Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

According to Allstate Insurance Company, drivers in Austin are 35 percent more likely to have a vehicular accident when compared to the nation as a whole. The report looks at insurance claims in the country’s 200 largest cities and concludes at Austin drivers are, for whatever reason, quite possibly the worse drivers in the nation.

In fact, Texans as a whole are fairly accident prone when they get behind the wheel. In the twenty cities the report examines, Houston drivers were 23 percent more likely to have an accident while in Dallas the probability is 27 percent and, in San Antonio, it’s 25 percent. Austinites also have more frequent accidents, with an average of less than seven and a half years between accidents. In Houston, it’s slightly over eight years, and about the same in Dallas – 7.8 years – and San Antonio – 8 years between accidents.

Sioux Falls, Iowa, checks in as the safest city for drivers in the national. Drivers there are 31 percent less likely to have a vehicular accident when compared with the rest of the US.

This report suggests that Texans aren’t as laid back as their stereotypical reputation might suggest. Maybe it’s the influx of new residents or the new popular trend to talk or text message while driving. It’s been proven in studies that using ones cell phone or other device while behind the wheel impairs ones driving ability to nearly the same degree as someone who is driving while intoxicated. So listen up, Austinites! Slow down, take it easy, and get off that cell phone!

In addition to arguments over raises and health benefits - disagreements school boards throughout the country deal with every year - the Austin school board must tackle a third issue in deciding its budget this year: property taxes.

Currently, the district operates at the highest property tax rate it can, 1.04 percent, without turning to the board for a vote. And with property values rising, it is expected that taxes will bring in added revenue in the upcoming year. However, much of that revenue will be given to the state to be distributed among property-poor districts. In fact, Austin must send $61 million to the state, so any additional money resulting from higher property values won’t last long.

The district, therefore, is requesting a budget in which taxes are raised to $1.0765 per $100 of assessed property values, for a total of $1.1995 including debt. This will couple with an overall budget increase of 8.8 percent to $862.5 million for the 2008-09 year. Employees would also get a three percent raise, and full health coverage would remain intact.

Whether this increase will occur is yet to be seen, as there are several other proposed budgets, each with its own take on property taxes. Education Austin, for example, is looking for a budget increase with a 5 percent raise for employees, in addition to family health coverage (the district’s plan covered employees only) and a wage increase for hourly employees. The budget would call for a property tax rate of $1.243 including debt.

If there were no tax increase, there would be no raise for employees and employees would have to contribute $348 a year for health insurance.

The school board was scheduled to vote on August 6 at an evening meeting. The results of that vote are as of this posting unknown.

For more than a year West 17^th Street at Lavaca Street has been closed. There’s been construction, which residents have accepted and adapted to. After all, there is nearly always construction in some part of Austin. You can’t avoid it; you can only accept it, even when it does inconvenience several thousand state employees.

Besides, this construction, when it started, was expected to lead to luxury condos and an office building, to be called La Vista on Lavaca. The permit was taken out for it in April 2007. At that time, Jason Redfern, manager of the Right of Way Management Division in Austin’s Watershed Protection and Development Review Department, said, the developers planned to keep the street closed for six months. When six months came and went, they renewed the permit for another six.

April 2008 should have seen another renewal or the completion of the project. It saw neither, and in fact, didn’t even see construction. No one has been there for months and the permits are expired. The city is now probing into the whys and whats of the situation, hoping for a clear answer in this mysterious halt.

The developers claim that their permits are up to date, and that the city is mistaken. But their claims do nothing for the fact that the street is still closed for no apparent reason.

If nothing is going to be done, citizens want it open; so does the city. There should not be, they say, inconvenience for no reason. There should only be inconvenience with the promise of future convenience. And that has disappeared from West 17^th and Lavaca.

Mexicans Are Buying Back Texas, One Piece at a Time

The rise of the peso against the United States dollar has some Mexican developers looking north to invest in Texan property. The Mexican economy is growing steadily, and faster than the US economy, at about 2.6 percent a year and the peso has gained 3.2 percent on the US dollar since January of 2008. In comparison, the US economy is expected to see a 1.4 percent growth in 2008.

Mexicans are seizing an opportunity to purchase foreclosed properties in the southern Texas areas close to the US-Mexican border such as Mission. Mexicans with money to invest are seeing the housing and real estate slump as a perfect time to diversify their holdings. Investors are finding bargain prices in the current sluggish climate. All that’s needed are the funds and a valid entry visa into the US.

