2016 Built Stunner! Better than New Home in Enclave at Estancia in South Austin!

Ultra-desirable ALABASTER PLAN! Only Alabaster plan finished and available in Enclave at Estancia Hill Country neighborhood! BETTER THAN NEW home w/ stunning, dark hardwood flooring, open concept kitchen with massive granite slab counter, & glass tile backsplash. Mother-in-law plan with 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths downstairs! Expansive game room, media room pre-wired for surround sound & projection, tons of storage, sprinkler system, soaring ceilings, endless natural light & stellar community amenities!!

See more pics, details, and schedule your no-hassle viewing here:

https://www.austinhomeseeker.com/listing/9238109-608-cardenas-ln-austin-tx-78748

JUST LISTED in Highlands at Crystal Falls! Upgrades Galore!

Full of after-purchase upgrades! This Drees Home features custom bookshelf cabinetry, built in speakers, LED lighting throughout, custom drapes and rods, water softener and whole home water filtration, massive 13'x33' stained concrete patio, outdoor TV, built-in grill with rotisserie and fridge, thousands on professional landscaping and trees, and $10,000+ in custom painting! Hoarders rejoice: 2.5 car garage with extensive storage rack system! $1300 Children's playset (2014) conveys! Mother-in-law plan with private full bath! Granite counters, stainless steel built-in appliances, separate office/flex room, formal dining, upstairs game room, and MORE!

See more and schedule showings here: https://www.austinhomeseeker.com/listing/5912668-2516-thunder-horse-leander-tx-78641/

Eanes Independent School District Ranks #2 in the Nation!

Niche.com's 2016 List of the United States' top school districts included the Austin area's Eanes Independent School District as the #2 top school district in the country! The website examined strength of academics, school resources, quality of teachers, quality of student life, and parent and student reviews to gauge the overall level of excellence at more than 10,000 school districts.

Eanes School District received A+ scores in academics, teacher quality, health and safety, and resources and facilities. The district scored an A- for extracurriculars and activities and an A for sports and fitness. The district's lowest grade was a B- for culture and diversity.

Source: https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-school-districts/best-overall/

HOME TIPS! : Seal Your Walls!

A simple home tip that may save you money and energy this winter.

We're all looking for ways to improve the energy-efficiency of our homes to help the environment and lower our utility bills in the process. Thankfully in Texas, basements are rare, so it's one less place you have to expect drafts to emanate. However, your home may have spots where air penetrates through the walls causing a draft and a change in temperature inside your home. This will likely occur in the areas where holes have been cut out of the walls to install plugs, switches, and canned lights. If you have ever removed these during cold weather, you have probably noticed some cold air pouring out.

You may reduce air leakage by using a tube of high quality caulk or a spray foam can to seal around the area where the electrical box meets the drywall. There are also alternative recessed lighting cans or fixtures that you can install which provide a tighter seal to keep the cool (or hot) temperatures out. This simple process will potentially save you energy this winter season!

December Stats & End of Year Wrap Up Numbers!

December 2014 

• 2,283 – Single-family homes sold, 14 percent more than December 2013.
• $246,530 – Median price for single-family homes, 10 percent more than December 2013.
• 55 – Average number of days single-family homes were on market, 3 days more than Dec. 2013.
• 5,077 – Active single-family home listings on the market, 12 percent more than December 2013.
• 2.2 – Months of inventory of single-family homes, 0.2 month more than December 2013.
• $710,200,206 – Total dollar volume of single-family homes sold, 21 percent more than Dec. 2013.

2014 Year-End Totals 

• 27,768 – Single-family homes sold, two percent more than 2013.
• $242,500 – Median price for single-family homes, eight percent more than 2013.
• 47 – Average number of days that single-family homes spent on the market, 3 days fewer than 2013.
• $8,607,385,376 – Total dollar volume of single-family homes sold, nine percent more than 2013.  

Released January 2015 by The Austin Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

How to Successfully Protest Your Property Tax Appraisal

With the real estate market in Austin absolutely exploding in 2013 everyone is experiencing a dramatic shock to their mortgage payments due to the enormous jump in the tax appraised value of their homes for 2014. I have gotten at least 30 calls from past client's asking about how to protest their tax appraisals because they've gone up significantly with the market. I have successfully protested my property taxes on all properties every year. It is usually not difficult and a pretty straight forward process, which I will go over here, but do NOT hesitate to call me with questions because as you all know.... I'm pro-style with negotiating life.

