South Austin Real Estate Blog,

I once saw a poster on a Realtor's wall, oh way back about 1975.. it said GO AHEAD TIGER AND DO IT YOURSELF. the pictures were of a man stalking a new home thru a jungle with pitfalls ahead. I'm sure that is completely unPC now.. but all these years later I still remember it.

What should a buyer do first? Ok, I have decided to buy a home. I have saved my money and I've been driving around the neighborhoods where I live .. now I want to own. Do I call the number on all those signs?

That's a scenerio many people face when they are going on the road to home ownership. Here are my thoughts and opinions.

GET A BUYERS AGENT to represent you. WHY? A buyers agent can help you by saving you time and money. TIME? huh? Well how many Saturdays and Sundays do you want to visit those Open Houses and hope you find "the right one" ? A good agent knows the neighborhood. Also many agents know about houses coming on the market that may fit your needs and wants.

Save me MONEY? how? A good agent knows the prices for an area, knows value, knows how to negotiate prices, a good agent will do a Comparable Market Analysis to make sure the home of your dreams will appraise at sale. A good agent will help you find the right Mortgage broker, who will treat you fairly and honestly. A good agent knows many good Inspectors who will treat you fairly and honestly.

A good agent will help you from the beginning to the end of your home purchase. From pre-qualifying to home tours to inspections then repairs then negotiations then closing. A good agent is a guide thru the Jungle of Real Estate.

If you would like a GOOD AGENT to guide you thru the home buying process call me... I can help you. I serve Austin Texas and surrounding areas.

Gail Tassey, REALTOR, Keller Williams Realty, 512-217-9482

Today is the Circle C Ranch Neighborhood Open House Tour, Sunday, Sept 21, 2008 1:00-4:00pm

6104 ROXBURY, AUSTIN TEXAS, 78739 BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS, KIKER ELEMENTARY

The home I'm hosting is a lovely 1 story, Scott Felder Built, with an incredible backyard featuring double decks and huge oaks shading the yard. Inside are gorgeous granite countertops in the kitchen that is open to the family room and upgrades throughout. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, with 2,114 sq ft and close to the swimming pool, hike and bike trails and the tennis courts. Stop in today and view this gem in the heart of Circle C. Priced right at $279,900.

Yesterday Coach Mac Brown announced the University of Texas Longhorn vs the Arkansas Razorback's game scheduled for today, Sept 13 has been postponed.

In a coincidential occurance both teams had an open weekend Sept 27th so the game that was to have been scheduled today has been postponed at this time and rescheduled for Sept 27th.

Austin is housing over 5,600 evacuees from the Houston and Coastal areas of Texas while Hurricane Ike is wrecking havoc all about.. so it is a wise and prudent decision to postpone the football game.

Hook'em Horns!

Advise to Hurricane IKE area friends and family members:

The local Television station here in Austin is doing a live feed from a sister station in Houston, Tx.. KHOU, and AT&T is advising friends and relatives of people in Houston and surrounding areas to send TEXT MESSAGES, apparently TEXTING saves the battery of cell phones and goes thru easier than calls.. The phone lines in many areas are jammed and AT&T suggests TEXTING to your friends and relatives.

I hope everyone is well and their damages are not too extensive.

Today I went to register to vote in the November election.... well... I couldn't find the place I needed to go to.. maybe I still had too much sleep in my brain? It was early, I was dropping my grandson off early at school so he could join the Japanese Language group.. oh I can speak English and here is this kid at nearly 13 wanting to learn and master Japanese, he already had a good grasp on Spanish... anyways, I didn't find where I wanted to find... how ? I don't know, Dripping Springs Texas is not that big?

I live in Austin Texas, but we live in a nook of Hays County, not Travis County that most of Austin is in, so we register and vote in Dripping Springs, its a small town about 10miles to the west of where I live... the County Seat of Hays is in San Marcos, thats about 30 miles to the south of us.

So here I am... 8:00am looking for the City offices... well I decided I was hungry so I drove on home and here is my trusty-dusty computer, Ah Ha Moment, Google it.. on the way to google it.. I found this wonderful site..

http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/reqvr.shtml

So as soon as I mail the application I have filled in, I am again a registered voter. (why was I not? I believe I moved less than 2 years ago and hadn't re-registered with my new address in my new county).

So.. all you Texans who haven't registered... heres your chance. Do it today.

And if you are looking for a home to buy, I bet ya I can find that!! Call me and lets chat. Gail Tassey, Realtor, Keller Williams Realty, Austin Texas, 512-217-9482 gailnttexas@gmail.com