Russell Lewis

Carol, I think you may have made a typo. Eanes is in 78746 and 78733.

VJ, click on the link I provided to search properties in Eanes. MLS designates the ares as 8E and 8W but most third party web sites use southwest or west. you will have to search to get the hang of it. Good luck.

Russell - Sat Aug 2 2008, 19:54

78746 is your best bet but there are homes available in the western part of 78733. I have volunteered in the Eanes School District since 1992 and can tell you that it is an incredible area for schools. I encourage you to vist the schools and meet the Principal, the Counselor and the School Nurse, they are the best siources of information. If you would like to learn more about homes in tha area, try our search link:
http://www.aveone.com/buy_nav.htm
this link will allow you to search all available homes currently listed in the Austin Market. Scroll down to enter search parameters that fit your needs. Enter areas (or a school or zip code), property types and a price range only at first. Do not enter square footage as several companies do not supply this info and the listing will not appear. You can narrow your search as you review the listings. Again, you are not required to register or give out any personal information. We have found that our clients want to be able to do a preliminary search of homes at their own pace and without being pressured by a realtor.

I hpe you find this info helpful-

Russell M. Lewis
REALTOR®, Broker, GRI, CLHMS
AvenueOne Properties, Inc.
901 W. Ninth St. #110
Austin, Texas 78703
(512) 531-3150: Office Direct
(512) 472-4722: Office Fax
(512) 657-8769: Mobile/VM
rlewis@aveone.com
Selling Homes in Austin’s Finest Neighborhoods - Thu Jun 12 2008, 09:47

Is the home posted on the broker's personal or company website? Are they implying that they are still the listing company? if so, ask them to remove it or at the very least post the correct price. I am not a member of the Realtor Board in your area but this seems unethical and you would do well to discuss it with your current broker!
You should also contact the local Board of Realtors if this broker does not reply with your requests promptly and you should also do so to learn if there are any violations of local board rules or codes!

I hope this helps! - Sat Aug 2 2008, 11:58

Well, as a parent that has a child entering college this year I can assure you that you are partially correct. That amount would only cover 1 year.

Now to your question

"How do real estate?"

Why not ask around with friends, associates or family members and get some recommendations to call 2 or 3 experienced real estate agents and interview them about marketing your home. It really takes more than a few paragraphs here to tray and explains what years of education and experience are worth. I do understand your reluctance and somewhat distrustful attitude because there are plenty of people in real estate industry who do not perform up to professional standards. On the other hand there are many full times professional who work diligently every day to earn every dollar for their services along with many satisfied customers who are glad they employed a real estate agent to help them with what (for most) is the single most important investment of their lives.

Good luck – Russell - Fri Aug 1 2008, 17:38

In a number of transactions attorneys are already present reviewing the documents for the Lender and the Title Company to protect them from any mistakes or errors in the transaction. For this reason many people do not hire an additional attorney to review the documents on their behalf especially if the transaction utilizes promulgated forms.

HOWEVER

If there is anything that is "out of the box" or if you have ANY questions about a real estate transaction or there is anything that you are unsure of in any capacity, then you should hire a real estate attorney to review any concerns you may have. That said, you need to hire an attorney who actually specializes in real estate. There are so many attorneys in the phone book that seem to have a “grocery list” of jobs (like a jack-of-all-trades) that they “specialize” in but I would make sure you employ a lawyer whose primary business is real estate. I have a large clientele that is made up of physicians and one of them made the analogy; hiring a lawyer who does not do real estate is like hiring a foot doctor to do brain surgery”.

This in no way denigrates the wonderful foot doctors out there, it just shows the difference of ability in each field!

I hope this helps,

Russell M. Lewis
REALTOR®, Broker, GRI, CLHMS
AvenueOne Properties, Inc.
901 W. Ninth St. #110
Austin, Texas 78703
(512) 531-3150: Office Direct
(512) 472-4722: Office Fax - Fri Aug 1 2008, 17:26

I think now is a good time to buy in Austin and not as a "pie in the sky", "everything is just fine optimist"! There are problems in Austin and texas but not the same as other areas and I think the Texas market has escaped suffering many of the dilemmas currently taking place in other parts of the country. I am cautiously confident that we will continue to prosper and grow in spite of the current economic downturn and problems throughout the real estate industry and other parts of the business environment. I do not want to sound overly optimistic or unrealistic but there are several factors that lead to the conclusion.

1) Texas went through the same problems in the late 80’s and early 90’s with many foreclosure and business closings during the S&L crisis. When I first entered real estate in 1989 there were as many as 2,000 foreclosures in the Austin and Central Texas area EVERY month. Many lending requirements were changed back then to safeguard consumers and during recent years you did not see the large volume of predatory loans that were so prevalent in the subprime market.

2) Many of the largest numbers of subprime foreclosures in other parts of the country were created by builders who also had their own loan companies. The builders’ primary focus became that of loan companies and again regulations were stretched or in many cases abused.

3) Although we have escaped many of the problems in the rest of the country, we still have a 24.4% increase in inventory a drop in pending contracts and solds. I feel like it’s more of a case of hesitation (for a number of obvious reasons). Our office tracks open houses and over the month of June and the first part of July, there have been large numbers of Serious lookers in Downtown, Central, West and South West Austin and just this week offers are beginning to appear again.

4) For the third year in a row, more people moved to Texas than any other state. The population growth is keeping our market from dropping and though more of a buyer’s market than in the past, at this point we are just flattening out a bit still making it a great time for buyers
.
5) Texas has consistently been in the top ten in many categories of life style, affordability (although it is more expensive than ever to live in Austin now) and job growth. Employment demand is still high and continues to grow.

I first moved to Austin in 1974 (from West Texas) to attend school and thought it was perfect and should stay the same. Over the years it has grown and developed in good ways and sometimes not so great BUT it is still one of the best places in Texas or the USA and I cannot say enough about our wonderful city. I have been working with buyers and sellers in Central Texas since 1989 and the first buyer I sold from out of state was in 1990. At the time, they told me it would be good to shut the door and Austin would be great without any more people. Last month helped a family from California move into the Eanes school district in South West Austin and they said the same thing! There are a few things I miss about the “old” Austin but honestly, the only thing I can really complain about is…the traffic!

I hope this helps.

Russell M.Lewis
Broker,GRI,CLHMS
AvenueOne Properties, Inc.
901 W. Ninth St. #110
Austin, Texas 78703
(512) 472-3336: Office
(512) 472-4722: Office Fax
(512) 657-8769: Mobile/VM - Fri Jul 18 2008, 16:08