Austin Real Estate Stats May 2008
By Eric Bramlett | June 25, 2008
And again….the Austin real estate market is down from 2007’s record year, but still fairing well. Active listings are up 20%, and # of homes sold are down 20%. However, we’re still appreciating. The median sales price is up to $196,120 from last year’s $184,050. The average sales price is up 5%, $263k from $250k. The good news is that the glut of inventory looks like it’s being absorbed. Last month’s numbers indicated 5.03 months of inventory on the market, and this month’s indicate 4.91.
Topics: Austin News, Austin Real Estate Market, Austin Texas, Real Estate News | 3 Comments »
Charles Richey Ill
By Eric Bramlett | June 24, 2008
A real estate/SEO friend of mine in Las Vegas, Charles Richey, was recently diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. If you’ve been on any real estate forums, you’ve probably seen Charles participating - he’s the guy with the parrot head avatar. This is a rare nervous system disorder, and oftentimes ends in paralysis. Unfortunately, Charles (like many self employed people) was not carrying health insurance. Some of our friends at the ibsteam forum have set up a fundraiser for him. If you get a chance, head on over, and donate. Anything will help.
Topics: Other | No Comments »
Finally on Twitter
By Eric Bramlett | June 20, 2008
My buddy Terry talked me into finally getting started on twitter. It’s something that I always thought would be too time consuming, but he swears that it’s pretty passive.
So…here’s my profile. Follow me, if you’re interested!
Topics: Other | 6 Comments »
Get Out & Vote for Cid Galindo!!!
By Eric Bramlett | June 4, 2008
Get out and vote for Cid Galindo. Now! Election day is June 14th, but early voting is available now through June 10th. Here is a list of early voting locations.
Why vote for Cid? He’s for the Waller Creek redevelopment, and he’s against the ridiculous point of sale energy efficiency requirement. His opponent, Laura Morrison, is for the daddy state, and wants to prevent you from being able to freely sell your home.
Why are you still reading this? Go vote!
Topics: Other | No Comments »
South Lake Travis News Update
By Sam Chapman | May 30, 2008
The Lake Travis View came out today and had some interesting things that I want to highlight for anyone in the area or considering a move to the area. I also have information here about the recent Lake Travis High School Awards Ceremony.
First, the subdivision of Falconhead and city of Bee Cave are about to learn which resort hotel will be built in Falconhead. What has been rumored for a couple of years was a Hilton resort. Now the finalists are Hilton and Starwood, the latter of which I have not heard of before. The hotel is supposed to be the center of a resort that will include a lazy river and convention center. The only hotels in the Bee Cave and Lakeway area so far are the Lakeway Spa and Resort and the Mountain Star Lodge. A Hampton Inn is under construction in Lakeway, so this new resort will be a nice addition.
The city of Lakeway has approved the extension of Serene Hills to Highway 71, giving Lakeway its only access to 71. Where the road will intersect the highway, retail development and housing are planned. The city also approved an additional turn lane from Lakeway Blvd. to 620. The Serene Hills extention will allow a short-cut so people don’t have to go through the 71/620 intersection in Bee Cave, which has become very busy. The new turn lane from Lakeway Blvd. will be a nice addition as traffic stacks up there pretty badly at times.
On to school news… A team of four Lake Travis High School (LTHS) students competed in a state-wide UIL science competition and took third place overall. Only one school in the state turned in better performances. The students took individual places of 4th, 10th, 15th and 26th. That tells you a lot about the caliber of the high school science department.
I had the honor of being at the LTHS Awards Ceremony yesterday to present the recipients of the Lakeway-Lake Travis Rotary Club scholarships. Rotary awarded $38,000 in scholarships to 18 graduating seniors. The Awards Ceremony was amazing, with a huge number of seniors being recognized for awards and scholarships. Out of 393 graduating seniors, 110 received scholarships, 33 were UIL Scholars, there was 1 National Merit Scholar, 160 UIL State Qualifiers, 14 received GT Recognition, there were 2 National Merit Finalists, 4 National Merit Commended and 1 National Hispanic Scholar.
As for scholarship recipients, there were four students awarded over $225,000 in scholarships including one with $614,000 and one appointed to the United States Air Force Academy. There were so many awards and scholarships to present that it took two hours to get it all done.
