Allandale is the name of a lovely neighborhood in central Austin, although the area was originally considered to be northwest Austin, before Austin’s expansion into a large metropolitan area. Allandale recently celebrated its 35th anniversary as an active central Austin community, and the Allandale Neighborhood Association has been a presence in the neighborhood since 1973. Currently, Allandale is home to over 21,000 residents, and two of the boundaries of the neighborhood are the MoPac Expressway and Burnet Road, which form the western and eastern perimeters, respectively.

Typical residences in Allandale are three to four bedroom single family homes, most within the $250,000 to $300,000 price range, although more and less expensive housing can be found too. The students in Allendale attend Austin Independent School District schools, and there is an elementary school named Gullet Elementary, as well as a middle school named Lamar and a high school named McAllen High School. Allandale has the 28th largest neighborhood association in Austin, and there is an activity center named the Northwest Recreation Center which is ideal for indoor as well as outdoor sporting activities. The Allandale Neighborhood’s other borders are generally considered to be Anderson Lane and Hancock Drive, as well as Shoal Creek, and the neighborhood is chock full of restaurants, shopping, and various types of dwellings.

The roots of the Allandale neighborhood go back to the 1930s, and at that time, it was considered to be a suburb outside of Austin proper. George Davis was the original owner of most of the land in the neighborhood, and he obtained the land from the President of the Republic of Texas in 1841. A grant of over 3,100 acres was given to him in exchange for his service in the battle of San Jacinto, and some of his descendants still live in the neighborhood today. The Davis family also has a family cemetery on Vine Street to this day.

Housing is slightly more expensive in the neighborhood than in some areas of Austin, and the vintage homes from the 1940s and 1950s frequently boast mature landscaping with large yards, a perfect setting for families with children. There are fixer-uppers to be found in the neighborhood too, along with apartments and duplexes, among other choices. Since Shoal Creek, with its numerous parks and hike and bike trails, runs along the Allandale neighborhood, there is plenty to do from a standpoint of recreation as well.

Some of the eateries in the Allandale area include Phil's Icehouse, Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, and Amy's Ice Cream, all local hotspots, as well as many popular family restaurants, including the Hang Town Grill, and the Frisco, which occupied the same location on Burnet for years until it recently closed. A popular park in the neighborhood is named Beverly Sheffield Park, and the park is adjacent to Shoal Creek, and has a beautiful duck pond as well as an Olympic sized swimming pool. The park also includes picnic sites, barbecue pits, ball fields, tennis courts, and a fishing pier, and is a home away from home for the children of the area.

Escapeso helps buyers and investors looking for Austin real estate. Their website provides a map based search of the Austin MLS and updated market statistics on their Austin real estate blog.

Regardless of whether it's across the country or across town, moving is a stressful, expensive and time-consuming event. It requires extensive planning, organization, and a lot of physical activity. While there is no easy way to move house, there are several things you can do to simplify the process and reduce the amount of stress on yourself.

First things first: identify a target moving date. You'll want to take a variety of factors into consideration when determining your moving timeframe, such as work schedules if you're changing employment, school schedules for your kids, housing considerations such as rent or lease terms, and even the weather. A good rule of thumb is to give yourself a two-to-three week window to complete your entire move, from packing and cleaning your current residence, to moving itself, to unpacking and organizing in your new home.

Summer is always a peak moving time—particularly for families, as it provides for minimal interruption in kids' school schedules—but it’s also typically the hottest and least physically comfortable time of year to be doing all that heavy lifting. While unpleasant, blistering heat is not likely to be a deal breaker, but it is worth taking into consideration (scheduling your move for late May as opposed to mid-July, for example, could make a significant difference).

Once you've worked out a timeframe for your move, it's time to take inventory of your home. The most important part of this process is identifying what to keep, and what to get rid of before the move—there is no sense in moving items you don't plan on keeping long-term. A good way to determine what to keep and what to lose is to divide your household into three categories: 'Must Keep,' 'May Keep,' and 'Don't Need.' Once you’ve gotten rid of the 'Don't Need' items, go back through the 'May Keep' piles and eliminate everything you can.

If you're having trouble knowing when to let go of something, apply the six-month test: If it hasn't been used in the past six-months, you don’t need it (the exception here, of course, would be season items like winter coats, box fans, etc., that aren't intended for use year-round). Tip: Don’t automatically throw things you no longer need away—there are plenty of charity organizations that are constantly accepting donations of all kinds to help others in the community, and they would be happy to have your unwanted items. Plus, you can write off the donations for a nice tax break next April.

Now that your household is organized and you've done a thorough inventory of everything that will be making the move with you, it's time to start thinking about the logistics of actually moving it all. The easiest way to do it (but also the most expensive) is to hire a full-service moving company (*Note: Be sure to shop around for the best rate, and check out customer reviews online to make sure you choose a reputable company that won’t rip you off). They’ll come to your house, pack everything up, ship it off for you, and unpack at your new home. The next option—a bit more time consuming and work-intensive on your part, but certainly less expensive—is to pack and unpack yourself, but hire movers for the heavy lifting and physical transportation part of the process. All you have to pay for is the time they spend physically moving your possessions.

A third option would be to rent a truck and pack, lift and move everything yourself. There are plenty of truck rental services designed just for these kinds of projects, and their rates are typically very reasonable (although rising gas prices may make this option slightly less appealing). Finally, if you're determined to spend as little as possible, get a group of kind-hearted friends—and their cars—together and make moving a group activity. You can typically get away with a small payment to each helper, or the cost of dinner for the group. This is certainly the most labor-intensive option, but it won't cost you much at all.

Once you've chosen the right moving method for you, get everything planned out and scheduled at least 4-6 weeks in advance. Also, it's a good idea to begin the organization and overall move-out process as early as possible, so as to avoid having to cram it all—packing, cleaning, moving—into a few days or a weekend. Hit your local grocery or wholesale store to pick up empty boxes for free and pack up seasonal items and other things you don't use on a daily basis early on—fancy china, extra bedding, etc. While prolonging the moving process isn't exactly fun, spacing the massive task out will significantly reduce your stress level and help you feel more relaxed, prepared and in control of the process.

No matter how well you prepare, moving is always at least somewhat stressful, so do what you can to reduce that stress ahead of time, breathe deeply, and remember: it will be over before you know it.

Ki provides information on Austin real estate for buyers and sellers investigating the Austin market. His site has a search of the Austin MLS and information on Austin area neighborhoods.

