Sunday, July 31, 2011

July 2011 Real Estate Market Update -- North Central Austin

If you are looking for a home near (or just north of) downtown Austin, around the Hyde Park area--here is my current market update and information that may be helpful in your market analysis. This area is one of Austin's oldest and most recognized downtown communities. One of the early predecessors to a modern day master planned community, this area had one of Austin's first commuter rail lines for early Austin suburban residents. Today, this real estate quadrant between I-35 and Mopac, and 2222 and 38th streets is on the edge of downtown Austin--just a few blocks north of the UT campus.

During the first seven months of 2011, homes sales have been steady.

The 2011 year-to-date (YTD) numbers:

  • Currently active listings: 122 single family homes
  • Median home price: $350,720
  • Median home features: 1468 sf, 3 Bedrooms, 2 baths
  • Median year built: 1948 (some homes date back to the 1900's)
  • Pending contracts: 41
  • Homes sold YTD: 151
    •  This gives us a consumption rate of about 22 homes a month
    • This puts this area in a slightly favored seller's market
    • In this market, the homes that show well and are priced right, tend to be the homes that sell fastest and sell for market value
  • Median DOM: 45 days on market
  • Median size: 1331 sf
  • Median ppsf: $222.64 psf
  • SOLD Price as a % of Listing price: 96.6% 
  • (If you need help making sense of any of this information, please contact me).
Buyers migrate toward the Hyde Park area for a number of reasons. Old Austin charm. Proximity to downtown amenities, entertainment and restaurants. At the end of the day, living near downtown is a lifestyle choice for home owners.

If you are looking for a home in Hyde Park area or near Central Austin, or considering selling your home in the area, I would be honored to help you in your Real Estate needs.

Tim Thornton, Realtor ®
Top Producer 2010, 2009, 2008
Century Club member

Zip Realty, Inc.
Austin, Texas
(512) 914.4665
Tim.Thornton@ZipRealty.com

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Finding a Great Community in Austin

In case you were wondering, my blog articles are inspired by Austin area buyers just like you. Some of my clients are moving into the area for the first time, and some have lived in the Greater Austin area for many years, but for any number of reasons--they need or want to move to another area. Finding the right community is a subject that comes up a great deal, but you may have noticed that I don't spend a lot of time describing many of the thousands of communities in the Austin area. And you may wonder why.

If you have friends living in Austin today they may have said good things to you about their community or other master planned communities where their friends of theirs live and they have visited. This is never a bad thing and becoming familiar with the names of these communities can be a helpful place to start thinking about Austin, but this should be considered the beginning of your journey--not the end. Steiner Ranch. Circle C. SOCO. Avery Ranch. River Place. Westminster Glen. Rob Roy. Davenport Ranch. Westlake. Lakeway. Tarrytown. Enfield. Clarksville. Mueller. Seven Oaks. Barton's Creek. Cat Mountain. Oak Forest. Twin Creeks. Grand Mesa Crystal Falls. Forest Creek. Behren's Ranch. Hidden Glen. Lake Forest. Oak Hill. Rough Hollow. Falconhead. And the list goes on and on and on. I could write about each of these communities for hours and tell you about the houses, architectures, home prices, schools, etc. I work in all of these communities and many more. But the truth is, words are not enough to help you find a community that is right for you. We need to have conversations about your needs, your desires, what is important to you, understanding your real estate trade-off and priories, and then together we will be able to put together the puzzle to help you find a home that you know is right for your specific needs.


So, the next time you hear about one of the many wonderful communities in the Greater Austin area, know this--your friends are telling you the truth--as I am sure the community that they are directing you to is one of Austin's premier communities, and it may in fact be a good fit for your needs. Also know, that there are many other wonderful communities, a hand full of which are mentioned above which may be a good fit for your needs, or one of a thousand other communities in the Austin area. If you are confused about your options, or you want to learn more--give me a call. I will be happy to help.  tT

Friday, July 22, 2011

Realtor Recommendation - What my clients have to say

I recently ran into a client in the local HEB and I was very happy hear that they were settling into the area after their relocation from the Seattle Washington area. After helping clients find a new home in the Austin area, I count them among my friends, and I want the best for my friends and their families in our Greater Austin area.

