We are lucky in Austin that we are surrounding by so much green space, but with green space you can often find yourself dealing with uninvited furry guest.  These guests can create a lot of damage to your home and must be dealt with.  My neighborhood is surrounded by a greenbelt and one of my neighbors recently found themselves dealing with a very smart guest.

They were never able to trap and relocate this very smart lady, but she isn’t living in the attic any longer.

There are many steps you can take to avoid attracting squirrels, raccoon and other furry pests.

•  Take a look around the exterior of your house and see all the possible entry points and make sure they are covered by mesh.

• Do not leave dog or cat food outside for your pets.  That is as good as sending an engraved invitation to dinner for squirrels, raccoon and mice.

• Don’t put off dealing with a pest problem.  Once these critters make themselves at home they begin to breed and nest.  A small problem with a single pest can soon become a much bigger issue.

• Be sure to trap and remove the critter before closing up all of the possible entry points.  Otherwise you could end up with a smelly mess to locate and discard.

• After you have removed the critters and closed up your entry points be sure to clean up the area that they were living in to help prevent future infestation.   Sweep up droppings and shredded nesting material and dispose of them in sealed garbage bags.  Spray the area of the nest with a solution of one ounce of bleach per pint of water in a spray bottle.  Wash your hands thoroughly after the clean-up and change your clothing.

If you find yourself dealing with a critter that you are unable to get rid of on your own contact me, I have several companies that I am happy to recommend!

No, I’m not talking about joining Occupy Austin or taking to the streets with signs.  The deadline is fast approaching for you to protest your property’s tax appraised value if you live in Travis County.  If you think that you might want to protest, you must submit your request by midnight, May 31.  If you feel the market value for your home is less than the appraised value, you should consider appealing.

To start the process you must fill out a protest form.  After you have submitted the form, be prepared to wait.  It can take several months for the Travis County Appraisal District to schedule a hearing.  At this hearing, you will be presenting your evidence to the Appraisal Review Board.  The Board is made up of citizens, appointed by the appraisal district’s board of directors, who are authorized to resolve disputes between taxpayers and the appraisal district.  This board is a separate body from the Travis Central Appraisal District and has no role in the day-to-day operations of the appraisal district.  It does have the power to order the chief appraiser to change a value or correct the appraisal records.

At the hearing you will need to present the board with evidence that your home is overvalued.  One way to show this is to present recent sales data that supports your case.  Feel free to email me if you are interested in collecting some of this information.  If your home has condition issues that you feel affect the value, such as foundation problems, bring a copy of an engineer’s report or other supporting documents.  If you recently bought your home for less than the appraised value, a copy of your settlement statement should be sufficient to support your case.

The Office of the Comptroller’s has produced a short video that can help you plan on how to present your case!

Here are a few other tips provided by the appraisal district:

• Be on time and prepared for your hearing

• Stick to the facts of your presentation

• Keep it simple and well organized

• Stress key facts and figures

• Provide the ARB with facts and not with emotional arguments

Good luck!

We all know that you always need to be on the alert for scam artists, but I want to alert everyone to a couple areas where people who are in the stressful situations of moving or in the position to lose their home are being targets of these scammers.

Especially this time of year, there are a lot of people moving into new homes or apartments.  Be warned that there are an increasing number of people whose personal belongings have been taken on a permanent vacation by the moving company they hired.  There are illegal “moving companies” out there who are looking to take advantage of people during this busy, stressful time.  How can you protect yourself?  Always know who you are dealing with before starting a move.  All legitimate moving companies must display a valid Texas Department of Motor Vehicles or US Department of Transportation license number on their trucks.  You can check whether a company is license or not on the TXDMV website.  Get referrals from someone you know!  If you are preparing for a move, please contact me and I will be happy to provide you with a list of companies that my clients have had a positive experience with during their move.

Even more concerning are thieves who are targeting struggling homeowners.  According to the National Association of Realtors, foreclosure scams have risen 60% this year.  Often these scammers are passing themselves off as Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF) counselors.  Most of these scams are offering mortgage foreclosure avoidance assistance that the foundation provides at NO cost and they offer no meaningful services at all.  There are clues that homeowners can look for to identify whether or not these people are trustworthy.  For instance you should stay way from any company/person that:

Asks for any fee in advance to work with the homeowner’s lender to modify, refinance or reinstate a mortgage.

