Long Hot Austin Summers

As we approach the 65th day of 100 degree temperatures in the Austin area, I am reminded how important it is to choose not only a home that fits your lifestyle, but also, how important the orientation of the home really is. The back of my home faces West, but luckily, my backyard is completely shaded by large oak trees, but some of my neighbors are not so lucky. If your backyard faces West, and you don't have much shade, using your backyard in the afternoon can be nearly hopeless. Of course if you have a pool in your backyard, that is a completely different story. Some things to keep in mind when choosing a home are:

·How energy efficient is the home

·Are the windows single pane, double pane, aluminum or vinyl?

·Does the attic have a radiant barrier?

·Does the yard have an irrigation system?

·How old and what is the efficiency rating of the HVAC system?

·Cold the home benefit from the addition of additional venting of the roof?

·What is the orientation of the home and are there trees to provide shade?

Aside from discomfort from the heat, some of the issues that you may find as a result of an extremely hot summer is that the soil around the home may contract which could lead to foundation issues. Keeping your yard and foundation watered will help keep your landscaping alive and at the same time, will help you to avoid possible structural issues down the road.

Your home is probably the largest investment you'll make in your lifetime. Choosing a home that not only suits your lifestyle, but that it is also easy to maintain will free up your time to spend those hot summer days enjoying the lake.

To learn more about Austin Real Estate, visit my site at www.romeom.com

Don’t wait until it’s too late on a Short Sale

Recently, I’ve had several prospective clients contact me only days before their property is suppose to go to the foreclosure auction on the court steps. If find myself asking “why do these people wait until it is too late to contact me about listing their home for a short sale?” The answer is not a simple one. I think that there is a lot of psychology that goes into the realization that you are about to lose your home. Most people in financial distress usually put keeping their home as the last priority in making their way out of the financial issues. First on their list are their immediate needs, food, transportation, utilities and childcare. In Texas, we have an accelerated foreclosure process, the second fastest one in the US. Some of these prospective clients live in states such as California and Arizona where the foreclosure process can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. That is typically not the case in Texas where the entire process can take as few as 60 days. I think that by the time that some of these investors realize that the mortgage lender is not bluffing about their property going to foreclosure and that they are not going to be able to do the loan modification that they thought they would be able to do, it’s too late to save their property from foreclosure. Obviously, if there is a demonstrated financial distress and the homeowner qualifies to do an FHA short sale or a prospective buyer has put in an offer on potentially a conventional short sale, we may be able to get the home saved from foreclosure but with the last couple of calls this hasn’t been the case. Calling the Friday evening before the auction on the following Tuesday is too late. People have to realize that the mortgage banks short sale departments are not open on the weekend and the red tape that is involved with getting a foreclosure postponed can be daunting. Though not every short sale is successful, giving yourself the time necessary to work with the bank and the short sale realtor only improves your chances of successfully walking away from a property with the bank having taken the hit on the deficiency and you walking away with your sanity and peace of mind. To learn more about short sales, visit my short sale page at http://www.romeom.com/Austin_Short_Sale_Assistance/page_2182165.html .

I don't need a Realtor

This is something that I hear at least once a week when speaking to perspective clients. In the greater Austin area, there is quite a bit of new home construction especially in areas such as Round Rock and Cedar Park. Most of the home builders have a sales office in each one of their communities with on-site sales agents that are ready to assist homebuyers with the purchase of one of their homes. Given that a buyer can just walk into the model home, be wowed by the sales agent and sign a purchase contract without being represented by a Realtor, why do they even need a Realtor? The answer is quite simple. Where you may be involved in a home purchase every six or eight years, I am involved with 20-30 home purchases EVERY year. I've seen numerous examples where buyers felt that they would get a better deal from the builder if the builder didn't have to pay the Realtor's commission. The truth is that those people usually end up paying too much because they weren't aware of the potentially undisclosed incentives that sometimes aren't offered up front. Take for example a recent experience that I had with a potential client. After showing him various locations to consider, he went back to one of the builder's sales offices and asked if they purchased a home unrepresented, could they negotiate on their own behalf to get a better deal. Of course the builder agreed to this knowing that the prospective buyer didn't have access to really verify if they got a good deal or not. In this situation, the buyer ended up paying about $15,000 too much for the property. How do I know that? Because when he finally returned my calls and told me that he had already purchased a home and what he paid for it, I emailed him recent comparables that had sold for at least $15,000 less than what he had paid for! With all of those other comparables, a Realtor had been involved and had been able to negotiate a better deal than the buyer was able to do on their own. Given that the Realtor's commission is paid by the builder, then why wouldn't you agree to FREE representation to make sure that you got the best deal possible?

For more information about Austin Real Estate visit my site at www.romeom.com

Don't let the news media get you down!

It seems like every time you read a newspaper, turn on the tv or listen to the radio, there is always some economics expert giving his doom and gloom predictions of another pending mortgage meltdown. Though it is true that we are nowhere near the conclusion of the mortgage fiasco, one thing to keep in mind is that real estate is very much area dependent. What I mean by that is that though parts of the country have become figurative ghost towns due to foreclosures and relocations, Austin is one of the few metro areas that has enjoyed consistent economic growth. The Austin area is not without its fair share of foreclosure and short sales, but those areas primarily affected are usually in first time homebuyer communities in the outskirts of town. You will find the occasional foreclosure or short sale in the heart of Austin, but those opportunities are few and far in between because of the mass appeal of living close to where the action is. At social gatherings, when I meet someone new and I tell them that I am a Realtor, they usually ask “how’s the market?” My usual response is “why do you ask?” It seems that people put too much of an emphasis on the real estate market and how it is doing and how it relates to the overall economy. Purchasing a home does impact and stimulate the local economy, but as with all other investments, there will be periods of appreciation and periods of depreciation. The days of flipping homes based on assumed appreciation are over. Real estate alwasys pays great dividends if treated as a home and an investment. To learn more about Austin Real Estate, visit my site at www.romeom.com