All of my clients are surveyed by Zip Realty after we close on their new home. I am happy to tell you that 97% of my clients over the past few years reported that they would select me again and again to help them with their Real Estate needs, and they would gladly recommend me to their friends for their Real Estate investments and home purchases as well.

More than a few of past 100 clients put their busy days on hold long enough to compose a few kind words about our time together finding their home or helping them sell their Austin area homes. Here is what they have had to say...

"As a Real Estate Investor, I had been successful buying and selling properties without the use of an agent, however, on my most recent transaction I called on Tim Thornton from ZipRealty. Tim took care of everything, reminded me of when I needed to take action, taught me quite a few things that I did not know about selling a house and developed a sound strategy that brought a contract on the house in 8 days and closed. Tim is the best I have seen in this industry and will use him from now on." - Lou G, Austin, TX - Seller

"I would highly recommend Tim. He worked hard to find the right property and then stayed with us to quickly negotiate the best deal." - Edwin Y., Buyer / Investor, Austin

"I can't imagine someone being a better realtor than Tim Thornton. He is exceedingly conscientious, hard working, knowledgeable (on just about everything) and caring; he works seven days a week, and even on some holidays. Where did you find this guy; he's one in a million. Most importantly, he is committed to find you the home that you truly want; he won't let you settle for less; nor does he push you or make you feel uncomfortable that the process is taking longer than it should. He cares about you being happy with your decision; he understands how big of a decision this is for you. At one point in the process of looking for the "perfect" home, I started to get carried away with a builder's model that was considerably over my budget. The home had some issues and did not satisfy some of my needs, but it really was a spectacularly beautiful home, and I wanted it. After many days of looking and not finding what I wanted I was ready to put in an offer; even though it was not the right home in some important respects. Tim could see that I was ready to pull the trigger and make an offer, but Tim didn't share my same level of enthusiasm and it bothered me. At one point Tim looked at me and said, "Robert, are you sure this isn't going to be too much home for you?" That remark, brought me instantly back to earth and caused me to refocus and evaluate my thinking; Tim was 200% correct; it would have been a bad decision and he could see it. Any other realtor would have picked up on my enthusiasm and put me under contract immediately; but not Tim. Like I said, he is one in a million." R. Coulson, Buyer

"Tim Thornton is a good example of what a Real Estate Agent should be! There are very few Agents that would stack up to Tim. Very Professional! His assistance in a strange market made it easy to find the Real Estate we needed." - B. Smith, Buyer

"Tim continued to push on, despite the challenges of buyer indecision, offer rejection, and various roadblocks. He stayed true to the mission to find us a home that we were delighted to buy. In the end, despite many more process challenges, we are in the home the we wanted, thanks to Tim." - Buyer, Austin

"This is my second home purchase using Tim and as before he is probably one of only a few agents in Austin that knows what is going on in the Austin Real Estate market. A real professional!" - Lee Smith, Builder / Investor, Cedar Park

"Tim was very instrumental in getting the buyer of my old house's lender on track...Tim spent hours on the phone with him trying to persuade him to do his job!" - J. Mcnutt, Seller, SW Austin

"This is the second house we bought with Tim. We are so happy with his great service, that our daughter is buying her 1st house next week with Tim." - Buyer, Round Rock

"He was very patient and was not pushy. He did not waste our time with houses that did not fit what we wanted. I would and will work with Tim again very soon." - Buyer, Round Rock

"Tim was calm, creative, knowledgeable, savvy...it was amazing. I absolutely could not be more satisfied with Tim Thornton, and would happily be a reference for him. I will use him again and again and again." - J. Saliga, Seller / Investor / Builder

"Tim is a wonderful agent to work with, and I would highly recommend him to anyone!!!" - Elizabeth B, Buyer