Charming pockets of single family homes are studded throughout this hidden gem of a neighborhood, and although certain parts of the area are given over to apartment complexes, duplexes and fourplexes, this is an overlooked area with enormous potential. Bounded by I35 to the west, Ben White to the south, Riverside to the north, and Montopolis to the east, this rising star offers a wide range of restaurants, a big park with loads of amenities, an ACC campus, and the promise of an area on the way up.

Both Burleson and Parker streets, two of the main north-south arteries between Oltorf and Ben White/Riverside, have many smaller streets branching off, and these streets hold mature trees, a wide array of single family homes, and a feeling of being in a secret oasis. Prices are still extremely reasonable here, and there is easy access to central Austin, as well as Ben White and I35. Following Oltorf east past Pleasant Valley, the homes are newer, with manicured lawns and a more suburban feel.

Both Oltorf and Riverside offer an abundance of restaurants, from Vietnamese at Hai Ky, Indonesian at Java Noodles, Middle Eastern at Jerusalem, Italian at Aljohn’s, or the many great Mexican places in the area, including La Tapatia, Taqueria Vallarta, El Regio, and many more. Rapidly becoming the cultural center of the area is Café Ventana, an expansive coffee shop with a wide range of offerings and a large area for relaxing, meeting, or working on your computer.

Mabel Davis District Park, recently reopened after major renovations, provides a wonderful outdoor sanctuary in this urban setting. Close to 50 acres, including 30 acres of open green space, provide room for sports, picnics, and other activities. The park also has a basketball court, an olympic-size swimming pool, a great playscape, and a good sized picnic area with shade. To the great delight of teen aged boys, the first skate park in Austin was opened here in 2005, featuring a skate bowl, streetscape elements and lawn for nervous parents to observe.

Also on the horizon is the Roy Guerrero Colorado River Park, in the northeast corner of the area. Work is schedule to begin on this undeveloped tract, and the master plan includes trails, a large playscape, and as much acreage as Zilker Park, providing lots of open space. Also located in the neighborhood are the Riverside Golf Course, and the Krieg Field Softball complex.

This area provides both an urban feel, with the shopping, restaurants and businesses located on Riverside and Oltorf, and an idyllic, quiet, residential feel, with winding streets and hills tucked away from the hustle and bustle. With businesses looking more and more to Southeast Austin for development opportunities, this area is on the verge of becoming one of the hot-spots in town.

Escapeso Austin real estate operates in Austin Texas. Their website has information for buyers interested in Austin about Austin homes and Austin neighborhoods.

Pemberton Heights is the name of a beautiful and historic area of Old West Austin, centrally located and convenient to downtown, the University of Texas campus, and the State Capitol complex, as well as easily accessible by the MoPac Expressway, also known as Loop One. The gateway to Pemberton Heights is considered to be the Keith House, at 2400 Harris, and this historic home was built in 1933 and has an unobstructed view of the Texas Capitol building from the front balcony, since it is located in the northern area of Austin’s State Capitol view zone. The Keith House was exhibits characteristics of both the Monterey Revival style as well as the Colonial Revival Style, with a wooden balcony and low-pitched roof, as well as varied exterior wall materials. This home is considered to be the earliest example of the Monterey Revival Style in the Austin area, and has chimneys at the gable ends, a central hallway, and shutters throughout, illustrating the Colonial Revival style. Two other historic and majestic homes in the neighborhood are Pemberton Castle, also known as the Fisher-Gideon home, at 1415 Wooldridge Drive, and the Catterall Mills House, at 2524 Harris, very near the Keith House.

Pemberton Castle is a limestone structure, with ivy-covered walls, which was built in 1926 from the remnants of an old cistern that was built on the spot in the late 1800s, and which was originally used to help Austin’s first fire fighters access water in the area. The home was originally owned by Judge John Harris, of Galveston, who was one of the earliest settlers to the area, and for whom Harris Boulevard is named. Harris was the Attorney General of Texas in the 1940s under then-governor Elisha Pease, for whom Pease Park is named, and Pease and Harris were real estate partners at the time. In 1925, the tower of the home was converted into a gothic structure by Samuel Fisher and his wife, Lucille.

The neighborhood was named Pemberton Heights about the same time, in 1927, when the developers filed a plat with the Travis County Clerk’s office for the first home in the new subdivision to be called Pemberton Heights. Shortly thereafter, the Castle became the sales office for the new development.

The Catterall Mills House was built in 1937 in the style of Early American Georgian Revival, and it is a plain, symmetrical, wooden structure covered with red wood siding. The home was bought by the Chester Family in 1999, and features some very unusual architectural amenities, including a bomb shelter built in the backyard during the Cold War. There is also an Italian marble fireplace and many stained-glass windows throughout the home.

Pemberton Heights roughly encompasses the area from the intersection of MoPac and Windsor, south along Windsor Rd., and north along Shoal Creek to 29th Street. The street which encompasses the eastern edge is Harris Boulevard, which eventually intersects with Northwood and then Jefferson. Westover Road is considered the last bordering street of the neighborhood, and the land contained within these boundaries is generally considered to be Pemberton Heights. The subdivision is considered to be one of the most prestigious as well as livable neighborhoods in Austin for a variety of reasons.

The Pemberton Heights subdivision was named in the 1998 issue of Town and Country magazine as one of the twenty-five Platinum Addresses in the United States, and in 2007, this neighborhood, along with its Old West Austin counterparts, was named by the American Planning Association as one of its “Great Places” neighborhoods. There is a very active neighborhood association in the subdivision, open to all residents, and some of the issues they are involved with include the preservation of trees and other foliage, less expansion by the MoPac into the neighborhood, and retaining the historic character, as well as creating and maintaining a pedestrian friendly environment in Pemberton Heights, which is also considered to be a very family-friendly area.

Today, residents and visitors can become knowledgeable about issues by reading the Pemberton Journal, which is published by the neighborhood association, and the subdivision has numerous single-family dwellings for sale and rent as well as condominiums and apartments available for rent. Pemberton Heights is one of the most desirable locations to live in Austin, and is minutes from downtown and various other attractions. If you are looking for the good life, Pemberton Heights has it all.

Ki works in the Austin real estate market. His site has a free search of the Austin MLS and information on mortgage interest rates.

