“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Sponsor a Community — What is Localism? | Register or Sign In
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Home Tim Moncrief

Tim Moncrief

Blog_tag

Thanks to a couple of outstanding Steiner Ranch superstars in the making.

01-04-10
Tim Moncrief

A THANK YOU to a couple of agents.........

I am so proud of our agents for performing quite well in such a challenging market. Perhaps what helps is the attitude that some of our agents have that 2009 was a market to make business, and not merely trying to survive. This is a mindset that is difficult to comprehend when so much negative news is thrown out by the media and people in the industry. Two of our newer agents each did quite well having gotten into a business that was entering turmoil. Brandy Finnessey ended the year with a bit over $4.8 million in sales and Shannon Kramer sold over $5.7 million. These two agents are dominant agents in the Steiner Ranch Community in Austin.

Moving into a rebounding market place, exceeding $10 million will be on both their minds. Thanks to Shannon, Brandy and the rest of our fantastic agents for once again putting The Bartlett Real Estate Group at the top here in Austin, and 30th internationally (w/Keller Williams). We are looking forward to a fantastic year and wish all other agents a properous year.

2 Comments
Blog_tag

Texas increases in growth as other states see decrease

12-24-09
Tim Moncrief
The Census Bureau (www.Census.gov) reported that Texas gained more people than any other state (eff. July), followed by California, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  On the other hand, three states to lost population over the period: Michigan, Maine and Rhode Island.

  • Net domestic migration has slowed dramatically in many states in the South and West
  • Florida and Neveada have more people are moving out than moving in (births outnumber migration in Florida)
  • Louisiana’s population is up from a year earlier (Very positive news for that state).
This is typical in recessions as parts of the country are hit substantially harder than others.  Texas lost population in the mid to late 80's oil crises, and at the first part of this decade during the dot com fall out. 
4 Comments
Blog_tag

ONLY NEGATIVE News Sells...... Marketing 101

12-22-09
Tim Moncrief
It was a pleasant surprise, today, to see our city newspaper to post a positive comment to sell their newspaper website rather than negative comments. The media industry knows that misleading negative news sells better than misleading positive news, as people tend to react stronger to negative news. (probably the reason why you clicked on this post) Thank you Austin American Statesman for posting this:

"Austin-area home resales jumped 58 percent last month from November 2008 as buyers scrambled to take advantage of low mortgage interest rates and a tax credit for first-time buyers".

Though this increase is a result of the tax credits and not a reflection of the "real" market, the article creates a positive tone for the market place which, hopefully, creates momentum. i.e. negative news begets negative action, and positive news begets positive action. Pass on positive news. Create positive action Be positive....It's Christmas!

5 Comments
Blog_tag

Thanks Austin for "COATS for KIDS"!!

12-03-09
Tim Moncrief
I am so proud of three of our agents, Brandy Finnessey, Shannon Krammer, and Gene Fruge for standing out in 30-40 degree weather in front of our local grocery store for 2 days for the city wide campaign, "COATS FOR KIDS". They were able to gather 106 coats for children in need. Thanks to the neighboring communities around Four Points in Northwest Austin for their generosity. Thanks to radio personality Bobby Bones for the free plug to help with the turnout for The Bartlett Real Estate Group of Keller Williams.

Perhaps the best result was hearing from a person that was in need of coats for her kids 3 years ago; and the agents standing in the cold, brought her to tears. I thought they would get 10-20 coats on such a miserable rainy cold day. It really makes you feel good about people. Love this country.....




1 Comment
Blog_tag

River Place Inventory Hits 15 year low!

12-01-09
Tim Moncrief

The link below is a real estate market report in an Excel format of the River North area of Austin including but not limited to the following communities:

  • River Place
  • Steiner Ranch
  • Villa Montana
  • Greenshores
  • Westminster Glen
  • Glenlake Estates/River Point
  • Grandview/The Parke
  • Shepherd Mountain
  • Long Canyon

Key points for November:

  • Sales were up year to year 8% (1st increase in 3 months)
  • Inventory was down year to year 10% (8th consecutive monthly drop)
  • Steiner Ranch hits a 13 month low in inventory
  • River Place hits a 15 YEAR low in inventory (as predicted)
  • Homes under contract dropped during November, but picked up during Thanksgiving weekend. (?)
  • Much of the inventory drop over the past few months are due to moving For Sale dates to Spring (that could be good or bad)
  • Months of inventory dropped in almost all price ranges, mainly due to the comment made above

In a nut shell, demand remains off around 30% from 2007 levels, while inventory is also below 2007 levels. This is a very odd scenario not seen in most of the country, as inventory levels, in general, are astronomically high in most areas of the country. Conclusion: Our area is prime for a very, very fast recovery and quick inflation when the demand starts to flourish; whereas most areas of the country will see a very long recovery period when demand flourishes. i.e. Be thankful you live in Austin.

So when is this demand going to flourish? I see demand staying stagnant until we see three statistical changes that have shown little to no change in improvement:

  1. Mortgage deficiencies flatten or improve.
  2. Foreclosure rates flatten or improve.
  3. Unemployment reverses its course.

So when will these items change course? Odds are quite high that it will take a year or more to change such a negative pace; but, if history is any indicator, the market shifts when no one expects. That could be great news or bad news. Time will tell. In the interim, be very thankful that you are here where inventory levels are extremely low. I am very, very optimistic for 2010.

Tim Moncrief, CLHMS

Co-Owner

Bartlett Real Estate Group

Keller Williams Realty

www.TopKWGroup.com

2 Comments