Care, Angela Obrolski of Thirty-One, Hill Country Pediatric, City of Lakeway PD, Lake Travis Fire and Rescue, and Keller Williams Farm and Ranch Team.

 

Thanks to the following people for their contributions: Lake Hills Montessori, Hay Compere Attorneys, Donut Hole, Papa Murphys, Primrose, AHPS, Drees Homes, Stokes Sign and Scott Bullard of Keller Williams.

 

Hope to see you there!  Look for me as I will be busy running the event.  Yes, I am this year's Carnival Coordinator. Yipeee! And you know what that means, it's going to be an awesome event. I will be the one wearing the ........costume.  haha!

July Market Statistics for Austin

 

Austin Real Estate market statistics are here and the numbers look great.  In July 2012, residential sales units are up 17% compared to last July.  In Lake Travis ISD area (which includes Bee Caves, Lakeway and Spicewood), sales units are up 28% compared to last July.

Alamo Title of Austin also reports the following information for July:

As for Average Prices:

The "New Listings" average list price is up 2.65% to $304,219.  In July 2011 the average list price was $296,359. 

Sold average sales prices increased 7.58% to $276,822.  For July 2011 it was $257,322

It is a good time to sell real estate right now! Give me a call if you would like a Free market analysis.  Call me at (512)786-7355.

 

Bank of America offers upto 30K in relocation assistance for short sales

Bank of America is offering relocation assistance between 5,000-30,000 to customers who successfully short sale their home!  This is great news! Currently, Bank of America offers 2 incentives to short sale candidates, the HAFA program (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative) which gives a 3,000 incentive to homeowners and the other, Cooperative short sale program which gives a 2,500 incentive.  In the traditional short sale, the homeowner does not receive the incentive.  It is still unclear to me if the homeowner qualifies for this if they have an FHA or government loan.

To read more about this program, the Enhanced Relocation Incentive, read the full article.

By the way, I am now a Certified Agent for Dignified Transitions Solutions (DTS), which is a Bank of America partner for their short sales.  Need a short sale specialist/realtor?  Call me at (512)786-7355 today.

Random Acts of Weirdness in Austin

Austinites have this saying, KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD.  An icon for keeping Austin Weird is the late Leslie Cochran.  Leslie can be found dressed up in women's clothes walking 6th street, in a bikini or thong, just to be specific.  There is another man that rides his bicycle around Austin in a thong or ripped shorts without underwear.  Though I do not know his name and see him around when I drive near downtown Austin, these are examples of Weirdness.  Weirdness also relates to our weather.  On the same day, it will be hot, then suddenly rain, then hail, then back to hot weather.  They also have a saying,"if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes".  

In honor of Leslie Cochran who passed away on March 12, 2012, I created this photo supporting Random Acts of Weirdness.

Pass it on!

Short Sale Testimonial from another satisfied Seller

Here is another happy customer that I closed last week on their home in Spicewood.  This short sale transaction was probably one of the hardest I have worked on because of a problem I had with the lienholder.  Happy endings are always great and here is what the sellers have to say:

We recently closed on the sale of our home with Pearl Jones.  It was a nightmare dealing with our lender and one department not communicating with the other department.  Pearl was great at communicating with us and letting us know what was going on step-by-step throughout the transaction.  We would recommend her as your short sale specialist because she knows what she is doing and tries to make the process as painless as possible. 

Jason and Shelly

If you or anyone you know is in a short sale situation, have them call a short sale specialist like me! I get them closed! 

Distressed real estate properties in 2011

Since I work with many distressed properties, I thought I would see what percent of our real estate market is distressed sales in Austin.  Understand that this information comes from my MLS, Austin Board of Realtors, and my MLS contains properties in Williamson County, Hayes, Travis, Bastrop and Caldwell.
In 2011, 21,293 single family properties were sold.  Out of these SOLD, here is the breakdown:

3,201 properites were REO's
810 were short sales
4,011 total distressed properties or 18% of our sales last year.  That is a 1% increase compared to 2010.


18% is really not alot compared to other areas in Texas or parts of the country. At a short sale seminar I attended last Spring in Houston, their distressed property is 24% of their sales.

The following areas show the # of distressed sales in that city last year:

Austin	1245
Round Rock	417
Pflugerville	283
Hutto	223
Leander	222
Kyle	211
Manor	174
Cedar Park	169
Georgetown	118
Del Valle	102
Elgin	85
Buda	75
Bastrop	73
Taylor	52
Cedar Creek	44
San Marcos	36
Lockhart	34
Lago Vista	31
Spicewood	29
Lakeway	27
Liberty Hill	26
Smithville	24
Jonestown	23
Dripping Springs	22
Jarrell	22
Dale	20
Bertram	16
New Braunfels	15
Marble Falls	13
Burnet	11
Florence	11
Johnson City	11
Wimberley	11
Canyon Lake	9
Rockdale	7
Driftwood	6
Kingsland	6
Lexington	6
Manchaca	6
Other	6
Thrall	6
Granite Shoals	5
Point Venture	5
Paige	4
the Hills	4

Even areas like the Hills, Driftwood, Wimberly and Westlake DO have distressed properties.  No area is protected from short sale or foreclosure.  If you are buying a property, it is important to know how many distressed properties are there in the neighborhood whether you are buying one or not.  If you are selling, you also need to know how many distressed properties are in your neighborhood because this may affect the pricing of your home.

If you are a distressed seller, I specialize in short sale and I may be able to help you.  Whether you are buying or selling, you need to know someone who can education you how distressed properties affect you.  Please call me today at (512)786-7355 for a FREE two hour real estate consultation.

Ridge at Alta Vista sales in 2011

Ridge at Alta Vista is a gated community in Lakeway. There are 2 sections, Ridge at Alta Vista homes and Enclave at Alta Vista Condominiums.  From time to time, I blog about this neighborhood because of the number of homes I sell here.

Here are the sales statistics for 2011. I have separated the Ridge at Alta Vista homes to RESERVES and ESTATES, the 2 types of homes in the community.

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home or condo in this neighborhood, please contact me for a more accurate market analysis so that a comparable home will be used in obtaining a value for a property you had in mind.

YTD Numbers for 2011		Units	Avg	Avg	Avg Price	Avg Days
			Price	Sq Ft	/Sq Ft	on Mkt
Ridge at Alta Vista (Reserves)
Active		4	468,731	3,791	123.92	93
Sold in 2011		7	451,713	3,776	114.59	87
Ridge at Alta Vista (Estates)
Active		0
Sold in 2011		1	550,000.00	4,776	115.16	123
Enclave Condos
Active		2	$338,500	2,218	148.88	53
Sold in 2011		6	$257,317	2,523	101.61	67

December 2011 Real Estate Statistics

What did 2011 look like?  We closed the year strong!  In December 2011, residential units of sold properties in the entire Austin MLS were up 10% compared to last December?  For Lake Travis properties (properties in Lake Travis ISD), sold properties were up 6% compared to last December.
The year also started out strong as in January, we are writing contracts! I already had 3 pending just on the first 2 days of the year on my listings. I hope this is a good sign for Austin's real estate housing market and national economy.  How does this compare to your area?
Double click on the attached photo to enlarge.