Do you love the beauty and color of flowers but cringe at the thought of the maintenance required for their upkeep? If your colorful blooms have a tendency to turn brown and crunchy from neglect in the hot Austin sun, there may be some flowers made just for you. Flora native or adapted to the Austin area thrive where others perish, resisting drought, pests and other hazards. Just choose your plants wisely and you can have fabulous landscaping for your property with little work.

There are many benefits to growing native plants. In addition to saving on water and fertilizer you save on time by choosing plants that thrive in the unique climate of Austin Texas. Your gardening is also more enjoyable when you are not fighting mother nature in an attempt to grow plants that are not suited to the Texas Climate. It is also nice to help maintain the original ecosystem of your locale by promoting local plants and flowers.

Perennials are an essential part of a vibrant landscape, and a beautiful choice for any Texas flowerbed is Cedar Sage. A shade lover, Cedar Sage has bright red spiky flowers that bloom spring through summer and can bring a pop of color to an otherwise gloomy spot in your yard. Sage comes in several other varieties, too, including Majestic Sage, Mealy Blue Sage and Mexican Sage bush—all of which produce beautiful flowers and require very little water, just like Cedar Sage.

Trailing Lantana is another great choice, especially when used as a ground cover. It is very tolerant of poor conditions, highly drought resistant, and its lavender flowers are very attractive to butterflies.

Purple Cone Flowers, also know as Echinacea, require a little more water than the previous plants, but they are nonetheless exceptional specimens for an Austin garden. These daisy-like flowers are a Texas native and produce violet or white blooms. Preferring sun or partial shade, they can be planted almost anywhere.

Mexican Honeysuckle is another low-water plant. It displays its orange flowers spring to frost, attracting hummingbirds with its sweet smell. It only requires an occasional pruning to encourage full growth.

Ornamental grasses are another option for sprucing up your landscape, and there are many hardy varieties to choose from, such as Big Muhly, Little Bluestem and Dwarf Fountain Grass. Some grasses can be quite invasive, so be careful where you plant them, because they will thrive and take over.

These are only a few of the many ideal plants for your Texas landscape. There are a multitude of choices available out there, so next time you go to a nursery, make sure you do your homework first or ask the people running the nursery which plants and flowers are native to Texas. The city of Austin has worked to promote a green and environmentally friendly city. The city of Austin has a Grow Green plant list featuring native and adapted landscape plants that thrive in Texas. By planting smart you can save water, fertilizer and time.

Ki works as a realtor in the central Austin real estate market helping individuals looking for homes as well as investors looking for cashflow properties. His site provides a free search of the Austin MLS along with a blog covering news and statistics on the Austin Texas real estate market.

A fireplace is meant to be the centerpiece of your living space, the heart of your home. Sometimes, however, this focal point is less than impressive and more than lacking in the drama factor. If your fireplace is bland, plain or simply unattractive, a quick color change can do wonders. The secret is using multiple coats to build up depth and create a faux finish, rather than just painting on one flat color.

You will need three complimentary colors for this project in progressively darker shades. Natural stone and earthy colors, such as grays and browns, are ideal. A quart of each color will be more than enough to complete your fireplace. Flat exterior paint works best, providing better resistance and more clemency for the hot environment of the fireplace surround than interior glossy paint.

First, choose a color for your base coat. This should be the lightest color of the three. For instance, if you are going for a stone look, choose a medium gray.

The next color will be used for ragging over the top of your base. This color should be several shades darker than the base color and will provide dimension to your finish.

Finally, choose an accent color. This color will be used in moderation, to highlight and further enhance the finish. It can be a varying color from the first two, as long as it is natural and complimentary.

Begin by protecting all surfaces you don’t wish to be painted with drop cloths and painters tape. Apply an even coat of your base color with a paint roller or large paintbrush. A second coat may be needed, depending on the surface and color being painted.

Once the base has completely dried, you can begin applying the next color. Working in one small area (for instance, if your fireplace is brick, do one brick at a time), daub several uneven streaks of paint on the surface. Using a rag, rub the paint, spreading it and pulling it randomly. Continue with another small area until the entire fireplace is complete. A spray bottle of water can be used to dilute the paint while you’re working, making it easier to spread and thinning out some areas, creating a more authentic look.

After you have ragged the fireplace to your satisfaction, use the third color to highlight some crevices, corners and other key areas (It is not necessary to rag this color on the entire fireplace). Use the same technique with the rag and spray bottle to soften the edges of the paint.

In addition to painting, you can enhance the look of your fireplace with a few tiles, appliqués, onlays or other architectural elements. In no time and with just a little paint and a few decorative touches, it can be simple to change a plain, ordinary fireplace into a showstopper.

Ki is a realtor in Austin. He helps buyers and sellers interested in the Austin real estate market. His site has a free graphical search of the Austin MLS along with updated information on his Austin Real Estate Blog.

Two beautiful areas of Austin which are also very historic are the Tarrytown neighborhood and the Deep Eddy neighborhood, and these two areas are adjacent to each other with Tarrytown being slightly farther north than Deep Eddy. These areas are situated in western Travis County, adjacent to Lake Austin, which is what the part of the Colorado River which is just west of Lady Bird Lake is called. These areas roughly encompass the part of Austin between Lake Austin Blvd. to the south, and Loop One to the east, which is also called the MoPac, since it runs alongside the Missouri Pacific railroad tracks for much of its length. The western border of both Tarrytown and Deep Eddy is the Colorado River, also known as Lake Austin in the area, and many homes in the area have lakefront access. The Tarrytown neighborhood is roughly bordered on the northern edge by 35th Street, near the old military base which is called Camp Mabry. Camp Mabry was named after Brigadier General Woodford H. Mabry, who was the adjutant general of Texas in the late 1800’s. The base originally covered ninety acres of land, but by 1911, Camp Mabry had expanded to 311 acres. During the onset of World War I, the Texas National Guard utilized the camp, which was later used to train auto mechanics for the army. At the present, the post houses the 136th Regional Training Institute, which is located in the Texas National Guard Academy building. The post celebrated its 100th year of operation in 1992, and enjoys the distinction of being the third oldest active military installation in Texas. The base had also been used for the Department of Public Safety training schools in the past, and has hosted many military dignitaries over the years. Numerous historic aircraft are displayed at Camp Mabry, and these planes are visible from Loop One to motorists. Camp Mabry is currently the home of the Texas Military Forces Museum and has many interesting exhibits on display.