First, by having a homestead exemption it caps the increase in appraised value by 10% any one year. So if you filed a homestead exemption and your tax appraised value went up more than 10% from what it was last year, you need to call your county's appraisal district and ask about the status. You can back file it, if you did it incorrectly somehow (Which is hard. It's like 2 pages that you write your name and address on and what exemption you're requesting) and the county will send you a credit of the overpayment once homestead is applied.

Ok, now to file your notice of protest you must do so BEFORE May 31st. In Travis and Williamson County, you can usually file the notice online. Always do this first because it's faster and easier online than mailing it in. Your appraisal should have come with instructions, if not you can find it on the county's appraisal district website. You log on and type in the code it gives you and it asks you what you think the value should be. Aim low, but not unrealistic. Don't say $120,000 on a $300,000 house. I usually just say like $10,000 below the year it was before. Then it asks the reason. "Value not equal", "Value over market value", etc. I don't even think this really matters. I usually just check one or both of them. Then submit.

A couple days later, you'll receive a proposed settlement number from a computer re-analyzing numbers. Sometimes it's decent and you can accept. Sometimes it's still too high. If you decline you're going to formals, unless you just want to keep what you got. If you go to formals, you will need comps to take to prove value is lower. Do NOT go in unprepared and with nothing figuring you will do it all on the spot with the appraiser. This frustrates them immensely. At a formal protest you will go and sit in a cubicle with one appraiser and give them comps and evidence for why your home value should be lower. Williamson County is generally a little tighter, but it's quite subjective based on which appraiser you happen to get. Some are easier than others. Travis County usually accepts more in terms of broader amount of sections of the same neighborhood. They take 5 comparable properties and drop the highest and lowest and average the remaining 3 and that's the value you get. So if you can find 5 really low VALID comps, you're usually good to get them down some. To be valid they can't be foreclosures. They will sometimes take short sales and usually estate sales. Don't look at just price, price per sqft is better. Find as low price per sqft as possible, because computer takes into account size, lot value, etc when it makes adjustments. Bring as many comps as possible that help your case. If you roll in with 1, don't expect anything to happen.

ALSO, if you have done large repairs to your home, such as foundation, roof, etc. Or had mold, termites, or any of that. Bring receipts and invoices and cite that telling them your home is the biggest piece of junk in the neighborhood. If you have the case of purchasing in the year being analyzed and they argue that, you state that this is a current market evaluation. You say, "Sir (ma'am), it doesn't matter what I paid for the property. Let's focus on what the market says it's worth. This is supposed to be an independent, unbiased appraisal process."

If you decline the formal, in person protest number, you go to Appraisal Review Board (ARB). You wear a suit, dress nice. You sit down in front of 3 appraisal board members (regular citizens) and you sit next to a county appraiser at a computer. You bring ALL EVIDENCE you can, comps, repair invoices, etc and you be super polite to the citizen board members. Shake hands and say, "yes sir" "no sir." You act like it's court. Bring 3-4 copies of all evidence. You essentially debate the price with the appraiser, only one of you speaks at a time and you get rebuttals back and forth. At the end, the 3 board members give what they think the price should be and the lead one decides. I have been to the ARB only once and I won pretty good. I have to say, it sounds intimidating, but it was an amazing rush to have a formal debate. I didn't tell them I was a Realtor though. So they weren't expecting a Matthews Whirlwind of FACTS!! CHECK IT FOOLS! Anyways, you more than likely won't go to the ARB unless you have a huge disagreement. The formals is made to root out and settle with the 90% that make it that far.

ALWAYS PROTEST YOUR PROPERTY TAXES. It pays off every year for me. If you have rental properties they will try to destroy you every year because there is no homestead cap. Don't let them. This year I got them down on one property $41,801 which was the equivalent to $1,200 in property taxes. I prevented them from taking $100 extra from me every month on my mortgage payment. It is extremely worth it when you think of the 10% cap and the growth Austin is projected to have. Get it as low as possible every year! 

Was Your Home Built Before 1978?