"Without Tim's help, I do not believe we would have found a home that had everything we wanted that was in our price range. We also did not think that we could purchase a new home and were looking at used. The home we decided to buy was brand new and we would never have seen it if it were not for Tim suggesting we take a look at it." - J. Wood, New home Buyer, Austin

"Tim did an outstanding job for us in all aspects.Very professional." - Buyer, Round Rock

"Tim is a thorough professional. He has been there for us throughout the process. He knows his job and has steered us in the right direction. He has been very patient, responsive and honest in the way he has conducted business with him. Austin was a new city for us but with Tim we feel that he showed us all the options before we made the decision. His help throughout the process was exceptional. In future (god forbid if we have to sell) we will definitely work with him." - Buyer

"My parent's bought 2 homes with Tim and I will use him again also, in the future." - Destini R, Buyer

"Tim went above and beyond in representing us. He followed up with our builder on our behalf on several occasions and ensured that all issues were properly and promptly addressed. Every aspect of the deal was fully explained in layman's terms, and Tim ensured that both my wife and I were completely satisfied with his explanations before ending the conversation. I'd happily buy a house through Tim again and would recommend him to anyone in the market." - Jonathan Hickman, Buyer, Houston

"We would highly recommend Tim as an agent for the Austin area. He was very accommodating and helped guide us to the perfect home. If he didn't know about something, he would get back to us very quickly with the answer! Tim is an all-around good agent and good guy!!" - Gunther A., Buyer/Investor, Lakeway

"I would be thrilled to recommend Tim Thornton to anyone who needs a realtor. We could not have asked for a better agent!" - J. Youngs, Buyer

"Mr. Thornton was a pleasure to work with. He responded to every phone call and/or email, almost within minutes. Had an intelligent response for everything we queried about, was incredibly diligent with respect to every detail of our home purchase, from questioning the inspection report, commenting on potential problems, resolving issues as they arose (and unfortunately, too many issues arose), and making us feel completely comfortable and at ease with his expertise and professionalism. In addition to doing his job as a Realtor, Tim proved to be a great person to be around. We would recommend Tim to anyone we knew who was interested in either purchasing or selling a home. He is an asset to Zip Realty." - John E. & Cirlei E., Buyers, Forest Creek

"From day one, Tim completely facilitated all our needs during our relocation and was invaluable in our search for the right home. We couldn't be more pleased with Tim and the outstanding service he provided." - Buyer

"Tim was great at keeping us informed and prepared for the next step and also managing the contract and closing. He was also always available even with last minute requests to see properties. We appreciate Tim's availability, integrity and knowledge." - J. Weatherly, Buyer, Twin Creeks

"I had two different buyer's agents tell me directly that Tim was doing an unusually good job representing me as they pointed out that he consistently called the buyer's agents for follow-up and immediately called them back to answer any questions they had. They said that it is rare to see such responsiveness and pro-activeness in the industry." - L. Gagliardi, Seller, Investor

"Tim did a great job... Tim was always there to answer our questions. The overall experience was very good." - Buyer

"Tim is a very knowledgeable, trustworthy agent. He is committed to ensuring his client has all the information he or she needs before closing a contract. When it came down to completing the transaction, he was a pit-bull in all aspects of the deal, following up on all of the commitments everybody made to make the sale happen. Overall, Tim is an A+ agent and I'll work with him again and again." - Buyer

"This agent was very helpful and listened to all of my needs as a buyer. He was always available and returned phone calls in a very timely manner. He also kept in touch throughout the whole process." - A. Martinez, Austin, Buyer

"I would definitely recommend Zip and Tim Thornton to my friends and colleagues." - Seller
"Tim was wonderful in every aspect. From the very beginning of our search he was always there to help and patient with our specific requirements for our new home." - D. Cole, Buyer

"Tim has been very helpful throughout the buying process. We are very satisfied with his real estate knowledge. He even acted as our proxy during our overseas visit and did not let us feel that our absence is any handicap in the closing process." - A. Shiraz, Buyer

"Tim was a very thorough Agent and a good friend. He saw to all our needs and questions. There was no stone left un-turned." - K. Hackney, Buyer, Georgetown