Beating the Summer Housing Rush

As the weather starts to warm up and the lawn goes from being yellow and dormant to green and vibrant, if your summer plans include either buying or selling a home, then now is the time to begin your research. The last couple of months have seen a rise in interest rates as well as a rise in lending restrictions which can make financing a home more difficult. Throw in the current military operations in Libya and the tsunami and nuclear tragedy in Japan and the economic future seems a bit clouded. Typically homebuyers and sellers wait until the summer months to make a move, but this year, being a bit more proactive and planning for a late spring move might prove to be the more prudent decision for a couple of reasons. First, if you are a seller, there are going to be fewer homes to compete with. If you’re a buyer, you can still take advantage of the low interest rates that are currently available. Second, if you’re a seller, going on the market early gives you the opportunity to make any adjustments to the price or condition of your home to get it ready for the market. The idea here is not to chase the market, but to put your best foot forward once you decide to list your home for sale. I know that some salespeople may use fear or concerns as a sales tactic to push someone into making a decision, but the reality is that we are living in an ever-changing world economy and the only thing you can control are the decisions you make today.

To learn more about the Austin Real Estate market visit my Austin Real Estate site at www.romeom.com

If you sit too long on the fence, it may fall over.

As everyone knows, the housing market has faced some critical times over the last couple of years. Home values in Austin have not been so devastatingly affected as in other areas of the country but what today’s market has created is a unique opportunity for homebuyers to purchase a home at a near rock-bottom price at interest rates that hadn’t been seen in over 50 years. The bad news, is that ship is sailing away quicker than you might think. As the unemployment rate drops and the economy begins its slow recovery, you’ll see both mortgage interest rates and home values start to creep up. While this may be positive news to both home sellers and home owners, if you are in the market to purchase and are stuck on the fence, you may soon find yourself blown off the fence by increasing down payment requirements and higher interest rates. Since August of 2010, interest rates have increased nearly a full point. What this means on a typical home loan of $200,000 is a monthly payment increase of $91 or over $52,000 more over the life of the loan. Possibly of greater concern, is the possibility of the down payment requirements increasing to 5% for FHA backed loans and 30% for conventional loans. Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) companies have already raised their minimum credit score requirements making it impossible for some people who were qualified to purchase a home two years ago to qualify today for that same loan. The point of this explanation of the mortgage market is not to instill fear into those who are thinking about purchasing a home, but rather, to help give them the extra push that they may be looking for in getting off the fence and becoming a home owner.

Visit my Austin Real Estate site for more information.

TMI = Too Much Information

As an Austin Realtor, I use technology everyday to stay in contact with my clients as well as to provide online home search tools as well as monthly real estate updates. But as our world evolves and technology plays an ever increasing role in our lives, sometimes you have to stop to ask yourself, is technology really helping or hurting me? With the majority of all cell phones now being produced and sold as “smart phones”, we literally have the world at our fingertips. You can literally do just about anything from the comfort of your car, in an elevator or even while watching a movie. I can’t tell you how many movies I’ve watched at the theatre with the annoying glow of some teenager’s cell phone while he or she is texting, tweeting or updating their online status. Also, with so much information at one’s disposal, the line between privacy and public starts to fade. Several sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have built-in privacy functions that are cumbersome and sometimes difficult to set leaving all of your private information open to anyone who wants to see it. Without thinking, people will update their status while they are on vacation or that they just made a huge purchase, leaving themselves open to professional thieves to break into their homes while they are away. Then there are those that are addicted to posting every single facet of their lives online. What they intend on eating, what they ate yesterday, the weather, the traffic report, what they were dreaming and so on. I usually end up tuning those people out quickly so as to not to get sucked into their drama or their cry for attention. The point that I am trying to make is that like all things, there is a right and a wrong way to do things. I’m not saying that my way is right, but I can tell you that no one wants to know what you had for breakfast this morning unless it’s your mother, your spouse or your doctor :)

To learn more about Austin Real Estate visit my site at www.RomeoM.com

A new year, a new set of goals

As the first days of 2011 begin, I am reminded of the goals that I accomplished over the course of the year. I am also reminded of the goals that I didn't accomplish. Though possibly difficult to believe, all of my goals are not necessarily real estate related. Don't get me wrong, I always have the long-term goal of being the most recognized name in the Austin Real Estate market, but in the short term, I have to be more realistic and more focused about the goals that I set for myself for this new year. In analyzing my victories and defeats in regards to the goals that I set out to accomplish at the beginning of last year, I find myself making a list of why I was or wasn't able to accomplish every goal I set out to complete. Some goals were probably too easy, and I shouldn't have even included them on the list, while other goals were unrealistic. I mean, did I really think that I was going to run my first marathon without training? As with any goal, it has to be specific and realistic. It has to also be time specific and measurable. In the case of my wanting run a marathon, I had those all of those parameters planned, but I never found the time to be consistent about training. The real point to my writing about goals, is to reinforce and perhaps motivate those who read my blog to plan on making 2011 a breakthrough year. Whether the goals you set are fitness, financial, family or personal goals, the important thing is to have goals and to strive to meet those goals. No one ever accomplised anything by planning to do something. Only through action and perseverance will the goals that you set, ever be realized. Unless you happen to win the lotto :)

Visit my Austin Realtor site to learn more about me and real estate in Austin.