Austin Texas Homes and More

Archive for July, 2009

Many of you have heard by now that many of Barton Springs trees are in danger and a few have been classified as “dangerous and neeedd to be removed”. They have removed only eight trees instead of the twenty-eight originally marked for removal. It has been a well publicized debate with the people of Austin and the powers that be. Thank heavens the Austin Parks Foundation has been able to garner some more support from various individuals and several businesses. The money that has been raised will allow for these remaining trees to be cared for in a way that will allow them to flourish. Please join me and take the time to patronize these establishments and say thank you for their generous support to help save this iconic part of “old Austin”.

Still Water Foundation for a $50,000 grant for care of mature trees at Barton Springs and citywide

The Charles and Betty Saunders Foundation: Pat, Steve, Kate, and Ian Saunders for a $5,000 grant

Council Member Sheryl Cole for a $3,000 contribution

Starbucks Foundation: Team Make Your Mark, for a $1,000 grant

Shomos Family Foundation Ltd. for $500 in support of our Barton Springs Tree Fund

For more information please visit the Parks and Recreation Department website for details: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/zilkertrees.htm

Betina Foreman Realtor, Austinite and Tree-hugger

Keller Williams Austin Texas

www.ServingCentralAustin.com   (512) 771-6318  Betina@KW.com   www.ZilkerParkHomes.com

Another homegrown Austin retailer, the Groovy Dog Bakery is opening a new location downtown. The first Groovy Dog Bakery is located at 4477 S. Lamar Blvd., Suite 580, in the Gateway Shopping Center by Central Market. Groovy Dog has a multitude of hand made tog treats and toys. The bakery also makes “Puppy BarkDay Cakes” (Birthday Cakes to the rest of us). The cakes are made of carob and peanut butter, and the 6″ cake serves 4-5 and costs $17.99, the extra special dog bone shaped cake is $22.99 and serves 5-8.

The shop has many hard to find exclusive dog items in stock every day. Some of the more sought after items are EZY-Dog Leashes and Collars, Ruff Wear’s full line of high end out door harnesses, leases, backpacks and dog life-jackets. They also offer custom made iron Leash Holders, and custom treat jars and pet carriers, back-packs and pet strollers. There are tons of University of Texas dog items like UT leashes, UT Collars, UT-T-shirts, UT-dog bowlsand even a burnt orange and white doggie feather boas! Some of the most popular items that you find in every shoppers basket are: PeaMutt Butter Puppy Kisses, and Bully Sticks for snacking.

The new shop will be located at 5th Street and Rio Grande, and they anticipate opening in October 2009. The second location will be unbelievable with 12,000 square feet! It will offer much more than custom snacks and clothes for your dogs. There will be a dog wash and grooming area that is part of another local “The Dirty Dog” dog groomers with pet owner washing stations. There will be a doggie day-care and Austin’s only indoor dog park. The first of its kind “dog party room”, the room can be reserved for dog birthday parties, or for kids to create their own dog biscuit creations.

The Austin Urban Vet Centerwill occupy a portion of the new center. They can meet all of your pets needs and the owners needs. They provide state of the art medical care and diagnostic and surgical services from professional veterinarians. There are also pet care services including: acupuncture, holistic medicine, canine rehabilitation and dog training.

The Upper Paw willalso be on-site and offer “resort style” pet boarding services for dogs and cats.

If there is something you need for your pet you can get it all here and you can rest assured that your dollars are staying local in your backyard. The Groovy Dog Bakery is a locally owned and operated business that was born out of love for the dog. The owner Kim even brings her two Boxers to the shop. You will also see a painting of the three of them over the cash register. So if your looking for a special experience for your dog, bring him/her to the Groovy Dog so they can be treated like the super stars they are!

If you are looking for a bigger yard for the love of your life, please call me!

 I would love to help you find the perfect home for you and your dog.