The southern border of Tarrytown is the Deep Eddy area, and its southern boundary is the lake. The Deep Eddy area is frequently referred to as the Lake Austin area since Lake Austin Blvd. runs alongside the southern area of the neighborhood, and the Clarksville neighborhood area is just east and a little bit south of Tarrytown. All three of these neighborhoods meet around Eilers Park, which is where Deep Eddy Pool is located. The concrete pool at Deep Eddy was built in 1916, along with a bath house, and Deep Eddy Pool is the oldest outdoor swimming pool in Texas. Deep Eddy was originally a natural swimming hole on the river and is spring-fed. The pool and park are bordered on one side by the lake and the hike and bike trails that encircle the lake along the northern shore. Deep Eddy is a very popular spot for picnicking, swimming, wading, and many other family activities, and is surrounded by beautiful, stately Oak, Banana, and Cottonwood trees which provide shade to many of the seating areas of the park. Occasionally, well known family-oriented films are shown at the pool on weekend nights, called Splash Nights, and watching the Wizard of Oz or something similar on a Saturday evening from a float in the pool with family members and friends is a special treat for the residents of the area and visitors to the pool.

There are many nice restaurants in the Tarrytown and Deep Eddy areas, including Magnolia Café and Maudie’s, which are both near Deep Eddy, and which specialize in breakfast items as well as Mexican food favorites respectively. Kerbey Lane Café, which is farther north, reasonably close to Camp Mabry, is in the Tarrytown area, and Zoot, a continental restaurant which pairs very appropriate wines with its spectacular entrees, is closer to the Deep Eddy edge of Tarrytown.

There are many nice places to live in this old, historic region, including homes, apartments, condominiums, and University of Texas dormitories, and also many schools, a library branch, and excellent medical facilities at Set on Hospital. Tarrytown is a must-see area when visiting Austin, or for residents alike!

Ki's site provides a guide to Austin Texas real estate along with a search for homes in the Austin MLS. He also makes regular market updates on blog covering Austin real estate.

When Austin’s airport moved to its current location at the old Bergstrom Air Force base, the Robert Mueller airport became 711 acres of land just east of Interstate 35 ripe for developing. The city of Austin, along with the Catellus Development group, have created a master plan that includes a variety of housing styles, private businesses and retail stores, and are attempting to make the entire “city within a city” as green as possible.

This area, now referred to as the Mueller development, has three housing types available in their first phase of building: yard houses, garden court houses, and row houses. The prices for the first phase range from the $180,000s to the $600,000s, and are 900 square feet up to 3,700 square feet in size. Though 350 homes will be built in the first phase, the development is planning to build 2,200 in total. Six different home builders were chosen to participate during phase one, including 3 locally based builders, Saldana Homes LLP, Streetman Homes Inc. and Muskin Co.

Though some of the homes may be a little cookie cutter in appearance, others are built in a traditional Austin bungalow style, and seem to fit in with their new central location. None of the new homes are built in the currently popular modern style, but it’s possible that different builders will be chosen for future phases of building, to diversify homes as much as possible. All homes built in the Mueller Development have alley ways behind them, with garages built on the backside of houses leaving the fronts garage-free, with more room for larges porches. This also makes the streets and sidewalks more pedestrian friendly.

The initial phase of homes created a large amount of interest, and Catellus Development set up a lottery-style system by hiring a company to randomly create a priority list of buyers. To keep in line with the development’s vision of a mixed income neighborhood, a certain number of homes were set aside for families making at or below 80 percent of Austin’s median income. All of the “affordable housing” homes were sold, and 265 total homes were purchased, with the remaining homes offered to the public.

Many of the businesses in the Mueller Development opened before any residents moved in. Some big box stores are already open, such as Best Buy and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but other private businesses are also moving in. Seton Family of Hospitals is building their 165,000 square foot headquarters in the development. Not only are they the second-largest private employer in central Texas, but this will also be the first headquarters of a large company to move east of interstate 35. Seton’s new facility, the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, will open next to the new headquarters in 2009.

One of the Mueller Development’s major objectives is to be as green as possible from the ground up. They will have shops, recreation, entertainment, jobs and transit close at hand, in hopes that driving will be kept to a minimum. Giant solar collectors are being built along the new hike and bike paths to provide shade in the daylight, and light up the paths in the evening. Austin Energy has also built a new power plant on site that not only supplies electricity to new residents, but also sends chilled water for air conditioning to nearby businesses. The power plant generates power in a cleaner fashion, while the shared HVAC system lowers energy costs.

The Mueller Development is the right spot for those looking for a newly built, centrally-located home, offered at a reasonable price.

Escapeso Realty operates in the Austin real estate market. They provide a search of the Austin MLS along with a free mortgage calculator.

You would probably have to have been living on a remote desert island for the better part of two years to not see any signs of the slowdown in the economy of the United States. Since August of 2007, the real estate market has been reeling from plummeting house prices, due primarily to increasing defaults on sub-prime mortgages. While these mortgages were issued to millions of borrowers with patchy or relatively poor credit ratings over the past several years, interest rates remained unusually low before the Federal Reserve began to increase rates over 2005-2006.

Up until late 2006, this process was self-reinforcing, mainly due to the delayed impacts of interest rate changes, not to mention encouraging profits for lenders, who would often repackage the loans into securities which could be sold to investors globally. Many analysts called it a new era in risk management, justifying the arcane nature of many of these new investment entities with ever-larger profits.

But just as higher interest rates began to take their deflationary effects on the larger economy, millions of sub-prime mortgages began to reset, their rates immediately dependent on available credit. Moreover, many borrowers were not made aware of the insidious nature of their home loans.

Often, their interest rates are artificially low for some period of time, usually one to two years, and then change to reflect market rates afterward. These "teaser" rates were designed to lure more potential homeowners, and they worked: all estimates of the amount of sub-prime mortgages number in the millions, and many consumer advocacy groups have decried the skyrocketing incidence of "predatory loaning" leading up to the credit crunch. Defaults have continued to increase, which has forced the financial institutions which invested in mortgage-backed securities to write down billions, eventually leading to the spectacular collapse earlier this year of Bear Stearns, formerly Wall Street's fifth-largest investment bank.

Since the securities made from these increasingly worthless mortgages have been so widespread, any effort towards recovery must first be focused on stabilizing borrowers, who are increasingly behind on payments. In this respect, the government has taken several different courses of action. In an effort to stop unnecessary foreclosures, the US Treasury has begun an initiative to freeze mortgage payments at current levels for qualified recipients. However, its restrictions make less than 5% of homeowners eligible for the program.

