Well, today I became an official Verizon Wireless customer.  I've been a diehard Sprint / Nextel customer for almost 10 years.  However, we currently live in a Sprint Dead Zone and I dislocated my shoulder on Tuesday.  I can't live without cell service so the injury hastened the decision.  Bye Bye Sprint, and Hello Verizon.  The phones came at noon today and there are some slight differences in the handsets.  The battery covers are of different design.  The Verizon cover is matte and has a waffle pattern in the middle.  The Sprint battery cover is shiny all over.  The only other difference is that the Verizon version comes with a 2GB SD card and the Sprint ships with a 1GB SD card. So clearly I can handle more media with Verizon.    Sprint has Sprint TV but TV is not currently an option... 09/19/2009

Hey Mr. Seller: My buyers didn't buy your house and they could have done so.  We prepared for weeks for their trip to the  Austin area.  I sent them listings, we narrowed down the list. We had a full loan approval.  All we needed to do was find the house.  They flew in on Thursday evening to see 13 homes.  I asked for permission to pick one listing myself.  They agreed.  I chose your house.  It's a lovely home.  It shows very well. It fit their criteria.  We had seen 8 homes when we arrived at yours.  My buyer stood in your doorway and smiled telling me this could be the one.  We continued our journey and came back later in the day for a second look. I did my market analysis on Friday evening and this is what  I discovered.  Your home is the largest in the subdivision.  You chose to hav... 09/13/2009

They come in the night.  The cement trucks.  It has been so hot and dry here that they have been pouring the concrete for the new skate park under the cover of darkness.  I took these pictures a few days ago before all the rain started.  Then I drove back into the Benbrook Ranch and had to avoid kids skate boarding in the street.   They are sure going to have fun when this opens and the neighborhood will soon have an appropriate place for this sport.  09/12/2009

Yesterday I posted about a recent short sale success story.  Boogie Boogie!!!  This morning I got a call from an investor in the 954 area code.  He wants to work with me. Thrills!!!  He wants me to steer him to properties that are worth 300K and he will do his own negotiating to buy them  at 200K.  He offered me half the profit on a resale and a listing commission.  What did he want me to do?  He said I could be the BPO agent and supply the value that was needed for him to buy the property.  He said I could find the properties before I list them and then contact him.    Hmmmm!  He said his purchase would be a cash transaction and he would prepare a HUD-1 for the bank.  Hmmmm?  I protested that I really did not want to do business that way.  He said I didn't understand his business model... 09/05/2009

It came today, an approval letter and HUD Form 90045 on one of my listings and I am elated and I danced around the room.  Boogie Boogie!!!  We will be closing sometime next week.    I have handled short sales for years, long before the mortgage melt down.  I have developed my own set of procedures and checklists to aid in the process.   I give potential clients my criteria for accepting them into my program at our first meeting.   I listen carefully.  Do they really want to sell or do they want a loan modification?  Are they wiling to provide  and sign a letter of authorization to allow me to talk to their mortgage company?   Will they provide me with the information necessary to do my job properly?  Are they willing to provide things like their pay stubs,  bank statements,  tax returns... 09/04/2009

Here is an update on the city's progress on completion of the Benbrook Ranch Skate Park currently under construction. From the picture you can now see the ramps starting to take shape. The Skate Park is due to be completed in late September, about the time that the road construction is to be completed at 2243 and Bagdad Road.  08/23/2009

Animoto.com on Active Rain - How to do it.  Well, I've been a real fan of animoto.com for almost 2 years and have an all-access pass which costs $30.00 per year.  They do have some more expensive options now for Realtors but I'm not biting.   I don't care if the video says animoto.com at the end.  My information is embedded in the video.  But I still love Animoto.com. They make creating a video super easy. All you do is select your pictures, drop in your graphics, choose some music and their engine does the rest. For the last couple of days I have been playing around with how to post a video here.  It seems there is no easy way to do it directly from Animoto.com.  But if I upload the video to youtube I can then use their code to embed the video here.  It doesn't work if you embed the an... 08/08/2009

 Well tonighit from 6-9 I am going to participate in National Night out.  Once a year on the first Tuesday in August this event is held all over the country.  What happens?  Well besides fun and games and a cake walk , our subdivision tries to forge new relationships between the police and fire departments and we try to meet our neighbors.  The focus is on forging new relationships and improving relationships between the residens  in our neighborhood and the police departments and fire departments   This interaction between goups and the police can generate awareness of crime and drug prevention activities. In support of National Night Out all of us are turning on our porch lights.  So if you live in Benbrook Ranch come on over to the pool and join us.  We are having food,  lots of acti... 08/04/2009

We moved to Texas almost 2 years ago and I am still often asked why?  There were lots of reasons!  First of all there are 4 seasons in Texas and they are Summer, Feels like Summer, Almost Summer and Christmas.  it never really gets cold here.  The weather around the Austin area is hot in the summer.  We've had the hottest July on record this year.  I haven't noticed the humidity.  We live on the edge of Texas Hill Country so there are lots of things to do.  I'm only 3 hours from the beach.  I can visit a winery within a half hour drive.  I've seen my first armadillo.  Texas jack rabbits are really weird creatures.  There are any number of museums within a 30 minute drive and then there is the music.  Austin Rocks all the time.  We've been to South by Southwest and it was wonderful.   I'... 08/03/2009

 Southern's Pizza and Sports Pub - Leander, Texas is located at the corner of Crystal Falls Parkway and Route 183 in the same strip mall as the new Starbucks but at the other end of the buiding.  We went in here on a lark because there aren't a lot of pizza restaurants in Leander.  We do have the chain pizza stores but very few family-owned ones.  This one is new and we have ventured in on 3 occasions now.  It has become one of our favorite places to chow down.    The pizza is yummy and the dough is made fresh on-site daily.  They use high quality cheese and it is spread from end to end on the pizza.  It doesn't have that plastic taste.  It is real cheese and very good.  Not only do they have great pizza they have cheap beer and wine at $3.00 per glass.  Not too shabby on the prices.  T... 08/03/2009

