Austin Real Estate Guy Blog

How Tall is the Austonian

Sam Chapman — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:32:00 GMT

The Austonian, at 55 stories, is the tallest building in Austin. It can literally be seen from all over the city. But I was very surprised where I could see this downtown Austin landmark from.

I was showing one of brothers the athletic facilities at Lake Travis High School last weekend. Driving down the hill from the track, what did I see on the horizon? The Austonian. This surprised me because of the elevation of the hills between the Lakeway/Bee Cave area and downtown Austin.

The following day I was returning to Lakeway from Hamilton Pool. On Hamilton Pool getting close to Hwy 71 what did I see? You guessed it, the very top of the Austonian. That truly is one tall building

Home Buying Power at Lower Interest Rates

Sam Chapman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:18:00 GMT

I was at an Austin MLS Lake South property tour this morning at The Grille at Rough Hollow. A home builder’s sales person was passing out graphs illustrating the change in home affordability at lower interest rates.

Her example illustrated the difference in home affordability versus in the past when mortgage interest rates were higher. What was illustrated was that with today’s rates being less than 4%, a buyer could buy a house $27,000 more expensive than when rates were at just under 7%.

Let’s look at an example:

A couple was looking at a $200,000 home when rates were at 6.5%. If they put 20% down, the monthly principal and interest (P&I) payment would have been $867.

If that couple is looking now, when rates are so very low, let’s see what they could afford using a rate of 4%. Putting down 20%, P&I will be the same $867 if they spend around $265,000 for a house. That 2.5% decrease in interest rates will let the same buyer buy a house that is 32.5% more expensive than when rates were 6.5%. That is pretty incredible. Imaging how much house can be bought for $265,000.

Will rates to stay this low for very long? I can’t say for sure, but I doubt it. Do home buyers expect the price of a home to drop 32.5% Not in Austin. In my last If you do the math, for every $100,000 financed, a buyer can qualify for over 13% more for every 1% drop in rates.

Time to buy? If it is, call me at 512-293-2422. Or visit my search Austin homes page to look at Austin homes for sale.

Austin Real Estate Statistics Through June 2010

Sam Chapman — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:02:00 GMT

I was looking at real estate stats for Austin area homes and came across some interesting data. I did this because so many people seem reluctant to buy. They keep hearing how bad the real estate market is by the national media and don't realize that doesn't necessarily apply to Austin.

Take a look at the following data. The first row is the average price of an Austin home sold in the first half of 2009. The second row are 2010 numbers. The last row is the change in the average price. As you can see, our area has actually seen appreciation in real estate prices.

January	February	March	April	May	June	YTD
224,006	238,000	227,979	227,849	248,281	245,831	1,411,946
223,491	235,008	232,204	230,785	238,664	267,802	1,427,954
-515	-2,992	4,225	2,936	-9,716	21,971	16,008

The next data shows the number of single-family residential units closed each month. Again, the top row is 2009 and 2010 follows. April, May and June show pretty clearly the effect of the tax credit.

January	February	March	April	May	June	YTD
859	1,118	1,414	227,849	1,618	1,721	8,991
845	1,188	1,879	230,785	2,149	2,164	10,353
-15	70	434	531	403	62	1,632

The following table shows Days On Market (DOM). This basically shows how long it has taken to sell a unit. As you can see, homes were clearly selling faster in 2010 than in 2009.

January	February	March	April	May	June	AVG
106	118	114	107	107	105	110
108	100	96	89	80	88	96
2	-18	-18	-18	-27	-17	-14

So what does this tell people? Perhaps is isn't the time to sit back and see how low prices will get. Combine these numbers with the fact that interest rates are unbelievably low. Perhaps now is the time to buy an Austin home.

Noses Anyone?

Sam Chapman — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:47:00 GMT

This has nothing to do with Austin real estate, but it is pretty funny/interesting. Near Helotes, TX there is a fascinating formation in the limestone alnog a creek. It is amazing what erosion over time does.

The one in the middle is almost a perfect nose with a little acne scarring, a mustache and an eye that some kid probably drew with sidewalk chalk.

Where to Stay Near Lake Travis

Sam Chapman — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:26:00 GMT

Many people visit from outside of Austin to look at Lake Travis property. One thing I get asked frequently is where they can stay. Some want to take advantage ot the downtown music scene and choose to stay in town. Others prefer to be by the lake.

