Real Estate Information

Congratulations to Jaysen Long who won the inaugural Kicing for Cash!  He won $300 for the baseball team.  Second place went to Niki Baroaxis representing the girls basketball team ($200).  Grant Wilburn won $100 for boys soccer for finishing in third place.

Although they didn't place, a big thank you to the rest of the kickers for putting on a great halftime event:  Hannah Collins (girls golf), Ali Jones (girls swimming), Alex Kotlarz (PALS), Andrew Locascia (broadcast), Elise Patterson (girls soccer), Collin Stobart (wrestling), and Madison Tierney (softball).

I also want to thank VHS band director Jeremy Spicer and band booster Cathy Sorsby.  I appreciate all their help in turning Kicking for Cash from an idea into a real event.  Thanks to everyone else who helped on the field, in the booth, and behind the scenes.

I'm proud to be the sole sponsor for Vandegrift High School's Kicking for Cash contest to be held during halftime of the September 3rd football game against Taylor (the game starts at 7:30pm).  In this event, students will kick field goals in an effort to win cash for various student organizations at Vandegrift.  The students will start kicking field goals from the same distance, with those who successfully split the uprights moving back until the winners have been determined.  The top three kickers will earn $300, $200, and $100 for their groups, respectively.  The preliminary rounds will be held at approximately 6:30pm on September 1st with the winners moving on the finals during the game on the 3rd.  Come out on Friday, September 3rd to cheer on the Vipers and watch the inaugural Kicking for Cash!

Read more, including the rules, www.KickingForCash.com.

For information on homes for sale within the Vandegrift boundaries, click here.

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The foreclosure filings for the September 7th auction have been completed so even though it is only August, we can take a look at the 3rd quarter stats for the Austin area.  The data is courtesy of Foreclosure Listing Service.

• 1498 properties in the greater Austin area are scheduled for auction on September 7th.  That is a new record beating out the 1481 from October 2009.  This is 26% higher than the 1,193 from last month (August 2010).  The filings incresed 40% from the 1071 in September 2009.
• For the past 20 months, foreclosures in greater Austin have surpassed 1,000 filings each month.  In 11 of these months, the number was greater than 1,200.  Five months have exceeded 1,400.

Click here to search foreclosure homes currently for sale in the MLS.  If you are interested in learning more about investing in real estate, specifically foreclosures, be sure to attend one of my free workshops in October.

The July housing statistics were released today (the national numbers are provided by the National Association of Realtors while the Texas numbers are from The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University).

In short, the numbers were terrible.  Of course, this was expected because of the hangover left from the buyer tax credits.  The numbers were the worst in the lower price ranges which were the prime targets of the tax credit recipients.

Nationally, the number of homes sold last month compared to June 2010 declined 27.2%.  On a year-over-year basis, the number of homes sold in July 2010 dropped by 25.5% over July 2009.  The July levels were the lowest since May 1995.  I expect that we'll see poor numbers through at least November.  38% of the buyers in July were first-time buyers (19% were investors and 43% were repeat).  Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) accounted for 32% of the national sales in July (unchanged from June and up slightly from 31% in July 2009).  70% of the sales were financed with a mortgage.

The Austin numbers look pretty similar.  Compared to July 2009, the number of homes sold was down 27.4%.  This is the second month in a row that this number has declined (after 9 months of increases).  I expect that the next few months will also show declines.   Prices, however, were up significantly (see chart below).  This does not mean that prices have jumped in Austin.  Because the tax credits skewed to the lower side of the housing market, far fewer of those sold in July.  As a result, the percentage of homes with higher prices increased, tilting the average and median prices.  The number of contracts being accepted on homes continues to decline (down by 17%).

July 2010 Existing Home Sales

* National numbers are seasonally adjusted so no year-to-date numbers are provided.

The 3rd Annual Steiner Ranch Concert in the Park is coming up on Saturday, August 21, 2010 from 5:00pm to 9:00pm.  This is a great event for the whole family.  Highlighting the concert is Red Alert (more than just an 80s cover band!).  Also performing will be the 26-Music Rock Camp Kids and the Vandegrift High School Band. 

In addition, a team from STARFlight will be on hand with a helicopter.  Other emergency equipment will be there, too.  Keep in mind, though, that STARFlight is subject to cancelation if their emergency services are needed at that time.

