Archive for April, 2008

Here’s looking at you, poppy

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

My stupid (wonderful) brother and his stupid (fabulous) fiancee have chosen this weekend to get married, so I can’t make it to this year’s Red Poppy Festival, but I wanted to be sure that you all knew about all the fun I would be missing. (Don’t feel too sorry for me. The wedding is in Germany, so I’m off to Europe today.) The festivities will start Friday night at Wolf Ranch with a concert from the high school jazz band and a free screening of Casablanca on a giant, inflatable movie screen. If you’re more into rock ‘n roll than jazz ‘n Bogie, head down to the square on Friday night for live music from Off the Record. Casablanca at the Red Poppy Festival (Wolf Ranch Town Center) in Georgetown, TX
The square will be the place to be for live music all weekend long, and lots of other activities and fun for everyone. Click here for a full events schedule. Have fun on my behalf. Auf wiedersehn!

What you can get for around $250,000 in Williamson County, Texas

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

This morning, I ran a search for homes that are active on the market in Williamson County, priced between $245,000 and $255,000, so we could compare how far that much money will take you from town to town. As you can see, Round Rock has the greatest number of homes for sale in this price range, with 39 of the total 98. (By the way, Pflugerville and North Austin don’t really count because only a small portion of each of these cities lies in Williamson County.) Georgetown comes in second with 24 homes in this price range. Cedar Park and Leander are lumped together as two MLS areas - CLN and CLS - and they’re not far behind with 22 homes. The one Georgetown East home is a condo, as is one of the Cedar Park/Leander South homes. The rest are single family. Number of homes for sale around $250,000 in Williamson County, Texas
Assuming 10% down and an interest rate of 5.88%, I came up with a monthly payment of $2,183 including taxes and insurance on a $250,000 home. I hope my mortgage lender friends out there will correct me by posting a comment if this number is inaccurate. This is the amount on a conventional, 30-year fixed rate loan. Don’t have $25,000 to put down? Our local FHA lending limits have gone up to about $288,000, which means you could get a home in this price range for as little as 3% down. This really opens up this price range to a lot more buyers. Give me a call if you’re interested in learning more about FHA loans, and I’ll put you in touch with one of those mortgage lender friends I just mentioned.
A Moreland Properties listing in Georgetown, in the target price range of $245,000 to $255,000
Georgetown home for sale, listed with Rachel Logue of Moreland Properties
$249,000
Average square feet of $250,000 homes in Williamson County, Texas Taylor’s average square footage for homes in this price range is by far the highest. However, since Taylor only has one home currently listed in this price range, it’s not a very meaningful “average.” The homes listed in the “Other” category are in the Williamson County East and Williamson County West MLS areas. The square footage of the homes may not be as high, but they’re on acreage. I was going to do a chart showing the average acreage of all of these homes, but many are listed with zero acres. The only ones that could truly have zero acres would be the condos. The other homes should have at least something, even if only .1 acres. This shows that the MLS system is only as good as the agents who input the information. There are 10,980 agents in our MLS system, and some are more diligent than others about fully entering all property details.
I feel that an agent who does not enter every single detail of a property is not serving his or her client’s needs. There are buyers out there who are looking for a minimum of .2 acres, for example, so I would set these buyers up on a search that specifies this as a criterion. If an agent hasn’t entered a number in this category, then their listing would not come up in my buyers’ search, even though it might match what they’re looking for.
This is why it’s so important to hire a REALTOR who truly understands how to use today’s technology to your benefit. We have all sorts of tools at our disposal, but a lot of agents are intimidated by these tools, so they never bother to learn how to use them. Please call me at 512-876-6544 or drop me an email at jenel@HometownGeorgetown.com if I can help you.