A very nice place to stay in Lakeway is the Lakeway Resort. It is right on Lake Travis and has some great emenities including the spa, two restaurants, four pools and a fitness center. Being right by the Lakeway Marina, a day trip on Lake Travis is easy too. Staying at the Lakeway Resort puts people right in the middle of som every nice south shore Lake Travis real estate and getting out to look at properties is very easy.

Vintage Villas on Eck Lane is also very nice. It is across the road from Lake Travis, but offers some excellent lake views.

For those who want a less expensive option, a Hampton Inn opened fairly recently in Lakeway. It is right off RR 620 and people staying there can get just about anywhere on the south shore pretty quickly.

Whether you want to visit and be close to the lake or closer in to downtown Austin, take a look at some Austin hotels.

Austin Hotels

Sam Chapman — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:37:00 GMT

Many people I work with are from outside of Austin. As they start plans for a visit, many ask me where they should stay. Depending on where they are looking at homes and what else they want to do while here, I can make recommendations.

However, many people want to check location, prices, amenities, etc. and I don’t have that information. Well I now have a resource on my website that will allow people to look for and then book an Austin hotel online. Check out my Austin hotels page.

Sunday Morning in Apache Shores

Sam Chapman — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 13:54:00 GMT

I was a little restless this morning and drove to the Apache Shores waterfront park on Lake Austin. It was just after 7:30 and I was surprised to see the number of people that I saw.

There were 2 ladies with 2 dogs at the boat launch. They were tossing something into the water that the dogs would eagerly go out and fetch.

There was a dad and his son by the day docks. They wre fishing and looking for crayfish.

There was a guy behind a boat preparing to slalom. He gave the OK and the girl in the boat took off.

There were also two people swimming towards Austin as a person in a kayak paddled along side.

Lake Travis ISD New School Sites

Sam Chapman — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:17:00 GMT

The Lake Travis ISD has bought sites for 4 new schools. Included will be a new elementary and new middle school off Reimer’s Ranch Rd. Another middle school site is located on the north side of Hwy 71 just west of Bee Creek. A future high school is planned across from Falconhead West.

The reason for this is because of the growth that will occur in this part of Travis county when the housing market picks up steam again. The district had a demographic study done in2009 and it showed the potential for almost 1700 new single-family homes in the area by 2019. It also showed a number of apartment complexes planned for the same area.

This area includes the communities of Rough Hollow, Falconhead West, Serene Hills, Sweetwater Ranch and West Cypress Hills. Home building is booming in Falconhead west and homes are under construction in Rough Hollow as well. West Cypress is still building, but more slowly and Sweetwater appears dead in the water for now.

Two additional elementary school sites have been identified. One is in Rough Hollow and the other is in the Sweetwater development. In addition, LTISD bought land for a transportation center off Hwy 71 across from Falconhead west that should be ready for busses in November.

Whole Foods Coming to the Hill Country Galleria Mall in Bee Cave

Sam Chapman — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:22:00 GMT

Can you believe it? The rumor that has been floating around for 3 years is coming thrue. Whole Foods will open a store in the Hill Country Galleria Mall in 2012. Area residents have been talking about a Whole Foods or Central Market coming to the area for a while now.

One rumor had a Central Market or H-E-B out Hwy 71 near Pace Bend Rd. Another had a store in Lakeway off RR 620. None of those happened. Many residents of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Steiner Ranch and Spicewood will welcomd the new grocery store to the area as current Whole Foods stores are quite a drive from the area.

The city of Bee Cave will welcome another source of revenue and the Galleria will love another huge anchor tenant.

Austin Area Large Land Sales are Encouraging

Sam Chapman — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:10:00 GMT

There has been a lot of property available for sale to real estate developers and little or no movement in recent years. Part of the problem is that nobody seems to want to lend for large scale purchases. Well, several large tracts have sold recently in the Austin area.

The first was a part of Crystal Falls in Leander. Home builder Taylor Morrison bought 1,200 lots on 440 acres in the community and plans on building new homes soon. Though not a huge purchase, it was one of the largest sales in recent memory and it was a cash purchase.

This tells me that Taylor Morrison is bullish on Austin. They had done a lot of building in Steiner Ranch, another master-planned community in northwest Austin. As that community sees an end of home building, Taylor Morrison and other large, production builders need other places to go. Crystal Falls is a bit far away from downtown Austin, but there is good transportation into Austin and Round Rock.

