Kick off the season with a night of singing, tree lighting and shopping this Saturday night. Bring your kids for the Capitol Tree Lighting, Holiday Sing-Along and Congress Avenue Stroll and 2ND Street District’s Heavenly Holiday Shopping Event. Family fun that lets you give to the community!
Also happening this week:
Live Comedy - Hideout Theatre offers some fresh improvisational comedy shows you can check Friday and Saturday nights. My troupe is $10 Bourbon is playing this Friday at 8PM. Come check us out!
On Stage - Zach’s Rockin’ Christmas opens; Esther’s Follies Christmas Show will have you rollickin’ in the aisles; Ballet East Dance Company debuts Suite…Peggy Lee; Moneygo on 34th Street and the Ghost of Christmas Pasta take stages and the Gizmo Guys bring the house down at the Paramount.
Music Scene - all kinds of live holiday music events including caroling; 3-concert St. Cecelia Baroque Festival; Sweet Honey in the Rock at the Paramount and The Mockingbirds at Hogg Memorial Auditorium.
Gallery Watch - Radical NY and EVR: e-flux events; Still Life’s at Shoreline; B Scene at the Blanton; RED - holiday show at Wally Workman; Lapena showcases The Rug Hooking Project at Las Manitas Avenue Cafe.
Special Events - Gem Capers; Mediterranean Dinner; Frohliche Weihnachten Ya’ll Christmas Market; Homespun Holidays at Austin Farmer’s Market and Zilker Tree Lighting!
I was on FOX 7 News Sunday night for a segment they did on Laughter. When I’m not selling real estate I’m a comedian and improviser. But I’m also a Certified Laughter Leader. The reporter interviews me about why laughter is important and they film me doing an impromptu Laughter Club session with total strangers on Congress Avenue. It’s a little silly and strange but it was fun to do. The other guy in the segment is my friend Les McGehee and he’s interviewed on using humor in Business. He also just wrote a book called Plays Well With Others: A “Grown-Up” Handbook of Improvisation and Play (Check it out! and buy a copy!) I’m mentioned in the book by name as Les and I trained a bunch of Federal Judges on how to use improvisation to lighten up and free their minds up. Les and I used to improvise a lot together with the ComedySportz franchise he owned here in Austin. It’s now called National Comedy Theatre. Click on the link below to view our Laughter segment on Fox News….Laughter Helps Those in Business World
Which brings to say that Austin should be a city an investor would want to consider given the steady growth of home prices and the strong economy here in Central Texas. Prices here in Austin are still below many national prices in other markets around the country. For the latest on Austin market read my last post….
Austin Real estate market keeps sizzling…. see the Statesman article today. Increases in October home sales has put Central Texas on track for a record year
Sales of existing homes in Central Texas rose more than 8 percent in October from the same month a year ago, according to an Austin Board of Realtors report released Wednesday. Last month, a record 2,073 single-family homes were sold, up from 1,913 sold in October 2005.
This, combined with a higher median price, relatively quick sales and a higher number of pending sales, is good news, says Charles Heimsath, president of Austin-based real estate consulting firm Capitol Market Research.
“All those taken together says to me it’s a very strong market that shows little signs of weakening,” Heimsath said.
The Central Texas region has posted a strong pace of home sales this year, signaling that the region continues to buck national trends of a cooling housing market.
It also bodes well for 2007, as economists expect the region to hold on to its strong sales and growth. You can see a visual chart of sales prices.
Home sales in the $200,000 to $249,000 price range, however, are up 18 percent.
Among the Central Texas submarkets, the South Austin area known as area 10 posted the highest “hotness” factor, which is calculated by the number of pending sales versus active listings, Rosshirt said.
In that area, which includes neighborhoods such as Cherry Creek and Tanglewood Forest, active listings took about 18 days to sell, the report found.
Real estate agent Corey Yañez, whose specializes in area 10, says activity was fueled in part by many first-time buyers.
And that means quicker sales as well, Yañez said.
“People need to move quickly; area 10 is more affordable than other areas in Austin, but it’s very close to downtown,” said Yañez, who is with Ultima Real Estate Services.
This is very true as I’ve had buyers who didn’t move fast enough or aggresively enough to buy a house in thie competitive area of home sales. There have been mulitple offers on every deal I’ve seen. The lession is do your homework and be preparted to make an offer that’s going to HURT a little because that hurt is nothing compared to the Hurt you’ll feel if you didn’t get the home you wanted.
Contact me for more details on specific neighbhorhoods you may be interested in finding more info about.
