Imaginary real estate

July 8, 2007 on 12:19 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

In a recent Associated Press story, readers learned of a developer in Hawaii who is selling imaginary real estate. According to reporter Jaymes Song, two entrepreneurs in Honolulu are selling parcels of land that are currently 3,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. In their lighthearted concept, Norm Nichols and Linda Kramer are offering deeds to property on an undersea volcano that, with the help of some molten lava, might someday surge to the surface. At around $40 a pop, these deeds might be a fun gift, but aren’t the kind of real estate that people come to Great Austin Properties to buy.

The Austin home market, however, does offer pretty much anything your imagination can conceive. Here in Central Texas, there are plenty of opportunities for people to buy homes that don’t yet exist, but at least the ones we deal with are on visible land and accompanied by certified drawings and locked-in development plans. If you’ve been imagining yourself in a downtown Austin loft or a new Bee Caves house, we can help you make that dream a reality. We love spending time with people, hearing about their dreams then connecting them with the people who can turn those dreams into great Austin homes.

We don’t know if an underground volcano will someday change the shape of the Austin landscape, but we do know what is available for you today. We can help you find the Austin home that fits you perfectly. Call us at 512.600.1800 if you’re ready to discuss turning your imagination into reality. Search Austin homes for sale at http://www.austinhomelistings.com.

Cedar Parks national attention

July 5, 2007 on 3:22 pm | In Austin Neighborhoods | No Comments

Cedar Park is a bit outside the Austin city limits, but it is an attractive part of the overall Austin residential real estate market. Once just a collection of farms, ranches and and a small town center, it has benefited from the recently completed improvements to Highway 183. Just twenty miles from downtown Austin, it combines great access to Austin amenities (workplaces, etc.) with a slightly more rural feel. This once-sleepy town has grown rapidly, but it has also grown well. So well that it was recently ranked one of the top cities in the U.S. for families.

In a story in this week’s Austin Business Journal, we learned that Family Circle Magazine named Cedar Park a top family community in its August 2007 issue. The magazine worked with an East Coast research firm, On Board, to survey nearly 2,000 U.S. municipalities with a small-town sized population (between 15,000 and 150,000) and better-than-normal average income ($65,000). They then winnowed their list by looking at other quality of life factors like health care, air quality, cost of living, etc. Cedar Park ended up in their top ten. Not too shabby.

If you have been wanting to learn more about homes for sale in Cedar Park, you can use the convenient “search by zip code” feature on our Web site, www.AustinHomeListings.com, and enter the city’s central zip code, 78613. Or, look at properties in a classic Cedar Park development like Avery Ranch. Either way, there are plenty of great homes available in what is now nationally known as a great place for families.

Austin market still healthy

July 2, 2007 on 6:48 pm | In Housing Market, Austin Economy | No Comments

You might think we spend all of our time reading the Austin American Statesman, but their reporters do a great job sifting through market data to to identify trends. In yet another recent article, reporter M.B. Taboada took a local look at the national story of accelerating foreclosure rates. As you may have seen in the news, economic pressures are causing increases in foreclosures, particularly among homeonwers who had utilized subprime lending options. (Typically for buyers with less-than-stellar credit ratings.) According to the article, more than 15-percent of the subprime loans nationwide were delinquent (a month or more overdue for payment) and more than three percent of residential properties are in foreclosure (both all-time highs.)

Fortunately, the picture is much more positive in the Austin area. With home resales continuing last year’s strong pace and sale prices up five-percent (versus drops in markets like Dallas), the delinquency and foreclosure rates are down and falling across the best Austin neighborhoods. According to the article, these factors actually make it more likely for homeowners who do experience financial trouble to sell their properties before they enter foreclosure.

Now, none of us like to think of words like delinquency or foreclosure, but they are a part of life. Fortunately, they’re less prevalent in Austin residential real estate, making it a great idea to look for Austin homes for sale. To make it easy for you, we have a unique search tool on our Web site, www.AustinHomeListings.com, which allows you to pick a neighborhood you’ve heard of and quickly search homes for sale. For example, if you’ve driven by the entrance to Falconhead or Circle C North, you can simply click our Neighborhood Listings Quick Search and find just homes in those neighborhoods. Or, as always, you can all us at 512.300.0928 so we can talk about the right Austin home for you.