Austin Real Estate | Lake Travis Real Estate

Price Reduced on 3101 Chisholm Trail Austin TX 78734 in Apache Shores

Sam Chapman — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:50:00 GMT

Apache Shores, Austin - Announcing a price reduction on 3101 Chisholm Trail Austin TX 78734, a 1,665 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story. Now MLS® $172,500 - Price Reduction.

Property information

Can You Picture the Austin Area Having 2.7 Million Residents?

Sam Chapman — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:05:00 GMT

According to Bizjournals, the Austin-Round Rock area will be one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country through 2025. Of the 250 metro areas studied, the projection is that Austin and surrounding suburbs will be the 5th fastest growing metro area. Our area is expected to have 2.7 million residents by 2025. It looks like history will basically repeat itself. Between 1998 and 2008, the Austin metro area grew 43%. That compares to the state of Texas at around 21% and the country at just over 10%.

According to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, the bulk of the growth from 2000 through 2010 is expected to be in several areas. The fastest growing area is in the triangle between Parmer, 290 and IH 35. Other rapidly growing in Austin itself include areas close to the old Mueller Airport, areas south of the Colorado river, the area south of Oak Hill. Williamson County has seen significant growth and that is very likely to continue.

Where are people coming from? According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin typically sees a lot of people moving here from other parts of Texas. According to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, the greatest inflow of people into Texas has been from California, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Illinois. As economies in the Great Lakes region contract, people are likely to move to Texas. As other states continue to raise tax rates, we can expect an influx of people from those states as well.

Click here for the article and to see which metro areas are gaining and which are losing residents.

Questions about Austin real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Mortgage Rates Rising

Sam Chapman — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:20:00 GMT

I've been talking about mortgage rates starting to go up for various reasons for a while and guess what, it is happening.

Austin Things to do in June

Sam Chapman — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:50:00 GMT

Here is a list of a few things to do in Austin in the month of June:

Sports

June 7 - Congress Avenue Mile
June 13 at 8:00 AM - Honor Our Heroes 5K
June 27 at 8:00 AM - New Belgium Urban Assult Rice at Fiesta Gardens

Music

June 3 at The Paramount - The Gay Divorce
June 5 at Antone's - Alejandro Escovedo
June 7 at One World Theater - Warren Hill
June 8 at Stubb's - Gomez
June 14 - KGSR Live at the Lake at the Lakeway Resort and Spa - Mother Truckers
June 3 - Blues on the Green at Waterloo Park - Ruthie Foster
June 17 - Blues on the Green at Waterloo Park - Cyril Neville
June 3 - Live at the Garten at Scholtzes Garten - Dale Watson
June 17 - Live at the Garten at Scholtzes Garten - Slaid Cleaves
June 24 - Live at the Garten at Scholtzes Garten - Li'l Cap'n Travis

Theater/Culture

June 6 and 7 - at The Long Center - Rock My Soul: A Celebration of Spirituals
June 7 - at Rollins Studio Theater - The Doyle and Debbie Show
June 7 and 8 - in Zilker Park - Romeo and Juliet
June 25 - at the Keller Williams TexArts Studios in Lakeway - Grease

Questions about Austin or Lake Travis real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Home Values in Austin Increased 8.7%

Sam Chapman — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:18:00 GMT

The title of this post was the subject line of an email I got from Zillow today. The email claims that according to Zillow's own market reports, Austin area home values increased 8.7% from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009. I don't know where they are getting their data, but this is relative proof that buyers and sellers can not trust Zillow in the state of Texas.

I just pulled data from the MLS and found that the average sold prices for single-family homes in the Austin MLS dropped 3% from Q1 of 2008 to Q1 or 2009. For all residential properties in the MLS, sold price decreased 2%. This would include mobile homes, duplexes, condos, etc.

Some of the home valuation sites might be fun to play on, but people need to know that the only people to get accurate information on the market value of a home is someone with MLS access or an appraiser. Texas is a non-disclosure state, meaning that sellers don't have to disclose the sold price of a property to the county tax appraisal districts and other government entities.

