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I don’t know if you’ve noticed— it’s certainly hard to miss— but the landscape around Austin is changing. As is the skyline. As is the… well, the feel of the city. The flavor.

Some Austinites are not excited about the changes going on. The corporations moving in, the family-owned and operated businesses go down while the thirty-six story condos go up. People who have lived here all their lives (or even just more than ten years) say that this is a different city than the one they remember. Back when they might not even have called Austin a “city.”

There was a time when Motorola was just a type of phone people had, not a place where they worked. When video games were a thing people played, not designed. Where Dell was a thing from a song about a farmer, not a computer company. In short, there was a time when Austin was a big, friendly village where everyone seemed to know everyone.

Now, it’s hard to see the sky without noticing the foreboding skeleton of an incoming condominium projects or a crane in your periphery. Developers are buying up land and displacing local businesses in order to get the best spot downtown for a high rise that will dwarf all the others, that will sell for more money, that will be nicer and closer to all the downtown Austin attractions.

But what are those attractions?

There will always be a Congress Bridge, and so there will always be bats. But will people want to walk from the Sheraton to see them, then get a drink at the Coyote Ugly Saloon franchise? Will they want to eat at the Baby Acapulco’s? What will make the town special when Las Manitas is gone, when all the little businesses that got us to this point are gone, and the only choices for restaurants are in the lobbies of the newest hotels?

What will make Austin Austin? It’s a good question.

It’s easy to see that the city has lost some its appeal. Its uniqueness, its originality. Big business has a way of doing that. But is it so bad? Is it really true that there will be nothing left?

Those small, local places brought people here, it’s true. And they certainly gave Austin its flavor. But millions more people are here now. The city has grown by leaps and bounds. People still need places to live. And the more people there are, the more money is being spent. There is much to be thankful for when we think about this new “bigger” Austin. The Austin real estate market values go up. Many businesses prosper. The city has more money to improve infrastructure and city services like parks. Its hard to allow it to change some of what we love, and some of the changes I’m not happy with. But overall I think it will be okay.

The key is that the people are still here. The same people that made Austin the coolest city in the… well, in my opinion in the entire country —are still here. They’re still waving at you from their yard, still smiling at you on the street. The buildings aren’t the personality in the city —the people in them are. So let’s make sure those people don’t go anywhere, and we’re all gonna be just fine. Yes, we may have to part with a couple businesses and landmarks dear to our hearts, but as long as Austinites keep true to what we love about this city, we will retain the part of our identity that is the most important.

What do you know about Feng Shui? If you’re like most people, you probably are not even sure if I spelled it right just now. Maybe you picture an old man doing the world’s slowest kung fu at dawn (that’s Tai Chi, totally different.) Feng shui is a sorta guidebook about the placement and architecture of a house to allow good flow of energy. And it’s not just placement of the bed and couch. The placement of the actual house and landscaping will affect the ch’i (energy) of the house in a big way. Let’s start with a few tips to bear in mind when looking examining the location for your dream home.

1. First and most important, research the history of a property. Find out what happened with the previous tenants, and the ones before them. And even the ones before them. Ask neighbors, or selling agent. If all the previous inhabitants have had money problems, family problems, etc., chances are there’s bad feng shui going on. Best to move on and look for another house.

2. Pay attention to the road placement. The road in front of your house should not be pointing directly into your home. If a house is sitting at a dead end, in a T-intersection, or in the center of cul-de-sac, then energy is constantly flowing straight down that road into the house, then building up and stagnating there. This is not good; the ch’i must continue to flow, like air. If it gets stuck in your home, it can go bad.

3. Pay attention to what’s around the house. Examine the terrain closely. Ideally, the property should have a dark turtle in the back (a mountain or hill, another house, a row of trees, a fence, etc.), a dragon (a house, a tree) to the left, a white tiger (a smaller house or tree) to the right, and a phoenix (open ground, a circular flowerbed, a meandering river or road) in front. All those exotic names are just a fun way to state the obvious —a house by itself is not ideal, since there is nothing to slow the flow of ch’i. Most houses will have all of these things around them already, but it doesn’t hurt to think about it your first time seeing a place. Other things to think about are “poison arrows,” like telephone poles, flagpoles, or the corner of a house pointing your way. They can hinder the energy flow to the house. Even a hospital can be a source of bad energy.

4. Something that probably doesn’t automatically spring to mind is the shape of the property; but that can be very important as well. Always go for something symmetrical, like a square or a rectangle. If your real estate is pretty close to square, use hedges to fill in the spots that make it irregular. Triangle-shaped properties can create disharmony. If you just love a place and absolutely have to have a it but it’s on a triangle-shaped lot, it’s better for the wide side to be in the back; the other way indicates an inability to save money.