Several thousand more acres are available in Crystal Falls and I have heard that there was good competition for the lots Taylor Morrison purchased. So we may see news of more land in the community selling before too long.

I just learned of a much more significant purchase today. The Headwaters at Barton Creek transaction consisted of 1,035 acres, 340 of which will have 1,000 residential lots. The list price was just over $15.5 million and the sold price was not disclosed. However, this is a very large purchase considering how large parcels have not been moving lately.

The Headwaters project is in Dripping Springs and borders Sunset Canyon on one side. Several more recent development in the area have done quite well. These include Belterra and High Pointe, both of which are still seeing a significant amount of new home construction.

Austin Homes by Zip Code

Sam Chapman — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:34:00 GMT

I have gotten more requests than I usually get for people who want to do a home search by Zip Code. So today, I added a page to my webswite for that. The page has the Austin area broken doewn geographically and lists Zip Codes per area. When a user clicks on a Zip Code, it takes her to a page showing homes for sale in that Zip Code.

Click and check out my Austin homes by Zip Code page.

Austin Home Buyers – So You Want a Deal Part II?

Sam Chapman — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:35:00 GMT

For this, we will need to talk some statistics. 2006 was a record setting year for Austin home sales. Things started slowing in 2007 and 2008 and sales hit the skids in 2009. As one might expect, prices have come down, but believe it or not, the Austin area is still in line with 2006 prices. Not many cities can make that statement.

Let’s now break things down in different price points. The figures I will use will be the sales of single-family homes from the beginning of each year through yesterday. The first group of homes will be those that sold for less than $249,000. In 2006, 10,586 homes sold and the average sold price was $153,552. For 2010, those numbers were 6939 and $159,387. So even though the number of homes sold this year was down by over 50%, the price actually went up.

From $250,000 to $499,999 there were 3328 homes sold in 2006 and the average sold price was $337,999. In 2010, those numbers were 2796 and $337,930. Statistically, there was no movement in price.

From $500,000 to $749,999 there were 584 homes sold in 2006 and the average sold price was $600,628. In 2010, those numbers were 480 and $597,000.

From $750,000 to $999,999 there were 198 homes sold in 2006 and the average sold price was $847,705. In 2010, those numbers were 141 and $849,932.

From $750,000 to $999,999 there were 122 homes sold in 2006 and the average sold price was $1,559,654. In 2010, those numbers were 177 and $1,566,039.

So why compare 2010 to 2006? To show that we didn’t see a plunge in prices like many other markets have seen. Sure, the number of homes sold is down, but Austin’s numbers are still looking relatively good compared to other markets.

Back to great deals for a minute. People selling now who bought 4-7 years ago may have some equity in the homes from down payments, but many also got the little down loans. So there may not be much motivation for a significant price drop. This is true at all price points.

Looking at why people are selling, some are selling to move up or down. Some are relocating out of the area. Some more are selling for other reasons that don’t involve a time line.

Many sellers who are not in distressed situations do not have the motivation to come down on price dramatically. The price range I have seen this more is in the $750,000 and up range. Many sellers in this price range understand that there is way too much inventory on the market compared to the number of buyers out there. Some of these sellers have enough money to sell for less than they want because they are downsizing. They don’t like taking a hit, but many will do it just to unload the house.

Having said that, many sellers in the higher price points don’t need to sell so they are either hanging on for a higher price or are dropping prices minimally.

People selling now who bought in more recent years are frequently under water. In other words, they owe more than the current market value of the property. Many of these people will not come down on price.

So where are the deals that everyone wants? I’d like to your thoughts on that. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think

Austin Home Buyers – So You Want a Deal?

Sam Chapman — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:24:00 GMT

I have had a lot of buyers in the car this summer and have emailed and talked on the phone with many more. Most utter the same words – “I’m looking for a great deal.”

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing bad about wanting a great deal, but are great deals really available in the Austin market? Some are thinking short sale, some foreclosure and some are thinking about distressed properties. Let’s break these down a bit more.

But first, let’s look at why people think they can get great deals on Austin homes. When you listen to, watch on TV or read news about real estate, what is it that is being reported? In general, nothing but bad news. Sure, home sales in California or Vegas may be picking up a lot, but prices are unbelievably low in many cases. This is good news?

