Apr
26
Mueller’s Blast Radius
Posted by garreth under Uncategorized
I was looking at statistics for MLS Area 3 in Austin, TX which covers zip codes 78722 and 78723.
Year to date sales are down in volume, but the sales are up in price. Windsor Park, University Hills, Vintage Hills, Delwood et al. have all seen dramatic rises in property values over the last four years, in part because of the unique character of the homes, and in part because of their convenience – close to UT and to I35, Hwy 290 and Hwy 183.
The Mueller Airport Redevelopment has also had a large impact, bringing new retail, commercial and urban residential real estate to the area. The majority of the hundreds of homes that have sold at Mueller were not listed in the MLS, but the ones that were have had an impact. If you look at the Median List Price of MLS Area 3 in 2008, you’ll see that it is a healthy, above Austin median value: $209,900. Taking out the six Mueller MLS year to date sales, that price would drop to $199,777, over $10,000 less.
It’s fair to say that Mueller is upwardly impacting 78722, and the rest of 78723 North of itself – known by the residents as The Upper East Side.
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Year to Date Sales | 122 | 115 | 95 | 83 |
| Median List Price | $129,900 | $149,900 | $189,000 | $209,900 |
| Median $/sqft | $89.41 | $102.88 | $118.98 | $157.12 |
| Median Days on Market | 37 | 14 | 28 | 35 |
(All data to April 26th in respective years)
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Apr
26
Austin Taxes, Austin Texas
Posted by garreth under Uncategorized
Austin residents are receiving their property tax appraisal valuations for 2008. This ad valorem property appraisal has been rising on average throughout the Greater Austin area. Unemployment rates are low in the area, and job growth is steady.
When the property valuation rises, taxes rise (subject to caps and exemptions). It is possible to protest your property valuation, and you have until the end of May each year to do so. You present your case to the appraisal review board, and details of how to do that can be found in the Taxpayers’ Rights Remedies and Responsibilities pamphlet
. If you haven’t received notice of appraised value, you can search for your property on the TCAD website.
To protest your taxes, you need to have data to back up your claim that the valuation is too high. Photos, repair estimates, and a rough valuation based on market sales are all useful. If you need a Realtor ® to provide a free rough valuation – call or email me today at GARRETH@KW.COM.
According to Chief Appraiser Patrick Brown, the average home value in the City of Austin rose from $237,055 to $266,807 in 2007, and increase of 12.55 percent. This is an averaged figure, so some homeowners could theoretically see their valuations fall.
It’s very easy to confuse appraised value with market value. Market value for your home is defined as the price a buyer would pay for your home in an open market. This number, the potential sales price, is very different to the appraisal value. They can be different for a number of reasons:
- A significant change may have impacted an individual property’s market value. Someone could have remodeled the kitchen of their home without the appraiser’s knowledge.
- The home may be a new build, and the real estate may only be valued as unimproved land at the start of the year. The market value of real estate with improvements (buildings) is obviously very different to the raw land.
- The appraiser uses a very broad-brush approach on many properties at the same time, yet there may be distinct reasons why one property has a significantly different market value to the others in its area.
Due to these possible variances between market value and appraised value, we should be careful when we value homes. When I value a home for a potential seller, I use the comparable sales method. I look at home sales for homes with similar qualities to the subject home, and examine list price, sales price and condition to derive an understanding of market value. As a Realtor ® I have access to the data within the MLS with which to do this. Though it may be tempting to look at appraisal to sales price ratios, these are often misleading.
If you’re thinking of selling your home, or protesting your tax appraisal and would like a free, no obligation estimate, please get in touch!
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Apr
19
Your papers please!
Posted by garreth under Uncategorized
On Sunday 20th April, the Mueller Redevelopment in Austin, TX will host it’s Spring 2008 Open House. Six builders, the retail center and the developers Catellus will open their doors to let the people of Texas see what’s behind the doors.
David Weekley, Standard Pacific and Meritage have all had model homes at the site for a few months, with Streetman opening their model a few weeks ago. Tomorrow’s event, from 1-5pm will also have Saldana Homes and The Muskin Company holding some of their homes open too.
Visitors are encouraged to collect a Mueller passport and get stamps from the builders and the Mueller Regional Retail marquis and be entered into a prize draw to win one of three $500 shopping sprees at Mueller.
The Mueller community is strong, with the first block party being held at the end of March. Residents are excited by the prospect of green living (all homes have to be 3 star green or above) and the new urbanism. It will be interesting to see how many of the visitors take the opportunity to walk between the models, rather than drive, in a community designed to cut down on private vehicular traffic.
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Apr
1
Digital Curb Appeal – the Virtual Tour You Don’t Want Buyers to See!
Posted by garreth under Uncategorized
Curb appeal is often cited as the most crucial item to get right when selling your home. You’ve got to have good curb appeal to give buyers a positive first impression, and the photos have got to back it up. Depending on what improvements you’ve done and when you’ve done them, internet-savvy buyers may now get to look at the ‘before picture’ too.
On March 27th, Google added Austin, TX to it’s list of cities available for ‘street view‘. What does this mean? It means that you can now see 360 degree panoramic views of the streets of Austin. When searching for an address in Austin using maps.google.com you can now click on ‘street view’ to see a scrollable photo of the area.
How do google do that? They drive a specially equipped car around a city taking photos. The car has eight panoramic cameras on the roof, and the photos are tied to existing street data.
If you’re buying a house, this gives point in time information about how the houses you are looking at might have once appeared. It allows buyers to see curb appeal (or the lack of it) from the past!
Say that you paint your house, do some front landscaping, and put on a new roof in April 2008 for an early summer sale. Google may have taken photographs in December 2007, which show your house as it was before the improvements, and this might be what someone who looks around your neighbourhood using google will see. This makes it even more crucial to use a Realtor ® who uses a professional photographer to get the very best photos of your home possible.
