Austin Is An Opportunity

I ran across an article on Yahoo News Where The Richest People Live by Vanessa Wong, who based her article on information from Andrew Schiller, founder and chief executive of NeighborhoodScout.com   I really was not interested in where the richest people lived in this country but as I scanned the article I noticed Houston and Austin were mentioned.  River Oaks in Houston holds the title for the most expensive homes in Texas and then he mentions little ole Austin, which holds many titles, but not for the most expensive homes. Schiller notes that Austin real estate could have those high price tags. This information combined with all the TITLES (Green, Young, Jobs, etc.) Austin does hold -- should continue to fuel the city’s growth. 

 

Excerpts from the article:

“Size and style can determine much of a home's value, but other factors can weigh more heavily. Within a single city, the prices of similar homes can display huge differences depending on the area -- and even the street -- in which they are located. The two key drivers of value are access to work opportunities and access to amenities, says Andrew Schiller, founder and chief executive of NeighborhoodScout.com. A few streets' distance can make a difference in perceived proximity to school districts, recreational amenities, and transportation routes.”

“Exclusive communities migrate over the years as opportunities shift to new places. Beverly Hills did not develop until movie stars began moving there in the early 1900s, according to the city's website. While the most expensive place in Texas is currently the Afton Oaks-River Oaks section of Houston, whose median home value is about $1.7 million, Schiller predicts that prices in Austin will rise as government activity, job growth, and the University of Texas attract more home buyers to the area.”

“Neighborhoods near Austin and other emerging cities may not be expensive now, but the right combination of amenities and job opportunities might one day push them to the top of the price ladder.”

No April Fool's Joke - Huge Changes Coming in the Mortgage World

HUGE changes are coming this April 1^st in the mortgage industry!  If you have been thinking about buying or refinancing a home, I suggest you do it sooner than later. We all know that when changes like this take effect, the consumer is the one that hurts the most, ACT NOW!  We have ONE month to close your loan if we start now.

If you haven’t already, I recommend that you read this article (This is just ONE of the MANY changes coming up):

By Kenneth R. Harney

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates in the 5 percent range? Minimum down payments below 5 percent? Jumbo-size home loans for high-cost markets at regular interest rates? Kiss them good-bye - possibly sooner than you might guess.

Take a snapshot of today's mortgage market conditions and frame it, because it's highly likely you'll never see anything like these favorable combinations of rates and terms again. That's the inescapable conclusion emerging from the Obama administration's "white paper" on optional remedies for the two ailing giants of housing finance, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with events already underway in the national economy.

The administration's long-delayed housing report, released Feb. 11, drew a mix of catcalls and mild applause. Apartment developers praised the report's emphasis on expanding opportunities for people to rent their housing as opposed to the idea that home ownership is for everybody.

Big banks and their allies in Congress welcomed the prospect that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who together account for about 60 percent of the mortgage market but have cost taxpayers a net $150 billion in bailout money in the past three years, will be heading into oblivion.

Consumer and real estate industry groups lamented the phaseout of Fannie and Freddie, which supplied steady streams of mortgage money for decades despite their recent crashes.

The report offers not only options for Congress to consider in winding down the two companies but also recommendations on more immediate "transition" measures to achieve a smaller federal footprint in the mortgage market. Some of these transitional steps require no congressional approval and therefore are likely to affect borrowers and home buyers in the months ahead. Factor these changes into your timing for any loan application or purchase you're contemplating this year:

l Higher insurance fees on FHA mortgages - another quarter of a percentage point on annual premiums. That's vitally important to people with moderate incomes and assets, especially in the African American and Hispanic communities, where FHA loans are the dominant route to home ownership. The report also hints at a possible increase in minimum down payments for FHA, currently just 3.5 percent, but provides no specifics. Any change would require congressional approval.

l Significant reductions in maximum loan amounts later this year for FHA and conventional loans eligible for purchase by Fannie or Freddie, unless Congress votes to retain the current statutory $729,750 limit for high-cost areas before it expires Oct. 1. Loans above each local market's limit - whatever the reduced ceiling turns out to be - will be considered jumbos and come with higher interest rates from private lenders.

l Raising the fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders to guarantee pools of their mortgages for resale to bond investors. Lenders will automatically pass those on to borrowers as a cost of doing business. The report also calls for raising down-payment requirements at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to 10 percent.

l Retaining the controversial and costly add-on fees now charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that can increase the expense of obtaining even a moderate-size mortgage by thousands of dollars.

These add-ons now extend to applicants with FICO credit scores of 800 and above who are making substantial down payments. The white paper actually applauded the imposition of these fees, calling them one of several "first steps" on the path to weaning consumers off reliance on Fannie and Freddie for mortgage money.

The administration wants to not only wind down the two companies over the coming several years but also severely reduce the size of FHA's role, cutting its market share from about 30 percent to as low as 10 percent. Where will the buyers who depend upon FHA today for affordable financing turn when that sharp cut has been accomplished? That's not clear.