If you live in an older Austin home and have children or grandchildren age 5 or younger who live with you or visit often, it is important to get you home inspected for hazardous lead. Lead can be found in paint, tile, flooring, walls, mini blinds, window areas, and yards. The City of Austin, through its LeadSmart program, will inspect income-qualified homes for lead (often found in homes built prior to 1978) and will remove it at no cost to you, at a value up to $30,000.

Lead is a poison that can cause damage to the brain, nervous system, blood and vital organs such as kidneys. Lead poisoning is especially harmful to young children and babies; it often shows no symptoms or is mistaken for other problems -- even people who appear healthy can have lead poisoning.

The LeadSmart program is provided by the City of Austin Neighboring Housing and Community Development Office. Visit www.austintexas.gov/empower for details about free home repair and financial empowerment programs, or call (512) 974-3100.

From Austin Energy

Austin Ranked #2 Best Real Estate Investment Market

According to Inman News and Realtor.com, Austin, Texas ranked high in the latest top 10 investment markets.  Coming in at #2 on the list, outranked by only Tucson, Arizona, this is just one more achievement in Austin's long list of recent high survey rankings.

Built from Realtor.com data updated through February 2012, the report put Austin as the second highest current real estate markets to invest in. The top 10 list was built by analyzing the housing inventories, price trends and unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 146 markets Realtor.com tracks.

Austin, Texas with a median list price of $229,500, boasted a 12 percent year-over-year increase, and low relative unemployment (6.3 percent as of December 2011). Kansas City, Baltimore, and Forth Worth round out the Top 5. Click on the link below for more details on the top 10 list:

http://www.inman.com/news/2012/03/23/top-10-markets-invest-in

To See More of Austin's Rankings and Achievements:

http://www.i-am-real-estate.com/austin-rankings-c23311.html

Apple Creating 3,600 New Jobs in Austin!

Texas Governor Rick Perry announced Friday that Apple will create 3,600 new jobs and expand it's operations in Austin. A $304 million investment in a new campus will double the current size of Apple's workforce in Texas over the course of the next decade. The expansion will see most jobs in the customer support, sales, and accounting functions.

In order to entice Apple's commitment to Austin, the State of Texas has offered $21 million over 10 years through the Texas Enterprise Fund. Completion of contracts and local incentive agreements with the City of Austin and Travis County are contingencies of the agreement. Until the incentive deals are approved, both Apple and local business recruiters are being tight-lipped about the totality of expansion plans in the city.

Apple's official statement: "Our operations in Austin have grown dramatically over the past decade, from less than 1,000 employees in 2004 to more than 3500 today. We're looking forward to building a new campus in Austin, which will more than double the size of our workforce there over the next decade."

This is great for Austin's economy and real estate market. With 3,600 new jobs over the next 10 years, that's thousands of homes that will be purchased by employees. This will help preserve home values as inventory is kept in check and desirability of certain areas remains strong through the influx of a steady stream of buyers.

Importance of Property Insurance

Last week around 3:30 am, I awoke to see an orange glow emanating from our blinds. I sprung up, looked out the blinds, and saw the home behind us engulfed in flames. A moment of terror shuddered through my body as I felt a panic rush through me. Previously, I had thought about what I would grab in a moment like this where I had but seconds to think of what was most important to me. In this moment, my mind was blank.

I called the police and was informed that the fire had already been reported and I heard the fire trucks park and the commotion begin to extinguish the flames. Fortunately, it had been raining most of the day, so the ground and trees were soaked. The next day, we would find out through a neighbor that the firemen informed her that if it hadn't been raining all day, the trees between our properties would have spread the fire to all the surrounding homes, including our own. The only thought processed was that this was a miracle.

We have this somewhat innate feeling inside that bad things can never happen to us, until they do. I cannot stress enough to not skimp on your property insurance coverage and if you are unaware of the coverage details, pull it out and look. If you have any questions, contact Mike Carroll with Carroll & Delaune Insurance Services at (512) 828-7010 or Mike@Carroll-Delaune.com or your insurance advisor. They can examine your coverage and let you know if you are adequately protected.

The above is a video of the house behind me burning down that I filmed after I knew we were reasonably safe from immediate danger. Listening to my wife, it may seem that we are going to die of carbon monoxide, but I assure you we were safe. She can be an extreme worrier.

