Pearl's Real Estate Joke August 2008

My children have gone back to school. I have 3, one will be going to High School, one continues to go to Middle School and one goes to a new Elementary school (as a result of new school boundaries). So yeah, I will be busier than ever.

BTW, in school lingo, getting a "referral" from a teacher means, getting written up for doing something wrong, like throwing paper in class, passing notes, not doing your homework, talking and not paying attention... the list goes on. Depending on the referral, the student may or may not end up at the principal's office. I learned this term from my High Schooler. Not surprisingly, my Middle Schooler (my daughter) has never received one.

Statesman says Eanes is going for less

Eanes Independent School District is (I think) one of the best rated school districts in Austin. They also have an awesome football stadium and use astro turf. Without losing my train of thought, I know for a fact that the Westlake area has the reputation of being one of the region's most expensive housing. A $1 million dollar home in Lakeway is worth more in Westlake. Some people want to be in Westlake because of their schools no matter how much it takes. Last year, Newsweek listed Eanes' Westwood High School as #97 of the 1,300 top schools in the country! Lake Travis High School was #503. So now, do you get it?

I checked the statistics for this MLS (at Alamo Title's website) and saw that in July, 2008, the average home sold was $651,566 in the 8W MLS. In July 2007, the average was $609,944, that's a 6.8% increase! But only 25 homes sold this July, (40 last July), a 37.5% drop in sales! Yikes! I thought Lake South (where Lakeway is was doing bad at a 27% drop.

The moral of this blog? NOW is the time to get in at Eanes School District! Buyers, you have got to take advantage of the market and buy in Eanes now!

July Statistics for Austin Real Estate

Alamo Title reports the following for July 2008:

Units for Sale: (compared to July 2007)

New listings were down 7.22%.
Pendings were down 21.19%.
Solds decreased by 24.61%.

As for Average Prices:

The "New Listings" average list price is up 8.90% to 319,346. In July 2007 the average list price was $293,258.
Sold average sales prices increased 0.08% to $253,500. For June 2007 it was $253,310.

Fortunately, generally homes are still appreciating, thank goodness. Does the dwindling number of solds worry you?

NOTE: The information herein has been obtained from Alamo Title's website and has not been verified.

Help me Stop Foreclosures in Austin!

I am sure you are not surprised to hear that foreclosures are on the rise in Austin, TX. In Texas alone based on the picture above as of May (per www.realtytrac.com), 1 out of 323 homes is in foreclosure in the high foreclosure area (denoted by deep red) and in lower foreclosure area, 1 out of 26,853 homes (denoted by pink). In the US, 30 million people are in default of their mortgage and still increasing. Yikes!

The top ten states with high forecloses are:
1) Florida
2) California
3) Arizona
4) Illinois
5) New Jersey
6) Nevada
7) Texas
8) Georgia
9) New York
10) Colorado.

I don't exactly know when these statistics were reported but this information was obtained from a short sale class I took yesterday called Short Sales Solutions.

We need to stop Foreclosures in Austin NOW! Why? First of all, if a homeowner goes into foreclosure, not only is it devastating emotionally but foreclosure will impact their credit scores up to 7 years. That's 7 years that they can't buy a home in Austin. If every 5th person goes into foreclosure, how many buyers will we lose in this market for 7 years? That's 20% of the buyers pool right there and not only that the other 20% probably doesn't have enough money or is already facing credit challenged. The other 20% is most likely not going to buy because they are already settled into their home, 20% are afraid to buy because of the economy and there goes only 20% who are willing to buy. These numbers are just for illustration purposes but you get the gist.

How can we save foreclosures? If you know of anyone who is upside down and who had already defaulted in their mortgage, have them give me a call. Remember, these people have options before they face foreclosure. I need to speak to them to see if they qualify for SHORT SALE. Most real estate agents won't do short sales because of the tedious paperwork and patience involved. I have the passion to help people and am organized. My sister, a real estate agent in Northern California who is a very experienced short sale agent is my mentor.

Most importantly, the clock is ticking. Once they have received a notice from their lender, they only have a few days to get going before their property is auctioned on the county steps. Act now and call me today for your FREE phone consultation. You have nothing to lose but just 30 minutes of your time. The best advice you can give someone you know who is facing foreclosure is to have them give me a call ASAP.

NOTE: I am a candidate for the Certified Default Resolution Specialist designation. I need to complete short sales transactions as a listing agent in order to earn my designtation. Austin Realtors, if you have a client that may be a short sale candidate, I will pay you a referral fee.

Round Rock is #7!

Yahoo! Finance reported on July 14, 2008 that Round Rock, TX is the 7th Best Place to live in America because housing is affordable and there are loads of outdoor amenities. Hence, Round Rock real estate is still doing well. Dell is also a contributor to Round Rock’s economy since its headquarters are located there. Also in Round Rock are 3 medical centers and a campus for Texas State University. There’s plenty of shopping (RR Outlet stores and IKEA, yeah!) and they have a minor league baseball team, the Round Rock Express. If you know of anyone who is interested in moving to Round Rock, please let me know so I can help them. I’ve spent 6 months in Round Rock selling condos and it is a great city to live in! Here's the complete article by Yahoo! Finance.

Austin Homes and Entertainment July 2008 Newsletter

My July Newsletter of Austin Homes and Entertainment will be out for delivery next week. To be included in my monthly mailing, please email me and let me know. In the same token, if you would like me to write on a specific article, your suggestions are greatly appreciated! Click on the image to enlarge. Happy reading!

Austin Real Estate Stats for June includes Lakeway

Austin Real Estate Sales at a Glance includes June 2008:
Residential sales are DOWN 18% compared to last June The average price home sold in June was $266,175 up 4.71% from last June. In Lakeway, Spicewood and Bee Caves (all sales under Lake Travis ISD), sales are down 25% compared to last June.