Austin Real Estate, Kyle Real Estate Celeste Messer

Just a quick note...I was out and about in Kyle and Buda, two communities that are south of Austin, yesterday and got caught in a downpour. Rather than be mad I was ....well happy. Granted I would have preferred that I was inside looking out on this lovely lovely rain but I was just glad the Austin area was finally getting some rain.

For those of you not from around here, you might not have heard that we have had an unusually hot and dry summer. As a Austin Area Realtor I frequently have clients looking to purchase waterfront. Usually I love taking a client to the back patio of a home, looking out over the sparkling water and discussing the wonderful lifestyle they can have living in that home. However I was showing lake and river front property last week and unfortunately three of the homes my client wanted to see had very little waterfront due to the lack of rains. One was actually at the end of a totally dry cove, stairsteps down, then a several foot drop, not a drop of water to be had. (If you look further down the cove you could see where the cove was opening up into the main body of Lake Travis, the water was still there. In fact the owner of the home had his boat out in that area so he could still enjoy the water sports etc.) The waterfront on the home I looked at on the Pedernales River Tributary was down so low I could have made my way across it without stepping in any of the pockets of water.

This drought does affect the Real Estate Market in general but it hits waterfront homes "in the face". From a real estate perspective it is obviously harder to sell a waterfront home in the Austin area when there is no or very little water. Now if the buyer has lived in the area for say 10-15 years they likely have experienced the ups and downs of Lake Travis, the Colorado River, Pedernales etc. They would likely know the water does go down in times of drought, but then it does go up again very quickly with a good rain. But even then they probably also know that you can get the waterfront homes cheaper in the dry times. Some of the magic is...gone when a waterfront is sparkling with water.

During these times, sellers have to decide if they want to keep their home on the market during these dry times, as the buyers don't want to pay a premium for waterfront when they aren't seeing it. Unfortunately none of us can guarantee when or even if the water will be there again...past trends would suggest it will come up again, but no one can guarantee it.

All of Austin has been dry and most areas have been on some kind of water restriction, (not the kind like I experienced in Venezuela when they actually shut off your water and turned it on city section by section so you knew when you could and could not take a shower...). These water restrictions are more in the vein of; If you have an odd number address you water on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Even number homes water on Tuesdays and Fridays.

You have to be aware that watering your lawn is not a cheap venture in Texas. Many of my clients that come from places, like say Seattle or Oregon, where it rains a lot, are shocked at the water bills. So if you are moving this way, be sure to ask for watering bills of a home you are considering buying before you buy it. It is a utility bill that you may have forgotten to factor in when considering your monthly bills. That home with a beautifully manicured two acres...well that may be a money pit in a time of drought.

So anyway...I'm sure we didn't get enough rain to actually 'catch up' with where we should be at this time of year, but it sure was a good fresh downpour like I used to see growing up in the Midwest. I for one was thrilled to see it and hope it brings back some of the green that I love so much about our area.

Good going Mother Nature. Many of us living in the Austin area do so because we love the beauty of the rolling hills, the spring flowers and hope that all of this world wide change in weather conditions doesn't bode ill of times to come.

So all I can say for now is...enjoy the rain. Go play in it as you might have done when you were a child. Enjoy it! I sure am.

For those of you that prefer to see numbers...below is an excerpt from a recent National Weather Service for the Austin area giving some historical figures for comparing where we are today to 'normal'.

If you are wanting more info on Austin waterfront homes, give us a call. Or if you want to just check out all of the active homes for sale in the Austin area, go to Austin Home Search.

Anyone who has been reading the news lately can see that the number of Single Family Home Foreclosures are growing around the country. Kyle Texas is no exception. Though we have not been hit as hard as other parts of the country we have seen a rise in the number of Kyle Single Family Homes going into foreclosures. To give you an idea, I created the chart below which compares the number of foreclosures running through the multiple listing system 2004 to today. Keep in mind this chart does not reflect the Kyle foreclosures that take place on the Hays County Courthouse steps the first Tuesday of every month. But the figures will still give you an idea of the trend.