Austin Home Sales Up, Median Price Down in July

There was an increase in the number of homes purchased in Austin this July than a year ago, although they tended towards less expensive ones. There was a 32% increase over July 2010 numbers meaning more than 1,970 single-family homes were sold in Austin in July 2011. The median sales price, however, declined to $196,750, an 11% drop. Those homes also were on the marked 5% longer than July 2010.

The drop in median price reflects a demand for lower-priced homes in the city. Austinites are searching for bargains right now. With interest rates at historic lows, the number of investors looking to take advantage of the savings could be driving the increase in number of homes sold. With the Federal Reserve announcing rates staying low until 2013 coupled with the busy summer sales season, August numbers could reflect a similar increase.

Even with a decrease in the median sales price, the total value of Austin-area homes sold in July was nearly $525 million, up 23% from last July. All of these homes getting snatched up has created a 20% drop in inventory to 9,393 single-family homes currently on the market.

If you are a condo or townhome owner, it's good news all around! 205 townhouses and condominiums were sold in July, a 45% increase over July 2010. In addition, the median price for condos and townhomes grew 5% to $164,250.

Austin Achieves YET ANOTHER Ranking! #2 in Country for JOBS!!

Ajilon Professional Staffing, a leader in recruiting and project consulting, has just released their list of the 10 best cities for finding employment in the United States. Guess who ranked #2? AUSTIN, TEXAS of course! The only city surpassing Austin for the top spot is Minneapolis-St. Paul. This ranking only adds to the massive pile that Austin has achieved in the past few years. Austin has become a staple of resilience in an national economic crisis with the ability to keep unemployment low by generating new jobs and featuring a variety of available employment fields.

Ajilon Professional Staffing had this to say regarding Austin: "Austin, Texas came in second place on the list as a result of the city’s low cost of living and diverse talent pool. Austin’s robust educational community also contributed to boosting job growth in the market. Home to several major universities, including the University of Texas, local businesses have a vast pool of well-educated recent graduates to choose from for local employment opportunities in Austin."

As a man who's job it is to sell Austin, these rankings definitely make my job easier. I've lived all over the country, even living abroad, and I've travelled the vast majority of the United States and if there is a city that has it ALL, it's Austin. Night life, outdoor recreation, festivals, culture, lake fun, parks, low-cost of living, outstanding property values, job market, events, live music, and friendliness of the people... Austin is without a doubt one of the BEST places to live in the United States.

If you're interested in Austin, TX real estate and purchasing your piece of this great city, contact me at the numbers on the sidebar. I'd be happy to help! View my own personal compilation of Austin's rankings over just the past 3 years here:

http://www.i-am-real-estate.com/austin-rankings-c23311.html

Round Rock Ranks As One of America's SAFEST Cities!

Round Rock, TX ranks as the #2 safest among cities with populations from 100,000 to 499,000 in Texas and #9 safest city in the nation according to a survey conducted by CQ Press! Texas has 32 cities with populations over 100,000 and only Frisco, TX outranked Round Rock as being "safer." In addition, Austin, TX ranked #6 lowest crime ranking of 34 cities of populations of 500,000 or more nationwide.

The crime rate rankings of the cities and metro areas are calculated using six categories: aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, murder, rape, and robbery. Among cities with 75,000 population or greater, Round Rock ranked #25 overall in the 2010 survey.

This is the sixth consecutive year Round Rock has ranked among the 20 safest cities in the nation. In 2005, Round Rock ranked #8, in 2006 and 2007 Round Rock was #13, in 2008 it was ranked #19, and in 2009 Round Rock ranked #18 in the survey. This is a remarkable series of rankings for a city to achieve. 

The city of Round Rock conducted a survey of their own in March and April 2010 via a seven page survey administered to random residents by mail and phone. The results of the 459 residents showed that 90% said they feel "safe" or "very safe" in Round Rock and that 93% feel the city is "headed in the right direction."

Not that I associate myself with criminals, but I've heard through the grapevine that Williamson County in general, brings the hammer when sentencing punishments for crimes. Perhaps, the stiffer penalties could be a reason that criminals shy away from committing their law breaking in the county.

Source Link

Pre-Launch www.I-Am-Real-Estate.com Numbers!