"I'm very happy that I was able to deal with such a wonderful person such Tim. He is professional, knowledgeable and a very caring person. I can't say anything wrong about him. He was always there for my questions and insecurities of buying a house. He guided me through it all and advise me in many things that I was not aware of. It was a pleasure working with Tim and I'm very happy with my new house. Thank you." - Blanca F., Buyer, Austin

"You can't go wrong working with Tim..." - P. Hennigan, NE Austin, New home Buyer

"Just wanted to let you know again how much we enjoyed working with you. We are closing on our house today in Kansas City and the Realtor there that we are working with is not near the professional that you are!" - Buyer, North Austin

"We found Mr. Thornton to be very helpful and knowledgeable in our endeavor to buy a home. He went out of his way to get us the best deal possible. Kudos to ZipRealty for having such friendly and sincere agents." - Azra and Latief K., New home Buyer

"I WAS COMPLETELY SATIFIED WITH TIM THORNTON I WOULD RECOMMEND HIM TO ALL MY FAMILY/FRIENDS" - P. Distel, New home Buyer

"I love the way Tim helped us. He made me feel like I was the only client that he was representing. He had a lot of patience with us... Thank you Tim." - Buyer

"We are very happy to have Tim Thornton who guide us efficiently in choosing our new home. Thank you so much." - J. Wilson, New home Buyer

"...thanks to Tim getting us with the right people, everything went so smoothly and we love our new home." - V. Day, New home Buyer

"Tim was just great at getting things done when I asked. He kept me informed all the time on up dates on the house and when I asked him something and he did not know the answer he found out what the answer is right away and got back to me. He is great and I would give my friends and family his number." - D. Hill, Buyer

"Tim was a huge help in buying my home! He provided all the advice I asked for and more knowing I was a novice in buying a home. He went out with me many nights/weekends and always had time for me either on phone calls or meeting with me. I would highly recommend Tim and Zip to everyone I know!" - M. Forsythe, Buyer

"...I had a million questions and Tim took the time to answer every one of them and walked me through the entire process. I couldn't have asked for a better agent to work with throughout the house hunting and buying process. Tim was awesome. " - A. Ricketson, Buyer

"Tim and Kevin were great. They were very responsive and were very straight-forward during the entire process. I would definitely use them again." -Buyer and Seller, Falconhead

"Tim was very responsive and thorough in answering all of our questions, and taking care of the various situations that arose in the purchase of our condo." - Buyer

"Tim is an outstanding Realtor. He was always available and very professional " - H. and F. Gnuechtel, Builders, Seller

"Tim is very much attuned to his clients and always seams to have time to work with any problems you might have. He is also extremely good at following up on any potential buyer's leads and always tries to up-sell your property with the potential buyer and buyer's agent. I would always recommend Tim as a listing or buyer's agent." - Seller

"Tim's experience was extremely helpful for us given our lack of homebuying experience. He advised us with knowledge and allowed us to take on this endeavor with confidence." - A. So-Ying Fan, Buyer, Austin

"To anyone looking for a really friendly, knowledgeable and an all around good guy real estate agent, you need look no further because Tim Thornton is your man. He works hard for you and will answer every question you have in a professional and friendly manner. He is up front and honest, and will tell you reality not fantasy when it comes to buying/selling your home. I highly recommend Tim as an agent and will recommend him to all my friends/colleagues in the Austin area." - Seller

"Tim was a great agent. He was always willing to meet and show us houses in a prompt manner. Tim gave us great suggestions and guided us through the whole process." - G. Olinger, Central Austin

"Tim Thornton is a wonderful agent, very helpful and very knowledgable in his feild" - M. Rodriguez, New home Buyer, Crystal Falls

"Tim was very on top of things, and he didn't try to 'sell' me. He informed me and helped me with the process, which is exactly what I wanted. He was always on time and willing to meet me at any location. His emails of new postings were extremely helpful." - S. Whited, Buyer, Remodeler

"Working with Tim, made our experience much easier here in Texas. He was very knowledgeable and accessible at all times. I was very pleased to have a realtor like Tim." - Alba Helms, Buyer