You can see on the chart that Kyle Texas is not exempt from the foreclosure woes seen in the rest of the country. The number of Single Family Homes in foreclosure in Kyle has grown steadily over the last several years.

One of the factors contributing to the increased foreclosure rate in Kyle as well as the rest of the Austin area, is the rise in the number of Out-Of-State homeowner foreclosures.

Anyone working in the Austin Area Real Estate Market a few years ago remembers the number of out-of-state investors (mainly from California) that came to our fair city to take advantage of the lower prices. Though some agents like myself, would explain they were not going to see the huge appreciation they were used to seeing in California, and our leasing market was soft, the taxes were high etc etc, it appears that many weren't listening and still purchased without adequate knowledge and preparation. Many had been reading about how much money you can make in real estate, zero down, using leverage, getting cash back at closing (which is illegal in Texas by the way) etc etc. And many were a bit naive to say the least.

Unfortunately realty has caught up with many. What we have begun to see in recent months is that these "first time" and "early days" investors have begun to pull out. Either by selling, or in many cases by walking away from their investments as they find the ongoing expenses, repairs, finding new tenants, home preparation between tenants, etc is too much for them.

While I didn't see the Hays County figures in time for this article, I did see that in the upcoming Travis County Foreclosure Auction to take place August 5th, 52 of the properties are owned by out-of-state residents.

That's 13% of the total which is up from 5% last year. While in Williamson County the percent of out-of-state owners is 6%. I would expect Hays County numbers to be even higher as we saw a large number of investors during that same time period.

The figures also do not reflect short sales (homes going into foreclosure but not yet officially foreclosed). In these cases the owner and the bank have come to an agreement that the owner (who is several months late on payments) will sell the home at a price agreed upon by the bank (usually a lesser price than they might ordinarily have accepted). In this way the owner can avoid the foreclosure on their credit record while the bank, seeing the inevitable foreclosure process looming ahead, agrees to the process in order to avoid the heavy costs associated with taking over a property ownership, eviction, legal fees, selling costs etc. Unfortunately this is not an uncommon occurence.

We'll be watching to see how this all plays out in the coming months. Experts agree that we will likely continue seeing a rise in foreclosures over the next several months before seeing it level off.

If you are interested in purchasing a foreclosure, one of the existing foreclosed homes on the market don't fit the bill, then let us know what you are looking for and we'll keep an eye out. Because unfortunately the numbers are on the rise and will likely to continue for the coming months. According to the Foreclosure Listing Service, in the counties we cover the numbers for the year-to-date foreclosure postings have risen over the last year as follows:

Travis County: 902; up 23%

Williamson County: 1788 up 23%

Hays County: 639 up 11%

Bastrop County: 386 up 2%

So if you want to check out the current foreclosures on the market, or if you would like to consider purchasing real estate, foreclosure or otherwise, in Kyle, Buda or anywhere in the Austin and San Marcos Areas, email us or give us a call. We'd love to help you out and be your Austin Area Realtor.

Celeste

Someone asked me recently what I liked about living in Plum Creek. Even after they left I thought about it a bit more.

I decided that part of what I like about living in Plum Creek is that it reminds me of a simpler time. Sometimes driving into the neighborhood, I'll smile to myself as I see the picket fences and the blooming crepe myrtles, the "gazing balls" in some landscaping, wind chimes that twinkle on some of the porches and other items that are a throw back to my grandmother's house growing up. I don't always stop to think about the feeling, I just know I relax a bit as I drive down the street. Maybe everyone feels that in their neighborhoods, I don't know. But the other night I was flipping channels and came across the movie "The Wizard of Oz". The movie was almost over and for some reason I was in a nostalgic mood and put the remote down and watched it. Within seconds memories of my childhood flooded back.

When I was a child (we won't say how long ago that was), The Wizard of OZ movie was played on the TV once a year. There was always a lot of commercials leading up to it. So the night it came on it was a real event at our house. There were 7 kids and one television in the house (and one bathroom but that's a whole 'nother story). There we'd be, ready for bed, with several big bowls of popcorn, all gathered around what now would be considered a unbelievably small TV, watching a movie that we had seen who knows how many times before.