As usual, there will be activities for the kids, restaurant vendors selling food, and a host of other sponsors will be on hand with give-aways, too.  I'll be handing out bottles of water so when you get thirsty, look for my moving truck to quench your thirst.  I'll have a few other goodies with me as well as information on my upcoming real estate workshops.

Steiner Ranch Concert in the Park is held at the Towne Square Community Center (the corner of Country Trails Lane and Quinlan Park Road).  Here is a map. 

This is a great family event just before school starts.  I look forward to seeing you there!

I find that many home buyers are looking for a home within the boundaries of a specific school.  To make searching for homes by school nice and easy, I have created a page for each school within the Leander Independent School District.  Each school's page has a current list of homes for sale that attend that school, a link to the most recent TEA scorecard (as well as the rating), a map to the school, and a link to the school website.  To start your search, click here and select a school from the list or the map.

Other school districts will be forthcoming.  If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve these school searches, please don't hesitate to let me know.

I've just updated the Neighborhood Home Sale Data for July.  If you would like to view information on sold homes, this is the place to do so.  Addresses, sold prices, bedrooms, bathrooms, size, and more are available free of charge.  Summary data is available, too.  I currently track over 85 neighborhoods in Austin and Cedar Park with more being added each month.  To take a look at the information, visit www.RealEstateInAustin.com/Neighborhood-Sales-Data.

The Leander Independent School District (LISD) has proposed a 2.28% increase in the property tax rate for 2010.  The proposed rate is $1.4548 (per $100 in property value) as compared to $1.42234 in 2009.  The proposed rate is made up of two components:  $1.04 for operations/maintenance while the remaining $0.4148 is for paying off the bonds that voters have previously approved.

A meeting is scheduled for August 19th at 7:00pm to discuss the school district's budget and the public is invited.  It will be held in the Cedar Park Middle School cafeteria at 2100 Sun Chase in Cedar Park.

As the property values in the district have pulled back, so have the appraised values from the Central Appraisal Districts (both Travis and Williamson).  The total taxable value of property in the Leander ISD dropped by 1.91% in 2010 from 2009.

Click here to search for homes in the Leander ISD.

On Thursday, August 5th, Dairy Queen is sponsoring their annual Miracle Treat Day.  At least $1 from every Blizzard purchase will be donated to Children's Miracle Network (at participating stores).  Visit www.MiracleTreatDay.com to find the closest participating Dairy Queen store.

Children's Miracle Network is one of the RE/MAX corporate charities.  To date, RE/MAX Associates have donated over $100 million to CMN.  Locally, all of our donations go to Dell Children's Hospital.  When you buy or sell a house with me, I make a contribution to your choice of Dell Children's Hospital or the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

The Texas Education Agency has released the 2010 Accountability Ratings.  Here's the scoop on the Austin area districts and schools.  The link to each district's report is provided.

Austin ISD - Academically Acceptable.  32 exemplary schools, 36 recognized schools, 41 academically acceptable schools, and 1 academically unacceptable school.

Del Valle ISD - Recognized.  1 exemplary school, 7 recognized schools, and 2 academically acceptable schools.

Dripping Springs ISD - Recognized.  3 exemplary schools and 2 recognized schools.

Eanes ISD - Exemplary.  All 9 schools exemplary.

Georgetown ISD - Academically Acceptable.  7 exemplary schools, 7 recognized schools, and 1 academically acceptable school.

Hays CISD -  Academically Acceptable.  4 exemplary schools, 10 recognized schools, and 4 academically acceptable schools.

Hutto ISD - Recognized.  4 recognized schools and 4 academically acceptable schools.

Lago Vista ISD - Exemplary.  2 exemplary schools and 1 recognized school.

Lake Travis ISD - Exemplary.  6 exemplary schools and 2 recognized schools.

Leander ISD - Recognized.  21 exemplary schools, 11 recognized schools, and 2 academically acceptable schools.

Liberty Hill ISD - Recognized.  1 exemplary school and 4 recognized schools.

Manor ISD - Academically Acceptable.  5 recognized schools, 5 academically acceptable schools, and 1 academically unacceptable school.

Pflugerville ISD - Academically Acceptable.  5 exemplary schools, 15 recognized schools, and 5 academically acceptable schools.

Round Rock ISD - Recognized.  25 exemplary schools, 16 recognized schools, and 3 academically acceptable schools.

Taylor ISD - Academically Acceptable.  1 recognized school and 3 academically acceptable schools.