"Tim was completely professional, answered all my questions and was very positive throughout the whole experience." - J. Killebrew, Buyer

"We met Tim via the Internet and then via phone from California. He was invaluable as our family made the decision to move to Austin, and he was very patient as my husband and I made multiple trips to see Austin areas and homes. No pressure! We would highly recommend Tim to any friends who might be following us to Austin as their new home!! As we searched online for homes, we happened to "save" homes via ZipRealty and Tim Thornton. After many, many virtual home searches, Tim contacted us via email and asked if we were looking to buy in Austin. Living in Los Angeles, CA, we knew very little to nothing about living in Austin, TX, but the city looked appealing to us. From our first telephone conversation with Tim, we knew we were in good professional hands. He knew Austin, he knew the housing market, the schools, and he knew how to work with out of state clients.Between August 2009 and December 2009, my husband and I visited Austin several times to look at residential areas and specific homes. Tim made himself available to us each visit, with patience and professionalism. As we decided on a brand new home from a renowned builder, Tim did all the negotiations on our behalf. Essentially he said a price that we were comfortable with, and the builder agreed. This was a pretty painless process for us. While we were not his only clients, Tim made us feel like we were. Tim's online blog is also a wonderful resource of information about Austin and the real estate market! We continue to read it even after we've purchased and moved into our home! We highly recommend Tim Thornton as a real estate professional." - Jenny and John R, Steiner Ranch, Buyer

"Tim was a big help to us. He is also very knowledgeable, eager to help and friendly." - Buyer

"Tim is an honest and moral agent which is probably why he is so successful even during these tough times for real estate." - Emerson S., Buyer, Austin

"Tim worked very hard for me and with endless patience. He responded quickly any time I wanted to see a home or ask a question. I would be confident to recommend him and ZipRealty to my friends." - Elizabeth B., Buyer

"After working with Tim on this sale and previous dealings he is still in my opinion one of the best, or the best Real Estate Agent in the Austin market." - Lee Smith, Builder, Investor, Seller

"Tim was great. We were very impressed and happy to work with him. He was committed, worked hard and made everything easy."  Pat R, Buyer, UT Austin Area

"We enjoyed our experience with Tim for his expertise and professionalism. He was always pleasant and patient and it was a pleasure to know him." Barbara and Fred M., Buyers, River Place


If you need a Realtor ®, I would be honored to assist you in your home purchase, search or selling your Austin area home.


tT

Tim Thornton, Realtor ®
Top Producer 2010, 2009, 2008
Century Club member

Zip Realty, Inc.
Austin, Texas
(512) 914.4665  mobile

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Austin Trivia: Who said: "You can go to hell. I'm going to Texas."



The township of Waterloo (Austin, Texas) was established along the Colorado River in the young Republic of Texas. Stephen F. Austin reportedly negotiated a boundary treaty with the local Native American Indians in the area, and was later given its name-sake by the second vice president of the young Republic--Mirabeau Lamar. Austin became the capitol of the Republic of Texas in the late 1830's.

Texas has a long and colorful history--but let's face it, all of our states have interesting stories. It is what made us and continues to shape us as a nation and a people--our history. Texas is no exception to the rule, and Austin is one place where much of our history is on display. Starting with our spectacular capitol building.

Designed and built in the 1880's by Elijah E. Myers in a Italian Renaissance Revival architectural style, this building bears a striking resemblance to our nation's capitol. The story goes something like this. The states founders wanted the capitol to be a little taller than the nation's capitol building. After all, Texas was the only state that was (and still is) allowed to fly its flag side-by-side with the US flag at the same height--why not build our capital building at the same height as well (or maybe just a bit taller?). It took at little extra effort and last minute innovation, but in the end, the Texas capitol building is said to measure more than 15 feet taller than the US capitol building. This due largely to the Goddess of Liberty that sits high on the top of the capitol building, measuring approximately 16 feet tall.


