AREA NW - Northwest Austin

Last month I chased around finding Leases. I know a lot of you are leasing rather than buying a new home in the hopes that home prices will drop. Be very careful about that decision - if the interest rate goes UP, this will affect your payment more than a drop in the price of the home would. Consider the big picture, if you are financing you home over a 30 year period. Here is an example:
Let's say today the home you want to buy is 200K and the current interest rate is 5.5% for a 30 year loan. You monthly payment (Principal & Interest) would be $1,135.58. Now, suppose you wait until next year, you are sure prices are going to drop because you read all the bad news about the housing market in areas like Michigan and Florida. Suppose the price of the house has indeed dropped by $20K down to $180,000. That sounds like a nice chunk of money you saved by waiting a year, your dream home has dropped $20,000.00 in price. BUT, what if the interest rate for 30 year loan has gone up "just a bit" to 6.5%. NOW, your monthly house payment is $1,137.72 - you are actually going to pay more per month for 30 years!

200K financed for 30 years at 5.5% = $1,135.58 per month
180K financed for 30 years at 6.5% = $1,137.72 per month

Now is still a GREAT time to buy a home. There are some wonderful homes on the market in the Austin area and interest rates are still good.

OK - back to my leasing for those of you needing to lease in the near future.
Northwest Austin is a wonderful place to live, I know first hand, I've lived it for 15 years. We have great schools (my kids have gone all the way through, Spicewood Elementary, Canyon Vista Middle, Westwood High School), easy access to major roads, shopping, dining, parks, etc.

Last month I found a great home for some clients. The good leases on the market in area NW go really QUICK! Some of the homes had multiple applications being run on them so it is best to have all the paper-work and applications ready to go BEFORE you start looking. Not everyone looking to lease has a perfect credit score, it helps if you detail any problems that are going to turn up on your credit check. Attach a letter to your application explaining past history that was a problem. Credit application fees are NOT refundable and they will cost you average 30-50 dollars per applicant. Each person on the lease will be required to pay this fee and have a credit check run against them. Property management companies all operate differently. It is in your best interest to have a Realtor help you with the lease process. You do not pay for this service, the Realtor gets paid through the landlord when you lease the property.

Here is a current snapshot of the available leases for HOUSES in Northwest Austin.
20 Homes For Lease
Prices range from $1095 to $2,600 per month
Some of the neighborhoods available are Canyon Creek, Hunters Chase, Spicewood At Bullcreek, Milwood, and Village At Anderson Mill. These are all great neighborhoods to live in.

If you need help finding just the right neighboorhood and home give me a call: 512 422 8545 or toll free 800 591 1165.

NOTE: Austin American-Statesman article today says Interest rates may be cut this week to 5%. This would be the lowest since 2004.

Crystal Falls - Cedar Park, Texas

Sunday we did some house-hunting in the Grand Mesa neighborhood of Crystal Falls. There is a long list of great builders here but this day we zoomed in on the Perry Homes.

First, a little information about Crystal Falls & Cedar Park. Cedar Park used to be considered "way out in the boonies". Not so anymore. With the new tollway 183A, you can shoot straight up 183 from North Austin and be at the Crystal Falls entrance in 10 minutes. AND, this year the Capital Metro Rail is on schedule to provide customers with service between Leander and Downtown Austin. These sleek new trains will take you to work in comfort and style, providing you with high-back seats, bicycle and overhead racks, and Wi-Fi connections. The estimated travel time from Leander to Downtown Austin is approximately just 50 minutes! The entire area is booming with new shopping, theatres, restaurants, schools, on and on.....
Aside from all this, the main attraction to Crystal Falls is the panoromic views and hill country terrain. This is a Master Planned community with 4 neighborhoods and more under development. The "Grand Mesa" neighborhood is so far the grandest. The home sites here range from 1-7 acres and homes are set on hills, ridges, golf course, and within secluded canyons. Lots range from $60's to $200's and homes from $300's to over a million. If you like wide-open spaces, incredible views, and unique streetscape, come to Crystal Falls.