A. C. Bible Stadium - Leander High School - I have been watching the progress of the new stadium at Leander High School and it looks like it will be ready when school opens in August.  This picture was taken this morning and shows the home team side of the stadium.  For those of you who remember the original stadium was torn down at the end of last season.  It was originally from Odessa, Texas and moved in pieces to Leander years ago.  With the huge growth in the area Leander needed more stadium room.  This new stadium will seat 14,000 people on any given Friday night.   Here is a picture of the digs for the visiting teams.  Not quite as nice but still an improvement over what was there before.  I can't wait for football season to start!!!  07/31/2009

HEB Plus Grocery Store Leander, Texas. I've  been living here in Texas for about 2 years now.  Before we moved down here we came and looked at real estate with a local agent and I was doing my thing online with Realtor.com looking for homes.  I would read the ads and try to get a feel for the neighborhoods.  When we were looking at homes here the ads would say "Close to HEB." We didn't want to appear stupid so we never asked our agent what that was. We soon found out!!! Oh, yeah!!! HEB is a chain of Texas Grocery stores that are to die for! (really) The one closest to our house is an HEB Plus. What does that mean? Well we have a pharmacy, a garden center, a dry goods store, as well as some of the freshest meat and fish I have ever seen. The produce section has fruits I have never heard ... 07/30/2009

The new Skate Park in Benbrook Ranch Park is now under construction.  The completion date is scheduled for sometime in September probably about the same time that the road work is completed at 2243 and Bagdad Road.  Those of us who drive along Halsey Drive to reach #183 can watch the construction progress on a daily basis.  The picture below was taken this morning.  07/30/2009

Benbrook Ranch Park which is located in located in the Benbrook Ranch Community between the North section  and the original subdivision.  It is receiving some very exciting improvements.   For years the development plan has called for a skate park to be built on the site but it has never materialized because of lack of funds.  Not anymore.  The ground has been broken and digging is going on.  The new skate park will be located close to the entrance  along Bagdad Road and sits  very close to the playscape   07/30/2009

The Cedar Park & Leander Real Estate Market:   The average sales price in this area is up 1.4% from last year to $213,340.  Single family home sales have decreased 19.5% for the year and the months of inventory is stable at 5.8 months, which favors buyers slightly.  There are 775 active listings, down 5.6% compared to year ago.  This area is in the top 25 markets. Mary Battaglia CRS    Austin, Texas real estate 07/29/2009

Changing Your Ranking on Active Rain. As a Newbie on Active Rain I'm trolling around trying to figure out how to increase my ranking for my area and I discovered some interesting information.   First,  sprucing up my profile.  I added some testimonials and watched my score increase a few hundred points, all for taking the time to tell others why my clients like and recommend me.  Easy Peasy.  (Pun on my name( I'm checking my rank and realize that I serve more than one primary area.  I serve my market out of the  Cedar Park / Leander market Center for Keller Williams Realty.  In Cedar Park I am ranked #4 on Active Rain.  I changed my primary market to Leander and lo and behold!!!!  I am now a featured agent and ranked number 1!!!   So I will probably hang out here for awhile and see if I... 07/27/2009

    Located 1/2 mile north of the intersection of 2243 and Bagdad Road, the Benbrook Ranch community has much to offer. This area is a DR Horton community and has many community features. There are two parks that separate the Benbrook Ranch North from Benbrook Ranch's main area. The parks feature a newly constructed skate park, a children's playscape, an 18 hole frisbee golf course, as well as baseball diamonds and soccer areas. The listing at 915 Middle Brook has a video tour below. It is typical of the homes in the community. The community is 1 mile from the new Cap Metro Rail station which will soon offer light rail service from Leander to downtown Austin.  It is also 1 mile to an entry point to the new toll road 183A.  Leander is a growing community located on the edge of Texas Hil... 07/27/2009

Search for Leander Texas homes Home in Block House Creek 07/23/2009

One of my interests in weather and here in Texas it can get pretty wild at times.  We now have a Davis Vantage Pro weather station in our backyard in Leander Texas.  The station is wireless and transmits into the house and from there it is uploaded to the website www.LeanderWeather.com  every 10 seconds.  What does this all mean?  Well you don't have to pay much for placement on the search engines for weather related information.  WeatherUnderGround.com will post it for free.  Relocating clients want to know about neighborhoods and schools, but they also want to know about traffic and weather.  So if you don't want to put up a weather station get something like weatherbug.com and get a badge for your website. Be the source of the information!   Who knows?  It might indirectly link to my... 07/13/2009

Price: $199,000 FIZBER.com ID 11646568 Single Family with 4 bed, 2.0 bath, in 602 Meadow View Drive Leander, TX, 78641 http://www.fizber.com/11646568/ 602 Meadow View Drive - For Sale By Owner Property Details: Type: Single Family Address: 602 Meadow View Drive, Leander, TX, 78641 Sq footage: 2649.0 Floors: n/a Bathrooms: 2.0 Bedrooms: 4 Year built: 1994 View full property details and seller's contacts. View more Texas homes for sale. Homes for Sale by Owner. Description: This home is vacant and available to view at anytime, to get directions please visit GreatHomes512.com This Home Qualifies for the $8,000 Government Tax Credit!!! Price: $199,000 4 Bedrooms & 2 Bathrooms 2,649 Square Feet - Built In 1994 Brand New Roof Home has a beautiful deck outside. In all of Leander, this is the ... 07/10/2009