AUSTIN METRO RAIL

2014 Update: My friend Maureen and I rode the RedLine from the Howard Station to downtown where it dropped us in back of the Convention Center. It was easy and fun.

Scheduled to begin service in the fall of 2008 (today is the first day of fall) the Capital MetroRail is on schedule. The first line, known as the Red Line, will run from Leader to Downtown Austin. The full trip is expected to take 50 minutes and will make 9 stops. Starting downtown at 4th St between Neches and Trinity, it will proceed to Plaza Saltillo at 5th and Comal, to MLK and Alexander, to Airport Blvd. just south of Highland Mall, to Crestview on Lamar between Justin and St. Johns, to Kramer -location pending, to Howard Ln. at MoPac, to Lakeline Bvd. at Lyndhurst and finally to Leander on 183 north of FM2243.

In you know anyone interested in buying or selling a house, I want to be your REALTOR®. Robin Scott, Broker. Certified Residential Specialist, Accredited Buyer's Representative, Seller's Representative Specialist.

And, I want to be your REALTOR®! If there is any information you would like regarding relocating to the Austin area, let me know. You can contact me at robin@robinscottrealtor.com, 512.589.7988 or just comment on this blog entry.

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Buying or selling? Hire an experienced professional. Call Robin Scott, Broker at 512.589.7988.

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INCREASE CURB APPEAL WITHOUT SPENDING MUCH MONEY

Make your home more appealing for yourself and potential buyers with these inexpensive, quick and easy tips:

1. Trim bushes so they don’t block windows or architectural details.

2. Keep your lawn mowed, trimmed and watered.

3. Put a pot of bright flowers or a small evergreen on the porch.

4. Polish the front door knobs or install new ones.

5. Clean stains from the driveway.

6. Keep hoses and especially the garbage cans out of sight.

8. Clear toys from the lawn.

9. Buy a new doormat for the outside of your front door.

10. Clean your windows, inside and outside.

11. Polish or replace your house numbers.

12. Place a seasonal wreath on your door.

Robin Scott, Broker. Certified Residential Specialist, Seller's Representative Specialist

And, I want to be your REALTOR®! If there is any information you would like regarding relocating to the Austin area, let me know. You can contact me at robin@robinscottrealtor.com, 512.589.7988 or just comment on this blog entry.

Search for homes through Austin MLS
Find your home's value
Buying or selling? Hire an experienced professional. Call Robin Scott, Broker at 512.589.7988.

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AUSTIN OUTDOORS

There is always something to do in the Austin area and despite the heat, it's very much an outdoor community with trails for hiking, biking, walking and more in the multitude of parks. for a complete list of Austin Parks visit http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/parkdirectory.htm and here's a brief rundown:

Circle C Ranch - disc golf, soccer, basketball, volleyball and 5.9 miles of trails. 6301 W. Slaughter Ln.

Emma Long - located on Lake Austin with sports boats ramps, camping, swimming, picnic, volleyball and miles of trails. $5-$15. 1600 City Park Rd.

Mary Moore Searight - Hike/bike/horse trails, basketball, tennis, disc golf, picnic, playground and fishing. 907 W. Slaughter Ln.

Lady Bird Lake - 10 miles of trails along the Colorado plus baseball, football, soccer, rugby and volleyball fields. Downtown.

Walnut Creek - mountain bile trails, basketball, volleyball, softball and picnic. 12138 N. Lamar.

Walter E. Long - fishing, boating, camping and volleyball. $8. 6614 Blue Bluff Rd.

Zilker - connects to Lady Bird Lake and Barton Creek Greenbelt, Barton Springs natural spring pool, canoeing, disc golf, train rides, playground, picnic, soccer and volleyball. Plus the Botanical Gardens and Natural History Museum. 2100 Barton Springs Road.

In addition there are 12 district parks, 24 greenbelts with hiking trails and 25 Travis County parks to download a map, 6 parks in areas of close proximity, 14 state parks in the area and 8 LCRA parks. So whatever you are looking for outdoors you will find except for snow activities.

And, I want to be your REALTOR®! If there is any information you would like regarding relocating to the Austin area, let me know. You can contact me at robin@robinscottrealtor.com, 512.589.7988 or just comment on this blog entry.

Search for homes through Austin MLS
Find your home's value
Buying or selling? Hire an experienced professional. Call Robin Scott, Broker at 512.589.7988.

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PROTESTING PROPERTY TAXES

Visitors from other states are sometimes shocked at the amount we in Texas pay in property taxes but we don't have state income taxes and we use property taxes to fund our schools. I'm all in favor of contributing to education but sometimes that tax bill pinches.

In Texas, the county appraisal district always seems to be behind in what is going on in the market and they don't have access to an MLS system. It usually takes them some time to catch on that the market has gone up and by the time they are reassessing the value of your home, it's starting to go down again.

This year I just had to protest. Williamson county appraised one of my properties for $30,000 more than I new it could sell for. Taxes are paid at the end of the year but assessed at the beginning so you do have time to protest but they want to see information on what your home value was January 1 which means you must find comparable sales from the previous year.

Because I'm a REALTOR® and do have access to MLS, I was able to put together a package of collateral material and successfully got the property value reduced by about $20,000. Whew!

If you think your proposed tax evaluation is out of line, consult your REALTOR®. Property sales prices in Texas are not public information so it would be hard for you to determine the market value with strong supporting data but your REALTOR® should be able to help.

Robin Scott, Broker. Certified Residential Specialist.

Search for homes through Austin MLS
Find your home's value
Buying or selling? Hire an experienced professional. Call Robin Scott, Broker at 512.589.7988.

