Owner: My Active Rain Blog on Real Estate URL:http://www.activerain.com/blogs/stevehomer Join Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:37:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The rantings and ravings of a full-time real estate broker who specializes in investment real estate. I service the communities of Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park & Pflugerville, Texas. Site statistics:Click here
For Sale - 160 Lakeshore DR - Horseshoe Bay, TX 2008-06-04 21:44:48 Lovely creekside retreat will make a gorgeous vacation home or retirement location. The wildlife surrounds you here and the scenery is breathtaking. The home is built to last and the large lot is covered with trees and lovely rock outcroppings. This is the perfect place to kick back and enjoy the solitude!
For Sale - 106 Copperwood Loop - Round Rock, Texas, 78665 2008-06-04 16:37:51 Gorgeous home with many upgrades including: hardwood floors, tile, tile backsplashes, oversized lot, cul-de-sac, walking distance to elementary schools, too many to mention here! Call today as this will not last long at this price! This home goes on the market on June 10th, 2008. Be sure to call now to schedule a showing as soon as possible! Read more:Texas
Austin Economic Report - How Are We Doing in 2008? 2008-06-07 08:46:37 According to Neal Spelce and the "Austin
Letter", the State of Texas is still outperforming the US economy, particularly in job growth. Mr. Spelce notes that non-farm job growth was at 2.6% in the year window ending in April of 2008, where the US rate was about .5% for that same period. Unemployment numbers were positive too, actually decreasing from 4.5 to 4.1% where the US number inc Read more:Economic
Choosing a Credit Counselor - 2008-06-10 14:25:53 With the volume of credit challenges that we encounter in our business every day, we have been forced to send many of our prospective client to credit counselors to assist them in preparing for a home purchase. Over the years, we have developed a "system" of sorts to help these sorts of clients and we thought that sharing this might be beneficial for the pubic and for other agents as we
Rather Than a Price Reduction, Seller's Can Consider a Rate Buydown! 2008-06-10 09:32:40 Most lenders offer some sort of point buy-down program which usually prices out at $1000/$100,000 mortgage for every 1/8 point that you buy down. The seller could consider this instead of reducing their price. They could finance a full point buy down for the buyer on a thirty year note using this technique which in essence equates to an 8% price reduction, BUT:
Your neighbors love you becau Read more:Rather
, Seller
Why Rent When You Can Buy? Which is Better for YOU? 2008-06-10 07:44:50 I actually found this rent vs. buy calculator on another BLOG here in Active Rain - It is awesome to assist one in deciding this classic dilemma. Courtesy of the New York Times, this is one of the best I have ever seen at giving you hard numbers to support why buying may be an advantage to you. Click on the image to the right to jump right to the calculator piece online. Here are some
Tips for Sellers - Make Your Home a Pleasure for Agents to Show! 2008-06-09 17:38:30 In the market that we find ourselves in today, every little bit helps when it comes to prepping a home for showing. Every little extra item can make a difference in whether or not you get that elusive offer. Take note of the following:
Let there be light. Buy some 100 watt bulbs to brighten the rooms and open curtains or blinds to let light in. Unless a window faces a brick wall or som Read more:Sellers
Where Did Father's Day Come From? 2008-06-13 10:07:05 The idea of a Father
's Day holiday was first concieved by Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Spokane Washington in 1909. She wanted an honored day to remember her father William Smart, a Civil War veteran. He was widowed after his wife died in childbirth with their sixth child. As a widower. he single-handedly raised their children on a farm in eastern Washington state.