So what about different parts of the area quarter to quarter? In and Around Westlake, sold prices were up a little over 1%. In the south Lake Travis area, prices were down almost 12%. Within a 2 mile radius of downtown, prices were up about 1%. In the entire city of Cedar Park, prices were down around 4%. For the entire city of Round Rock, the average price was up $85 and statistically that is around 0%.

Questions about Austin real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Craftsman Style Homes in Austin

Sam Chapman — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:47:00 GMT

What will the next style of architecture be for the Austin area? Although it is very nice, we have just about had our fill of the Texas Tuscan. Brick is still around, but is nothing new or fresh about it. Contemporary has been built in some areas and I don't think it has a huge place here. So what's next - craftsman style?

Craftsman style architecture was introduced at the end of the 19th century. You will see a lot of this style in some Austin neighborhoods and a great example is the Hyde Park home in the photo to the left.

This photo gives readers a good idea of craftsman style architecture. As you can see, craftsman style homes featured large front porches with columns supporting the gabled roof. The interiors are typically open and airy. They are like this because early designs did not include air conditioning as it was not available.

Some of the new construction at the site of the old Mueller Airport is craftsman style. Coventry released a story in the Statesman last Sunday about a craftsman style development. Ash Creek Homes has a craftsman style community in the northwest Austin area that is apparently doing quite well.

What I would like to see is a craftsman style community at a lower price point with nice, but not over the top, amenities. It should have access to great schools and should appeal to younger and first-time home buyers. The little house shown above could easily go for $250 per square foot because of the location. I would like to see a community of craftsman style homes at closer to entry level prices.

I hear that California is turning to craftsman style architecture in a lot of places. That state sets a lot of trends. Will craftsman be the next big architecture change here? I'd love any comments on this.

Questions about Austin real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422. Also, if you are a seller and want to find a way to see your home quickly, click HERE.

Austin Tops Another Forbes List - Best Bargain Cities

Sam Chapman — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:26:00 GMT

Forbes came out with a list of the Best Bargain Cities in the country and Austin was right at the top. Forbes studied the top 50 Metropolitan Statistical Areas and looked at things like employment, salaries for degreed workers, the cost of housing and other federal data. As is the case with many lists out recently about cities doing well economically, Austin and three other Texas cities made the top ten on this list.

Austin made it on another Forbes list too - Best Cities for the Outdoors. Austin was tied with L.A. at 11th place. My guess is that Austin would have been much higher if it wasn't for our hot summers. One can tell that climate was a big part of this when seeing L.A., San Diego and San Francisco on the list. Part of what got Austin up there is probably the topography here. There are some really excellent routes in the Hill Country for training on bicycles. The area also has some great parks with hiking and rock climbing. There are some really cool swimming holes like out at Krause Springs too. Of course, Lake Travis is absolutely fabulous.

Questions about Lake Travis real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Keller Williams and Technology for Agents

Sam Chapman — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:33:00 GMT

I just got back from the Keller Williams Internation office in Austin where I met with a bunch of tech folks. They wanted to pick my brain about how they can provide more or better support for individual agents. The asked all kinds of questions and we talked about everything from search engine optimization to blogging to the Keller Williams websites that each agent is provided with.

My biggest emphasis was about the Keller Williams agent websites and the property search feature that agents have. Keller Williams has a deal with a third party IDX vendor that provides a superior property search feature for our agent websites. What is IDX? Internet Data Exchange - it is the data feed coming from the Board that allows listings in our Board area to be shown on individual agent websites. It gives visitors the ability to see property listings that Board members have listed for sale.

People looking to buy homes go to agent websites for one purpose initially - to look at homes. Our websites need to make that easy for visitors. There needs to be a big Search Austin Homes (or wherever the agent is) link prominently displayed on the home page of an agent website and that link needs to take visitors to home search page. The search feature needs to be configured in such a way as to make for a good user experience - one that the user will be drawn to come back to over and over.