Another bit of information that escapes many of us, is the number of national flags that have flown over Texas. In and around the Capitol you will see flags from the six countries who possessed Texas at some point in her history: Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederate States of America and The United States of America. Yes, Texas has history--lots of history.


Here is some local Texas trivia:
  • It is illegal in Texas to paint graffiti on another man's cow... (clearly a reference to the days of branding and cattle rustling).
  • One of the oldest living live oak trees on the planet is in Rockport, Texas--estimated to be between 1500-2000 years old. That's a really old tree.
  • The state capitol building was constructed of pink granite from Marble Falls, and Lime Stone, from Austin's Oak Hill area. 
  • Rudy's BBQ is the best and worst Bar-B-Q in Texas--read the sign (Memphis pulled pork BBQ is still my favorite--but we can't really get pulled pork in Central Texas--Rudy's is a very close second for the best BBQ on planet earth).
 
  • Many celebrities, singers, actors, politicians, and movers and shakers of industry call Austin home today, not to mention presidents and influential persons who live in Texas today and in the past.
  • Davy Crockett, after 3 terms as a Tennessee Congressman, was quoted as saying "You can go to hell. I am going to Texas."
  • Texas has its own power grid. There are three power grids in the United States, East, West, and Texas.
  • The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
  • There are three presidential libraries in Texas--the LBJ Presidential library is in Austin. Both Bush Presidential libraries are also located in Texas.
  • Dr Pepper was invented in Waco Texas in 1885.
  • The 2010 population of the state of Texas was just over 25,000,000. This is a 20% increase in population during the past 10 years, and twice the growth rate of California during this same period of time (according the the US Census Bureau).
  • The population of the Greater Austin/Round Rock MSA is just over 1.7M people. 
  • Texas has ~96 persons per square mile (vs California, which has ~238 persons per square mile; now you know why Californians spend so much time sitting in traffic). 
  • If you are staying in a hotel, you can not shoot a buffalo from a second story window (I wonder if shooting from the lobby is ok?).
  • Ten of the streets in downtown Austin are named after Texas rivers, and are in the same order as the rivers line up in the state, starting with the Rio Grande and heading north to the Sabine (the Red River is out of order). 
  • Folks in Athens, Texas lay claim to creating the all American Hamburger. 
  • Austin is home base to some high tech mega forces such as Dell Computers and AMD and also home to large numbers of the most highly valuable people assets for some industry giants as IBM, Motorola, Intel, Legal Zoom, FaceBook, 3M, Samsung, and other high tech movers and shakers. Compaq Computers, now Hewlett Packard, was founded in Houston--one of HP's largest campus' today. 
  •  Texas is a mix of deep Southern culture, West and South-Western cultures. It is not just one of these, but part of each (and a little Cajun thrown in for good measure).
  • Legends of the Headless Horseman continue today in the South Texas Brush Country.
  • The last battle of the Civil War was fought in May 1865 at Palmito Ranch in Texas. 
  • Georgetown, Texas (Greater Austin area) is home to the Inner Space Caverns, discovered in 1963, where the remains of saber toothed cats, wooly mammoths and the Equus, a blind horse-like creature with shorter legs, were discovered. 
  • One of the nation's first serial killers lived and worked in Austin in the 1880's, and many believe that he continued his killing spree and later became known as Jack the Ripper--in London, England. 
  • Hyde Park was one of Austin's first master planned communities, complete with a local passenger rail to get to residents around the area.
  • Austin's first damn on the Colorado River was destroyed by a 24 hour rain that brought havoc on the growing city. Several damns were built and destroyed by flooding along the Colorado, until the Mansfield Damn was built by the WPA and the newly formed Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) in the 1940's.
  • Round Rock (a metropolitan suburb of Austin) got it's name from the large rock in Brushy Creek that the cattleman used to judge water depth and strength of current when moving cattle through the Old Settler's Pass. Even today, if we get several hours of continuous rain, the water running through Brushy Creek is fast and deep--too deep and fast to move cattle through the creek (or to drive a car over the bridge), but when the water was below the top of "the round rock",  the cowboys knew that they could move cattle safely through the water. The top of the rock is approximately the height of a long horn's shoulder. 