I’m always checking on what’s happening in California because that’s where a bunch of investors come from to buy homes here in Austin. The question is “are home prices falling in California?” Well the answer isn’t agreed on as there are many opinions from experts about the market. Check out this story and see for your self. http://kron4.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?activePane=info&ClipID1=1079126
On Stage - Zach’s Santaland Diaries opens and the Japanese animation festival continues.
Comedy - Hideout Theatre offers some fresh improvisational comedy shows you can check Friday and Saturday nights. My troupe is $10 Bourbon is playing this Friday at 10PM. Come check us out!
Music Scene - Queensryche: Operation: Mindcrime II and Asleep at the Wheel CD release Party.
Gallery Watch - Gingerbread House Workshops now under way, Blanton hosts Bach Cantata, Two Cultures panel at Harry Ransom, and provocative “take me to bed or lose me forever” goes up at Volitant.
Special Events - Austin Farmer’s Market moves to temporary new location; 12th Annual Victorian Christmas on 6th Street; Austin Digital History launch party; and get ready to kick off the holidays next Saturday!
Sporting Life - Thundercloud Sub’s Turkey Trot and Home season opener for the NBA farm team Austin Toros.
KEYE-42 TV (CBS) reported that Million dollar homes are selling very fast right now in Austin now. They claim that there are over 3000 homes valued at over a million dollars in Travis County. They reported that sales of homes valued over a $1,000,000 rose 71% this year! Ron Olivera, the anchor man of KEYE says, “According to his sources their are over 2000 people in Austin who have over $100,000,000 million in liquid assets. That means that those 2000 people could write a check for $100,000,000 without having to sell any real estate.” That’s some rich folks!
Well here are the FACTS about the million dollar housing market now which don’t quite stack up to the story that KEYE reported.
As of Nov. 18 there are 389 homes valued over a $1,000,000 on the market in the MLS.
Out of 250 of those homes the average is $1,840,699 and the average those homes have been on the market is 183 days. So far only 294 homes over a million have sold this year and they were on the market an average of 158 days and sold within 94% of the list price on the market. The truth is only about 1% of the homes that sell in Austin are in the million dollar range. But here is the real rub about this story that the news didn’t relate, and that is for every 10 homes that sell for over a million dollars there are at least 12-14 homes in that price range that don’t get sold and have expired or been withdrawn from the market.
There are some hot subdivisions where builders have built some truly awesome homes with all the top of the line upgrades that have sold quickly in the millions. But there are lot more homes sitting on the market that aren’t selling and the market can’t absorb them due to the current demand. This means more million homes sit on the market then actually sell.
This goes to show you can spin a news story anyway you want. It makes me wonder what else the press doesn’t want us to know about the real estate market. To quote my old favorite show, “The X Files” … “the truth is out there!”… it’s in the mls stats!
I’ve always been a big believer in using humor to make a point in advertising. Isn’t it always the funny commercials you remember? Well I found this one which is a real estate commercial currently on Australian TV. Yeasch!!! The power of Humor! Watch your head!
Check out the Tarrytown Terrace at 2308 Enfield The Project is completed with 13 Units No. of Stories: 2
The Tarrytown Terrace is situated along Enfield only minutes from Downtown Austin. Located in the Tarrytown area, the property is close to all of the hippest shops in Austin, and many of the ecclectic mix of dining establishments that make Austin a one of a kind place to live. This cool complex with retro lines will feature stained concrete floors, sisal floors in the bedrooms, subway tile in the bathrooms, and modern sleek fixtures beside stainless appliances.
Amenities Include: Sealed Concrete Floors, Sisal Bedroom Flooring, Subway Tile, Modern Polished Fixtures, Stainless Appliances, Swimming Pool, Workout Facility with Plasma Television, Wood Decking and BBQ Area To see a floor plan click here: tarrytown terrace floor plan model
The 700 Block of Congress Avenue, between 7th Street and 8th Street, will be closed from 2:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. For more information or questions about the closing contact the Sustainable Food Center or the Austin Film Society.
Hosted by the Austin Film Society & Sustainable Food Center, before the premiere screening enjoy a special Austin Farmer’s Market, featuring more than three dozen booths in set up in front of the Paramount Theater from 4:00-7:00 p.m. The 7:00 p.m. premiere screening will be followed at 9:00 p.m. with a Q&A with director Richard Linklater & author Eric Schlosser. The Austin premiere of A Fast Food Nation won’t have you feeling so happy about what has become the “All American Meal. But a special Austin Farmer’s Market will have you smiling.