I applaud Keller Williams for looking at ways to help individual agents through the use of technology. I am very happy seeing Keller Williams interviewing agents about technology and making what should be positive changes to some of the tools provided to agents.

Why Buy a Home Now From Money Magazine

Sam Chapman — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:55:00 GMT

Money Magazine published an article last year that still applies today. I've been saying some of the same things Money said in the article. The article talks about people not being able to time the bottom and the very low interest rates that are even lower now than they were last year. Read the article here. Another article that supports buying now can be found here. One of the things this one talks about is the number of buyers out there. Fewer buyers means less competition and that can mean better negotiating power for buyers. And if you are a first-time home buyer, don't forget about the federal tax credit.

Ready to look at Austin area homes? Give me a call at 512-293-2422.

A North Carolina Property in the Austin MLS

Sam Chapman — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:04:00 GMT

If you are using my website or any other agent website to look at properties, there is something you need to know. Any agent licensed in the state of Texas can be a member of the Austin Board of REALTORS. That means he or she can add a listing in our local MLS even if it is in another area. About a year ago I came across a home in North Carolina in the Austin MLS. So what you need to know is that as a member of the local Board, listings in the Austin MLS system populate on to my website. You are not searching the actual MLS, cut you are seeing some data from it.

So if you are looking in San Marcos or Marble Falls, for example, you may see listings on my website that I may not be able to show easily or collect comparable data for. The more important of these two is getting comparable data. We use data from comparable sold properties to make an assessment of market value and we use that for making offers. If someone sees a great home on Lake Buchanan on my website and contacts me about it, the smartest thing for me to do is to refer that buyer to an agent in our Marble Falls office who is a member of that Board of REALTORS.

I just did a quick map search using my Austin online home search page. I found homes listed that are closer to Houston than Austin and more on the Texas Gulf coast. I found one north of Dallas and I found several closer to Kerrville (2 hours west of Austin) than to Austin. So if you are not from around Austin and don't know Texas geography well and you see a property you really like, map it to make sure it is in the Austin area.

If you are looking for a home in Marble Falls, Horseshoe Bay or other points west of here, contact me and I will set you up with a great agent in that area.

Are Interst Rates On the Way Up?

Sam Chapman — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:42:00 GMT

I have been talking with several lenders lately and the consensus is that interest rates will be up in 6-12 months. The reason is the TARP money the federal government has been using to purchase mortgage backed securities. The government set aside $1.2 trillion to purchase these securities and set a time limit of June of this year to stop making purchases. The way the purchases have been going have kept mortgage rates artificially low. Rather than being at 45% to 5%, rates should be more in the range of 6% to 7%. Although the deadline to purchase the mortgage backed securities is June, there is still money available for purchases. Of the $1.2 trillion, there is roughly $800 billion left. Given the state of the economy, it would be a surprise if the government extended this in order to use the additional money.

However, when this ends, there are not likely to be many investors willing to purchase the mortgage backed securities. The reason for this is that the government will allow loan modifications for home owners who are behind on their mortgage payments and who owe more than market value on the homes. These loan modifications will allow a judge to lower an interest rate and lower the principal owed on the loan. Investors who purchase mortgage backed securities do so with a certain rate of return in mind. If the return can be compromised by allowing loan modifications, there will be very little interest on the part of investors to purchase the securities. The law of supply and demand tells us that for investors to purchase these securities, the government will need to find a way to offer a higher rate of return and this translates into higher interest rates.

What this means for buyers is that there is probably a window of opportunity to make a home purchase at artificially low mortgage interest rates.

Will Today's Rain Make Lake Travis Rise?

Sam Chapman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:38:00 GMT

I did a post about rain in Austin back in March. I was kind of excited about the possibility of a lot of rain west of here as I was hoping it would cause the water level in Lake Travis to rise. Well, even with anywhere from 1 to 3 inches over a broad area, it just soaked into the incredibally parched ground. Lake Travis stopped dropping for a few days, but that was it.

