Austin Area Real Estate

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by Jason Crouch

Austin has grown pretty dramatically over the past couple of decades. In fact, since 1990, Austin's MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) has roughly doubled in population during that period, from about 846,000 in 1990 to over 1.5 million today. Despite this fact, I find this market to be quite manageable in its entirety. Our team handles sales throughout central Texas.

I have had home buyers and sellers ask me which areas of Austin and the surrounding area I actually work. Additionally, I had an agent in California ask the same question of me a few days ago. I thought it might be helpful to provide a list of all of the towns/areas we cover.

Basically, I have assisted buyers in just about every Austin MLS area (i.e. every part of Austin), as well as the following towns in central Texas:


Round Rock
Pflugerville
Cedar Park
Leander
Georgetown
Liberty Hill
Rollingwood
Westlake Hills
Spicewood
Lakeway
Volente
Lago Vista
Jonestown
Manchaca
Dripping Springs
Driftwood
Wimberley
Bastrop
Buda
Kyle
Manor
Elgin
Coupland
Jarrell
Hutto
Taylor
Any homes on Lake Travis or Lake Austin


With regard to listings, we will consider most of the above areas, depending on the circumstances.

I hope this is helpful. As you can see, "Austin real estate" actually covers many, many outlying areas.

I am personally of the mindset that Austin is not too large to handle the whole thing pretty easily, particularly when it comes to representing buyers. In larger cities such as Dallas or Houston, this is much more difficult to achieve.



So, if you are looking to purchase in any of the above areas, please feel free to give me a call. I cannot guarantee that this is a comprehensive list, so if you're not sure, call me anyway. If I can't help, I can find someone who can.


If you are an agent with a referral that you are looking to send our way, I will promptly pay a 25% referral fee upon closing.

I have also handled several corporate relocation accounts, including St. Jude Medical and ERCOT, so I would consider relocation to Austin to be among my specialities.

If you have any questions, or if you are considering a move to this area, call me anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email jason@austintexashomes.com. I look forward to helping you find the right home!

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Real Estate Investing: How To Get Motivated Sellers

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by Dr Green

You really want to find motivated sellers for real estate investing? Put a gun to their heads. That'll give those sellers a chance to suddenly find their motivation. But, unfortunately, putting a gun to someone's head is illegal. There's nothing like an assault with a deadly weapons charge to put a damper on your real estate investing.

So, you have to resort to legal means to find motivated sellers. Despite a slew of advertisements on the web and in pint, there is no easy answer for succeeding in real estate investing. Expect to put in long hours and hard, migraine-inducing work in order to make a profit. However, this is the best way to learn any skill.

Who Are They?

Just what makes a motivated seller (or buyer) any different from any other real estate seller or buyer? "Motivated seller" is a euphemism for someone who knows more than the average person about real estate investing. It also means they are willing to negotiate in order to sell. They are to be distinguished from the average person who is just curious what he can get on the current market, or who will only sell under strict circumstances.

A motivated seller in real estate investing could mean that they are desperate to sell, but it also means that they could be experts in negotiation, are beginning the foreclosure process or are thinking of removing the property from the listings altogether. Think of motivated sellers as really successful used car salesmen. You will not be able to pull any kind of wool over their eyes.

Why would you want to find a motivated seller when you're into real estate investing? They are truculent, argumentive and going to give you a hard time. However, they are also the ones who will wind up eventually selling you the property you want and often at your price. They need to get rid of the property that they have.

Finding These Guys And Gals

There are many online newsletter services that claim to do all the work or finding motivated sellers for any real estate investment newbie. Don't believe them. Sure, they will find you some motivated sellers, but you will find them anyway if you concentrate on the property and not the on the seller.

The best way to find motivated sellers in real estate investing is to not look for them. Then, they show up like buses. Whet you need to do is concentrate on the property available. First off, is the property worth buying in the first place? Is it within your price range? How much fixing up does it need?
Location, Location, Location

In order to select the property that you are going to work to buy, you need to consider the location it's in and the real estate market in that particular area. Select the area before you select an individual property to target. Once you've hit a target area, then you can get to specifics buy looking at real estate listings and even doing a direct mail campaign for that particular area.

If you do a direct mail campaign, make it short and sweet. A regular (and economical postcard) with the necessary information is all people will need to see. And people can will se information on a postcard immediately as opposed to having to open an envelope. People will often not even bother to open an envelope from an unknown or unfamiliar return address, just assuming its junk mail.

When you concentrate on a location and get the word out that you are interested in buying for this location, then the sellers will come to you like flies to rotting meat.