The white paper makes an oblique reference to a major issue bubbling on the back burner that could also push rates up: Regulators are debating what should and shouldn't be a "qualified residential mortgage" under the terms of last year's financial reform legislation. Loans that are not "qualified," in terms of down payment size and other criteria, will require extra investments by lenders when they pool them into bonds. That could raise rates for non qualified mortgages by as much as three percentage points.

Among the proposals: Make 20 percent to 30 percent down payments the minimum to meet the "qualified" test.

The worst-case scenario: If you only have enough money for a small down payment, you'll be charged significantly higher rates.

Bottom line: Get ready to pay more for mortgages, no matter what ultimately happens to Fannie and Freddie.

Texas economic growth moderate so far in 2011

Texas economic growth moderate so far in 2011

Austin Business Journal - by Barrett Goldsmith, Houston Business Journal
Date: Thursday, March 3, 2011, 9:15am CST

of 2011, fueled by continued strength in the energy sector that led to an
uptick in demand for staffing services, according to the latest Federal
Reserve Bank of Dallas Beige Book report.

The report, released March 2, said the manufacturing and non-financial
services sectors mostly saw gains, and that the commercial real estate
market improved slightly. However, the housing market remained sluggish, and
severe weather dampened a retail sector that was otherwise flat or slightly
improved.

The labor picture was slightly brighter. Some companies in accounting,
sales, legal services and energy services said they would expand their
payrolls in 2011. Wage pressures were minimal, with the exception of some
high-skilled positions.

As for the energy sector, the Dallas Fed said drilling activity remains
strong and that it has shifted away from natural gas and toward oil-directed
drilling. But it said unconventional shale plays are the dominant factor
driving U.S. activity. The rig count in the Gulf of Mexico edged up slightly
during the reporting period.

Intermodal transportation companies, which ship goods and materials via
multiple methods, reported declined cargo volumes thanks to weaker
international demand. Small-parcel shipments grew, as did railroad shipments
and container trade volume.

The commercial real estate sector sees an overall recovery beginning, but
the report said that recovery was still "fragile."

Anne

ANNE JOHNSON-CHEVERERE

Realtor(r)

512-917-5260 Cell 512-328-5151 Office 512-328-0404 Fax

Follow me on

LinkedIn Twitter

Facebook
HookemHomes.com

RE/MAX Austin Skyline 4611 Bee Caves Rd., Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78746 annejohnson@austin.rr.com anne@HookemHomes.com Google

The finest compliment I can ever receive is your referral. Please remember
me when your friends, family, and co-workers are thinking about buying or
selling residential and investment real estate.

This is a message from the MailScanner E-Mail Virus Protection Service
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The original e-mail attachment "winmail.dat"
was believed to be dangerous and/or infected by a virus and has been
replaced by this warning message.

Due to limitations placed on us by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act 2000, we were unable to keep a copy of the infected attachment. Please
ask the sender of the message to disinfect their original version and send
you a clean copy.

At Fri Mar 4 13:11:06 2011 the scanner said:
Could not parse Outlook Rich Text attachment

Posted via email from annejohnson's posterous

APARTMENT OCCUPANCY, RENTS UP IN JANUARY

If you are an owner/investor - this is great news. If you are a renter -
not so good. APARTMENT OCCUPANCY, RENTS UP IN JANUARY

CARROLLTON (ALN Apartment Data) - Apartment occupancy and rents were up in
January throughout the Texas markets covered by ALN Apartment Data.

Here is how eight Texas cities fared overall in January, according to ALN.

Occupancy,
January 2011

Change from
January 2010

Effective Rent,
January 2011

Change from
January 2010

Austin

93.6%

up 5.1%

$838

up 6.5%
Dallas

90.4%

up 4.2%

$773

up 2.5%

Fort Worth

89.2%

up 3.6%

$675

up 2.2%

Houston

87.3%

up 2.9%

$747

up 0.3%

San Antonio

90.5%

up 3.4%

$704

up 2.7%

Lubbock

92.8%

up 3.1%

$623

up 2.2%

Amarillo

91.7%

up 3%

$596

up 1.4%

Abilene

92.8%

up 2.1%

$588

up 1.3%

Corpus Christi

91.6%

up 3%

$696

up 3.1%

Anne

ANNE JOHNSON-CHEVERERE

Realtor(r)

512-917-5260 Cell 512-328-5151 Office 512-328-0404 Fax

Follow me on

LinkedIn Twitter

Facebook
HookemHomes.com

RE/MAX Austin Skyline 4611 Bee Caves Rd., Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78746 annejohnson@austin.rr.com anne@HookemHomes.com Google

The finest compliment I can ever receive is your referral. Please remember
me when your friends, family, and co-workers are thinking about buying or
selling residential and investment real estate.

This is a message from the MailScanner E-Mail Virus Protection Service
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The original e-mail attachment "winmail.dat"
was believed to be dangerous and/or infected by a virus and has been
replaced by this warning message.

Due to limitations placed on us by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act 2000, we were unable to keep a copy of the infected attachment. Please
ask the sender of the message to disinfect their original version and send
you a clean copy.

At Tue Mar 1 14:49:40 2011 the scanner said:
Could not parse Outlook Rich Text attachment

Posted via email from annejohnson's posterous