So why bring this up in relation to Plum Creek? Well I guess when Dorothy decides that "There's no place like home", I have to agree. Plum Creek is home to me. I live in Plum Creek, my daughters live in Plum Creek, my ex-husband and his family lives in Plum Creek...you get the picture. We can run over and borrow a ladder from each other anytime we like. And I like it.

I like the quaint nature of the community. I like the fact that the trees are growing bigger and fuller and the neighborhood is looking more and more like the neighborhoods of 'old'. I like the back alleys, and the flags that get put out at the mailboxes each fourth of July (even though it's another realtor putting them out...but that's okay too).

It's funny but the very thing that many of us love about Plum Creek, some other people dislike about it. I have brought many a client through the neighborhood over the last several years, showing the homes and I can get some really strong reactions. Unlike many neighborhoods around Austin (and believe me I've shown them all), with Plum Creek you get a more split reaction. With Plum Creek many of my clients either love it or they hate it.

I remember years ago when I was new to Real Estate, I was driving a client through the neighborhood the weekend of fourth of July (yes I do work weekends....a lot). I drove in the main entrance on Witte. When I first saw the flags had been put out, I thought the picture it made was so patriotic and quaint. My client's reaction...well let's just say quaint wasn't the word he chose to use.

But that's okay. Call it "Leave it to Beaverville", "Stepfordville", "Pleasantville", it doesn't matter. Plum Creek isn't a neighborhood for everyone. No neighborhood is, or can hope to be. And that's what makes our country great. My challenge as a Realtor, is to get to know a bit about my clients' personalities, their likes and their dislikes and then using that information coupled with their price range, find neighborhoods and homes that work for them.

When asked about the Pros and the Cons in living in Plum Creek: I'd say the biggest pro for me is the sense of community...now I will admit I am always on the go and I don't see my neighbors as often as I'd like/should. But even then I always wave and I know if I have a problem I could give a yell and I'm sure they'd be willing to help as I would be willing to help them as well.

I also like the cuteness of the neighborhood. It has a distinct personality that many neighborhoods of this price point are missing. To me it's different. I like the bungalow look and front porches of many of the homes. I like the fact there is an elementary school in the neighborhood even if my kids are too old to go there. I like that there are pools, parks and activities like "movie in the park" for the kids. I love the holidays with all the decorations that come out near Thanksgiving time. I love the trick or treaters coming by on Halloween. I like seeing young families taking a walk in the evening with their kids passing by the retirees who are also out enjoying the break from the hot Texas afternoons.

Yes there are Cons to living in Plum Creek as well. I have to be honest with my clients about them. I warn anyone looking at homes in our neighborhood, if they don't plan on keeping up their yards or homes, if they get angry when someone else tells them that they need to mow, or paint their home, then Plum Creek is not the neighborhood for them. And while I personally have received a few cards from the HOA saying my yard needed mowing or my beds were looking tacky (honestly they must have come the day before I was having it done), I'm glad the HOA 'police' are keeping on top of my neighborhoods so I don't have to. I can tell you from a Realtor's perspective, if you don't have a strong HOA, if someone isn't making sure that the restrictions are being adhered to, then the neighborhood can begin to really look run down...surprisingly...fast.

Another obvious Con relates to yard size and lack of privacy. Neither are issues for me, but for buyers that want big back yards and privacy fences this isn't likely to happen in Plum Creek. Yes there are a few homes that are built on the golf course and a few cul de sac lots that are larger than the norm, but by and large, let's face it, our lots are pretty darn small, especially when you consider that many have a detached garage taking up a chunk of it. And as for privacy...our little white picket fences, the only ones the restrictions allow by the way, well they don't allow you to have privacy.