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5 THINGS ABOUT YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Since we've experienced a melt down in the mortgage industry, it's more important than ever to maintain your credit score. What was once an acceptable ranking has changed and the bar has been moved higher. Credit scores range from 200 - 800 and lenders are now looking for scores above 750 to obtain a mortgage. Below are the 5 things that effect your score:

1. Payment history. Paying your bills on time is crucial. That means that if it's due on the first, you'd better have the check in the mail days in advance so that it arrives by the first. They may not charge you a late fee until the 15th but it's still due on the first. Bankruptcy, repossession, liens and collection activity reduce your credit scores.

2. Debt ratio. The old "rule of thumb" was no more that 38% of debt to income. Lenders like to see some debt and know that you are making timely payments. That reassures them that you can handle the large debt of a mortgage and make the payment timely. They just want to make sure you're not over extended. So for instance, if you have a car note or education loan, they don't count the full amount but count your monthly required payment.

3. Length of credit history. The longer you have had accounts opened, the better. If you are going to cancel credit cards, cancel the newest one. Having a creditor for an extended time with timely payments demonstrates your ability to manage credit over along period of time, like a 30 year mortgage.

4. No debt, no credit cards. Having no debt and no credit cards actually lowers your score because there is no evidence that you can effectively manage debt like a mortgage. I know it sounds crazy because if you are good enough with your money to always pay cash it seems you'd be a good risk but lenders want to see you pay those bills. If you have no credit cards, get one. You can pay the balance off at the end of every month but you must develop traceable credit history.

5. Variety of credit. It's actually best if you've got different types of credit like credit cards, car payment, mortgage but if you have too many credit cards, that can adversely effect your credit because it shows you have the ability to run up the balances too high. So if you have a lot of credit cards, cancel the ones you no longer use but not the oldest one.

For more information on your credit score: 5 THINGS THAT EFFECT YOUR CREDIT

If you are interested in buying or selling a house, I want to be your REALTOR®. Visit my Web site to find out more about how I can help you. Contact me at 512.589.7988 or robin@robinscottrealtor.com and let's get started helping you achieve the American Dream of home ownership.

Search for homes through Austin MLS
Find your home's value
Buying or selling? Hire an experienced professional. Call Robin Scott, Broker at 512.589.7988.

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SECRET LIFE OF A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

In the mail, I received a great community news magazine, impactnews that had an article about the life cycle of a neighborhood. It was so well outlined that I was in total agreement. Basically, it lists 4 stages a neighborhood goes through. In the beginning, it's just the builder selling homes and the builder sets the prices and value. Sometimes you can negotiate. Next, some homeowners have a need to sell; perhaps relocating for a job and they must compete with the new construction so their best opportunity is to lower the price and be competitive. Then, some homeowners are not able to sell for enough to cover their mortgage and fees so they go into foreclosure. finally, the neighborhood will either stabilize or the values will continue to decline.

One of the advantages to buying in an established neighborhood is that it's already gone through the cycles.

I was shocked to find there were 303 foreclosures in my zip code - 78729.

Robin Scott, Broker. Certified Residential Specialist.

Search for homes through Austin MLS
Find your home's value
Buying or selling? Hire an experienced professional. Call Robin Scott, Broker at 512.589.7988.

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NEW EXHIBIT AT THE BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART

Since I'm a member and volunteer at the Blanton Museum of Art, I'm always excited when a new exhibit opens. This September 28th there are two new exhibits opening. The permanent exhibit is terrific too and some of it was part of the famous author James Mitchner's collection. The new exhibits are Reimaging space: The Park Place Group in 1960's New York which is a look at the 1960's art scene featuring paintings and sculptures and New York Graphic workshop: 1964-1970 in which 3 Latin American artists examine the conceptual art movement of the 1960's and '70's.

There are also a lot of fun things going on at the Blanton like every first Friday is B Scene where the museum stay open late and features a themed party with music, food, cash bar and other entertainment and on third Thursday there's a yoga class in the upstairs gallery, a cash bar and other forms of entertainment.

I like to volunteer and be party of everything that's going on. You can volunteer for just one event a month or a regular daily schedule. I'm there twice a month on Fridays for a 2 hour shift. The museum is looking for more volunteers.

To find out more about volunteering or other great things about the museum you can call me at 5122.589.7988 or visit http://www.blanton museum.org

Robin Scott, Broker, Certified Residential Specialist.

SELLERS DISCLOSURE IN TEXAS

In Texas, sellers are required by The Texas Property Code to provide a disclosure to the prospective buyer of any know material defects. Texas Association of Realtors provides a form your REALTOR will have available. In Austin, the Austin Board of Realtors also has a form.

There are some exemptions found in Section 5.008. New home builders, trustees or executors of estates and banks with foreclosures are not required to provide a sellers disclosure but they are still required to disclose any know material defects. Relocation companies are not exempt.

Robin Scott, Broker, Certified Residential Specialist, Accredited Buyer's Representative, Seller's Representative Specialist.

Search for homes through Austin MLS
Find your home's value
Buying or selling? Hire an experienced professional. Call Robin Scott, Broker at 512.589.7988.

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AUSTIN AREA MARKET STATISTICS - from July

The Austin Board of Realtors compiles market statistics compared to the previous year. There is a time delay and these are the statistics from July 2008 as compared to July 2007.

The median price for homes in the Austin area has reached an all time high of $195,000. Up 3% from July of last year.

In July 2,071 homes were sold, down 21% from last year.

We have a lot of inventory. The active listings in July were10,913. Up 15%

However, the leasing market is strong with a 20% increase in leased properties, a price increase of 2% with $1200/mo being average and an average of only 37 days on the market.

If you are interested in real estate in the Austin area, I want to be your REALTOR®. I'm a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS). To contact me call 512.589.7988 or robin@robinscottrealtor.com.