Because of what the national media is reporting on home sales, many people think that real estate is in bad shape everywhere. This just isn’t true in many parts of Texas, including Austin. Sure, sales are down compared to 2006 and even 2008, but we’re not suffering line many other cities. Austin home prices are only off slightly from those in 2006.

Let’s look at short sales as possible great deals. An Austin short sale is probably the second best opportunity these days. Having said that, if a short sale hits the market and it looks like a really great deal, it is usually gone in no time. Also, it often takes a very long time to hear back from a lender about short sale approval. Many buyers are not willing to wait 60+ days for a response.

Many home buyers think foreclosures can get them great deals. Keep in mind that many foreclosures involve homes that people bought fairly recently with little or no money down. This means that banks owning these foreclosed homes have little room to come down in price without taking a big loss. Many are not willing to do this. Also, the condition of many foreclosures can be very poor.

How about distressed properties? If a property owner is in financial distress, he may not have the money to take to the closing table to sell below market value. In this situation, many homes will move to short sales or foreclosures.

So you still want a deal? Read the next post.

H-E-B is Open in Dripping Springs

Sam Chapman — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:07:00 GMT

H-E-B finally opened a grocery store in Dripping Springs on a 56 acre development. Also on the 56 acres are a bank, a Home Depot and other retail stores.

This is something that some Dripping Springs residents welcome and others did not want to see. For people who don’t want to see the area explode with growth, the addition of the H-E-B and Home Depot end an era of Dripping Springs maintaining a small town feel.

For people who have hated driving a 45 minute round trip for groceries, the opening of the H-E-B has been welcome. Keep in mind that when people talk about Dripping Springs, many talk about not just the area within the city limit, but the area that the Dripping Springs school district covers.

Keep in mind that this is a large geographic area. It goes almost half way to Wimberley to the south, almost half way to Hwy 281 to the west and north almost to Hamilton Pool Rd. For people to the south, west and northwest out Fitzhugh Rd., getting to a grocery store took much longer than for areas closer to the 71/12 intersection and points east. The new H-E-B is probably a very welcome addition to many people living farther out.

So what does this mean for Dripping Springs the real estate market? It may help some, but I don’t expect the impact will be huge. Much of the Dripping Springs area is still pretty far from downtown Austin and most of the rest of the city. For people who work in Austin, Dripping is still too far for many people to want to make the commute. Having a grocery store close by will probably be much less important than commute time.

Really Cool Apache Shores Waterfront Home

Sam Chapman — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:38:00 GMT

I showed a really cool Apache Shores Waterfront Home a week ago and saw it again today on a property tour. The property includes a house, a lot, a waterfront cabin and a boat dock.

The photo above shows the view looking toward Austin. It is much more dramatic in person.

The house itself sits high on a cliff above Lake Austin and the view is amazing. Looking left off the rear balcony, one can see Lake Travis just behind Mansfield Dam. Looking across the lake, one can see the Oasis Restaurant, Steiner Ranch and some of the preserve behind Steiner Ranch. To the right, Lake Austin follows the Colorado River valley toward downtown Austin.

Although the house was built in 1999, it looks new. According to the listing, it has 3800 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a 2-car garage. The property includes a lot across the street that is the septic drain field.

The view is awesome, but the house sits around 200 feet above Lake Austin. Doesn’t this make the lake frontage a bit tricky to get to? Not really. This home is in Apache Shores and right by the parking area for the Apache Shores waterfront park is a private drive that takes people to the boat docks of the homes high above on the cliff.

The really fun thing about this home is that it has a small cabin at the bottom of the cliff across the private drive that runs along the lake. The cabin is fully functional with a kitchen, bathroom, air conditioner and a wood stove for heat in the winter. Across from the cabin is a boat dock with a lift on the lower and a sitting and sunning deck on top.

Back to the home for a minute, the list price is $995,000. I am not the listing agent, but have been told that the home comes with the house, the lot across the street, a golf cart to get to and from the cabin, the cabin, the boat dock and the boat.

The home faces east or slightly northeast so the rear balcony and hot tub don’t get the intense afternoon heat. The property is far enough up Lake Austin so there isn’t much boat traffic compared to downstream. The area is served by the fabulous Lake Travis ISD schools and it is around a 40 minute drive to downtown Austin and within minutes of Lake Travis.

Click HERE to view the listing. Click on the photo to see additional photos. Call me at 512-293-2422 if you’re a qualified and interested buyer.