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Read about Austin real estate and other thoughts about the area.

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  • Sam Chapman is a real estate agent with Private Label Realty and is licensed in the state of Texas. License # 0509637.

July 2009 - Posts

How Low is Lake Travis?
The water level of Lake Travis when full is at 681 feet above sea level. I went to the Lakeway City Park Sunday and took some photos of the Hurst Creek arm of the lake. That is where Hurst Harbor Marina and Johnny Fins usually are. The lake level on that Read More...
Texas Longhorns Football Schedule
OK, this has absolutely nothing to do with real estate, but here is the UT football schedule for this fall: Sept. 5 Louisiana-Monroe Home Sept. 12 Wyoming Away Sept. 19 Texas Tech Home Sept. 26 U.T. El Paso Home Oct. 10 Colorado Home Oct. 17 Oklahoma Read More...
Use Me to Purchase and I will Donate to Your Favorite Charity
I am launching a new program today. One of my favorite charitable organizations, the American Cancer Society, has struggled this year with fundraising because of the economy. So what I am offering is to donate 25% of my commission to theey charitable Read More...
$300,000 Single-Story Lakeway Home For Sale
I usually don't blog about listings, but this house belongs to a good friend and I want to help her sell it. The home is located in Lakeway just two blocks off RR 620. This single-story home has 2,177 square feet (per tax record), has 3 bedrooms and Read More...
June, 2009 Austin Market Stats
Looking at this, things look pretty good for real estate prices in Austin. However, if you could see the average price change, you would see more of a decline in some areas. We all know that home sales have been slower this year and it is interesting Read More...
82 Reasons to Love Austin
I have been compiling a list of things that make Austin so great for a long time and just added quite a bit to it. Rather than duplicate the list here I will point a link to it. So far I have 82 things on the list and I'm sure I will add more over Read More...
Marble Falls Waterfront Property
I had a call from a guy in Maryland earlier in the week who was looking for a Lake Travis waterfront lot . The problem was that his budget was up to $200,000. That won't get him anything on Lake Travis that won't either be dry during droughts Read More...
$8000 First-Time Home Buyer Credit: Not Much Time Left
First-time home buyers are running out of time to take advantage of the $8000 federal housing tax credit. The fist thing to know is that buyers need to have the deal closed and funded by the end of November of this year. Did tiy read that? Closed and Read More...
Foreclosures Aren't Necessarily a Great Deal
Many would-be real estate investors think they can get great deals in foreclosed homes. However, today’s foreclosures aren’t necessarily great or even good deals. Many of today’s foreclosures were purchased with little or no money down Read More...
New Development for Austin
There was an article in the Statesman the other day about a developer picking up land south of Avery Ranch for a new residential development. It is anticipated that the first homes will be completed and ready for buyers in late 2010. The development, Read More...
New Boat Dock Standards from the LCRA Will Cost Owners
I read something yesterday about nes standards for boat docks on Lake Travis and the rest of the Highland Lakes. Unencapsulated Styrafoam is no longer allowed for new docks and all docks, regardles of age, will be required to have encapsulated floatation Read More...
When Will the Rains Return?
I'm not a weatherman, but I am something of a weather junkie. I know that when El Nino is present in the Pacific, the Austin area typically sees more rain. So I did some internet searches a couple of weeks ago and found what appeared to be somewhat Read More...
2009 Lakeway July 4th Parade
I have walked in the Lakeway 4th of July parade 4 times over the last 6 or so years. I am always extremely impressed with the number of people in the parade and watching on the streets and sidewalks. I snapped the photos below with my Blackberry camera. Read More...
June, 2009 Austin Real Estate Market Stats
June is over and I just pulled numbers from the MLS. I looked at sales of all residential units and then just at single-family homes. As you can see, units sold were down around 21% in 2009 compared to dropping around 15% in 2008. As you can also see, Read More...