We have had a few rainy periods since then, but today is a pretty big rain event over a large geographic area. That is exactly what Lake Travis needs right now as it is sitting at about 61% of capacity. Much of the area being rained on last night and today has had heavy rain over the same spots. Flash flood warnings were posted over a dozen of so counties here and to the west.

If you are at all curious about how much rain the area that drains into Lake Travis is getting, visit the LCRA Hydromet page. What you will see is a map showing the drainage area for the rivers flowing into the Colorado, which flows into Lake Travis, and other rivers flowing into the Lake itself. Toward the top left, select Rainfall - past 48 hours under the drop-down menu for Set Hydromet data to display. From here, you can zoom in and move the map around to see different river basins.

If you are seeing this within a day of this post, you will see the Llano River basin, which drains into Lake LBJ. You will see anywhere from around an inch of rain to over 4 inches. The Pedernales, which drains into Lake Travis, also got a lot of rain with amounts ranging from around 1.5 inches to over 4 inches. The San Saba River, which drains into the Colorado above Lake Buchanan, picked up from under half inch to over 4 1/2 inches.

All of this is good news for Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis. The ground should have been saturated enough so a lot of this water will run into the lakes. With the way this storm system is set up with a lot of moisture still in the air and an unstable air mass, we may have another round of storms to come. And with all of that, I sure hope to see Lake Travis come up a few feet.

Lake Travis View Lots and Drought Conditions

Sam Chapman — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:45:00 GMT

I had a call from a gentleman from California many months ago. Tom was looking for a lot with a nice Lake Travis view, but he wanted to build a single-story home no larger than 2000 square feet and it needed to be able to have an RV garage. He also wanted to be close to family in Cedar Park. The area I recommended was Volente.

Volente is a small town on the north shore of Lake Travis that is relatively close to Austin and Cedar Park. Of you take Bullick Hollow from 2222, it dead ends into Volente Road. Going one way takes you to Anderson Mill Road in Cedar Park. Going the other way (west) takes you to an area with impressive hills - Volente. The hard part thing about looking for the property Tom wanted was a decent Lake Travis view and restrictions that permitted a home of 2000 square feet or less and an RV garage.

I previewed lots yesterday and found a couple I thought would work. The interesting thing about looking for a lake view lot right now is the fact that the water is so low because of the exceptional drought. This is actually a good time to look at Lake Travis vew lots. If there is a nice view now with the lake almost 30 feet low, think of what it will look like when the lake is full.

Some of the Volente area lots I looked at had not been cleared at all. How does a seller expect someone to understand the possibilities for a good view if there are trees all over the place? Not that I am advocating cutting down a bunch of nice trees - just the cedar. Clearing cedar has another benefit - when it is gound up into mulch, it makes the area smell good.

Some advice for people looking at lake view lots - know the building setbacks. You probably want to be on the highest part of the lot. If there is a setback of 50 feet or more, will that make the house a bit lower? Know the boundaries. If you are standing on the top part of the lot and can see the lake, are you looking out over that particular lot or might you be looking a over a neighboring lot? If it is a neighbor, could your view be obstructed by growing trees or a new home? If you are not on the lake side of the street, look across. Will there be a home build that may obstruct the view?

By the way, if anyone is interested in lots of around an acre with good lake views in Volente, be prepared to pay $180,000 or more.

Questions? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Austin Home Values Rise - at the County

Sam Chapman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:34:00 GMT

The Statesman reported this morning that the assessed values on Travis Count homes went up almost 4% last year. If you have bought a home in Travis County recently, look at the appraised value at the tax appraisal district. If your contract price was lower than what the county has the home as an assessed value, you can protest and you should be able to get the assessed value lowered. Go to the page on the Travis County website here to see how you can protest a home value. You have only until May 31 or no later than 30 days after the appraisal district mailed you a notice to protest.