In addition, the Treasury has introduced a plan to reorganize and regulate the lending industry over the next several years, which should help streamline the financial system in the future. However, its greatest effect so far has been to distract from more immediate economic problems.

By far, the greatest player in the recovery effort has been the Federal Reserve, which reversed its previously hawkish view to drop mortgage interest rates multiple times, from 5.25% last summer to 2.25% now, with a further cut of 25 basis points highly likely at the next meeting. They have also taken the unprecedented move of making its "discount window" rate loans available to investment banks. This access has historically only been available for commercial banks up until this point as a matter of last resort, but by bailing out Bear Stearns, the Fed made a commitment to help troubled investment banks weather the credit crisis. A recovery will require a combination of liberal monetary policy, further government intervention on behalf of mortgage holders, and enforceable regulation in order to prevent another bubble.

Ki is a real estate agent in Austin Texas. He runs a site filled with information about Austin real estate. His site provides information on mortgage interest rates along with a search of the Austin MLS.

The West Austin area of Clarksville was originally a freedman’s colony for slaves freed after the Civil War. Clarksville now has a very diverse population, and this diversity is reflected in the various nationalities of the residents. There is an excellent public grade school in Clarksville, named Mathews Elementary. Every fall, Mathews holds a carnival on the grounds, which includes the Clarksville Annual International Dinner and the Octoborama Festival, which is held at the end of October. During Octoberama, local musicians, many of whom are the parents or relatives of Mathews School students, perform at the carnival. Also, most of the kids bring large quantities of food to be sold at the International Dinner, to reflect the cuisine of the countries of their origin. Since most of the University of Texas Division of Housing apartment complexes are located in the West Austin area, and the grade school children residing there with their parents attend Mathews, many ethnicities and heritages are represented at the dinner, including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, and various African and other nationalities. While at the Octoberama Festival, you can hear local musicians, sample all kinds of homemade food, watch contests such as two-legged races and relay races, and enjoy juggling and face-painting, which all of the kids love. Right down the street from the school is another Austin legend, Nau’s pharmacy, which has one of the oldest soda fountains in Austin. You can have eggs for breakfast or a shake after school at Nau’s, and then head down to the 9th Street dog park.

There are many good restaurants in the Clarksville area, and this area is a short bus ride or long walk to Lady Bird Lake, and the jogging trails, or you can go downtown by bus or on the sidewalk, just a mile or so in the other direction. There are also a number of historic homes in the Clarksville area, including a home referred to by the children as "the Castle", since it looks just like a medieval castle, but which was originally a military college building. There is also a "Moonlight Tower", another local landmark, in the area of the Castle. Austin and Clarksville are home to many local politicians and well-known Austinites. Ann Richards was a regular at the drug store soda fountain, and most Hollywood celebrities visit the restaurants when in Austin.

The Johnson Creek Hike and Bike Trail skirts the western edge of Clarksville, and winds along under the Loop One freeway, also called the MoPac for the Missouri Pacific rail line which runs directly alongside the freeway. You can walk, ride a bike, or jog up and down the hike and bike trail, which crosses Johnson Creek in one place and begins at Austin High School, on the northern shore of Lady Bird Lake.

From the Austin High School access point to the trails, You can cross the lake, which is actually the Colorado River, and hike through Zilker Park or swim in Barton Springs, or go north, and once past Clarksville, you eventually wind up in the Brykerwoods area, if you go south you can head down to the Barton Hills and Travis Heights.

Clarksville is also home to various arts and crafts establishments, and the yearly Eeyore’s Birthday Party Celebration, another fun local event, which is held in Pease Park, on the north-eastern perimeter of the Clarksville area. All in all, The Clarksviile area of Austin is truly a great place to live, whether you’re raising a family, a student, retired, or any one of the varied lifestyles which flourish in Austin. You will always feel at home in Clarksville.

Ki lives in Austin and spends way too much time blogging. He also runs a site about Austin real estate which has a search of the Austin MLS and information on mortgage interest rates.

More times than I can remember I had a buyer interested in a property think that I would be thrilled when I found out they didn't have a buyers agents. I'm not excited. In fact I would prefer that they had a buyers’ agent. Here are the reasons why:

1) Liability - There is more liability for me if the buyer doesn’t have a buyers’ agent. While some agents prey on unrepresented buyers knowing that they don't deal with home transactions on a full time basis, I don’t think that is the best way to do business. But without a buyers’ agent, there is still a greater chance that the buyers won’t understand aspects of their new home. And unrepresented buyers are more likely to be miss important details that they will get angry about later on.

2) Workload - Dealing with another agent lowers the workload on me substantially. I am dealing with someone that knows the contract process and the expected behavior. When I have to deal with an unrepresented buyer, I have to spend a lot of time explaining the process to them. It’s more difficult because unlike my seller the buyer typically doesn’t trust me because I am working for the seller. And because some listing agents prey on unrepresented buyers, it makes sense they don’t trust me. So I usually end up spending much more time explaining the process to a wary buyer, especially when he / she bought a house in a different state or has not bought a property in a few years. In this case, any differences between what I am doing and what they experienced previously are met with suspicion.

3) Likelihood of the Deal working Out - In my experience, deals with unrepresented buyers are much less likely to work out. During the inspection a good buyers’ agent can explain the difference between serious issues that need to be fixed vs issues that are normal. Unrepresented buyers typically get a list from an inspector and become overwhelmed and back out of the contract. Or they expect the seller to fix everything on the inspectors list because they don’t understand what is important. And in this case, the seller usually refuses and the deal falls apart.

So when I get two offers for the same price I usually tell my seller that the offer with the buyers’ agent is more likely to end up closing. The obvious question is why don't I favor the offer without a buyers’ agent considering I will make more money? While this is true, my view is that I will have to do substantially more work, with more liability, and the deal is more likely to fall apart, meaning I did all this work for nothing and I am back where I started out - a house on the market with no offer. So it’s generally better for me and my client to accept an offer with an experienced buyers’ agent working on the other side of the transaction.

Ki is a realtor in Austin. His site has a search of the Austin MLS and provides information for buyers on the Austin Texas Real Estate market. He also provides updated real estate statistics on his blog about Austin real estate.