Mrs. Dodd desired to h
HOA's in Central Texas - Are They Becoming Too Powerful? HB222 Seeks To Stop This! 2008-06-15 07:41:26 When the concept of a Home Owner's Association was conceived, it was generally seen as a good thing having homeowner's in a subdivision police themselves and band together to care for the common areas of their area. And generally speaking, this has been the case in the past, but now HOA's are starting to flex their muscles in many areas. They have given themselves expanded power in are Read more:Central
, Texas
, Becoming
Another Indicator That The Housing Market May Be In Early Stages of Recovery 2008-06-18 07:27:23 James M. Weichert is President and founder of Weichert REALTORS(R), one of the nations largest privately held real estate firms. He is a conservative voice in the industry and has never come out and made market predictions for a recovery, until recently. In a communique to his 18,000 sales associates and 2,000 company employees, Weichert has declared that he sees signs of a market Read more:Indicator
, Housing
, Market
, Early
, Stages
, Recovery
Upgrade Your Home With Sears Commercial Program! 2008-06-18 06:23:32 Homeowners,
SearsCommercial
Appliance Select Plus Program
makes it very easy and satisfying to upgrade to the latest appliances for your kitchen and laundry room. In addition, you can choose other great products for your home such as:
Water Treatment Systems
Craftsman® Garage Storage
Sealy® and Sears-O-Pedic® Mattresses
NordicTrack® Exercise Equip
100% Financing is Still Possible For First Time Homebuyers, But Not For Long! 2008-06-17 08:40:18 Programs such as Nehemiah and Ameridream have been instrumental in helping many first time buyers get an FHA loan with no money down for many years. Last year HUD moved to discontinue such programs by adopting a rule that prohibits the down payment money from coming, directly or indirectly, from the seller or "any other person or entity that financially benefits from the transaction." H Read more:Financing
, Possible
, First
, Homebuyers
Round Rock and Georgetown Farmer's Markets Are Open! 2008-06-29 16:35:48 We are blessed in the Round Rock and Georgetown
areas to have an abundance of fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables available for purchase at our local farmer's markets. For those of us on whole food diets, buying fresh from a local grower is the best way to get great nutrition and the highest concentration of vitamins and minerals in our food!
Georgetown - Thursdays 3:30 until 6:30 - A Read more:Markets
Balance Your Investment Portfolio With Real Estate... 2008-06-27 08:12:59 I find it interesting that whenever you get on the topic of investing, most of the investment reference materials deal only with equities and mutual funds. It is true that these should be part of a balanced portfolio, but NOT all the portfolio. Real estate investments are frequently forgotten. I read an article this morning as a matter of fact from the WSJ entitled "The Next Pres Read more:Balance
, Portfolio
, Estate
Keep Your Cool and Save Money with these Energy-Saver Tips 2008-06-27 07:50:56 Summer's here, and energy costs are rising! Here is some timely information to help you keep your cool and save money on your energy bills this summer.
Cooling Tips
Whole-house fans help cool your home by pulling cool air through the house and exhausting warm air through the attic. They are effective when operated at night and when the outside air is cooler than the inside.
Set your thermo Read more:Money
, Energy
Gary's Diet Works! Get Off the Statin Drugs Through Diet Alone! 2008-06-27 06:49:11 I posted my story in March here on AR: How I avoided Diabetes... And got off Zocor... and was asked to share Gary's Diet with another Keller Williams agent in Dallas named Steve Shatsky. Imagine my surprise when Steve sent me a "Thank You" note late last night through AR and then directed me to this post: Steve Homer, Gary Keller & Active Rain saved my life!
This diet REALLY W Read more:Works
, Drugs
Book Review: Buy Your First Home - Diana Brodman Summers, Atty. , Author 2008-06-24 09:12:13 This book gives a concise overlook at the home purchase process, in an indepth manner. Buy Your First
Home is a comprehensive book focused on the subject of purchasing a home. Written by an attorney from Chicago, Diana
Brodman Summers
, this publication is packed with great informationa and advice to advise the reader on the intricacies of the home purchase process. National Assoc Read more:Author
Family Budgeting: It is a Necessity in This Day of $4.00/Gal Gasoline to Achieve Financial Freedom! 2008-06-24 08:20:16 Money, get away.Get a good job with good pay and you're okay.Money, its a gas.Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.New car, caviar, four star daydream,Think I'll buy me a football team.- Pink Floyd
Money can and often does rule our lives. How we manage ours makes a big difference in our lifestyle and meeting a goal to have financial freedom. Big dreams and bigger plans can result in a Read more:Family
, Budgeting
, Necessity
, Gasoline
, Financial
, Freedom
Flipping vs. Long Term Hold Real Estate Investing Strategies - Which is Better? 2008-06-23 11:48:09 Answer: They both are! It depends on many things:
Your specific real estate investment strategy.
Your current real estate market.
Your desire to be involved actively in the real estate investment and to what degree.
Your real estate and business partnerships.
And many, many more factors!
