Kyle, TX

Did you know that, until the year 2010, Kyle is considered rural. That means that you can take advantage of the USDA Loan program to buy one of the great homes for sale in that area.

The UDSA Loan, as it is referred to, is 100% loan program that can only be used in areas that have been determined to be rural according to the population density. There is no limit on how much the seller can contribute to the buyer, no PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), you can do a 2/1 buydown if you would like. Income and property limits do apply. Click here for more information.

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I recently signed up for a research tool that allows me (and my clients) to keep up with what's happening in the market. Now I will be the first to admit that you don't have to be a real estate agent or an expert on the Kyle Market to know this is not the opportune time for sellers to put a house on the market. So why pay for a fancy shamsy tool? Well I figured I would spend some time learning about the tool, playing with the charts and finding new ways to explain it. More importantly I'll see the nuances of the market, those slight dips or hopefully see the very beginning of the line working its' way back up.

But I do find that seeing the data I work with every day put in a graphs is interesting and very ...well...graphic. What's that old expression "A picture paints a thousand words"? Well here's a chart that captures Kyle Texas Real Estate Market in a nutshell. (For those of you wanting a more complete explanation of this chart see below.)

I looked at the chart for Kyle, Buda, Wimberley, San Marcos, Driftwood and Dripping Springs and you know what...they all look just about the same. Buda and Kyle in fact are so similar without the city name you'd mix the two graphs.

So to all of those buyer's out there thinking maybe they should wait a little longer to save that extra down payment...I'd say don't wait. Check with your lender, the little difference that extra 5-10k will make in your monthly payment will be more than offset by the lower price that you are likely to pay for a home if you purchase now versus six months from now.

And to those sellers out there...If there is someone on the fence wondering if now would be a good time to sell when you don't really have to...think again. Between the holiday season, the election and the overall uncertainty in the economy now is not the time to sell. HOWEVER if you don't have a choice, you are relocating and have to sell the home. Now more than ever find a agent out there (preferably us) that will help you get top dollar. Yes there are those buyers out there that smell the blood and are low balling on their offers. But there are others who still want to "fall in love" with a house and pay a fair price. Make sure your house is staged and ready to help the buyers fall in love.

Now more than ever you need an agent to be your partner, one that will be HONEST with you. I have lost many a listing because of my honesty. But I'll save that for another blog.

If you like charts and numbers and want to keep abreast of the Kyle TX real Estate Market, or any other Hays county market...complete the contact form below and we'll get you on the mailing list to receive the charts. And if you think you might be ready to jump in and purchase a home, head to our website www.adkor.net and check out our homes for sale by subdivision pages for some of our featured communities...you can click here for a list of all of the current Homes for Sale in Kyle by subdivision.

Explanation on the Market Action Index Chart

"Residential house prices are a function of supply and demand, and market conditions can be characterized by analyzing those factors.

"The Market Action Index (MAI) illustrates the balance between supply and demand using a statistical function of the current rate of sale versus current inventory. An MAI value greater than 30 typically indicates a "Seller's Market" (a.k.a. "Hot Market") because demand is high enough to quickly absorb available supply. A hot market will typically cause prices to rise. MAI values below 30 indicate a "Buyer's Market" (a.k.a. "Cold Market") where the inventory of already-listed homes is sufficient to last several months at the current rate of sales. A cold market will typically cause prices to fall."

I have an investment home in Plum Creek and I received a call from my tenant recently letting me know that they were moving. They were well over their one year term and were on a month by month basis so it was no surprise though I have to admit my immediate thought was "Crap", not very professional I agree and I of course didn't share this with my tenant but I didn't like the thought of having to find a new tenant during the holiday season, getting the house ready etc.

Now I love Plum Creek with it's nostalgic charm and family oriented activities. And last nights Halloween Trick'r Treating made me realize once again what a nice community it is to raise kids. It was a warm Halloween night so the kids didn't have to be bundled up. It was so cute to see all of the little kids coming up to the door in their princess, dinosaurs and monster outfits. Looking out I could see the parents standing protectively at the sidewalks as their little ones rang the door bell. I looked down the street and saw so many of the homes decorated for Halloween and actually sighed. Next to Christmas, Halloween is one of my favorite times in the neighborhood as the streets are filled with families as the go from one house to the next just like I did when I was a kid. No the houses in Plum Creek aren't huge but the longer I'm here (and admittedly the older I get,) I am finding that I am getting a bit more attached to this charming neighborhood.

So anyway to the point of this blog. I pulled the active homes for Lease in Plum Creek to see what 'competition' I had out there. Here's what I found.

CURRENT HOMES FOR LEASE IN PLUM CREEK IN KYLE TEXAS

My next step was to look at recently leased homes in Plum Creek so I pulled those that leased in September and October to see what was happening.