Guarantees they can stop a foreclosure or get the loan modified.

Advises the homeowner to stop paying their mortgage company and start paying them instead.

Pressures the homeowner to sign over the title to their home.

To ensure that you are dealing with a trained HPF counselor you should call HPF directly at 888-995-HOPE.

Does your old home need a face-lift to make it more appealing to buyers and maximize its value?

HGTV has a new show and is looking for homeowners in Austin who need to sell FAST.  The Property Brothers and their design experts help speed up the sale and get you into your new home.

Homeowners moving within the Austin area are invited to apply to have the Property Brothers provide a FREE renovation on their current home.

You must be outgoing, energetic and fun! They need dynamic homeowners who are willing to take on the challenge of renovating their new home along with the HGTV expert designers and contractors. You will be guided through the renovations by the show’s hosts: twin brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott.

If chosen for the show, the show will assist in the renovations and strategic staging needed to get your home ready to sell.

What an exciting opportunity!  If you are interested in applying contact me and I’ll be happy to provide you with an application!

I want to talk a bit about one of the tools on my website that you may not be familiar.  Of course you know you can search for homes and set up alerts to let you know the moment a new home that meets your criteria is up sale, but you may have overlooked the tab labeled Market Insider.  This is an exciting tool that gives you valuable, customized, and up-to-date information on real estate trends in your local communities. Whether you’re buying or selling a home, you’ll have access to the data you need to make informed decisions in this ever-changing market.

Market Insider offers a wealth of current information to help you make the best real estate decisions.

Local real estate market data including current listings and recent sales.

Easy to use charts that clarify local price and market inventory trends.

Side-by-side comparisons of areas by zip code.

Maps, charts and valuable insight into specific neighborhoods using income by household, criminal activity, education levels attained and weather risks.

Neighborhood points of interest including shopping, restaurants and healthcare services

School district summary information and a map/grid of individual schools for your zip code.

Tips to help you better understand the factors that impact the real estate market.

Become a Market Insider today!

It is that time of year!  The weather has warmed up, the flowers are starting to bloom and the days are getting longer.  This means if you are considering selling your home, now is the time to get it on the market.  The sooner the better if your home is in Central Texas.  Currently there is a 4-year low on the number of homes for sale in the area and in January there was a 10% increase in the number of homes sold when compared to January 2011.

The first step towards selling your house can be the hardest.  You must remove or disconnect your emotions from the process.  You need to think of your house as a real estate investment when getting ready to sell. You love your home and that is great, but you need to be able to look at your house with fresh eyes and make it a potential buyer’s dream home, not yours.  The first step is to make this conscious decision.

Once you feel comfortable with that step, it is time to tour your home with this fresh new perspective.  You want to de-clutter and de-personalize your home.  Do you have too much furniture in a room?  Are there family photos all over the place?  Will your paint choices appeal to a wide audience?  You may want to tour some other homes for sale in the area to get ideas on some of the best practices for preparing your home.

You may need to remove some furniture to give the appearance of the space being larger.  Throw away and give away what you can, but for those items you can’t part with, consider renting a storage facility temporarily and keep everything that you do not need out of the house.  This will give you a head start on the moving process as well!  You don’t want to stick all these items into closets or the garage. You want home buyers to see that your home has plenty of storage and with all of these items hidden away in your house it can look as if your house lacks storage.  It is best to remove them from the house if at all possible.

Consider repainting with neutral colors.  That bright yellow paint in your living room may be a bit too much for a home buyer.  Perhaps taking that yellow down a notch could make the room more appealing to someone searching for their new home.  Replace family photos with a few neutral art pieces.  Pack up your knickknacks and collections and keep your flat surfaces clear.  At the same time, look for any condition problems, a door that won’t close properly, scratches and dings, and kitchen cabinets that are falling off.  These items might be red flags to buyers and can keep you from getting the most from your real estate investment.