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Real Estate Investing: Simple Ways To Make More Deals And Earn Greater Profits

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by Dr Green

If you surf the Internet and read books on real estate investing you will come across a lot of useful information, though the majority of these sources concentrate on providing information on just one particular sphere of investing. Thus, if you are looking to find out more about real estate investing in general you may not come across too much information and so you would be at a loss when it comes to formulating the proper strategies by which to profit even more out of real estate investing.

Not A Get Rich Scheme

It should be clearly understood at the very outset that real estate investing is not a scheme that makes people rich overnight and that too without expending much effort. On the contrary, real estate investing means putting in a lot of hard work and it will also take time before you realize your objectives. It also requires that you perfect certain techniques and combine them with your experience so that you act in the best possible manner at all times.

One way of getting ahead in real estate investing is through rental properties because being a landlord is an activity that has been known to man for many a long time and it has always helped one to earn good money. It is however something that does not happen too often because you don't want to rent out your property on a short-term basis (in most cases). You can also profit from a technique known as lease optioning in which you get to control the property without actually becoming its owner. The best part about this form of real estate investing is that you can earn money in more ways than one and never have to spend your own money in the process.

Also, real estate investing could also mean going out looking for more deals because as you will have realized, the more deals you are able to close the more money you will end up earning. You can also wait for a good deal to come your way and whether you are a pushy investor or one who is patient and waits for deals to come your way you will need to be very persistent if you want to succeed in this form of investing. Thus, you should talk to as many owners as you can because the more deals you make the greater the amount of money you will have earned.

Once you realize that the more deals you close the more money will come your way you need to focus your real estate investing efforts in a few simple yet effective directions. First off, you need to try and buy properties from private owners since it will allow you to bypass competitive buyers who usually throng auctions looking for bargain buys. Also, private owners may be facing foreclosure and thus would be on the lookout for a buyer so you can land some sweet deals in this novel and effective way.

You can also profit in real estate investing by selling and leasing back. A source worth tapping out in this regard is businesses that have bought properties during boom periods but who are now facing liquidity problems. If you have the cash, such businesses will be willing to do business with you and you can then buy the property and then lease it back to the company and expect a nine to ten percent return on your investment.

However, foreclosures are a better option because you can get the property at knock-off prices and then make a good profit by selling them later, when the time is right. Using these simple strategies, you should not face any problem with increasing the volume of your real estate investing dealings and as you will have more properties on hand chances are that you will be able to convert them into more profits by making as many deals as you can.

http://HappyToSellHomes.com http://happytobuyhomes.com/recommends/25expertbook/

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3 Tips When Pricing Your Home

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by Jason D

When buying a home for the first time it is most likely the biggest financial decision you have made thus far. Now you are at a point when selling your home, for what ever reason, is just as big of a financial decision as buying. No matter what the reason for selling your home you still want to get as much of your investment back as possible. There are 3 key points to consider when pricing your home, market conditions, targeting, and price.

Having a good understanding of what the local real estate market is doing is important when determining to put your home up for sale. Depending on your circumstances it may be wise to hold off until the real estate market conditions improve. However, there are times when you need to sell your home as quick as possible. When the real estate market is humming with activity and there are more buyers than sellers of quality homes you will likely get more return on your investment when selling your home. Just the opposite may occur when there are more sellers than buyers. Different times of the year can affect both buyers and sellers. By knowing the effects of the seasons on the real estate market you may find your home will sell at a higher rate of return during that time frame. For example, during the spring and summer months there tend to be more sellers which, makes the market highly competitive. However, if you list your home in the fall and winter months there may be less competition especially if the climate is harsh.

In order to sell your home you have to have the resources to target potential buyers for your property. Real estate agents have the ability and know how to do just that. With the use of media, technology, and networking real estate agents can give your home the exposure needed to sell your home. The Internet has become a powerful tool in today's real estate market for getting your home in front of potential buyers. If you home is not listed in with the local real estate listing service you could potentially be cutting out 75% or more of interested home buyers.

Finally, the most important thing to consider when selling your home is price. Typically, when the home you are selling on the real estate market is well priced it will sell quickly. Buyers these days are well educated and they typically use real estate agents to find homes that fit their needs.

Jason Deines is a life long resident of Boise, Idaho and provides real estate information on the Boise Idaho Real Estate Market for both buyers and sellers. Visit http://boiserealestateinfo.net to get started.