RECENTLY LEASED HOMES IN PLUM CREEK KYLE TEXAS

I was actually surprised to see that one home about the same square footage as the one I am leasing went for $1450 just this month. I personally think that is too high and it was on the market over two months but they did find a tenant. The home I'll be leasing is approximately 1900 sq ft so I decided to keep it at its' current lease of $1200 a month.

With the permission of my current tenant I went ahead and put the sign in front of the home with a "Coming Soon" on it as I didn't want to list it officially as it is a few weeks away from being available. I was actually surprised by the number of callers I got in the first week. Again I haven't advertised it, it is not in the MLS, I didn't do a blog on it or put it on my website and its on a rather quiet corner, yet I received at least 8 calls on it. In any case looks like I may have a tenant on this one but if any of you are thinking for renting or buying a home in Plum Creek, give us a call 512-449-6070 or email us at info@adkor.net. Plum Creek is a great place to call home and we'd love to help you out!

And just in case you're interested. Here are some handy links to help you out.

Click here for all of the Homes for Lease in Plum Creek.

Click here for all of the Homes for Lease in Kyle Texas.

Click here for Homes for Sale in Kyle Texas by Subdivision.

Click here for all of the Homes for Sale in Plum Creek.

Click here for all of the Homes for Sale in Kyle Texas.

Check out our website www.soldbyceleste.com and you can see homes for lease or sale throughout the Austin and surrounding areas, broken down by neighborhood and price range. These listings are updated daily. If the neighborhood you are interested in isn't there, call us and we'll add it for you. Click here if you are interested in seeing Homes for Sale in Austin by subdivisions by price range.

Hey if we give all of this information to people we don't know...just imagine how we help our clients! Call us and find out why here are Adkor we truly are A Different Kind Of Realty.

I noticed recently that it was a lot easier to show homes lately..why you ask? Because there are so many vacant homes.

People have moved because of transfers or unfortunately foreclosure situations and I don't need to make appointments, I can just take my clients straight away. Now a vacant home typically translates into a more motivated seller because the seller is now likely making two mortgage payments or in the case of a pre-foreclosure or foreclosure the bank may be willing to accept a lower offer.

On one such showing day I found over half of my planned showings were VACANT! That is huge! So I pulled data to see how many homes were vacant in the areas I serve and found that when I take out new construction (because obviously they are vacant) Kyle had almost a 40% Vacancy rate for all of the homes currently for sale. Buda was closer to a 30% rate. So I wanted to see how that compared to the other cities I serve. The chart to the right shows what I discovered.

You can see the numbers are not that far off from each other. I decided to take it to the next step and look at it from a county perspective focusing on the big three: Hays County, Travis County and Williamson County. Travis is leading the pack with vacancies in the mid 30s.

I'll be watching these numbers closely as it tells us a lot about what's going on in the market. As mentioned before if I have a buyer looking at two homes for sale, one which has been vacant a while and the other still having the owner living in it, my client and I will likely make the assumption that the seller of the vacant home is more motivated. They are probably paying two mortgagees, two sets of insurance and taxes, having to worry about lawn care and utilities and weather...bottom line their asking price may be softening.

The second aspect of vacancies is the unfortunate issue of foreclosures and pre foreclosures. We're seeing many of the 'California' investors of a few years ago starting to 'walk away' from their investments as they find their cash flow isn't as it once was. Two of my last three sales in which I represented the buyers, the sellers were 'California' investors. One was going into foreclosure, the other one just wanted out. (I use the word 'California' in quotes as many if not most of the investors were from California but I'm referring to the surge a few years ago of out of town investors.)

If a buyer is willing to be patient, as short sales and foreclosures can take longer than a 'normal' sale, they can walk away with some built in equity. I'll be writing a bit more on this process later.

Bottom line the vacancy rates are showing there definitely are some softer prices out there. Call us at Adkor Realty ...512-449-6070 or visit our website at www.SoldbyCeleste.com and we can help you take advantage of some of them!

Hey everybody Halloween is coming and here is a spooky deal for Austin Realtors and home buyers. I am not affiliated with the builder I am simply passing on information that you may find useful. There is a builder that has just knocked off several thousand dollars off their list prices for a number of new homes. There are several sought after one story brand new homes under $160K in Kyle. These homes have SEER 14 energy efficient Carrier AC units and nine foot ceilings. There is a neighborhood park and its only 1/2 mile from the new Seton Hospital. They are also offering free 2" blinds, washer/dryer/fridge appliance package and rear sod all for FREE! What a great new home package!! If you are looking in the $130K-190K range, you should call me to go to Kensington Trails! Happy house hunting!

Betina

If you are in the market for a new home and are not presently working with a Realtor call me. I would be happy to help you through the process of buying a home. I specialize as a Buyers Agent and I have a network of experts to make the process simple and easy to navigate. I look forward to the opportunity to earn your business.

Betina

Betina Foreman, Realtor - Keller Williams - 512-771-6318