Austin Energy Audits Likely to Delay Home Sales

Sam Chapman — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:18:00 GMT

I’ve been talking with people over the last few months about the home energy audit that will be required for many Austin homes. I have also talked with some who are taking the Austin home energy audit class this week. The audits start June 1 and the closing of a home sale cannot be done until an audit has been done.

One thing I learned was that many of the people in the class had no knowledge of and no skills in the construction business. I also learned that the instruction wasn’t the best. It wasn’t that the teachers were not knowledgeable, they were more like people in the construction trade, but not really trained to teach.

The general thought was because of the make-up of the class of about 30 people that around half of the people in the class may not be able to pass the exam. The class was in was only the 5th one being taught. With mandatory audits just about 6 weeks away, what I heard pretty much confirmed what I have been thinking for months - there will not be enough auditors to perform the audits. If this is the case, I can see many closings being held up because of the lack of auditors. I posted about this almost a year ago here when there were a lot more unknowns about the program.

Another thing that concerned me was that the class was to get people certified to do the energy audits. It was not teaching people to actually do audits. Home inspectors are taught to do home inspections. They also observe licensed inspectors review inspections with home buyers. The good ones will note everything not up to standards, but will present it in such a way as not to scare buyers. If people are not being taught how to perform energy audits and how to present the information, what are sellers and buyers to expect?

There are a lot of what-ifs here. Homes typically close in around 30 days. The option period is typically 7-14 days. This is the time during which buyers typically have inspections done. So what if the energy audit has not been done and the buyers get through the option period and find out later that the home would need $5000 in work to need energy audit standards? The city will not require upgrades at this point, but will they update the ordinance in a year or two? My thought is that they will. So what if someone buys now and 5 years down the road will be required to upgrade to meet the energy audit standards?

Another fear is for people who will be buying and want to be in the house in time for school to start. If someone comes to Austin and gets a house under contract in the middle of July, will they be able to close in time to get kids registered in school? They need to actually own the home in order to register kids for school. So what's the answer?

For home sellers who will be required to have an audit done, they should order the audit right when the house is listed for sale. Just as they are required to fill out and make available a seller’s disclosure, they might as well do the audit up front.

Another thought is whether or not people will look outside the Austin city limits in order to avoid the whole energy audit? Might they look to buy in Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock, Lakeway or outside a city in the county? Many of these cities follow Austin - will some or all also required audits in future years?

The energy audits are required for any home 10 years old or older that is within the Austin city limits for owners who are customers of Austin Energy. Click here to learn more about the energy audits from Austin Energy.

Questions about Austin real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422.

New Lakeway Asian Restaurant - Non La

Sam Chapman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:33:00 GMT

Tim, Gabriella and I went to Non La, which means straw hat, in Lakeway for lunch today. The restaurant opened just two weeks ago and looked like it was having good traffic. Gabriella had the Chicken Pho and loved it. The ceramic bowl was huge and she couldn't finish her meal. I ordered Pad Thai with chicken because I wanted to compare to the Pad Thai at Thai Spice, which is just a few minutes from Non La. The Pad Thai at Non La was good, but they added a bit of ketchup to it. I didn't care for the ketchup because it diminished the peanut taste and I absolutely love that. Tim also had Pad Thai, but with shrimp. He was complimentary of the dish and liked the way the shrimp had been cooked. Service was pretty fast and the waitress was very pleasant. Non La is a new shopping center on Lohman's Crossing just 30 seconds from where Lohman's Crossing meets 620.

Apache Shores Topography and 18-Wheelers

Sam Chapman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:44:00 GMT

I live in Apache Shores and one of the things I love about the neighborhood is the amazing topography. As I left home today, I headed down a pretty steep and curvy section of Broken Bow Trail. Rounding a corner, I came across an 18-wheeler that was stopped in the road. As I came around this pretty severe bend in the road, I saw that the right rear tires were off the road. If you can read a topo map, you will understand that going off the road here is a very bad thing. This little stretch of Broker Bow has seen at least 4 cars go off the road that I know of in the past few years. The images below illustrates what I am talking about.