The Perry Homes: We started out in their beautifully furnished and decorated one-story model home. The kitchen with its HUGE granite countertop island was a hit for my client. We then checked out the other 3 homes that are available in their current inventory. Two houses on Goodnight Trail and one on Lajitas. All three homes have had MAJOR price reductions. The largest of the three is on Goodnight Trail and is 5,756 sq. feet. The price was just reduced from $749,900 down to $699,900. For the finish out and square footage in this home, this price is incredible. The home is also on a golf course homesite with Hill Country views. The 2nd home is on Goodnight Trail across the street, and is 5,352 sq. feet, reduced from $649,000 to $599,900. This one has a beautiful 1.25 acre yard and a detached FOUR-car garage. The 3rd house is on Lajitas, 5,219 sq. feet reduced from $739,900 to $699,900 - total luxury here, inside and out! Must SEE.

These are just 3 homes within the Grand Mesa at Crystal Falls community. Checking the listings today for the entire community which includes Grand Mesa, The Fairways, The Highlands, The Boulders, and The Woods, there are 69 homes for sale. They range in price from $155,000 in The Woods up to $985,000 in Grand Mesa. Looking for a Texas-sized home? Currently, the largest home for sale in Grand Mesa is $5,756 Sq. Feet, built in 2007, 1.5 acres, listed for $699,900.

I love showing homes in this beautiful hill country community! Yoo-hoo - calling all clients looking for large homes on estate-sized lots.........

Pioneer Crossing Austin, Texas

Last week I found a great house for 3 clients that were looking to lease. If you are looking to live in Northeast Austin, Pioneer Crossing is a great community to check out. Pioneer Crossing is off Dessau Road, just south of Parmer (Parmer east of I35). The major employment in this area is Dell, Samsung, Applied Materials, and the Walnut Creek Business Park. The home that these clients leased was built in 2006 and looked like a brand spankin new home, with a nice private backyard. It also had a cute front porch and 2,282 sq. feet (2 story). What a find at $1295 per month - and on a cul-de-sac to boot! I was pretty impressed with the neighborhood and amenity centers so I searched the Multiple Listing Service to see what else is going on in there. Here's the scoop as of today:

For sale: There are 34 listings that range in price from $155,700K to $249,900K. The square footage is from 1,360 to 3,300 and they were all built between 2004 and 2007. Of the newest ones (9 of them built in 2007), the largest is a Morrison Home with 2,877 Sq. ft for $249,900. and is ready to move into! It also backs to a greenbelt. This is really a plus because so many of these communities have the homes right on top of each other (fish-bowl living - not for me!) And the interest rates are perfect now, our mortgage update today said 15 year loans were under 5 percent! Another good one is a Newmark Home just being completed - it is a Bungalow style and there are only 6 of this style remaining in Pioneer Crossing. Priced at $167,990 for 1,360 Sq. Ft.

On the older side - if you consider 2004 old, a 2,757 sq. ft. resale is selling for $164,800. It's listed as being "for sale" but also appears to be available for lease.

For Lease: There are just 12 homes available today for lease and range in monthly rent from $1,050. per month for 1,775 sq. ft to $1,850 for 2,900 sq. ft.
This lease for $1,850 is actually the same address that I mentioned above for sale (the Morrison Home for $249,900. on the greenbelt).

Whether you are looking to lease or buy, Pioneer Crossing is worth checking out. Did I mention - I'm available to help you?!

PS - My hotsheet for the day tells me there were 119 new listings put on the market in Austin today. There were 126 price changes, 66 homes SOLD, and 105 homes PENDING.

The music of Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

This entry doesn't really have anything to do with Austin, Texas, other than the fact that I watched the movie in Austin Texas last night. The movie is titled "Once" and the actor/actress musicians are Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Both the movie and the music are AWESOME - listen to these 2 clips, then rent the movie. You'll then want to track down every other song written and performed by Glen & Marketa. There are many other clips on YouTube.

Vineyard Bay Mansions on Lake Travis

Now that the holidays are over, my clients are house-hunting again. I'm going to start sharing with you some of the communities that we visit. Maybe one of our outings will be of interest to you.