  • The Eanes School started in 1872 as a one-room log cabin built on the Robert Eanes Ranch near Dry Creek. In 1874, William and Sophie Teague donated 2 acres of land to build a house to be used as a church house and also a school house. 
  • Today, Eanes ISD has one of Top 100 High School's in the USA (Westlake High) as does Round Rock ISD (Westwood High). Both are numbered among the best of the best out of over 29,000 public high schools in the nation.

Texas has a lot of colorful history and Austin has always been in the center of things--so to speak.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A Promise to my Sellers

If you are my client and you are selling your home, I just want you to know that not all Realtors are alike. And sadly, it has nothing to do with experience, but everything to do with customer service and the professional courtesy that makes the Real Estate industry work.

I was just reminded after trying to reach an Austin Realtor for 10 days about one of her listings, that some agents feel as though they don't have to communicate, return calls, texts or emails, and don't have to respond to potential buyers regarding their client's listing. If the listing Realtor does not like the offer, or feels as though the seller will not accept an offer, they sometimes will not even respond to calls or dialogue with a Buyer's Agent whose buyer client may be ready to launch an offer on this property. Well, this is simply short-sighted, arrogant and/or lazy--in my humble opinion. Sometimes Realtors have been in the business too long, and they simply need to retire. If you have lost your passion for the business, step aside and stop telling clients how long you have been in the business as a badge of honor. For you, your years in the business may actually be in direct conflict with your ability or willingness to do your job well.

In this day and age, every call from another Realtor should be engaged and  entertained, even if the listing agent is 90% convinced that the offer is not going to be accepted by the seller. It is not the role or responsibility of a Realtor to speak for or decide for a client what they should accept or not accept, and every call from a prospective client through their Realtor should be returned and dialogue should be developed between the two agents.


Let me promise you, my client, if I am listing your house you will not get word back on me that I did not respond to emails, text and phone calls from prospective buyers or agents. In fact, the things that you will read about me from my clients is that I will call, text and email potential buyers and agents and try to create dialogue to sell your home. My job is to represent you. To coach you. To let you know what buyer's think about your home. To let you know when buyers are interested in making offers on your home. And when another Realtor calls me to talk about your listing--my job is to stop what I am doing, talk to the other Realtor, and create a bridge upon which an offer can be delivered and negotiated to the best interest of my client.


If you have ever had a Realtor not return your calls--well, so have I. I don't like it and I find it to be very unprofessional, and I don't think it is in the best interest of either the seller or the buyer when a Realtor picks and chooses who they decide to talk to about a client's listing.

Choose your Realtor well.






If you need a Realtor ®, I would be honored to assist you in your home search, purchase or selling your Austin area home.



tT

Tim Thornton, Realtor ®
Top Producer 2010, 2009, 2008
Century Club member

Zip Realty, Inc.
Austin, Texas
(512) 914.4665  mobile

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Best Communities, Best Schools, Best of Everything

Where are the Best Schools in the Austin area? Where are the best communities to live? Where do we get the best bang for our dollars? Where do you live?

I hear these questions all the time, and I hear how clients' friends who live in the Austin area answer these questions (for them and for everyone they know). We might glibly call these friends "Arm chair Realtors". Unfortunately, being a home owner and having access to the internet does not make someone a good resource to buy your next home, any more than a subscription to Golf magazine and a new set of Ping clubs makes me a good golfer. It may help lower my handicap 1 or 2 strokes, but does not automatically put me in the same category with even the worst professionals in the business. It is just information and clubs. I still need experience, knowledge of the course, and lots of practice every day to be a good Realtor (...I mean golfer).

Any person who has bought or sold a house in the last few years knows that buying and selling Real Estate go so far beyond online photos, and an office survey of which communities are the best places to live. And the process goes well beyond boiler-plate contracts and proforma information. Your needs for a home are far more complex than a few photographs, and the opinion of the local PTA that their school is the best in the city. The number of factors that must be weighed and considered to buy a home are overwhelming, and it is impossible to create a spread sheet large enough or "smart enough" to measure the trade-offs that are a necessary part of EVERY Real Estate transaction. You need to understand what you are trading off on any given purchase and what you are getting in return for your money.