The first image is an area that is about 1 mile by 1 mile and it shows most of Apache Shores and it shows how hills give way to creek beds. The tops of the hills are about 800 feet above sea level. The bottom of some of the canyons drop to around 500 feet.

The second image shows the location of the 18-wheeler marked with a crude arrow. The truck was going from left to right and at this point was going uphill next to a steep drop. This part of Broken Bow is a very tight turn and the truck had absolutely no business being there as that turn is almost impossible for a vehicle that large to navigate. I spoke with the driver and he was very unhappy that he was given directions to go that way. There is a much safer way for large vehicles to go if they are trying to get to that part of Apache Shores. Even the fire trucks don't drive that part of Broken Bow.

OK, so am I saying that Apache Shores roads are dangerous? Some can be, especially for people who don't know the area, but that is true of many parts of the Hill Country. People driving parts of the neighborhood simply need to be aware of where they are going and they need to keep their speed in check. This is especially true in the rain.

Questions about Apache Shores homes? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Austin Home Price Statistics Update

Sam Chapman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:43:00 GMT

People all over the place are telling me that they don't want to buy in the Austin area right now because they feel that prices will drop more. They may a see a stat like the one I saw today showing home prices down 4% in March. That is across the entire area, but what you need to know is that some areas actually saw prices rise. To illustrate this, you need to see an MLS map so I am placing two below this paragraph.

This Austin MLS map doesn't show all areas. It is limited to areas closer to the main population centers.

The median price of a sold residential unit in the Austin MLS area in March, 2008 was $179,000 and the average price was $227,917. Take a look at the table below for different MLS areas and what happened with Austin home prices.

An area I work a lot in is LS. This is the south side of Lake Travis on the left side of the map. Prices dropped primarily because of new construction. Builders have been taking losses on homes just to unload inventory. PF, which is at the top right of the map, moved a lot of inventory did pretty well. This surprises me a bit because of the number of new homes in the area. I would have expected to see builders taking hits on price in PF. RN did pretty well even with new homes selling for much less than list price.

CLN did very well, moving 69 units and seeing a jump both in average and median price. My thought on this is that with the addition of the tolls road 183A and 45, the commute time is much shorter than it was before these roads were in. The area is also pretty affordable with the median price at just over $161,000 and the average at almost $195,000. This is a great area for first-time home buyers.

So my main point is that when you listen to the news and hear about how bad the housing market is, you shouldn't pay attention if you are interested in a particular area because real estate is market specific. So even when you read about home prices dropping in Austin, you have to look at specific areas to see what is happening. You can't go into CLS, for example, and offer what you think is 5% less than what you might expect a house to sell for because prices are actually rising there. You have to break down the market into smaller pieces.

Questions? Call me at 512-293-2422 or Search Austin Homes. Also, if you are a seller and want to find a way to see your home quickly, click HERE.

Hill Country Galleria Mall Facing Foreclosure

Sam Chapman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:53:00 GMT

The Hill Country Galleria Mall cannot refinance its construction loan and because of that it has been posted for foreclosure. I've watched the mall closely since it opened, wondering if it would be successful. I have not spent a lot of time at the Hill Country Galleria, but when I have been there it has been very slow. Even before Christmas last year when Dillard's was having some amazing sales, I never saw a parking lot that was even half full. So what happened?

The area the mall draws from includes Lakeway, Bee Cave, Oak Hill, Dripping Springs and Spicewood. People from Marble Falls probably even drive in to shop. This area was also booming with growth in terms of population and new homes in 2006 and the first part of 2007. The mall opened late in 2007 and that was right after the credit crisis hit the hardest. Home buyers were cut out of the market,people who could not sell in other markets were not moving here and the growth came to a screaming halt.