Today we looked at 3 homes in Vineyard Bay which is a very exclusive, private subdivision on Lake Travis. The homes are mansions on estate sized private, and scenic lots. This community is just off Highway 620 between the Mansfield Dam and Lakeway. The drive out of Northwest Austin to Vineyard Bay only took about 15 minutes today (a Sunday afternoon). There are currently just 5 active for sale homes in Vineyard Bay and I don't see that there are any solds in the past 30 days. Of these 5, they range in price from $725,000.00 low end with 3,752 Square Ft. up to $4,500,000.00 high end with 8,567 Square Ft. The 3 homes we looked at were absolutely gorgeous with great views and huge private yards. One of these homes had the LARGEST island in the kitchen that I've ever seen. It also had a fabulous out-door kitchen, large deck, and nice open rooms through-out. The house was screaming for a party to be held. Loved it!

A little more info about this community: It has a private marina. In fact, most of the homes we looked at included a boat slip in this private Marina. The community is small enough and the access into the Marina is within the gate - you could walk right down to your boat from your home. Other amenities include: Tennis Courts, Sport Court, Play Scape, Heliport, Pools, Spa, Jogging trails, Cabana, & a Conference center.

The schools are: Elementary Lake Travis, Middle School Hudson Bend, and High School Lake Travis. The HOA is $2700.00 annually which breaks down to $225.00 per month, not bad when you consider the expense of housing a boat.

There are also currently 2 active lots listed for sale in Vineyard Bay. One is listed at $775,000 and the other for $1,100,000.00.

Today was a wonderful warm, sunny day in Austin, Texas and a great day for house-hunting! What a joy after the cold, rainy days last week. I was beginning to feel like I was living in Warren, Ohio again - aghhhhhhhhhhh!

Spurs WIN!

We had a great time at the San Antonio Spurs game on Wednesday. Final score: San Antonio Spurs 128, Orlando Magic 110 - GO SPURS. The drive from Austin to the AT&T Center (Home of the Spurs) is only about 1.5 hours.
Here is a YouTube of this gal that performed in the half-time show. Her name is Krystal Liu, of the Red Panda Acrobats on Unicycle. She is AWESOME - quite amazing. This video clip from YouTube is from a different day but it is the exact same show that we saw her do at the Spurs game in San Antonio. Love the music too!


We make a 2 day trip of it and spend a couple nights on the Riverwalk. If you like to shop, stay at the Marriott Rivercenter which is attached to the Rivercenter Mall. This hotel was closed for renovations this year so we stayed just across the street at the Marriott Riverwalk, not nearly as glamorous as the Marriott Rivercenter - but still nice. We enjoyed our holiday feast at the Hyatt, also right on the Riverwalk. Many of the hotels put out a GREAT buffet for Thanksgiving, go with a huge appetite. The Rivercenter mall was closed on Thursday but lots of people were out walking about and the movie theatre in the mall is open all day and night.
If you stay through Friday you can see the holiday lighting ceremony on the Riverwalk. The town completely fills up by Friday so plan well ahead if you expect to find a hotel on the Riverwalk. Any day would be a great day to experience the San Antonio Riverwalk - but Thanksgiving weekend is extra special!

Antone's Record Shop

We checked out Antone's Record Shop Friday night, a really cool record shop on Guadalupe. They stay open until 10:00 pm and we spent quite a bit of time there - SO much to discover. They have a HUGE variety of music - mostly 45s & LPs which
is what we were looking for. My all-time favorite music is from the 60's & 70's and Antone's has it all. Just seeing the old record labels and album covers was a thrill You can choose the records and take them to the back where they have a record player so you can listen to them before buying. Great prices!! Here's what we bought Friday on 45s, each record was about $1.95 : (I'm sure we'll return for more!)

. Steely dan- "only a fool would say that" + "reeling in the years"
. Petula clark- "kiss me goodbye" + "downtown"
. Lee morgan- "sweet honey bee" + "hey chico"
. Ahmad Jamal "music, music, music" + "poinciana"

The store is on the UT college shopping strip area. They also have an on-line store. Take a walk down memory lane!
Visit their website for directions to the Austin store.

Antone's Record Shop