This week in residential real estate in Georgetown, Texas

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

MLS activity in Georgetown, TX for week ending April 20 A combined 59 homes either went into Pending status or sold this week here in Georgetown, TX, while 46 homes were added to the market. 276 homes have sold in MLS areas GTE and GTW so far this year, an average of 2.5 homes sold per day. However, over the past 30 days, an average of 2.8 homes have sold per day. Things really are picking up. That may not seem like a significant change, but over the course of a year, that means more than 100 additional homes will sell. If the pace continues to rise, we’ll see a lot more happy home sellers and home buyers.
In the chart below, I’ve noted the average list price of each category, plus the average actual sales price of homes that went to the closing table this week. The average sales price is still under $200,000. The least expensive home sold for just under $80,000, and the most expensive sold for just under $350,000. 11 of the 27 homes sold are in Sun City Texas. Those homes sold for an average of $228,277.
Price comparisons in Georgetown, TX for week ending April 20
The homes that sold this week spent an average of 82 days active on the market. One Sun City home, shockingly, went on the market on April 12 and went to the closing table on April 14. I can’t even fathom how that would happen. The buyers must have paid cash and not required an inspection. I would never recommend buying a home without an inspection. It is possible the sellers had the home pre-inspected. (I guess I could fathom a possibility, after all.)
The over-$400,000 market is still seeing slow sales. 19 homes have sold for more than $400,000 so far this year, while we currently have 158 homes on the market in this price range. If my math is correct - admittedly, a pretty big “if” - that means that we have about 2.5 years of inventory in this price range. How did I come up with this number? I divided 19 by 110, the number of days so far this year, to come up with .17 homes selling per day. Then I divided 158 by .17 to come up with an estimated 929 days that it will take to sell these homes. 929/365 days per year equals 2.54 years. Ouch!
Using the same formulas, we have 375 days of inventory priced in the $300,000’s, 235 days of inventory in the $200,000’s, and 171 days of inventory for homes priced under $199,000.

How Georgetown’s economy fares compared to the nation’s

Monday, April 14th, 2008

Shannon Colletti, a local reporter for Community Impact Newspaper, wrote a wonderful article that discusses how our local economy fares compared to the national economy. She takes a close-up look at the unemployment rate, population growth, income, retail sales, and of course, the real estate sector. The numbers highlight what I already knew - there’s no place better to be right now than right here in Central Texas!

A fun night of baseball will help save lives

Monday, April 14th, 2008

Ty Gipson, owner of Minuteman Press, this year’s Small Business of the Year for the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, and a classmate of mine in the Leadership Georgetown program, has asked me to help promote the Donate Life night at the Round Rock Express. This night will shine a spotlight on organ donation. Ty believes passionately in this cause, and for good reason - he was the recipient of two donated organs seven years ago. Without those generous donations, he might not be here today. On April 22, come to the Dell Diamond to watch Ty throw the first pitch, and help save a life or two by spreading the word about organ donation.
If you can’t come to the ballpark, I hope you will at least visit the website DonateLifeTexas.org. In two minutes, you can make your wishes known to your family. What a tragedy it would be if you wanted to donate your organs, but no one knew about it! Registration at the website takes only a couple of minutes. One organ donor can save up to eight lives! DonateLifeTexas.org
Ty Gipson and his mother

Ty Gipson and his mother, who donated a kidney to her son. Ty also received a pancreas from a deceased donor.

A weekend in paradise (Georgetown, TX)

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

What a weekend! On Saturday, I only had one appointment with buyers, and my husband and I decided to take advantage of the freedom by having a picnic lunch at Rivery Park. We loaded the dog and the sandwiches into the car and headed off. The Georgetown Parks and Recreation Department does a wonderful job with the parks. We didn’t see a single piece of litter the whole day.

Rivery Park in Georgetown, TX on April 12, 2008 This reservoir was created to treat stormwater runoff for the city. The Parks Department decided to create something beautiful while fulfilling Georgetown’s utilitarian needs.
After we finished our lunch, we went for a stroll along the peaceful hike and bike trail. Although the walk felt like a walk in the country, we weren’t alone. We saw a couple of men fishing from the San Gabriel River, a few joggers, and several bicyclists enjoying the weekend. The trail connects local parks from the San Gabriel Park near downtown all the way out to Lake Georgetown. One day soon, we’re going to park a car at one end, drive to the other end, and walk the entire route. Walking trail at Rivery Park in Georgetown Texas

Today, if you can imagine it, was even better. We lazed away the afternoon on a blanket beneath the dappled sunlight of a live oak’s twisted branches at the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival’s Sunday Fair. It was well attended. We wound through three enormous tents (several times), sampling food and wine from local vendors. I was the designated driver, so I only over-indulged in chocolate. Between rounds, we returned to the blanket, where I looked up at the sky through the canopy of new leaves. Is there a better view in the world?

Is there a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?