When you visit a property, notice the shapes of the things around. I know it sounds strange, but kind of squint your eyes and see what you see, like you used to do as a kid, when you were looking at the clouds in the sky. If anything looks like something hostile, then be careful. That could be an indication of some anti-ch’i. You want enough stuff to slow the energy down to capture it but allow it to also flow.

Most real estate purchases are bought with loans so getting a good faith estimate and pre-approval letter from your lender helps the process start off on the right foot. The good faith estimate, or GFE for short, is required by law to be provided by lenders when you are seeking a loan. It lists out the estimated closing costs, monthly payments, and interest rates for the loan program you are looking at getting. The pre-approval letter is provided by lenders once they have run your credit and get your income / debt information. By getting the GFE and pre-approval letter, you can be confident that the loan will get processed with no surprises. There are also additional benefits to getting pre-approval and GFE before you even begin the property search. For one, by discussing your debt to income ratio with your lender and obtaining the GFE, you can determine your maximum price. It helps to know the maximum sales price when shopping around so that you do not waste time and energy looking a over-priced properties, and also vice verse, you do not waste time and energy looking at under-priced properties. You can find an area in your price range that fits your needs and narrow down your search. You also will determine your monthly payments with the GFE. The monthly payments should include the property taxes, insurance, principle, and interest plus any private mortgage insurance (PMI). If the monthly payments are higher than you wanted, then you can adjust your sales price to be lower. Another reason to get your pre-approval and GFE before starting your home search is that you may find out some issues with your credit or financial situation that you could clean up before moving forward with a purchase. For example, the first time I bought a house, I found out that I had a $50 charge on my credit report from 3 years ago, which brought my credit score down. And with a lower credit score, I would have gotten a worse interest rate on the loan. I say ‘would have’ because I was able to pay off this collection and clear up the ding on my credit before going into the loan underwriting process. Finally, by getting a pre-approval letter, you have proof for a seller that a lender has confidence in being able to fund the purchase on your behalf. This helps with presenting offers and negotiating. Many sellers will not even accept an offer unless it is accompanied by a lender’s letter. Furthermore, if you do not have a letter, the seller may counter higher given that he feels he is taking on more risk that you may not be qualified for the loan amount. Also, if you happen to get into a multiple offer situation, your offer will be much stronger with a pre-approval letter.

For mommy real estate agents, there comes an awkward time when it becomes very difficult to integrate children into everyday real estate business dealings. Babies can be thrown on your hip, go with the flow and even go on appointments. School-age children provide you time during the day to work your real estate business, and at other times can be helpful with hosting open houses or handing out flyers. But for that time in between, when your children are in that toddler through preschooler phase, you may find it best to keep the children completely out of the appointment loop.

There are always exceptions to any rule, of course. And there are some exceptions here. Assuming your child has had her nap and is in a reasonably good mood, there are a few appointments you can take your small child on:

— If you know the client personally and they have previously met your child

— The client also has a child (or several) who are in the same age range and the client indicates you should bring the child over

— A quick drop-off of paperwork, flyers, etc.

If you’ve been taking your baby to appointments with real estate clients and just chugging along, it’s easy to keep working your real estate business the same as before. But it’s important to think twice before bringing your child along when she’s between the ages of 1 to 5 years old. To your real estate broker’s office, sure. To run errands for your real estate business, fine. But appointments with real estate clients, think again. You don’t want to kill the deal. And a kid could possibly do that, with any client. Even another parent…while she might be understanding and sympathetic when your child has a meltdown…can think of the whole thing as a huge turn-off and wonder about your professionalism.

You know your child’s “limitations” more than anyone. You know the signs of fussiness coming on, the look of hunger. It’s just better not to chance turning an appointment into your worst nightmare.

If you don’t have consistent daycare for your child or baby, you have options. First, set up appointments on evenings and weekends when your significant other or a family member or friend can be relied upon to watch your child.

But what about those last minute calls from your clients who just MUST see you that afternoon? Urgent requests to see properties or to sit down and sign those listing documents can happen. And they can give you less than 2 hours notice.

If you want to be a competitive agent and want to provide service to your client, you want to try and find a way to make it happen. In these cases, you need to set up some last minute “emergency” daycare ahead of time. If you have a family member or a friend who is available during the day for these last minute client demands, that is ideal. Make sure you have a plan A and a plan B (just in case plan A falls thru) for last-minute child care.

Don’t worry, these awkward toddler and preschooler years won’t last forever. Before you know it, you’re child will be in school and she will be a big help to your real estate business if you want to make things a family affair.