On the eve of the launch of www.I-Am-Real-Estate.com, my website taking over 4 months to create I decided to analyze the viewing numbers on my website. Even before advertising and marketing the launch, from August 1st-31st www.I-Am-Real-Estate.com has had 418 visits by 197 visitors with a low bounce rate of 16.27%! Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who close the first page they get to on the site immediately after going to it. 16.27% shows that once visitors reach my site they are inclined to continue their search and look at other features.

The visits came from 10 different countries, including United States, Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, and Singapore. Perhaps, these are tech people from other countries going to move to Austin, only time will tell. Chris Matthews is going worldwide! 

Thank you to everyone who has viewed my site thus far. I put in the time to give you a great resource that would make the buying and selling processes easier for you. I don't pester you for a login and provide everything for free. Real estate agents get a bad name for being overly aggressive at times, while failing to be communicative once people decide to use someone. I wanted to take a different approach. I emphasize high customer service and communication, while keeping clients informed every step of the way so they don't feel alone during the transaction. My website is a tool in the search and guide for the process. Thank you!

Austin's Most Dangerous Intersections in 2009

Community Impact has just released a list of the 20 most dangerous intersections in Austin in 2009. The findings are surprisingly pretty well distributed throughout the city and only three of the 20 intersections are in the immediate downtown area. The number of collisions recorded at each intersection between January 1st and December 31st, 2009. 

The most dangerous intersection in Austin is at Lakeline Mall Drive and Research Blvd. in the Lakeline Mall area of Northwest Austin. This intersection clocked 46 collisions and 44 injuries. In my opinion this could be a result of the off ramp of 183 to the Research Blvd. service road. The ramp is short, cars are coming fast, and the way the ramp is angled makes it difficult to see too far ahead. The Lakeline Mall Drive intersection and traffic signal are very close to the off-ramp causing their to be constant backups. Cars coming fast off the ramp have little time to stop. That's my analysis and it most likely is true. 

Although Lakeline Mall Drive and Research Blvd. ranked the highest in terms of collisions, two other intersections outranked it in terms of injuries. North Lamar Blvd. and Anderson Lane had 45 injuries in 34 collisions. Parmer Lane and Mopac was the brutal champion with 50 injuries in 33 collisions. Check out the list below and beware.

Source: Community Impact

 

Custom Website Unveiling Coming Soon!

www.I-Am-Real-Estate.com is my custom designed webpage that has taken months of research and work to create. It should be unveiled in two weeks time and will be one of the most comprehensive real estate websites in the Austin Metropolitan area. A veritable one-stop-shop for all your real estate needs.

Upon completion, www.I-Am-Real-Estate.com will feature such tools as a full MLS up-to-date search index, resource tools aimed at helping buyer's and seller's with their respective processes, search maps, and featured properties section. The site also has an "Austin Rankings" page that lists the countless rank placements Austin has received from dozens of news sources!

Most notable features include a FREE iPhone and iPad home search app so you can search for homes on the road or pull up information if you see something driving by! In addition, the website will feature over 150 pages of communities in the Austin metropolitan area! Each page will be devoted to a description of a particular community with price ranges and averages.

Check back here soon for the unveiling of www.I-Am-Real-Estate.com and what breaking my back results in!

Going Once....Going Twice....SOLD!

After twice being listed by another agent for 184 days and then again for 142 days, I completed the sale of my client's condo on Duval with a full cash offer on 99% of list to sold price in almost half the time. No repairs, no closing costs.  

This was a tricky sale because the Austin condo complex, Stonehaven Condos, is currently not FHA loan-approved. So, the options for lending are restricting because it cuts out a rather large segment of buyers who were hoping to do the FHA minimum, 3.5% down payment.

Secondly, the complex currently has a 69.2% owner-occupancy out of 32 units. What this means is that only 69.2% of the owner's of the units live in them. The rest have been rented out. Most lenders would prefer the owner-occupancy to be at 70% or greater. So, although there were a few lenders willing to accept 51%, it was limiting for buyer's wanting to work with a particular lender/banking institution.

Thirdly, competition. At the time, 5 condos for sale in a small 32 unit complex is pretty substantial competition and we definitely were not the most beautiful one. The goal is flattering picture angles, marketing, and staging that accentuate what you DO have. 