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Land Repossession in Spain Continues

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by Amy Morgan

Spain is the second most popular destination for tourists in the world after France and is the most popular location for Northern Europeans to own a second home. It is thought that there are more than one million UK citizens in Spain with most of them living on the Spanish costa.

Approximately forty per cent of the Spanish coast is built on, with many of the buildings constructed without the proper planning permission. The Environment Ministry has now launched an operation to protect the coast and clear buildings from more than 400 miles of coast.

The move sees the Spanish government using the Ley de Costas law, passed over twenty years ago, to reclaim the first 550 meters of the coast. The plans apply equally to buildings constructed without planning permission and those legally built. The plans seem also likely to apply to bars, restaurants and hotels erected along the seafront.

The decision of the government to apply the 1988 Ley de Costas law has been widely criticised and pressure groups have been set up to oppose the government. The move first announced in November of 2007 has resulted in many property owners being notified that their property is targeted by the scheme.
Some owners have already had the ownership of their property {{{removed|taken away}}, but have been permitted to stay on the premises on the agreement that the property cannot be sold or inherited.

A pressure group formed in Madrid now has over 20,000 members many of them non-Spanish citizens. The head of the action group Jose Ortega said "This is the single biggest assault on private property we have seen in the recent history of Spain" and he added "The state is destroying property without any concern for the law or human rights".

It is also alleged, that by applying the 1988 law retroactively to property built and purchased in the 1970's, that the government is acting unlawfully in an unlawful manner.

The Spanish property market has always had a reputation for political corruption, with local officials accused of taking bribes in exchange for planning permission. With this move the central government has shown it will no longer tolerate building on the coast no matter how good developers' connections with local officials are.

So far 1300 buildings built without planning permission have been demolished since the government come to power, with many more owners being issued with 60 year licences allowing occupation of the property for that period without the right to sell to individuals (they may however sell to the government). The multi billion euro scheme to improve the Spanish coast will no doubt add to the beauty of an already stunning area but the cost to the residential tourist market will no doubt be high.

These moves come at a time when the once high performing Spanish investment property market has cooled considerably, largely due to rising prices and the development of Eastern Europe as a property hotspot. When once, Spain afforded the prospect of cheap property and a comparatively cheap standard of living to northern Europeans, now investors are inclined to look further afield for bargains. The governments' move is likely to have a negative effect on an already struggling property market.

Amy Morgan is a writer writing on Spanish property law for Big Property Guide

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Discover the Greatest Secret of Foreclosure - Overage

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by Dave Dinkel

Possibly one of the best kept secrets in the foreclosure industry is "overage". Overage is the amount of money left over after a foreclosure auction when the buyer has paid more than the lender's final judgment. This money can be as little as a few dollars or as much as millions of dollars.

Depending on which state the homeowner lives in, his foreclosure sale will be conducted by a sheriff, a trustee, or a county clerk of the court. As prescribed by law, the person in charge of the auction will sell the property to the public with "open outcry bidding" until the property is sold or redeemed by the lender. The location is usually on the courthouse steps or similar convenient place that is readily accessible to the public.

Normally the first bid on a property is by the primary lender who bids his final judgment amount as awarded by the county court plus $100. The next bid will come from an interested party to the property such as a junior lien holder or an investor who believes there is equity in the property. These bids will continue until the last bid, which wins the property.

Let's assume the final judgment on a property is $100,000 and the bank bids $100,100 and some bystanders start bidding until the final bid is $120,000. The lender submits his final judgment documents to the county clerk and the winning bidder must bring in cash anywhere from the same day to 30 days later, depending on state and county laws. Once the funds are in the courthouse and any redemption period has passed the lender gets his $100,000 and the buyer gets a deed to his property. A redemption period is a specific period of time from 1 day to 454 days, where the foreclosed homeowner can return with money to get his property back if he pays the buyer his costs plus fees and expenses. In some states there is no redemption period.

The clerk of the court has taken in $120,000 plus some transfer fees and paid out $100,000 and has a $20,000 credit in his bank account. The homeowner is entitled to this "overage" money. The homeowner has to make a claim to the county clerk and the court usually reviews these claims and awards the homeowner his money. This is an ideal world scenario, but in the real world, the homeowner may not know he has money coming to him and these funds eventually become the county's money.

Here is what has happened - a homeowner is approached by a person one or two days before the foreclosure sale and is offered $100 for a deed to his home. If the homeowner knows he can't stop his foreclosure sale and redemption is not possible, he views the $100 as free money. The buyer pays $100 and proceeds to go to the auction and perhaps even puts in a bid or two to get the price higher. If he won by accident, he can renege on the bid and it reverts to the last bidder. Let's look at the above example where the overage was $20,000, which is a very common amount. The "new" homeowner makes claim to the court and his $100 investment becomes $20,000.