These only a few of the things that you need to think about when getting ready to sell your house.  Stay tuned for more home selling tips soon!

A good way to start is with an energy audit. Austin Energy has a directory of companies who provide Power Saver Programs in Austin. Any home older than 10 years old can benefit from an energy analysis.

Installing good-quality insulation not only helps save money but makes maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature much easier. A properly insulated home can reduce your energy needs by as much as 30%.

Another option is installing a programmable thermostat. These thermostats can cost you anywhere from $50 to $200 depending on the features. Austin Energy also has free thermostats available if you are willing to allow Austin Energy to coordinate the “cycling” of your AC on 10 to 15 summer afternoons when demand for electricity is highest.

One of the easiest ways to save electricity is to replace your existing incandescent lights with highly efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFL). These lights can save $100 a year on energy bills and last 10 times longer. There is another alternative, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps. LEDs are more expensive than CFLs and aren’t appropriate for all lighting needs, but they last 5 times longer than CFLs and are even more energy efficient.

Probably the most expensive item, but a major money saver is solar energy. Photovoltaic panels installed on a home’s roof can meet and even exceed a home’s energy needs and permit some residents to actually sell energy back to their utility company. Alternatively, you can spend less money but still take advantage of the sun’s energy by installing smaller solar units to power water heaters, outdoor lights and small appliances.

Austin Energy does have rebate programs available for many of these improvements making them more affordable. They also have some no interest loans available as well.  To check out these programs and for more tips visit Austin Energy’s Power Saver Program!

Here are a few of the improvements you can see a great return on your investment!

Siding Replacement (fiber-cement) – You can expect to spend approximately $13,000 to make this improvement, and you can expect to recoup 80% of that cost when you sell your home.  Also if your home is currently sided with wood you may be able to save some money on your home owners insurance!

Garage Door Replacement – Depending on the type of garage door you might spend $1,300 for this improvement.  You should recoup 84% of that cost at resale.

Window Replacement – If you are thinking about replacing your old windows with new vinyl windows, you may spend $15,000 to $18,000.  In addition to the energy savings you will see, you can expect to recoup 73% to 68% of that cost when you sell your home depending on the type of windows.

So what is a HUD owned home?  The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) oversees the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which provides federal insurance against default on home mortgages. If the payments are not made on an insured FHA loan, the bank forecloses then files an FHA insurance claim for the unpaid loan balance, and gives the title to the property to HUD. At this point, the house becomes a HUD owned home. HUD then sells the home to the open market to retain the cost of insurance on the home. Many times these homes are sold by HUD for less than their current market value. Making these homes a great option for home buyers.

Could you buy a property with just a $100 down payment? It is possible.  In October 2011, HUD began the $100 down payment program.  This program extends through October 2012.  The buyer must be an owner-occupant and must use FHA financing, 203b or 203K to purchase the home. In addition, the sale must be for the full amount of the current list price.

How can you get started?  The first-step is to get qualified for FHA financing.  Talk to your mortgage lender to get qualified. If you do not have a lender, contact me and I will recommend a few lenders that my clients have had good experiences with.

Once you are qualified, I will help you identify qualified HUD owned properties in your preferred neighborhoods and educate you on the rest of the process!

In November 2008, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) launched NAR’s Green Designation

The NAR developed this designation program to provide Realtors with advanced training and resources so that they may:

• Respond to growing consumer demand for green homes and buildings as well as green home and building features.

• Guide the discussion of green and sustainability as these issues relate to real estate.

• List and market as well as guide buyer clients in purchasing green homes and buildings.

• Incorporate green principles in their day-to-day practice.

This designation has provided me with the knowledge of green building principles for residential properties, developments and communities so that I can list, market and manage green properties as well as guide buyer-clients in purchasing green homes and buildings.

Through this designation and my membership with the US Green Building Council, I have built a team of professionals who can help you reach your green goals – energy efficiency, sustainability, and healthy living.

If you are looking to sell a home with green features or looking to buy an energy efficient, healthy home I can help you meet your real estate goals!