Austin--Best Place on the Planet?

Austin is decidedly one of the best places to live these days...or so it seems. If not, it certainly is one of the favorite places to write about now--and has landed squarely in this category for the past several years.

You can find articles written every month on why people are moving to Austin. Job growth. Technology sector growth. Life Style. The people here are friendly. Cost of living. And over all Quality of Life. Quality of Life. Something that you don't hear people talking about much these days, but if you come to Austin, you will discover that life here has a quality about it that is not so ever-present these days in every place that you visit. Yes, there are many wonderful places on the planet, but life should be more than just work or status. I believe people are moving to Austin because there is more to offer here than many other places on the planet today.

List of Articles on why Austin is the place to live!

If you are planning to relocate to the Austin area, please do give me a call today.

Does "DIY Tax Filing" save you money?

Occasionally I run into buyers who let me know right up front that they believe that they know what an experienced Realtor knows about buying and selling houses because they have bought and sold several homes in their life time. Well, having experience in buying and selling a house certainly counts for something, but I can tell you with no hesitation, I have yet to meet a person outside of the business who has put in the number of hours that I put in, or closes 1/25 the number of houses that I close on a annual basis in Austin. So, why does that matter? and what does that have to do with my taxes?

First of all, Real Estate is like any other business. It is changing all the time. Over the past 3 years we have seen dramatic changes every quarter in the local and national markets. Texas contracts have changed each year. And contract laws are different from state to state. The type of information that a seller has to declare and the kind of information that you have at your finger tips in Texas (like sold comps)is different than other states. It is not all public information here and our contracts are different. Besides the local changes and differences between states--I do Real Estate 70 hours a week. I write contracts. I work with lenders, inspectors, contractors and title companies. I see property survey and easements and flood plains. I write amendments to contracts. I see new homes from different builders, and resells all across Greater Austin. I see many contract pit-falls and places where things may be "hidden" in plain sight--because I do this every day.

I just got my tax returns from my CPA this week and he saved me a bundle of money. I used to do my own tax returns for many years, and what I discovered is that even with the best software and spending most of the weekend before tax day working through all the new forms and deductions, I still did not have the breath of experience and understanding that my CPA has, and for the few hundred dollars that I pay him, he saved me countless time and money--worth far more than what I paid him to do my taxes. I know enough to know to realize that I save far more money by relying on his experience and expertise, than working it out on my own. Could I have done my own taxes for $99--sure. But I have learned over the past few years that I come out much further ahead of the game when an experienced CPA helps me do what he does best--every day of the week. Every week of the year.

Having experience in buying and selling a house is a great thing and can be a great asset when you get ready to buy or sell your next home, but unless you are buying and selling 25 homes a year in Austin, you probably make a far less effective negotiator and real estate professional than some one who does this full time, in Austin, and sells as many homes each year as I do.

If you would like help doing your taxes, I have a great CPA that I can recommend to you. If you need help with your Real Estate needs, I also have a great Realtor that I can recommend to you.

Top 10 Things you should know

If you are preparing to buy a home in the Austin area, even if you have purchased a home in the past, you should take just a few minutes this evening and listen to this short video. I promise, you will benefit from hearing what this experienced Realtor has to say about how you can give yourself the greatest possible advantages in your next Real Estate purchase.

Give Tim Thornton a call.

Bait and Switch Pricing?

Have you ever wondered about agents who claim that they can sell your house for more money than other homes that have sold in the community during the past few months? Every seller wants to get as much money as possible for their home, however, a home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Buyers are not dumb, and Realtors who represent buyers are aware of what houses are listed for and what houses are selling for in the area. In the end, buyers determine the value of a home by the offers that they make and price that other buyers are paying for houses that have already sold and closed.

I often see houses listed on the market for well above the current market value and then after 2-3 months or more the price begins to fall. Very often the price will end up dropping below what should have been a fair selling price, if the seller had actually listed the house at fair market value in the beginning. Because a house can become "tainted" in the eyes of buyers after it has been on the market for more than 90 days (or longer than the average number of days for a house to sell), buyers begin to naturally think that something is wrong with the house. At that point, buyers begin to "boycott" the house, or make it a very low priority to see. Then, when a buyer does see a house that has been on the market for a very long period of time and likes it, their first question is typically "What is wrong with this house that it has been on the market for so long?" The next statement and assumption from this buyer is usually "This seller must be desperate to sell. We will make a low-ball offer...".

Well, all of this could have been prevented for the seller if the Listing Agent had really done a better job in the beginning of telling the seller how much homes are selling for in the area during recent months. Buyers are not dumb. I have yet to see a real buyer say "Well, paying more than any home that has sold in this community during the recent past is perfectly ok with me! I really don't care." It just does not happen.

So, sellers and buyers have similar objectives. To get a fair price. Pricing a home above market value or coming up with inflated justifications for listing a house at a higher price does not help the seller, and will not ultimately bring a higher priced buyer to pay more than a house is worth. And all Realtors have access to the same sold data from the MLS. Listing higher is not a statement of confidence that one listing agent is better than another. It is something quite different. Something that some seller are forced to learn the hard way and there is always a price to pay for such mistakes.

Wedding Gift

Wedding Gift