Author: Tina McAllister
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The community of Clairemont (sometimes called Clairemont Mesa) is located in central San Diego County, California. The community is located off Interstate 5 at Balboa Ave and is within the 92117 Zip code.

The real estate and homes for sale in Clairemont fall into the moderate-income category for San Diego County. The number of homes sold in a particular year is relatively high. For example, during the period from January through July 2006, approximately 183 single-family homes sold. Approximately 226 homes sold for the same period in 2005.

One method to analyze pricing trends for a particular community is to evaluate the median and average price of homes for a particular month, and compare that data against the same period last year. What follows is a comparison of the median price and average price of homes for the past seven months (January through July 2006), compared against the data for the corresponding time period in 2005.

The median price of homes represents the point at which half the homes are above a particular price point, and half the homes are below a particular price point. The average price of homes is calculated by adding up the sales price of all homes sold in a particular month, and dividing that value by the number of homes sold.

The median price of homes in July 2006 was $560,000, compared to $562,500 in July 2005, which represents a 0.9% drop. The average price of homes in July 2006 was $575,114, compared to $585,602 in July 2005, which represents a 2.4% drop. Approximately 21 homes sold in July 2006 and 26 in July 2005. The data provides evidence that there was a downward price trend in July 2006 compared to the same period last year.

The median price of homes in June 2006 was $555,000, compared to $570,000 in June 2005, which represents a 2.6% drop. The average price of homes in June 2006 was $586,758, compared to $584,415 in June 2005, which represents a 0.4% increase. Approximately 30 homes sold in June 2006 and 34 in June 2005. The data for June 2006 was mixed, as median prices declined and average prices rose slightly from the same period last year.

The median price of homes in May 2006 was $550,000, compared to $562,000 in May 2005, which represents a 2.3% drop. The average price of homes in May 2006 was $584,012, compared to $582,000 in May 2005, which represents a 0.3% increase. Approximately 33 homes sold in May 2006 and 37 in May 2005. The data was mixed in June 2006, as median prices declined and average prices rose slightly from the same period last year.

The median price of homes in April 2006 was $564,000, compared to $565,000 in April 2005, which represents a 0.20% drop. The average price of homes in April 2006 was $584,722, compared to $612,897 in April 2005, which represents a 4.6% drop. Approximately 32 homes sold in April 2006 and 36 in April 2005. The data provides evidence that there was a downward price trend in April 2006 compared to the same period last year.

The median price of homes in March 2006 was $558,000, compared to $545,000 in March 2005, which represents a 1.5% increase. The average price of homes in March 2006 was $589,161, compared to $576,227 in March 2005, which represents a 3.60% increase. Approximately 29 homes sold in March 2006 and 39 in March 2005. The data provides evidence that there was an upward price trend in March 2006 compared to the same period last year.

The median price of homes in February 2006 was $560,000, compared to $525,000 in February 2005, which represents a 7.4% increase. The average price of homes in February 2006 was $582,435, compared to $571,708 in February 2005, which represents a 2.50% increase. Approximately 17 home sold in February 2006 and 29 in February 2005. The data provides evidence that there was an upward price trend in February 2006 compared to the same period last year.

The median price of homes was $585,000 in January 2006, compared to $525,000 in January 2005, which represents a 10% increase. The average price of homes in January 2006 was $634,524, compared to $542,708 in January 2005, which represents a 16.9% increase. Approximately 21 homes sold in January 2006 and 25 in January 2005. The data provides evidence that there was an upward price trend in January 2006 compared to the same period last year.

So what does the above data tell us? Overall, there was a 19% decline in the number of homes sold during this period from 2006 to 2005. The pricing trends early in the year (January, February and March) were in the upward direction for both median and average prices, which showed increases year-over-year ranging from 1.5% to 16.9%. However, since then, the pricing trend has been downward or mixed depending on the month. For example, April and July demonstrated downward median and average prices ranging from around half a percent up to 5%. For May and June, the median price was down around 2% from the previous year, and the average price was slightly up around half a percent. These findings suggest that at best, prices have leveled off, and at worst, are starting to decline. Continued monitoring of sale data in subsequent months is needed to identify enduring market trends.

Be sure to consult your Realtor on other factors that influence home pricing before buying or selling real estate in Clairemont.

The price of housing is a major challenge in the United States. Some estimates note that more than 50% of the population cannot afford a median priced home. According to National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), of the total number of new and existing homes sold nationwide during the third quarter, only 40.4 percent were affordable for families earning the median U.S. income of $59,600.

But it is good news that housing affordability on the national level has not changed much in the third quarter in spite of a rise in the mortgage interest rates during the last quarter. This was because many markets saw a slight decrease in their home prices, which helped offset the rise in mortgage rates.