People also stopped spending money they didn't have to spend. So sales that the developer of the mall expected didn't materialize. Funds also dried up for commercial real estate. Whether it was for development or refinancing, funds just weren't there. Also, with a lot of space empty and a lack a good revenue stream, investors who could have provided financing were not interested.

So what will happen? Opus West., which developed and manages the Galleria, hopes to be able to work something out so the mall will not be sold. The shopping public will just have to wait and see.

May 11 update - the mall went into bankruptcy in order not to go to auction as a foreclosure.

Questions about Austin real estate? Call me at 512-293-2422.

Lake Travis Waterfront Short-Term Rental

Sam Chapman — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:52:00 GMT

I got some clients into a wonderful house on Lake Travis recently that they have available as a short-term rental. One of the best things about the house is that it is on a very deep cove. Many rental homes on Lake Travis are on coves that don't have water access now because of the extended drought. If we don't get a huge amount of rain this spring, this could be one of the better rentals because of the deep water. This home will be a great weekend vacation house for people from Houston, San Antonio or west Texas. A few photos for you:

High season rates for this 4 bedroom, 4400 square foot home are $650 per night for holiday and weekends, $575 per day for weekdays or $3750 per week. Low season rates are $575 per night for holidays and weekends, $500 per night for weekdays and $3250 per week.

If you're interested, email me and I will send you the property manager's contact information. Or if you are thinking of purchasing a Lake Travis waterfront home, please get in touch with me.

Texas Cities Leaders in Job Growth

Sam Chapman — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:42:00 GMT

Forbes came out with its most recent list of the top 20 cities in the nation for job growth and guess what, Texas has nine of them. Leading the way for small cities is the west Texas city of Odessa. Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Dallas led the top five large cities list and these are all in the Texaplex. Having said that, this is kind of like a post I did a while back called Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009. Austin saw jobs grow at only 1% last year, which generally wouldn't be anything to brag about, but with unemployment rising less in Austin than most cities, this is decent.

Part of the reason for Texas cities being on the list is because is big in the energy business. Houston, Dallas, Odessa and Longview are big into energy businesses. One thing the article didn't mention was wind energy and really small towns. Texas is the largest producer of wind energy of any state in the country and some small towns are booming because of this. Sweetwater is an excellent example of this.

Other Texas cities in the top 20 on the list include McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Larado, College Station and Bryan. Of the top 100 cities, Texas had 20% of them.

See the Forbes article here.

New York Residents - Facing a Tax Hike? Move to Austin

Sam Chapman — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:42:00 GMT

So I have been doing some online research looking at New York and other states because of their budget deficits. What I have found tells me that people are about to leave New York and other states because or rising taxes and fees. One article I read shows New York as becoming the highest taxing state in the country, passing even California. There are at least nine other states considering tax increases as well. Some of the states are ones that have been particularly hard hit by massive declines in home prices. These states include California, Florida and Arizona.

The state will raise the tax rate for people earning over $200,000 per year another 2%. The top rate will then be almost 9%. New York City is even worse than the rest of the state. People who live in the city will see a top rate of over 12.6% That means that the people in this income range will be paying more than 45% in taxes when you include a federal rate of 33%. But it gets even worse when you look at surcharges, taxes and fees on consumer items like cell phone usage, electric bills (are you kidding me?), bottled water and and health insurance (again - are you kidding?)

According to the Census Bureau almost 2 million people have left the state of New York in the last 10 years. New York City has lost 75,000 jobs since August. So what is the reason to stay? Oh, another thing for state officials - as more people leave the state, they take their money with them. Did you think about that?

Texas has one of the best business environments in the country. We also have NO state income Tax. People moving here from New York City can keep over 12.6% more of what they earn here in their pockets. Of course Austin is the best place in Texas to live, so come on down. By the way, other people from New York, as well as California, Florida, Illinois and other states are more than welcome here as well.

Read a couple of articles here and here.

If you are thinking of moving to Austin, please give me a call at 512-293-2422. I'd love to help you! Also, if you are a seller and want to find a way to see your home quickly, click HERE.