This week in residential real estate in Georgetown, Texas

Sunday, April 13th, 2008

What beautiful weather we’ve been having! This is my favorite time of year, when it’s warming up enough during the day to go out in shorts and T-shirts, but it’s not so warm that we have to turn on the air conditioning. On April 8, I went into the swimming pool for the first time in 2008. It was chilly, to be sure, but not unbearable. And if I had actually swum any laps, I would have appreciated the chill. (I went in fully dressed to mess with my dog.)
Is the lovely weather bringing out the buyers? Well, 35 properties went pending this week, and that’s a decent number. But then, 50 new listings were added to the market, which means our inventory saw an overall increase. Note that there are 10 properties listed as “Back on Market.” This means that the deals fell through for whatever reason on some previously pending properties. (A property can also be listed as “Back on Market” if it was temporarily withdrawn so the owners could, for example, freshen up the paint or replace the carpet.) Georgetown TX home sales for week ending April 13
The homes that went pending this week have been on the market everywhere from two days on up to 1276. (That’s not a typo. One property has been on the market about three-and-a-half years.) They spent an average of 88 days on the market, but if you discount that last one, the average days on market drops to 53.
The homes that saw a price change this week have been on the market an average of 80 days. They are currently listed an average of 5% below the original asking price. One home has seen a 24% reduction in list price since it was first put on the market about five months ago.
Only one of the homes that sold this week was priced at over $300,000. The higher price range is still struggling here in Georgetown. The homes sold on average for 97% of the list price at the time of sale. However, when you compare the sales price to the original list price, you see a much different picture. One home sold for 100% of its final list price - but only 65% of the original list price. It must have been tough on those sellers to realize their house was not worth what they thought it was. My real estate mantra is “A house is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.” There is no intrinsic value to a home, no way to set a price with absolute certainty.
And now I’d better sign off and get ready. I’m heading to San Gabriel Park this afternoon for the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival grand finale. Georgetown is host of the Sunday Fair. Hope to see you there!

Alarming news from the Georgetown police

Friday, April 11th, 2008

Got your attention with that headline, didn’t I? The city of Georgetown now requires residents to register alarm systems with the police department by June 1. (And pay a $25 fee, to boot. But if you don’t register before June 1, then you’ll have to pay even more than $25.) Makes sense to me that the police would want to know about all the alarm systems. The form is very simple. Basically, it asks for your name and contact information, as well as the name and contact information of your alarm company. False alarms are costly, so the city has created a False Alarm Reduction ordinance to address the issue.

March sales in Georgetown, TX (2004 - 2008)

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Spring is here. All the blooming flowers in my yard prove it, and the birds digging for worms just underline the fact. (But could that one earlybird crow please stop waking me up every morning?!) Anecdotally, real estate activity seems to be picking up. My listing in Round Rock, for example (at 311 Pecan Lane), had multiple offers within just a few days, and we now have a contract pending. My listing on Church Street here in Georgetown is also under contract.

The past few Mondays, I’ve noticed that lots of homes in the MLS went into Pending status, meaning an offer was made and accepted over the weekend. But are those deals making it to the closing table?

Not yet. At least, not compared to the previous four years.

March home sales comparison in Georgetown, TX, 2004-2008

Now, it’s possible that not all of the sales have been input into the system yet. They should have been, but some agents are lax about getting this done. Even factoring that into the equation, though, the total number won’t be much higher than it is now, and this year’s sales were way below those of the previous four years.

That made me wonder how March sales compared to February and April sales of the same year. In other words, can we expect to see an increase in sales for April? The chart to the right shows that there really is no trend we can rely upon. The frustrating truth is that we’ll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned! February through April sales trends in Georgetown, TX, 2004-2008

Hope for Williams Drive, after all?

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

According to an article in the Williamson County newsletter, the city of Georgetown and the county are planning to work together to widen Williams Drive from the H-E-B at DB Wood/Shell Road all the way out to FM 3405. (Williamson County already has plans to widen the road from 3405 on up to Ronald Reagan Boulevard.) The Texas Department of Transportation recently pulled funding from this project and many, many others, but the city and county feel this is too vital a need to let slide. With all the building going on out that direction - Woodland Park, Sun City, Walnut Springs, Tuscan Villas, and all the other subdivisions off Jim Hogg Road - traffic backs up on a daily basis. The road work will cause some interim headaches, but in the long run, the widening will significantly improve the quality of life of everyone who travels on Williams Drive.

Segment of Williams Drive in Georgetown Texas that will be widened by city and county

« Older Entries

Top of page