Some buyers wait until they get ready to sell their home to understand the trade-off that they purchased. Probably not the best time to understand if you bought well or not. And make no mistake, when you are talking about such an incredibly complex decision in your life, every property has its trade-offs. You never get 100% of all of these things, so the question is--which ones are most important to you? and how do you weight and measure these factors for your home purchase:
  • Proximity to work
  • Community
  • Home features
  • Home age and condition
  • Amenities inside and near by the community
  • Schools
  • Local retail and access
  • Timing for your purchase 
  • Inspections and contract work
  • Price and budget
All of these things matter to most home buyers, but these things matter differently to different buyers. For some buyers, schools are the most important factor, and for others--schools are not their primary concern. For some people, having proximity to downtown or the lakes is critical to their quality of living, and to someone who works from home, they may only want to have a big yard and the peace and quite of living away from major road ways. These decision diagrams are enough to drive an otherwise completely organized person crazy, because at some point you have to come to grips with the fact that there is no end to the number of decision points and directions that one can take. So--what is one to to do?


Hire a good Realtor to help you sort through the needs and desires, and help you begin to narrow down your search to the area, community and home that best fits your family needs and your family priorities. For a Realtor who does this 65 hours a weeks, and helps dozens of families every year go through this process, it is a very methodical and organized process. This is what we do--help buyers navigate through the approximately 12,000 properties For Sale in the Greater Austin area so that clients can settle into the community for a happy and productive life.

You may have bought several homes in the past, maybe even bought homes in the Austin area recently. It's not enough to go out on your own to find a home. If you do not buy and sell homes everyday in this Austin market place, you are probably not the best person to be your own Realtor. You will probably miss at least one thing that at some point in time you will wish you had known. Maybe two. Maybe more. You can be a smart person and still get the (free) services of a Buyer's Agent to help you in your home pursuits.
 

If you need a Realtor ®, I would be honored to assist you in your home search, purchase or selling your Austin area home.




tT

Tim Thornton, Realtor ®
Top Producer 2010, 2009, 2008
Century Club member

Zip Realty, Inc.
Austin, Texas
(512) 914.4665  mobile

Friday, July 1, 2011

Homes for Sale in Greater Austin Area

Are you trying to get access to the Austin area MLS and the homes for sale in our area?

Click here

Here is what you are going to see and what you will want to do.

This is a registration page into my client portfolio at ZipReatly.com.

Put your name and contact information on the page and if you don't really want to talk to me right now, but just want to see what homes are available in Greater Austin communities, just let me know via email when you sign up. By the same token, if you want to talk to me or want to let me know exactly what kind of home and community that you are searching for in the Greater Austin area, just send me an email or call me. All of my contact information will show up on every page of the ZipRealty.com site when you sign up--but make sure you sign up from the link above, so I will be sure you are in good hands. My hands.



If you just want to talk--send me an email or give me a call.
I am almost always available within a short period of time.




tT

Tim Thornton, Realtor ®
Top Producer 2010, 2009, 2008
Century Club member

Zip Realty, Inc.
Austin, Texas
(512) 914.4665  mobile

Happy 4th of July

It is so easy to forget about our nation's history and take it for granted. We truly are blessed to live in a nation whose founders risked their very lives to give us the foundations of freedom upon which we live today.

While neither our nation's history nor our present time is perfect, we are a nation of people who believe that we can do more and be so much more. Never reaching the pinnacle of our success or the heights of our ultimate aspirations.

To all those who have gone on before us, to those who have given us ideas, ideals and their very lives so that "our children" might have better lives--we are eternally grateful. Happy Independence Day, America!





If you need a Realtor ®, I would be honored to assist you in your home purchase, search or selling your Austin area home.



tT

Tim Thornton, Realtor ®
Top Producer 2010, 2009, 2008
Century Club member

Zip Realty, Inc.
Austin, Texas
(512) 914.4665  mobile