So, despite the challenges and obstacles, the human Dreamweaver dodged the impediments like Keanu dodging bullets in The Matrix. I am happy that I could get the job done for my client, she was so grateful and nice it makes me feel warm inside. After reading this some of you may have tears in your eyes at my uncanny ability to make dreams come true. Sometimes people just start crying when they look at me because like a sixth sense, they know what I can do for them. One time, a mother covered her little boy's eyes and I heard her say, "El es feo!" in Spanish. I don't habla espanol, but I think that meant "He is free" as in talking about my essence and spirit. I'm a soaring eagle. 

If I can assist you in finding a home or getting your home sold, contact me at the info in the sidebar! I'd be happy to help! 

Austin Ranked #5 Leanest City in America!

In a recent study conducted by Men's Health to find the "Fattest" and "Leanest" cities in America, Austin ranked #5 leanest city nationwide. Austin came behind San Francisco (#1), Burlington, Washington D.C., and Seattle.

Austin received an 'A' grade in the study, which calculated "the percentage of people who are overweight, the percentage with type 2 diabetes, the percentage who haven't left the couch in a month (CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System); the money spent on junk food (Bureau of Labor Statistics); and finally, the number of people who ate fast food nine of more times in a month (Mediamark Research)" according to Men's Health.

This is great news for us Austinites! We're some of the healthiest stock in America! Yay! However, Texas as a state did not fair so well. Five of the top ten "Heaviest cities" are in Texas, including Corpus Christi as #1 heaviest and El Paso at #3. Also in the top ten, Dallas (#4), San Antonio (#7), and Houston (#9). Houston received a 'D-' score. San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso, and Corpus Christi all received 'F' scores in the study.

Men's Health even pokes fun at Corpus Christi mockingly referring to them as "Corpulent Christi." I like Men's Health, but that's a little unnecessary and rude. Besides, the whole "make-fun-of-them-so-they'll-feel-bad-about-themselves-to-motivate-them-to-overcome" is a cruel solution to a problem and usually doesn't work anyway.

http://www.menshealth.com/fattestcities2010/

How's the market Chris?

One of the most common questions I get in real estate is, "How did you get eyes as blue as the sky?" Well, God gave them to me. He's nice. The other day he told me the secret of how toads got their warts and we laughed and laughed. Then we went swimming and played jokes on each other in the water. God didn't want to get in right away because it was a little chilly, so I tried to pull him in and he just hovered over the surface and walked off the water to shore. Then he parted the waves, walked down into the water valley, grabbed a fish out of the liquid wall and slapped me with it. We shared a good chuckle with that one. He can be quite a creative prankster. I love that guy.

The second most common question is, "How is the market doing?" The answer to this question depends on  whose asking. If you're a buyer, it's phenomenal. There really will not be a better time to buy in our lifetime. Interest rates are at record lows, property prices have fallen dramatically, and the government is offering tremendous incentives. The first part of the investment adage, "Buy low, sell high" is definitely good advice right now.

Real estate is cyclical. If we look at this graph showing median home prices in Austin over the past year, around August 2009 we've seen a continuous drop of about $50,000. It has now leveled out to some degree and I expect it to rise steadily over this summer again, as the summer season is traditionally the most active time for sales. More people want to sell and more people want to buy during the summer. It's warmer and easier for moving and is the optimal time to get your children into a new school.

 If we look at Round Rock things are a little more like falling down the stairs. However, both were trending downward and seem to have reached their bottoms. Round Rock had this kind of temporary level out in November because that's when there was a rush to close on homes before it was announced that the tax credit was extended. More homes sold because there was more scrambling and pressure on the buyer's to not procrastinate and be decisive on a smaller inventory of attractive homes. Hence, the sellers' of those homes were more likely to get what they were asking for. Round Rock has a lower average sale price than Austin, so it was more affordable for the majority of the first-time home buyers.

It is the same case in Cedar Park. Average home prices are lower so we see the same little leveling out in November because of the first-time home buyer prevalence.

Although median home prices have dropped, I expect them to go back up again through the summer, as is typical. Despite single family home prices dropping, properties are still selling. Make no mistake about that. The average days on the market is up, so it may take a little longer to sell your house, but properties are still selling and if the product is good and in a desirable area, we're still seeing homes sell in the first two weeks. The important thing to remember is that although things are a little down from 2006-2007 in the Austin metro area, we haven't seen nearly the drop as the rest of the country. Austin has been resilient to say the least.