Betina Foreman Realtor

Keller Williams Real Estate in Austin Texas

Betina@KW.com   512-771-6318   www.ServingCentralAustin.com   www.ZilkerParkHomes.com

 ( All photos curtesey of Groovy Dog Bakery-Kimm Hall)

The founders of Amy’s ice cream opened up a sister restaurant next door to the Amy’s on the southwest corner of Burnet Road and RM2222. They converted an old gasoline station and mechanic shop into a little diner with an ice cream shop next door. The new place is called “Phil’s Icehouse” and it is a cool retro feeling burger joint. I am not sure who Phil is, but he makes a mean burger. These burgers are what I would call “one of a kind” masterpieces. The burgers are named after various Austin neighborhoods. Some of the burger names are: Allendale, Brentwood, Rosedale and Violet Crown. My favorite burger is the 78704. It is named after my favorite Austin zip code, and it has an almost sweet and spicy bun made with jalapenos and cheese. Inside the burger you will find guacamole, grilled onions and jalapenos and more cheese. By the way all of the buns are made fresh daily. They also make the most amazing sweet potato fries and french fries and ultra fine onion rings. They even have an old timey photo booth to get your picture taken while you wait for your burger. The brightly colored vinyl covered booths make you feel like you stepped back into the fifties. This place is always full of people no matter what time you walk through the door. They have a large patio area which is nice in the late afternoon/evening once it cools off a bit. If it is too hot you can order a milkshake made with Amy’s ice cream to help shave off a few degrees. If your looking for something with a kick, they do have several beers chilling in the big box cooler by the front door. Phil’s is not a chain and it does not feel like a fast food operation, its casual food served quickly. Phil’s is a cool place where you can get in and out quickly without feeling rushed and you know the food is high quality. So if your new in town or are looking for your next favorite burger joint, try Phil’s.

If your looking to buy or sell a home in Austin, please give me a call.

I look forward to the opportunity to earn your business.

Betina Foreman Realtor

Keller Williams Real Estate- Austin TX

www.BetinaForeman.com   512-771-6318   Betina@KW.com  

Austin holds Bat Fest every year to celebrate some of our tiniest residents. To be fair they are really residents living under the Congress Avenue Bridge. The Congress Avenue bridge was recently renamed the Ann Richards Bridge after our most exciting woman Governor of Texas. The 2009 event will be the fifth such festival in Austin. There will be a variety of food, drinks, hand made art and best of all plenty of live music! Austin is known as the live music capital of the universe, come see why we have this nick name!

The real fun starts about dusk when a few million bats fly out of their sleeping places in the underside of the bridge for their nightly quest for dinner. This bridge in downtown Austin is the home to the largest colony of urban “Mexican Free-Tailed Bats”. These bats swarm out like a huge black cloud and it is very impressive to watch. I suggest watching from a distance, as you don’t want to get sprinkled with any bat guano! You don’t want to be anywhere near the underside of the bridge at dusk. It is the most impressive if you watch during the late summer early fall, when the “bat colony” is at its largest because this is when the baby bats take wing.

There will be over 125 vendors out on this evening selling their hand made wares. This is a great opportunity to start your Christmas or Hanukkah shopping if you have someone on your list that likes the unique items over the typical shopping mall fare.

For more information about our bat colony please visit: www.BatCon.org (the Bat Conservation International Organization). You may wish to check with Roadshow Productions to see if they will confirm the performers list, and their phone number is 512-441-9015. Austin even has its very own Bat Hotline (512)416-5700×3636. You won’t reach Bruce Wayne, but you will reach someone who knows a lot about bats.

I hope to see you at the festival. I will most likely be on foot instead of skates, as my broken toes are still slowing me down just a bit!

Sign me “your batty Austin Realtor“

“Batina” Foreman Keller Williams Real Estate

If your considering buying or selling a home in Austin Texas, call Betina.

Betina is your best bet in Austin real estate!

512-771-6318   www.ServingCentralAustin.com  www.BetinaForeman.com

 Betina@KW.com   BetinaForemanREALTOR@yahoo.com

Travis Heights homes for sale and market stats for May/June 2009. There were 25 homes listed for sale, 2 Pending (under contract) homes and2 homes that sold during this period. The average home in the neighborhood was built in 1959 and has three bedrooms and two baths in 2476 square feet. The average home listed (for sale) price per square foot is $280.04.

The sold prices stack up like this: High price per square foot is $269.34, Average price per square foot is $234.67, and the low price per square foot is $200.00. Most homes remain on the market about 22 days, of course the real bargains or real beauty’s go a little faster.

Right now the deal of the century in Travis Heights is only $399K. This home sits on a .19 acre lot, with 2910 square feet, four bedrooms and two full baths. This home is only $137.11 per square foot. While it needs some updating it is the bargain of the month in Travis Heights. The lot is almost worth this price!

If your looking to buy or sell a home in Travis Heights please give me a call. I would be happy to help you through the process. My team of experts will make the process easy and simple to navigate.