Indianapolis (Indiana) is the most affordable city for homes in America, based on the 2006 third quarter report of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The city achieved this status for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Of the total number of housing units sold in Indianapolis during the third quarter, 86 percent of homes were priced at or below the U.S. median household income of $65,100. Homes in this metro area had a median sales price of $122,000, which is slightly higher from $120,000 of the previous quarter.

It is interesting to note that the most affordable U.S. cities for homes, condos and other real estate are largely from the northern industrial metro areas. The other larger cities that top the list for affordable homes in the third quarter after Indianapolis are Youngstown-Warren-Boardman (Ohio-Pennsylvania); Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn (Michigan); Buffalo-Niagara Falls (New York); and Grand Rapids and Wyoming (Michigan).

The report also lists the top seven smaller cities in America that have the most affordable housing markets. These are: Bay City in Michigan, Springfield in Ohio, Mansfield in Ohio, Lansing-East Lansing in Michigan, Lima in Ohio, Battle Creek in Michigan and Canton-Massillon in Ohio.

For both major metros and small metros, many of the least affordable cities are located in California. The least affordable major metro areas are Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Modesto, Stockton, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, in that order. The least affordable smaller metros (less than 500,000 people) include: Salinas, Merced, Madera, Napa, and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria.

The good news for homebuyers is that there are many affordable cities in the United States. Moreover, even for cities that rated poorly for affordability, there may be some communities within the larger city that have affordable housing. For example, although the San Diego metro in California rated poorly overall for affordability, there are some communities in San Diego priced to meet the needs of lower-income home buyers. A good real estate agent can help you choose a community where you want to live based on your housing budget and needs.

Often with financial help from parents, some college-age students choose to purchase homes or condos in communities where they attend college. This option allows students to live in a property that is usually more spacious and comfortable than typical dormitory-style rooms. For students who value attending a college with a large football program, affordable real estate may be an important criterion when selecting a college or university.

Coldwell Banker, a real estate firm, conducted a recent survey to identify the most affordable college football towns. The survey compared the average price of a single- family home with 2200 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2

First off, watch some late night infomercials on TV. And possibly order some real estate tapes from Carlton Sheets. This will provide you with a positive upbeat attitude and a sense of false confidence that is essential in order to go bankrupt. Believe that after listening to some tapes, you can compete with people that have done this 7 days a week for years.

Second. For your first investment, buy in a city you know little to nothing about and avoid using a buyers agent who does know the city. Go directly to the sellers agent. The best way to make a truly horrible decision is to avoid any outside advice. The best part of this is that avoiding a buyers agent usually doesn’t save you any money since the selling agent simply makes more when you deal with them directly.

Look for a discount or a distressed property over a good long term investment. Late night infomercials and Carlton Sheets talk a lot about this. Getting equity at the point of sale. One thing about distressed properties with desperate sellers is that they frequently are in crappy areas with low appreciation rates. Buying a property at under market rate in an area with low appreciation potential versus a property in a good area is the kind of short sighted thinking that will really help you reach the goal of bankruptcy and foreclosure.

When you talk to people including your realtor, try to spend time talking about all the crap you learned from your book or light night infomercial. The more you listen to other people, the more you might get different perspectives and the higher chance you might learn new things. This could really hurt your chances of going bankrupt so avoid listening to anyone. Remember you know everything even if you only got interested in real estate last week.

Be positive to the point of stupidity. Alot of investors I know always think about how their situation would be affected by a 10 or 20 percent drop in the market before making a purchase. You should avoid this kind of thinking. You need to be blinded by greed. You should only fantasize about how you are going to double your money.

When calculating your monthly cashflow, assume that you will have 100% occupancy all the time and no maintenance cost. While you are at assume that its going to rain money tomorrow.

Also, be stubborn when renting your properties. Decide upon a number say $900 a month and refuse to budge. Come up with some bizarre logic about how the property deserves $900 a month. Lose months of rent having the property sit vacant instead of going down $50 on the rent. Instead of responding to the market make statements like “Well the markets wrong then”.

As you move closer to foreclosure, don’t alter your spending habits. Don’t move into a smaller house or cut spending. Act like nothing is wrong.

Overextend, overextend, overextend. Are you approved to buy one house. Why not buy 5, heck why not 20. Instead of building up a portfolio of properties over time, gaining experience along the way, just buy alot of properties next Tuesday.

Alot of people are getting into the foreclosure game. Their is no reason you should be left behind. Throwing caution to the wind and filling your eyes with greed and you should find yourself walking down the golden path to foreclosure.

This is not a definitive guide to foreclosure. Alot of people end up in foreclosure due to many things unforeseen events like unpreventable family illness, divorce or job loss. This is simply a guide to what I call elective foreclosure.