Even though Texas hasn’t taken as bad a hit as other regions, home sales in the first quarter of 2008 have dropped 12 percent and foreclosures rose 20 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Investors from Monterrey, Mexico, are eying the southern Texas area as an excellent investment opportunity, and most are purchasing property with plans to develop it in two or three years when the real estate market is expected to begin to turn around for the better. Some, on a more personal level, are looking for retirement homes or for housing for their children studying at Texas colleges and universities.

Regardless of the reason, southern Texas needs an infusion of cash to boost its flagging economy and investors from Monterrey are glad to help out. Thus a new Tex-Mex connection is being forged.

The saturation of rental units on the Austin market is good news for tenants who can expect cuts in rent and possibly pick up some amenities as landlords vie for their attention. Yet, the demand remains high for upscale urban apartments as people look for residential units closer to their place of employ.

According to the apartment research firm, M/PF YieldStar, occupancy for June 2008 stood at 93.4 percent, down 1.5 percent from March and nearly 2 percent from the same time in 2007. This should raise some concerns with landlords, as the same firm predicts a flattening of occupancy for the rest of 2008, and foresees a drop of possibly 3 percent in 2009.

Construction of nearly 13,000 units is planned for the Austin area through 2009. Greg Willett, vice president of research for M/PF, says the real need is for about half that amount, based on demand which he feels has become sluggish.

This pessimistic opinion is not shared by developers in the Austin market, however. Spencer Stuart, managing director of Legacy Partners Residential Development Inc., says rental activity is strong in both downtown and close by suburban areas. Rising gas prices and the desire to be close to the action is fueling the demand for higher priced units closer in to the city.

Still, the rise in rental rates does appear to be slowing down and tenants will indeed find bargain lease rates. Rents rose less than 4 percent from 2007 to 2008, with average monthly rent standing at $839. Yet, this means the market becomes more competitive, and that means good deals for prospective tenants.

One of the most frightening of the natural phenomena, the tornado is capable of devastating wind speeds of more than 300 miles per hour and can appear with terrifying suddenness. Most tornadoes contain winds speeds of between 65 and 100 miles per hour. Still, no other weather event can cause quite the destruction and death of a strong tornado and one would be well advised to take tornado watches and warnings very seriously.

Should you hear report of a tornado watch or warning, stay close to a news source for more information. A watch means weather conditions are right for a tornado forming. A warning means that an actual funnel cloud has been sighted by either an eyewitness or weather radar equipment. If you hear a warning, you should be prepared to take cover.

Contrary to popular myths, the underside of a highway overpass is not the best place to take cover from an approaching tornado. The overpass serves as a wind tunnel, effectively increasing the wind speed thereby raising the chance for serious injury or death to anyone who tries to shelter under one.

The safest place from an approaching tornado at home is the corner of a basement, under a strong table or staircase; or a windowless room, such as a bathroom or closet. If caught out in the open, your best chances of survival is in a ditch or culvert, face down, with hands clasped over the back of your neck. If you’re in a vehicle, don’t try to outrun the storm. Leave the vehicle and hit the ditch!

Design Workshop Inc. has taken up permanent residence in a 2,500 square foot space at 801 Congress Avenue a couple of months ago. Seven employees from Denver moved into the space in May 2008, hoping to grow their numbers to over 20 in the next three to five years.

Design Workshop is, according to their home page, ‘an award winning, international landscape architecture, land planning, urban design, and tourism planning firm.’ Combining concerns of environment, economics, art, and community, Design Workshop offers urban planning and affordable housing strategies, feasibility and environmental impact studies, project facilitation between the public, the corporate sector, and the community, as well as a host of other diverse land planning and design services.

Rebecca Leonard, a graduate of Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning, will lead the office. Her focus will be on developing projects for the firm, not only in the state of Texas, but will serve clients nation wide and in the Caribbean as well.

Texas projects by Design Workshop have thus far included master planning and design for the second phase of the Domain project in North Austin, initial planning for Hardy Yards in Houston and Bellaire Sustainable Development in Hurst.

The Domain development is a mixed-used community in Northwest Austin, combining commercial and residential uses in one area. The second phase of the Domain project will cover 27 acres south of the original Domain and plans include a three storey Dillard’s, an 80,000 square foot Dick’s, and an eight screen cinema complex, as well as a 340 room Westin hotel. Construction begins this summer, 2008, with plans for opening in November of 2009.