Heath Coker, Real Estate Broker

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) produced a real estatereport in November that indicates the Austin area real estate has been appreciating, even though most areas of the country are still experiencing a troubled real estate market. The OFHEO (Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight) uses the report to show that the Austin area was number 1 in the list of US cities that are appreciating. The reported 5+% appreciation (35+% over the last 5 years) in 2008 is in part a result of the local economic successes of job growth and the long term plan to create 72,000 jobs in the area. Having a vision is great, and having a plan that is being implemented is even better.

The 5 parts of the Austin plan are: Capitalize on Existing Strengths, Recruit and Target Diverse Sectors, Stimulate Entrepreneurship and New Enterprises, Market Austin Effectively, and Improve Regional Competitiveness. These are good topical headlines, but Austin's implementation of their sub points has them well on their way to their goals. They want the Austin area to be ranked number 1 as much as they'd like to see the Texas University football team ranked number 1! They have been working the plan since September of 2003.

In the Austin area of Texas, local businesses are finding ways to succeed that the rest of the country can take as an example. With over 1/2 of the states in this report showing decreases any good example of success is an attention grabber. The Austin Texas area has added 3366 jobs in 2008, according to the Austin Chamber. This is significant because 1 job can result in 4 to 10 other "support" jobs which follow the newly created one. When a job is created, that new employee will need a plumber, a mechanic, an electrician, etc. As more jobs are created, existing companies will expand, and new companies will be formed to meet the needs of the growing community. The Austin Texans have applied their plan so that their job growth in 2008 comes from over 60 companies rather than just one or two. And the newest jobs are in many different industries. This means that if one part of the economy has problems it will have less of an effect on the whole economy of the Austin area.

Cities in the Greater Austin area are:
Austin, Lockhart, San Marcos, Kyle, Bastrop, Elgin, Manor, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Taylor, Hutto, Leander, and Georgetown.

The latest version of the FHFA report only covers the third quarter of 2008. The next report, which will summarize the whole year, should be even more interesting. In the past is has provided interesting statistics for review.

I was impatiently rushing to an appointment that I wasn't late for the other day when some things dawned on me.

I had purposely taken the coast road so I could relax and enjoy the view and the peace of the beach. As I turned onto the beach road, another car pulled in front of me. They were obviously not in any rush to get anywhere and were driving very slowly. I became frustrated at their intrusion very quickly and got close enough to their car that they felt my impatience and frustration. I could see them looking in their mirror. Even though they saw me they didn't pull over or speed up. This added to my frustration.

Then it dawned on me that I had come this way to relax and enjoy the view. I backed off, and began to look out the windows at the great expanse of the ocean. It was a calm day. The water was a blue green. The sun was shining. Boats were going to and from Martha's Vineyard and out into the open ocean to go fishing.

As I looked around, I was reminded that my frustration was a choice, and that the small events that occur to distract me can only control me if I choose to let them. In this case, I chose to reset my mind and my actions. The slow car in front of me turned off, and as I looked inside I saw it was an older couple enjoying the same beach drive I was now enjoying. I refocused my mind to feel a part of the things that are occurring in my life with great relief and different peace.

There are many things that "pull in front of me" in a day. Sometimes I just need to back off and enjoy the view and bea part of the bigger picture.

Happy Listing and Selling!

The real estate business has never had more opportunities. Prices are low. Interest rates are low. Inventory in almost every part of the US has property that provides an opportunity.

These days look like the days in the 1980s and 1990s that were the trough of the next wave of investing. The crash in the 80s came from government changing the tax code relative to investment properties. The changes in the 90s came partly from people cashing out of the stock market and driving up real estate prices with their cash profits.

And the real estate market today is recovering from government causing lenders to make loans that would have been rejected at other times in history. BUT - this too shall pass. Just lake all waves there is a trough and then another wave. It looks like we are poised for the next swell!

The other night my wife watched part of a television special on the brain. She said they had the viewer do a fascinating experiment while watching the show. The TV screen was full of small, active, blue dots. Then three larger stationary yellow dots were placed in the center of the screen forming a triangle. The viewer was told to focus their attention on the center of the triangle and on the blue moving dots. Within a very short period of time the yellow dots started to randomly blink and disappear. However, when she shifted her focus off the moving blue dots to specifically look at the yellow ones, the yellow dots were actually still there. They were not really blinking or disappearing. Apparently, because her vision was so busy focusing on the active blue dots, the yellow ones did not register in her brain.

Holly and I have been working on focusing our attention on positive events, attitudes, and activities. There is a lot of discussion these days in the self help and personal empowerment world, on concepts like, "what you focus on expands," or "keep your positive vision in front of you and make your life positive," and "you attract to yourself what you focus on - whether good or bad." I have heard it said that we should focus on a desire, even if it is not a current reality, and that vision can create reality.

When she experienced the experiment in the TV show, she saw a real example of the truth in those statements. Those yellow dots were always there, unchanged yet her mind discarded their image because it was too busy focusing on other things. What are the implications for the real esate market?

What am I focusing on? Are the dots I see in my life, troubles? Am I focused on economic woes and the problems with the economy or the troubles of the world? Are all the blessings and good dots in my life disappearing only because of my lack of acknowledging them?

And, can I choose to re-concentrate and focus on the dots that are all the small incidental wonderful things to experience everyday? The victorious, the possibilities, the joys that make the dots of trouble blink and disappear into the background. It is all a shifting of focus and it makes a big difference!

I think the real estate news has been focused on a small percentage of troubled owner dots. There are many markets that are appreciating. I am going to train my eyes to look at the positive dots (like the $410 million dollars being spent in the next 2 years to create Hollywood East in Southeastern MA!). Yep, dots what I'm doin'.

Happy selling and listing!

So if you read this humorously with an "Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes" voice, you will capture my intent more clearly. Here goes.

Did you ever take a real estate listing that you knew was over priced? Any experienced agent or broker can probably answer yes to this one. Why do we take over priced listings anyway? Is it because we don't want to hurt the feelings of the owner? Or maybe we don't want the competition to get the listing instead of us. Maybe it is our first listing and we just want one on the books. Or maybe we haven't had a listing in a while and we need one to show off.

Whatever the reason, taking an over priced listing is like going out drinking for the night just to get drunk. At the time it seems like the right thing to do. But the next morning, you feel terrible. Your head hurts, your stomach feels bad, you have to face your colleagues who wonder, "What were you thinking?!", some of whom say it out loud. You have a seller who hounds you about the lack of showings, and you have to start preparing the "we need a price reduction" speech.

Personally, I don't like hangovers so I don't drink to get drunk. And as often as possible, I apply that same rationale to pricing a listing. I can't say that the thought of taking an overpriced listing hasn't crossed my mind, but I fight the temptation by thinking about the morning after. Maybe if more agents and brokers thought that way, we'd have less "over pricing hangovers." Nobody asked. Just my opinion.

Happy listing and selling!