Sam Chapman is an Austin REALTOR who is a guest blogger on Eric’s Austin real estate blog. Sam specializes in Lakeway homes and Lake Travis real estate as well as working with buyers who are moving to Texas from other parts of the country.
Topics: Other | 2 Comments »
Austin Real Estate Facts & Figures April 2008
By Eric Bramlett | May 28, 2008
The market is still holding strong. The median sales price is slightly up, and the average sales price is slightly down. The # of homes sold is down roughly 14% from April 2007. Again, we’re not setting records this year, but the market is doing fine. In my opinion, the average sales price dip is due to the difficult jumbo market, and the glut of luxury homes (14 month+ inventory) currently on the market. Definitely a good time to get a steal on a luxury property.
Topics: Austin News, Austin Real Estate Market, Austin Texas | 4 Comments »
Mandatory Visitability: City of Austin Sticking its Nose in Developers’ Biz Again!
By Eric Bramlett | May 20, 2008
First, we have the wonderfully ridiculous Point of Sale Energy Efficiency Requirement proposal, and now we have new Mandatory Visitability proposal. Perhaps the city of Austin would like a new nickname - “Daddy State?”
The city has always required that homes built using public funds adhere to these guidelines, but the city council passed a resolution to initiate code amendments to all new homes. The proposed amendments include ground floor or ramp entry, doors at least 32 inches wide, hallways at least 36 inches wide, and first floor bathrooms w/ walls capable of supporting grab rails.
I have real issues w/ the city’s over the top attitude regarding building code & retroactive code. Extending the visitability standards to all new homes is fixing a problem that doesn’t exist. As it stands, it’s fairly easy to retroactively modify current homes for the disabled. Requiring that all homes meet these requirements will become overly costly in comparison with the relatively few modifications to existing homes for the disabled.
Topics: Austin News, Austin Real Estate Market, Austin Texas | 5 Comments »
Austin Police Headquarters Could Be Moving
By Eric Bramlett | May 17, 2008
Austin police headquarters could be moving from its current location on 8th & I-35. The headquarters has been at its current location since 1981, and Austin has more than doubled in size in that time.
Why do we care? Because the real estate it sits on is going to be VERY desirable, and APD headquarters is friggin’ ugly! It backs to Waller Creek, which is slated to be Austin’s next river walk.
Topics: Other | 1 Comment »
Trulia Announces Upcoming Video Game
By Eric Bramlett | May 16, 2008
Here’s a screenshot:
Topics: Other | 2 Comments »
The Winner of the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World Contest Is
By Eric Bramlett | April 30, 2008
Drumroll please……
Eric Blackwell and his merry band of SEO’s/bloggers truly proved the spirit of SEO - it’s all about the relationships. Jennifer Karlan, Greg Swann, Ken Smith, Wayne Long, Judy Orr, Cal Carter, Mike Damman, Charles & Jacqueline Richey, and Matt Scoggins all need to take a collective bow. Through the use of teamwork and some very strategic use of assets they individually & collectively own, they were able to control #1 from the second month of the contest to the finish line.
There was a LOT of stiff competition here. Ardell DellaLoggia ran it tight all the way to the finish line. Greg Boser was in it, and then disappeared off the map w/ a few weeks to go — everyone was anxiously waiting for the SEO Dark Lord to pop his head back in at 11:59 on April 30th. The guys at newhomessection.com finished #5, w/ Mike Damman’s site PropertyHogs.com, Ryan Ward, Justin from hismove (ranking well, though he dropped out early,) and then Jay Thompson rounding out the top 10. Wouldn’t you know it? My post ended up at the top of page 2 - the story of my life.
I’d like to thank everyone for participating, and especially thank Morgan Carey of Real Estate Webmasters for sponsoring the event. Team Eric has decided to auction off the prize & donate the money to the Eco Preservation Society of Costa Rica (a favorite of Mike Damman’s.)
A few things about the determination of the winner.
- We used multiple datacenter sources via the SEO Datacenter Tool. We then verified this using SEO Tools datacenter check. Team Eric was number 1 in every DC.
- Do you see different results, or did you see different results? Look in the top right of your Google page and see if you are logged in. Google plays around w/ personalized search, and will serve up different results when you’re signed into Google based on your browsing history.
- I have screenshots of the search results from each DC. If you would like to see them, please email me, or leave a comment.
Topics: Real Estate Marketing, Real Estate News, Web Design/SEO | 13 Comments »
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