Betina Foreman Realtor

Keller Williams Real Estate

512-771-6318   Betina@KW.com   www.ServingCentralAustin.com

Senna Hills is a little neighborhood between Austin and Bee Cave. Bee Cavewas originally started back in 1850’s when Deitrich Bohls moved from the hustle and bustle of Austin. Many of his descendants still live in and own homes and land in and around Austin. During the building boom of the 1980’s the residents were concerned that they would get annexed. So they formed a group called “The Concerned Citizens and Land Owners Organization. Then they went to the state capital and stated their cause, thus Bee Cave was incorporated. This area has continued to be popular with both families and retired people because of its close proximity to both Austin and Lake Travis.

Taylor Morrison was one of the more popular builders in the neighborhood. These homes typically range from 2800SF-4800SF, and they were built from 1994-2008.

There are 8 homes listed for sale between May and June, two homes are Pending, and 2 homes sold during this period. The average price per square foot is $144.56, the low is $140.49 and the highest price paid per square foot was $148.62. The average days it takes on the market to sell a Senna Hills home is 135.

If your looking to buy or sell a home in the area please give me a call.

Betina Foreman Realtor

Keller Williams Real Estate

512-771-6318    www.BetinaForeman.com    Betina@KW.com   Realtor_Austin@yahoo.com

After living in Austin for twenty plus years I have tried living in several neighborhoods and my favorite by far is still Zilker/Barton Hills. I enjoyed living here for several years and I love working in this neighborhood. The funny thing about these two neighborhoods are they can be fairly confusing. The general area is bordered by South Lamar, South MOPAC, Barton Springs Road and WestRock to the south. Within these streets lay several “Subdivisions”, now this is where it gets tricky. I am listing the subdivisions to help you see the issue. We will start with the obvious: Barton Hills, Barton Heights, Barton Heights Annex, Avon Heights, Cannizo,Glen Cliff, Horeshoe Bend, Knox Wright Subdivision, Lund Park, Oak Hill, Oakie Heights, Rabb Inwood Hills, Ridgeview West and South Lund. Obviously there are far too many names to enter the subdivision into the search criteria.

This area around Barton Springs Road and South Lamar was developed in the 1930’s. As the population of Austin grew so did the area. About every ten years the construction moved about 8-10 blocks further south. So you can roughly gage the age of the homes by that record. Homes around Josephine Street were built in the 1940-1950’s, go a little further south to Barton Skywayand they are the 1960’s and when you hit WestRock and Kassarine Pass welcome to the 1970’s.

Barton Hills homestend to have slightly larger 1/3 acre or larger lots whereas Zilker area homes are more petite under a quarter acre. The developers keep snatching up the homes on the larger lots and tearing down the existing ranch style homes and mid-century modern/atomic ranch style homes and building condos, which makes it a real challenge to find a nice older home on a large lot. If you like condos or duplex living you have a multitude of choices because the builders are almost exclusively building this type of property.

              Market stats for Barton Hills/Zilker are: 42 homes listed for Sale, 10 homes are Pending/Under Contract, and 3 homes that Sold from June 1-to July 1, 2009. The Price per square foot ranged from a Low PPSF $210.79, Average PPSF $176.70, and High PPSF $$231.79. The number of days on the market are: Low 3, Average 49 and the Longest time to sell was 117 days.

An easy way to search homes is to look in the Multiple Listing Service area 7, or search the famous 78704 zip code. Then you have to weed out the streets that are further east than South Lamar. The easiest thing to do is work with a reputable Realtor that can help you navigate the confusing parts. A Realtor can also tell you which other homes are for sale and help you determine the average sold price per square foot for the homes in the neighborhood. Why do you need to know the sold price per square foot? So you will know if your offer stands a chance of landing you the perfect home in this hot neighborhood. If your considering a move into Austin’s hippest zip call me.

Betina Foreman Realtor

512-771-6318

Betina@KW.com, BetinaForemanREALTOR@Yahoo.com

www.ZilkerParkHomes.com

My friend Alan May wrote this little ditty about the trials and tribulations of being a Realtor. I could not have said it better myself. I hope it makes you giggle too!

Recently Jason sent out a call for his fellow Active Rain friends to write about their childhood homes. So I am answering that call. When I was a baby coming home from the hospital I lived at 2325 Glen Haven Boulevard with my parents and grandparents. It was a Tudor style two story home with a spacious 1/3 acre lot just moments from the Houston Medical Center and downtown, today it is considered to be in downtown Houston. The house was built in 1913 and has some amazing features: huge double hung windows, 10 foot ceilings, huge wood burning fireplace and gorgeous heart of pine wood everywhere, and every closet was a real cedar closet. I regret I don’t have more photos to share, but Mom has most of them.