During the subprime crisis we saw the advent of numerous bizarre loan products. In general the new loan products were designed to get people into houses they could not normally afford. As people started to default on their mortgages banks realized many of these loan products were not a good idea. During the subprime crisis we saw most of these new loan programs fall to the wayside. I think in most cases this is a good thing. Many of these new loan products reduced the chances that individuals could gain equity in their homes by paying off principle. When difficult times arose for people they were in a difficult position because although they had made years of payments their loan balance had not changed. The worst of the new loan products had "teaser rates" so that individuals made low payments for a few years until the rate and their mortgage shot up. Its a wonder why banks are surprised by the number of foreclosures.

The one product that has seemed to survive the subprime meltdown is the 40 year loan. I am not a fan of the 40 year loan. Mostly because the savings are minimal. Lets look at the current mortgage interest rates from Wells Fargo for a 40 year, 30 year and 15 year loan.

40 Year Loan = 6.375
30 Year Loan = 5.75
15 Year Loan = 5.125

Now using a mortgage calculator lets look at the mortgage payments on a 200k house.

40 Year Loan = 1153.14
30 Year Loan = 1167.14
15 Year Loan = 1594.64


While the difference between a 30 year loan and a 15 year is substantial, $441.50, the difference between a 40 year loan and a 15 year loan is only $14 per month. A little savings but is it really worth adding a whole extra 10 years to your mortgage. So over 30 years $14 dollars a month amounts to $5040. On the other hand an extra 10 years of mortgage payments comes out to $138,377. To run the numbers a different way by putting down a mere $2400 on your 30 year loan you would get the same mortgage payment as you would on a 40 year loan.

Obviously everyone's situation is different and in a small number of cases a 40 year loan might be warranted. But in general the 40 year loan adds extra years to a person's loan for a minimal benefit.

Ki works as a realtor in the Austin real estate market. He provides updated stats on the market on his Austin real estate blog along with a free search of the Austin MLS.

The recent government-sponsored bailout of Bear Stearns, one of the top five lenders in the United States, has shocked traders and left investors cold. Despite the chilly reaction on Wall Street, secretly many are breathing a sigh of relief. While Bear Stearns was mismanaged from its upper echelons, its subprime exposure grew until their recent $30 billion-plus losses had to be reported.

Once that happened, their course took a turn for the worse. As their ability to shore up capital faltered, JPMorgan Chase stepped in with a buyout worth a bargain $2 a share, valuing a company worth $3.5 billion down to $236 million. Quite a savvy deal, if obviously designed to ensure continued security in the market more than pure profit (after last year's hedge funds collapses, Bear Stearn's lawyers have been busy with sub-prime exposure-related litigation). With the impact of derivative investments and more sophisticated financial instruments, the notational impact of a Bear Stearns collapse comes at a staggering $10 trillion. Moreover, even at a share price that attractive, the Bear Stearns rival wouldn't have bought them unless a fundamental shift in monetary and fiscal policy hadn't occurred: The Federal Reserve's liquidity offers to commercial banks, which have been numerous in recent months in the wake of the credit crunch, have been offered to Bear Stearns for the purpose of covering billions in frothy investments.

This sets a dangerous precedent against the continued function of American markets by using taxpayer dollars to bail out what is an entirely market-related mistake. By covering bad investments with taxpayer money, the Federal Reserve reverses sixty years of capitalist policy in favor of blatantly socialist takeovers. This could be the worst way to introduce Americans to this form of quasi-socialist government ever conceived.

No one put a gun to Bear Stearn's collective head and made them spread risk ineffectively and invest in sketchy sub-prime mortgage securities. They did it all by themselves. Yet here we see a government-backed takeover to shore up confidence in a financial system that seems unable to take care of itself. Laissez-faire? Quite the opposite, it appears. What kind of message does this send to other financial institutions? Can they now expect similar access to the "discount window" that had been reserved for institutions that work with taxpayers, not investors?

We now have the dubious half-promise that the Fed will rein in on Wall Street during boom times, but isn't it a lack of regulation in loaning standards and a subsequent rise in "predatory loaning" what got them into this mess in the first place? And how many more Bear Stearns get the Fed rescue while millions of Americans face foreclosure? The Fed haven't received much criticism thus far, as their responses have taken a course they have helped the economy weather in past recessions. However, their break from past precedent will likely draw some flags. Even if no one else will tell the emperor that his clothes are slipping off one piece at a time, hopefully the Presidential candidates will pounce on this new opportunity to compare traditional economic goals with the present shift in policy.

Ki lives in Austin and writes a Austin real estate blog. His site is filled with information about Austin real estate and includes a free search of the Austin MLS.

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time Bear Stearns had a high flying stock price of $150 a share and a market valuation of 20 Billion. Having been founded in 1923 they were considered one of Wall Streets most venerable investment houses.

Going back to 2005 Bear Stearns was selected as "Most Admired" securities company in Fortunes annual survey a distinction they retained until 2007. During this time period many of the decisions that would lead to their eventual downfall were being made. In the middle of 2007 the armor of Bear Stearns started to crack. The subprime problems were beginning to explode. Basically it was becoming clear to the financial industry that many of the subprime loans that had been given out over the last few years were not going to be repaid.

One of Bear Stearns funds, the "High-Grade Structured Credit Fund", started to falter. In a sign of things to come when Merrill Lynch acquired 850 million of the collateral for the fund they were only able to auction it off for 100 million.

A problem started to develop with two of Bear Stearns funds that operated as hedge funds. The interesting word here is hedge fund. Hedge funds basically operate under the philosophy that by investing in a large number of loans that are somewhat risky you minimize the risk. While a few individuals might go into foreclosure the investor is protected because they have invested in a high number of loans. The problem the financial industry started to realize in mid 2007 was that a large number of these were going into foreclosure. In July these two hedge funds had lost nearly all of their value.

By August lawsuits had started flying as angry investors started to sue over their losses alleging that Bear Stearns had not property disclosed their exposure to hedge funds. A few months later Bear Stearns declared write down of 1.2 billion on their securities.

2008 brought more problems for Bear Stearns. Rumors started to circulate that Bear Stearns was having cash problems. JP Morgan started to provide emergency funding to Bear Stearns but it did not seem to stop Bear Stearns slide into financial chaos. This led to the final offer of 240 million for Bear Stearns. Not only was this substantially less than the 20 billion Bear Stearns was worth a year ago, but it was less than the value of Bear Stearns headquarters in New York which is valued at 1.2 billion. The fact that the purchase price is lower than the value of the real estate owned by Bear Stearns is seen as a sign that many of the financial assets Bear Stearns owns have a negative value.