We work with real estate investors of all sorts. Each has his/her own goals and strategies in the real e Read more:Estate
, Flipping
, Investing
, Strategies
, Long Term
, Real Estate
Do You Have a CLUE When It Comes to Homeowners Insurance? 2008-06-20 14:30:14 Were you aware that every time you make a homeowner's claim on your insurance, that inquiry is logged into a national database called the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) database? This database is shared by all insurance companies that deal in auto and property insurance and is used as an estimation base for the quote process. When claims on a home are made, certain eve Read more:Homeowners
Austin is the 14th Best Place to Raise a Family According to BestLife Magazine! 2008-06-19 07:00:02 Austin has made another top places list - the top one hundred places to raise a family, and we came in at number fourteen! BestLife magazine published these findings recently. There were a total of nine Texas cities that made the grade in the top one hundred, based on the following criteria:
Overall safety for children.
Good schools with favorable teacher to student rat Read more:Family
, Austin
, Place
, Magazine
Austin Area July 4th Celebrations - 2008 2008-06-19 06:22:15 July the 4th is upon us and here is a list of all the Austin
area patriotic celebrations that you and your family can share in:
The H-E-B Austin Symphony July 4th Concert & Fireworks
Friday, July 4, 2008 - 8:30 pm - Auditorium Shores at The Long Center
The Austin Symphony will be under the apt baton of ASO Music Director Peter Bay. The H-E-B Austin Symphony July 4th Concert and Fireworks will fe Read more:Celebrations
Is Investing in Single Family or Multi-Family a Better Choice? 2008-07-14 11:39:48 I am asked this question regularly and have the answer: Both! Each has its' advantages and disadvantages such as:
Multi
-Family
Stratgies:Upsides:
Income leveraging (when you lose a tenant, there is still cash income from other units to pay the bills)
Better risk management
Often marketed with a quoted Cap Rate (used to gauge the profitability of the investment - always check and verify!)
Downsid Read more:Investing
, Choice
, Better Choice
111 Copperwood Loop - Round Rock TX - Home on the Market! 2008-07-12 09:41:27
Gorgeous Lennar "Jefferson" plan with 1835 SF (per builder) - Located close to shopping, schools and all commute routes, this home is easy to get to from anywhere in Round Rock. The new HEB Plus is just down the road and freeways are all close by as well so commuting north or south is a breeze! Decorated tastefully in designer colors, window treatments and hard tile floors. Call today for a s Read more:Market
10 tips for better gas mileage 2008-07-30 09:20:59 Unless you drive a hybrid car or ride your bike to work, there's no way to escape the high gas prices. But there are ways you can get better
gas mileage out of our vehicles - which will save you money in the long run, according to Edmunds.com, an online resource for automotive information.
Here are 10 to help you get better gas mileage:
Follow the Recommended Maintenance - A well-maintained vehic
The Great Mortgage Puzzle of 2008 - Part III of III 2008-07-30 09:11:50 There are several investment houses that can help a user set up a Roth self-Directed IRA or 401K from current account holdings or even from scratch. The IRS requires that such accounts be held by a third party administrator/trustee and the following are just a few of the companies in the marketplace that provide this service to the public:
Equity Trust &nb Read more:Great
, Mortgage
, Puzzle
10 Steps to Selling Your Home More Quickly 2008-07-29 09:39:47 It is tougher now to sell a home than ever before for many reasons, but most have to do with the information age that we live in. Home sales information is more readily available than ever before which has created the MOST educated buyer population that the industry has ever known. Buyers have access to:
Recent sales numbers and in some cases sales pricing.
Tax records and appraised v
The Great Mortgage Puzzle of 2008 - Part II of III 2008-07-29 07:00:33 As a result of these issues recent real estate deals have been plagued by difficulties, not in qualifying a buyer, but in getting a buyer through the final step in completing a mortgage - underwriting. Underwriters are third parties that have the responsibility of validating a loan applicant's paperwork and insuring that the risk is acceptable in making that loan. These standards are usually Read more:Great
, Mortgage
, Puzzle
The Great Mortgage Puzzle of 2008 - Part I of III 2008-07-28 19:41:53 One of the most complex details of real estate for home buyers or investors is the mortgage process and how it works (or doesn't in some cases). For the sake of brevity, this article will only scratch the surface of the process in order to give you an overview.
When you apply for a mortgage to a lender or a mortgage broker, you are working in what is known as the primary mortgage market.&nbs Read more:Great
, Mortgage
, Puzzle
Investing in Real Estate is GROWING! 2008-07-24 15:34:42 This past weekend I was asked by a national training company to assist them in a training class for new investors in Austin. I was floored by the volume of people looking to invest and profit from the foreclosure gold mine that is present across the country. We took approximately 50 investors on a bus tour of "opportunity areas" in north Austin and most of them were floored by the volu Read more:Investing
, Estate
, Real Estate
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