One of my favorite features was the stately staircase in the front of the house. As a toddler I would climb out of my crib and crawl half way down the stairs to the landing. The landing would be bathed in a soft glow from the streetlight or the moonlight. This was my favorite spot because I could continue to play in that soft light. Apparently I was always a night owl. My mother would wake up and check my crib and was horrified to find it empty. Inevitably she would notice my toys were all gone and find them and me on the landing, sometimes playing and sometimes asleep.

(You can just make out the bottom of “My” staircase through the trees on the right side of this photo. My babydog Neysa is at the front stairs. Yes that is snow on the ground. It almost never happens in Houston so this was a big deal & the only reason I have a photo of the house)_

My grandfather attended A&M University and had a great love of plants and farming. So when the “Old Braeswood” neighborhood decided to create a park for this tiny community he jumped at the chance to help. He donated several special Comanche Crepe Myrtles as they were Grandmothers favorite and some pecan trees that he helped to create while he was at A&M. To this day there are a few of his trees in that little park, which always warms my heart. He planted several of those pecan trees in our yard as well. The neat thing about those pecan trees was they: have a longer producing season, larger delicious fruit, and they are very disease resistant. There was never a shortage of pecans or pecan pies around our house. I recall many afternoons spent collecting them and evenings spent cracking pecans while watching TV.

Old Braeswood was a very small neighborhood that was bordered by Kirby Lane, Old Braeswood, and Richmond Avenue. There were huge oak trees that reached across the streets to create a beautiful shaded natural arbors. Since our neighborhood was very small and older there was no community amenity center. In fact our “neighborhood pool”was the Olympic sized swimming pool at the Shamrock Hilton Hotel. Each spring you would go get a little plastic disc that Mom safety pinned to my swimsuit that showed that we were allowed to swim at the Shamrock. As an adult I understand that being a member of the Shamrock had more cachet than a neighborhood pool or even the country club pool. I remember riding my bike or walking the three blocks to the pool thinking I was so very grown up. Now I could not imagine doing this as the streets are so busy now it would be far too dangerous.

(This is one of Daddy’s 300LB Chinese Foo Dogs, the other one was stolen in the 1970’s. Perhaps this statue is what started my love of dogs?)

 This historic icon was tucked into the north side of our neighborhood. The Shamrock was all money and it had everything you could wish for. In fact I went to two high school proms at the Shamrock Hilton. I remember my Mother telling me about the Garden Club meetings that Grandmother was always going to. Apparently the head of the Garden Club was the real life mother character from the movie Giant. I remembered watching the movie as a child and wishing I was Elizabeth Taylor because she had horses and I always wanted horse. I did not realize then just how close we were to those actual people that the movie was written about.

Time really changes your perspective. A few years ago I went to visit my childhood home and it seems smaller somehow and less like home. The new owners have changed a few things and cut down some of Grandmother’s crepe myrtles which makes me sad. I am thrilled that Grandfather Luker’s pecan trees are still there and still producing nuts. Maybe the biggest nut is me?

Lake Travis Market Statistics for waterfront properties for May/June 2009. There have been 36 waterfront homes on Lake Travis listed for salein the last two months. The average number of days on the market is 124, with an average listed price per square foot of $451.36. Two homes have been sold/closed recently.

Below please find the details of the market statistics for  Lake Travis homes. Please note these stats do not include condo properties.

• The most affordable home is priced at $429K. This home has four bedrooms and three baths and was built in 1965, it has 2434SF and sits on a .59 acre lot.
• The most expensive propertyis listed for $9,500,000. and it has a three bedroom one bath home built in 1958 with 2782SF. The reason it is priced so high ($3414.PSF) is it’s on 13 acres with 600 feet of waterfront and no building restrictions.

Listed Price Per SF               Sold Price PSF

Minimum PSF $344.10            $295.00

Average PSF  $450.04            $361.24

High PSF          $555.97            $427.43

If you are considering buying or selling a waterfront home on Lake Travis or Lake Austin please give me a call. I have a team of experts to make the process smooth sailing. I look forward to the opportunity to earn your business.

Betina Foreman- Realtor

Keller Williams Real Estate

www.BetinaForeman.com  Betina@KW.com  512-771-6318