Here's Looking At You...

Wife Judy saw her eye surgeon this morning, and it was good news so far; the procedure seemed to have been as successful as we hoped to this point. Of course, the ultimate test will be over the next 6 - 8 weeks, when her sight in that eye will either recover, or it will not. After two surgeries in two weeks, and 7 days of keeping her face turned down to allow proper healing, she was delighted to be again among the vertical. This joy was, of course, tempered by the knowledge that the final result will not be known for weeks, but it was real enough to us both that we celebrated with a spontaneous lunch downtown.

This ability to accept whatever promise is held out to us rather than to respond only to ultimate results is what allows us to function in everyday life. Setbacks come along all too often with no immediate conclusion to relieve our concerns, yet the days and weeks and months must be met and dealt with, and maybe even enjoyed in spite of lingering doubts. Some call this hope, others optimism; I think of it as equilibrium, a balancing of misfortunes that may come with whatever currently gives us energy, an inner lift, a spark of belief that we can and will deal with most anything one way or another.

Deciding to enter the home buying fray in our current market, with uncertain financing, continued drops in market values in some parts of the country (not so much in Austin, I am pleased to say), weak employment realities for many, is something like that. So many variables, conflicting advice, disagreement among the TV talking heads, daily bad news about bank failures and layoffs. How can we ever come to a reasonable decision, a balanced review of our chances at finding the home you want, understanding the most accurate value relative to current and future markets, getting qualified for a loan, knowing what the many purchase options are among short sales, REO and the like, and do I want to consider them? There is no easy answer for these questions, but there is certainly a reliably wise decision to be made: find an experienced real estate professional whom you can trust, and with whom you can communicate. He or she can and will help you navigate through the fog of today's home-buying confusion, and even help you decide just what it is you really do want.

With today's low interest rates expected to go up soon, home prices lower than in years, a huge inventory of homes on the market, this is the best environment most of us will ever see again for buying a home. The positives far outweigh the negatives for most buyers. Make the decision, call the real estate broker or agent of your choice soon.

Trust, But Verify?

Who said that? Was it Reagan? No matter, it does have the ring of 'truthiness' to it, as a currently popular TV comic says. But it also has a significant dose of cynicism, doesn't it? It doesn't specify just a particular class of people to 'verify' before trusting, it states that all trust must be reviewed as a matter of course. If followed dogmatically, such a philosophy would just about paralyze all human interaction, wouldn't it?

How could you leave home without checking back every time on the significant other? How could you trust your kids to come home from school every day without getting into trouble without unfailingly following them? Could you really leave your car keys with the parking valet without riding with him in the passenger seat? How about all of those people who handle your food in restaurants, or in stores, or on farms, or on the delivery trucks? Are you going to 'verify' your institutional trust in their innate good will and sense of decency, or find a way to check up on every facet of food handling? Hire inspectors? Who will check the inspectors for you?

We trust without verifying every day, and nearly every hour of every day, in some way. In the real world we license professionals of many industries to ensure at least a reasonable expectation of competence. Police, attorneys, teachers, doctors, dentists, engineers, architects, electricians, and even real estate practitioners, among many others, require licensing and a minimum level of continuing professional training to remain licensed. But none of this ensures that a particular licensee has all of the qualifications or qualities you need or want for a particular job. Is he enthusiastic? Friendly? Dedicated? Knowledgable? Have good communication skills?

This is where 'verify' makes sense. A personal reference, or even a review of comparable work experiences can go a long way toward helping you select the right individual to represent you.

After over 25 years in my profession of real estate, I can provide as many references as needed to reassure a potential client of my capabilities. Feel welcome to contact us and ask for such information.

Jack Josey Newman

About TIme...

Palestinians are firing rockets at the Israelis, who are attacking the Palestians, who are supported mainly by Iran, who is also supporting the Iraq and Afghanistan bombers, who are also occupying Pakistan, whose suicide fanatics attacked India, the latter two nations of which have nuclear weapons.

And we are really concerned about the economy and an Illinois governor who has an extremely bad haircut and worse judgement about when and where to plan shakedowns, right? Heck, the economy hurts us right here and right now, and that other stuff is sort of like tsunamis, or massively overloaded ferrys that overturn and drown hundreds of people. Great conversation starters, good for head-shaking, but nothing we can do much about, directly. Well, I don't have a plan for avoiding future ocean-borne disasters either, so isn't the state of real estate a real mess?

Here in Texas we are apparently doing pretty well compared to most other areas. That's what we hear, anyway. You tell a seller, someone who bought a property from you just a couple of years ago, who needs to get out from under that now-anchor pulling resources and credit ever deeper, that even with new paint and fixing-up, that house with ugly carpet and no-bathtub-only-a-shower has little chance to sell anytime soon. Prices are dropping steadily in most places here, and unless a property is clean and 'special', price is all there is to compete with. In a market with so many foreclosures and pre-foreclosures and just-rented-to-hang-on-as-long-as-we-cans, both sales and leasing prices are affected, and not in a owner-favorable way.

Of course, the best option is to hold the property if possible, continue to occupy it, until real estate recovers. When not possible, and a lease is not the answer either, a seller absolutely needs the advice and assistance of an experienced individual to help make the decisions on preparing the house and grounds for market, within the sellers' available budget, priced very competitively and targeted at the most likely buyers for that property. This process will determine the chance for successfully selling the house within a reasonable time frame.

Usually this advice will be obtained from an active real estate agent who knows something about the area, has had experience with different markets, who can explain various ways to increase the appeal to buyers, and who has some skill in estimating the costs of property preparation and how such work would affect the sales price. Not all agents have all of these skills and abilities.

Since 1983, I have been active in Austin real estate, and that includes every market cycle, up or down. I have been a residential appraiser, and although I am not currently licensed as an appraiser, I certainly retain that knowledge. I have owned an investment-property management company since 1986, and have long experience with house repairs and their costs. Over 25 years worth of clients have taught me what buyers look for and what they must have before they will make an offer. When it's time to negotiate, I excel at advising clients on their options at every stage. I personally follow each pending deal through the maze of timelines and important deadlines, to a successful close. All of my clients are important, and all get my full attention.

Since we can't solve the world's most serious problems from here, let's focus on your real estate issues. We can deal with those.

Jack Josey Newman