Another interesting point is comparing Bear Stearns to Countrywide. Both were large institutions with exposure to the subprime real estate market. But Countrywide was seen as a free wheeling company that almost ignored risk and rose fast and feel fast. In contrast Bear Stearns was seen as an older company that had weathered through multiple recessions. But in the end the same market brought both these companies to their knees. Basically spreading out risk among many subprime borrowers does not help if the real estate market weakens resulting in a large percentage of borrowers going into default. Hopefully the collapse of Bear Stearns will serve as a warning lesson for future companies. And the warning lesson hopefully will not only be remembered only in bad times, when it is frequently too late, but in good times when the seeds are sown for future financial turmoil.

Ki is a real estate agent in Austin Texas. He works with buyers interested in investing in the Austin real estate market. His site provides a free search of the Austin MLS as well as a graph of recent mortgage interest rates.

Lying just west of IH-35 and south of Riverside Drive is one of Austin’s most appealing neighborhoods, Travis Heights. Its rolling hills and winding roads have long been a haven for a diverse culture, with a mixture of housing to match: perfectly kept bungalows, a few large estates and smattering of shabby cottages. Housing in South Austin began later than other centrally located neighborhoods due to difficulty getting supplies across the Colorado river. Once a stone pier bridge was built on Congress avenue in 1883, the area began to flourish. General William Harwood Stacy, along with partner Charles Newning, began the Travis Heights development in 1913. Newning had some luck in developing Victorian homes on large lots south of the river before the turn of the century with his development known as Fair View Park, but Travis Heights was the most promoted subdivision of its time. Stacy set up the area with grid streets, and curvy roads, and a variety of lot sizes to maximize his potential buyer pool. He also set up a trolley car to run clients from the capitol building to Travis Heights before it was even developed, and gave away Ford Touring cars as well. Stacy dedicated an area along Blunn Creek, and cliffs that drop down to Town Lake, to be set aside as public park land. Later Stacy’s sons added more land to the area, and it’s now known as Stacy Park, and still very popular today with Travis Heights residents who take good care of the land set aside for them. Today many of the original houses from Stacy’s development still stand, as well as some from Newning’s earlier turn of the century push. Some houses, such as the Gullet House and the Red-Purcell house built in 1885, have been deemed historic landmarks by the city of Austin. The Miller-Crocket house was originally built by Newning for Henry W. Dodge in 1888, and was purchased in 1901 by Eugene Miller at a courthouse auction for $1,800. Currently the two-story slat roofed house is owned by Kathleen Mooney and run as the Miller-Crockett Bed and Breakfast. Mary and Joe Lawrence purchased the 1914 house owned by Joe Steiner, whose brother Buck owned the land Steiner Ranch sits on now. Steiner was long cared for by Sister Madeline Sophie Weber, who began the nonprofit Faith in Action Caregivers. Steiner left Weber the house after his death, wanting the profit from its sale to go towards the nonprofit’s cause. The Lawrences bought the home from “Sister Sophie” and saved the classic revival style house, and its carriage house in the back, that had fallen in disrepair, and reused as much of the building material as possible, with its original Doric columns and pilasters still intact. Travis Heights continues to draw homeowners to the neighborhood with its winding streets, rolling hills and large trees. Its close proximity to downtown, IH-35, and the newly revamped South Congress shops, clubs and eateries also make it a desirable area to live. Others enjoy the diversity of the people in the neighborhood, since the crowd is a mix of families, downtown business professionals, artists, and musicians, all of whom feel a strong sense of community. The neighbors recently took initiative and put on a concert in Stacy Park to raise money for the pool there. As WH Stacy stated in his original Travis Heights newspaper advertisement, “It’s a real residence community. One with a soul; the realization of a purpose, where homes are homes, not mere houses." Ki works as an Austin real estate agent. He writes an Austin real estate blog to help investors keep up with the Austin market along with a free search of the Austin MLS.

Real Estate buyers are usually highly focused on the purchase price of a property. This is a legitimate concern. The purchase price is one of the most important considerations in a real estate transaction. But at the same time home buyers too frequently treat interest rates as a secondary concern. Many buyers will stress over $300 or $400 in negotiations over purchase price. But when told that interest rates dropped half a point, home buyers will often respond with a shrug.

This is frequently because it is easy to understand the difference between paying 200k and 195k for a house. But it's harder to appreciate the difference between an interest rate of 6.5% and 6.0% for a house. But interest rates can have a large influence on mortgage payments. Using our mortgage calculator first let’s look at the difference between the mortgage on a 200k and the mortgage on a 195k house assuming a 6.5 percent interest rate.

200k (6.5%) Mortgage $1264.13 per month 195k (6.5%) Mortgage $1232.53 per month

The difference ends up being $31.60 a month.

Now let's look at the difference between an interest rate of 6.5% and 6.0% on a 200k house.

200k (6.5%) Mortgage 1264.13 per month
200k (6.0%) Mortgage 1199.10 per month

The difference ends up being $65.03 a month or $780.36 a year. A simple half point drop lowered the mortgage payment by 5.4 percent.

Interest rate changes are not that uncommon. We wrote a tool that graphs Mortgage rates over time based on the interest rates provided by Freddie Mac. In the middle of 2007 we saw interest rates of 6.7%. At the beginning of 2008, interest rates were down to 5.75%. What is a little more interesting is when we switch the toggle on our tool to showing the mortgage on a 200k house based on the interest rate for that date instead of the actual interest rates (Figure 1). From the middle of 2007 to the beginning of 2008, we saw a drop in the monthly mortgage on a 200k house drop from $1270 a month to $1170, a difference of 9.3 percent. This is why when buyers say they are waiting for prices to drop 5%, it might be a good idea to tell them that the actual mortgage they would get on a house has already dropped by more than 5 percent.

(Figure 1)

In light of all the mortgage issues over the last few years, it highlights why home buyers should shop around for interest rates. All too frequently home buyers will go with the first mortgage person they meet under the assumption that everyone has roughly the same rates and that a half point isn't really that big of a difference. As we have seen above, a half point can make a non trivial difference in mortgage someone pays.