Should America Do Away With the Penny?

Sam Chapman — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:21:00 GMT

According to a USA Today article in 2006, it cost more than a penny to produce a penny. It also cost more to make a nickel than five cents. This is still true today. So do we still need pennies? Some people feel that since it costs less than 25 cents to make a quarter that this offsets the additional cost of penny and nickel production. I'm not sure I agree.

So what to do? It would be much simpler for many cashiers to make change without pennies. I frequently go through drive-thoughts for lunch and many times the cost is something that ends in something like $0.07. So rather than make the person at the window give me a pile of change back, I offer up a dime and two pennies or a quarter and two pennies. It amazes me how many people can't do the math and hand back the wrong amount of change (what does that say about our public education system?). If we did away with pennies, this wouldn't be an issue any more. So there is reason #1 to eliminate pennies.

Change weighs a lot. If you're like me, you toss spare change in a mug or a jar and when the it is full, you take it to the bank. If we eliminated pennies, the same amount of change by weight would make a trip to the bank result in more money deposited or exchanged. How about the weight of change when armored trucks take from bank to bank or from the mint to a bank. Again, without pennies, the same amount of change by weight would result in more money being delivered. This would simply be a more efficient use of diesel fuel. Reason #2 to get rid of pennies.

From some other research I found out that nickels are made up primarily of copper and pennies are made up primarily of zinc. The small amount of copper is used to give the pennies their appearance. Metals have gone up in price as commodities lately and that is likely to continue. Around one billion pennies are minted each year and their production uses around 3,000 tons of zinc. Zinc is trading at around $1320 per ton right now. That means the U.S. mints about $4 million in pennies per year. The make-up of a nickel shows it as containing 75% copper. Copper is more than three times as expensive as zinc. How about when we eliminate the penny, we use zinc in nickels? That might bring the cost of a nickel to less than a nickel to manufacture. The result - money saved by the government (read: taxpayers). Reason #3 to get rid of pennies.

So what is the best argument for keeping the penny around? You can't say: "a nickel for your thoughts." That just doesn't sound right. My thought is that we lose the penny, redesign the nickel and move on.

My two cents...

South Lake Travis Real Estate Prices and Inventory- Ouch!

Sam Chapman — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:35:00 GMT

OK, more numbers for you.

These are stats for single-family homes sold in the Lake South area of the Austin MLS from October 8, 2008 through today. This is similar to what I posted a few days ago, but this breaks out new homes and is for all of Lake South, not the Lake Travis ISD like the earlier post. New Actives refers to any home built in 2008 or later. All Actives are all homes in the various price ranges.

Back when the Austin real estate market was in really great shape, builders put up a lot of homes in Lake South. Many homes that were started in mid-2007 and early 2008 are still on the market. The problem is a lack of buyers combined with non-conventional loans. Expensive homes call for jumbo mortgages and they can be a bit more difficult to get than conventional loans. With so little movement of homes in the $900,000 and up range, there may be deals to get for serious buyers with money to spend.

So should buyers wait for prices to drop more? Many will, but when will we see interest rates go up? That might counter the effect of lower prices in terms of a higher monthly payment. With the tremendous amount of money being printed, my fear is that we will see rates go up. Inflation should be kept in check until the economy shows signs of strengthening, but when that happens, expect to see inflation and rate increases.

Questions about Lake Travis real estate? Give me a call at 512-293-2422.

Blog Readers - What Do You Want To Read?

Sam Chapman — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:56:00 GMT

I've been posting on this Austin real estate blog since November, 2006. The posts with the most page views have been about real estate statistics, new real estate developments in the area, economic outlooks, etc. The post that actually got the most traffic was entitled High School Football in Texas that I wrote in December of 2007. It was clicked on 12,545 times. Second was a post about the Hill Country Galleria Mall that I wrote in February of 2007. It had over 11,000 clicks.

So readers who have been following this blog for a while, what do you want to read? Just email me suggestions. I promise I won't spam you back with anything.