This practice was and is very common in good real estate markets and where the state hasn't passed legislation to stop this practice. It is not illegal in many states and even in the ones where it is illegal, the states allow some form of "commission" or fee to be paid to a person who brings in the seller to reclaim his overage. At one courthouse I frequent for auctions, there is a group of 4 - 6 individuals gathering the data from the clerk's sales to use for later sending out letters to sellers to claim their overage. The usual fee is 10% of the total amount and can be very lucrative because the average overage is about $21,800.

What does this mean to a homeowner in foreclosure? It means that despite what you may think your home is worth, it could be sold at auction for more than is owed to his former lender and he is entitled to whatever money is remaining - the overage. So don't sell what you think is a worthless deed because on average it could be worth over $20,000.

Occasionally, the lender will get a final judgment against a homeowner by appraisal and not by sale because this is allowed in some states. The homeowner should always challenge this appraisal and have the judgment reduced if the property sells for more than the final judgment amount later. The moral to this story is that even in the worst of foreclosure situations, the loss of your home, the homeowner still has a chance to make money.

About Author:
Dave Dinkel is the author of "32 Ways to Quickly Stop Foreclosure" and has helped thousands of foreclosure victims for nearly 33 years. If you are facing foreclosure, visit StopMyForeclosureMess.com for guaranteed solutions.

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Austin Neighborhood: North Loop

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by Dane Smith

Just north of Hyde Park, with approximately 1400 homes, lies the neighborhood of North Loop. Also referred to as "Northfield", the North Loop neighborhood boundaries are 51st street, Lamar Boulevard, Airport Boulevard, and Koenig Lane.

Like many of Austin's central neighborhoods, North Loop got its start once soldiers began returning home from World War II. Other soldiers cashed in their GI Bill, and attended the university to get a college education. With the mass influx of people moving to Austin in the late 1940s and early 1950s, more homes had to go up quickly. The majority of the homes in North Loop are relatively small 2 bedroom, 1 bath homes hovering around 1,000 square feet. The homes went up quickly to meet the demand, but the quality of the craftsmanship has stood the test of time, and most of the original bungalows still stand 60 years later.

As Austin became more popular, and air travel more frequent, North Loop was considered a fairly undesirable neighborhood, as it lied in the heart of the flight path, when Robert Mueller airport was in operation (reveling in this fact is one of North Loop's premier coffee shops called Flight Path). In 1999, when Robert Mueller shut down, and Bergstrom took over as Austin's new airport, North Loop became a highly sought after neighborhood, with its close proximity to the UT campus, and about 5 miles from downtown. Some houses in the area doubled in value almost immediately.

North Loop truly has an Austin vibe about it. There is an eclectic mix of neighbors, from original residents, to college students and business owners, who all come together to embrace their neighborhood, keep the large yards and old trees looking pristine, while keeping a nonchalant attitude that gives the area a relaxed air about it.

The heart of the neighborhood is the North Loop strip, a row of all local and independent restaurants and retail shops along North Loop Boulevard, with many of the shop owners living in the area. Don't expect fancy upscale boutiques, but instead a few second-hand retro furniture and clothing shops, chocked full of unique items, as well as a bike shop, a record store and a coffee house. The strip is also home to Austin's volunteer-run, and self-proclaimed Anarchist bookstore, MonkeyWrench Books, and risqué lingerie shop, Forbidden Fruit. The Parlor is a pizza place that serves up delicious pies with designer toppings, such as goat cheese, spinach, and smoked chicken, but also hosts punk rock bands every night of the week. The North Loop strip became an "Independent Business Investment Zone", a program set up by the Austin Independent Business Alliance to help promote independent business districts in the city. Every quarter, the strip holds block parties, bringing in bands to perform on the streets, in store sales, and other entertaining events.

Last year, Endeavor Real Estate had plans to build a 260 unit apartment complex, with an additional 5,000 square feet of retail space in the North Loop area. With an almost 50 percent division amongst the neighbors, the plans were opposed, and Endeavor halted their plans. Though neighbors have mixed emotions about changes in their neighborhood, it's this very passion that makes North Loop a tight-knit community.

Escapesomewhere Real Estate is a full service realty company. Their website is filled with information about the Austin real estate market. They also provide visitors a free search of the Austin MLS along with a free mortgage calculator

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