To make matters worse for those buyers that don't shop around, some mortgage brokers over the last few years charged industry rates that were out of whack with what was standard at the time. If potential buyers had simply made a few calls they would have discovered the problem. But riding under the assumption that it wasn't worth their time to call around and that interest rates where just one of those mundane details they didn't really need to be concerned about, they ended up with interest rates substantially higher than what they should have been. If buyers had a better understanding of interest rates, it could have significantly cut down on mortgage fraud over the last few years.

In summary, home buyers should still focus on price because it will always be an important part of the real estate transaction. But if home buyers start to look at interest rates more closely, they will end up with more success in their real estate purchases and lower mortgage payments.

Ki is a realtor in Austin. His site has a free tool that graphs mortgage interest rates, that webmasters can incorporate into their site to keep visitors up to date on interest rates. He also wrote a real estate calculator webmasters can incorporate into their websites. Ki works with Escapeso Austin real estate.

Just a few miles from downtown Austin, bordered by Westover on the south, 35th street on the north, Shoal Creek on the east and Mopac on the west, lies the old Austin neighborhood of Bryker Woods.

Though the neighborhood was named in the 1930s, the origins of the area go back as far as 1886, when the 14 lot William Thiele subdivision was platted within one block between 34th and 35th streets, which still exists today. In the early 1900s, other subdivisions popped up nearby, like Camp Mabry Heights, which named its streets with a patriotic theme, such as Pershing and Funston named after American generals, and Jefferson, Madison, and Harrison named for former U.S. presidents. Some of these street names have also stood the test of time. The first subdivision named Brkyer Woods came in 1936, using the first 3 letters of the developers’ last names, J.C. Bryant and McFall Kerbey.

The majority of Bryker Woods was developed between the 1930s and 1950s. Most of the homes built were bungalows, with some larger homes sprinkled among them. The area has an abundance of pecan, live oak, and elm trees, hence the “Woods” of Bryker Woods.

Unlike other centrally located neighborhoods in the Austin real estate market, Bryker Woods has remained relatively untouched by demolition teams ready to build newer, and larger, homes. One possible reason for this sustainability is the lot sizes of the neighborhood, which are radically smaller than the lots in the Crestview, Hyde Park and Pemberton Heights Austin neighborhoods, since Brkyer Woods was originally set up for single family cottages. Those moving to Bryker Woods today are happy with a simple addition to the original house if a little more room is needed, realizing the coziness of the neighborhood, the shady tree-lined streets, and its central location outweigh having more square footage.

Brkyer Woods has a certain ambiance that really builds a sense of community. The narrow streets, heavy with trees, encourages neighbors to get outside, go for a walk, and interact with other residents. Many of the area’s inhabitants have lived there since the subdivision’s inception, and are willing to reminisce with the new families - usually to boast about the price they paid for their homes 40 or 50 years ago.

There are many destinations for a stroll around Bryker Woods. The hike and bike trails of Pease Park are within walking distance, as are Seider's Springs Park and Bailey Park. Most families can walk their young children to the popular Bryker Woods elementary. You can find way more than a hammer and nails at mom and pop hardware store Breed and Co, who stock a variety of tropical plants, home décor, and gourmet food. They even have a bridal registry where the engaged can register for Waterford crystal they keep in stock. Locally owned Kerbey Lane Café, located on a street named after the Bryker Woods developer, has been in business for the past 28 years, serving up nutritious food from local vendors, 24 hours a day.

The standout home of the Bryker Woods neighborhood was built in 1938 for Hubert and Alice Bohn at 1301 West 29th Street. Built by architect Roy Thomas, who helped the Stacy Realty Company build more than 30 homes in Barton Hills, the Bohn house was inspired by the 1936 science fiction movie, Things To Come. Today its futuristic modern look still rings true, with its curving exterior walls, and multi-level layout painted bright white.

For those looking for that feel-good vibe of the old neighborhood they grew up in, Bryker Woods has quite a lot to offer, and does so from the heart of the city.

Ki specializes in helping home buyers interested in Austin Texas real estate. His site has a free Austin Homes along with a blog covering the Austin real estate market.

The US appears to poised on the very brink of recession. Investors are reacting as news of a contraction within the service sector for the first time in five years, an FBI investigation into predatory lending, and increasing unemployment statistics, has sent shock waves of panic through stock markets worldwide. Who wins out in a crisis of this magnitude? And how can an individual take advantage of such a difficult scenario? While volatility in recent months is hardly a comforting phenomenon, recognizing its continued presence (within relatively unstable areas of the economy such as the stock markets) is key to weathering such a crisis. Even though most areas of the US economy are contracting in some fashion, the saying that the US's sneeze makes the world catch cold is less true than ever before. As China and other Asian economies become increasingly decoupled from America, the tendancy of compensating mechanisms to come into play should increase. Someone will be able to profit from the US shoring up spending, even if it is only oil companies for some period of time. Most of these companies are reinvesting the money they make in stable companies like American financial institutions, thus tying their fate to that of the US without risk of takeover bids or boardroom posturing. While the transmission of wealth from the American middle class to wealthy overseas oil giants is gradually becoming a less attractive proposition to the average American (with increasing energy prices helping this along), the climate crisis may be able to facilitate a reduction in dependence on foreign oil that balances this feedback loop in the future. Americans are right to begin saving on a more realistic scale, if a bit slow to react. Most of America's weaknesses in this regard are only sustainable if nothing goes wrong, and the sub-prime crisis is destined to affect many other industries such as credit card companies. If a significant amount of consumer spending turns into savings, Americans will be hurting. But like an unpleasant vaccination, they will be safer in the long run. Perhaps a lesson or two in solubility and risk management has been learned. As far as an individual's best chances for taking advantage of these weakened sectors, buying a house couldn't be smarter now as the glut of unsold houses in many areas continues to drive down prices. Emerging economies will continue to grow even if America stagnates for some period of time, so investment in these regions is a safer bet than ever before. Global GDP will still grow, even if the rest of the world no longer wants to hold the West's hand while they cross the street. In fact, the complex financial instruments that have fueled the credit crunch were created in order to minimize risk. As we can see, they have only made it less obvious and harder to bring ontol a balance sheet, which costs much more. If layoffs begin to increase, government action on a larger scale is practically inevitable. The Federal Reserve is obviously prepared to drop interest rates considerably further, which means there is still some breathing room (even if it is shrinking). Ki works as a realtor helping people interested in Austin real estate mostly central. His site is filled with information such as profiles of the downtown Austin condos. He also has a blog devoted to Austin Texas real estate.