For me small yards and lack of privacy isn't a big deal. Geez, I'm well past the "lying out in the sun" days and there is nothing I'd be doing in the backyard that I am not willing to have my neighbors see. And when it comes to missing a big back yard ...let me tell you, I've been there and done that with the big yards and have learned it costs money to mow and water (even more now a days). Besides, with our nice parks and pools, the kids can go to the near by park to play.

We aren't going to see any change happening to the lot size and privacy issues mentioned above, but we are seeing another Con that my potential buyers had about Plum Creek. For several years my clients felt that Plum Creek was too far from things. You had to drive 20 minutes to go to the grocery store or drugstore. But this is no longer an issue now that HEB Plus and CVS and opened their doors. And it's only going to get better. Soon we'll have a hospital (which hopefully I won't need but it's nice to know it will be there), a movie theater and some other shopping within five minutes from our neighborhood, making it what it was always supposed to be, a neighborhood that allowed people to work and play close to home.

So I for one am a happy camper here in Plum Creek. Click your heels together and keep repeating..."There's no place like home." "There's no place like home." And whoosh, you're there.

Oh...in case you're wondering...Real Estate Prices in Plum Creek for a single family home starts about $150,000 and go to the high $200s. There are a few townhomes and cottages that would be less. If you would like to check out all of the active homes for sale in Plum Creek, go to Austin Home Search or you can click her eto search homes for lease in Plum Creek.

Now if you live in Buda, San Marcos, Austin or any other community around the area, I understand that the opening of a drugstore is no big thing. However, if you live in Kyle, I'm here to tell you it is a big thing.

So now you have more of a reason to go downtown Kyle. Along with the Kyle Chamber of Commerce, Kyle Administration, the Kyle Police Department, and of course the Court House, you can also stop at places like Railroad BBQ, Bordeaux, Texas Pie Company, Country Deli etc and now you stop at the CVS Drugstore.

I am telling you that it is sooo convenient. To be able to run to a drug store, park near the door (no offence to HEB Plus as I love that store, but you gotta admit if you are just running in for an emergency item like aspirin or feminine products, cause lets face it with 4 daughters we use a lot of feminine products, be it makeup and the like...) it's nice to park outside the door, run in and run out again. So everyone in my household is thrilled to have the new CVS open on Center Street and we welcome them with open arms and wish them all of the best.

So let's support our local businesses!

Recently I heard of an organization known as BNI. For those of you who haven't heard about BNI, don't feel alone. BNI stands for Business Networking International. I only heard about it recently through a colleague. He actually gave me the book "The World's Best Known Marketing Secret" so I could learn more about the organization and its'. The book emphasizes the value of networking in all facets of life.

As I read the book I realized that my natural tendency of being shy was holding me back both socially and professionally. I was the type that when I went to any group event I tended to find one person that I already knew and stick to them like glue rather than take the opportunity to get to know others and let them get to know me.

So the first thing I did was go to BNI website, www.bni.com, and I read more about the organization. I loved what I saw. As a realtor I am often asked about recommendations from my clients for various professions/service providers. They are new to the area, sometimes I am the first person they meet. What better service could I provide my clients but to provide them a list of trusted service providers. The BNI just gives this process a more structured, focused and organized way of doing just that.

I found out there was an active BNI group in nearby San Marcos, Texas, also in Hays County, so I went to a meeting.

I was impressed with what I saw. I like that the meetings were very organized and focused. Members share information about themselves, their profession, their philosophies etc. The entire concept is based on the members getting to know one another and build relationships. And isn't the idea of business abotu relationships? In talking to the members I discovered that over time, both business and friendships grew.

As there was not an active chapter in my hometown of Kyle I decided to start a group. To understand how the group works you need to know that there is only one representative from each profession, e.g. I am a realtor in the group. So the selection of the members of the group is extremely important. I know I want to make sure that any in the group feel as strongly about servicing their clients as I do. I want to know if I refer a client to someone that they are going to "take care" of that client in the same way I do when it comes to helping them buy or sell a home.

So if anyone is interested or knows anyone that might be interested in joining the Kyle BNI chapter please let me know. Would love to talk to them to see if we'd be a good match.