How can your home make you happier?

Does your home seem dark or uninviting? Do you feel unwelcome in your own living room? Making improvements that make you happier will probably make prospective buyers happier in your home as well!

Click here for a story about how you can make improvements or here for more information about buying or selling in Lakeway.

'Error' will delay property tax rates

See my blog post for my personal experience on fighting my property taxes at TCAD.

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More than 15 percent still protesting
rates

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Due to a "clerical error," more than 140 jurisdictions in Travis County will have some major headaches, and possibly some upset taxpayers, as they must now wait to set their true tax rates for next year for at least another month.

The City of Austin, Austin ISD, and other Travis County taxing authorities will have to wait when it comes to setting how much they will tax property owners.

"We incorrectly certified [the tax roll]," said Travis County Chief Appraiser Patrick Brown Thursday.

By law, an appraisal district must certify the values of the property listed on its tax roll with 90 percent of the property not under protest by July 20.

This year, a mistaken query falsely identified 90 percent of the property not under protest, Brown said.

In reality, about 15 percent of people are still protesting their property taxes, he said.

"Part of the problem due to the large number of protests this year," Brown said. "They're maybe figuring out that this is a way they can save some money."

More than 90,000 people protested their property taxes this year in Travis County, compared to 62,000 last year, said Brown.

Brown said the tax rolls should not change from the original estimates sent out in error.

The Austin City Council could vote on a maximum property tax rate as early as next week, but could not set a final tax rate until the roll is certified.

The 2010 budget is set on recommendations to raise property taxes by $69 per year for the median household, arriving as a way to shore up a nearly $30 million budget shortfall for 2009-2010.

In a memo to the mayor and city council members, Austin's Chief Financial Officer Leslie Browder said the city is working with the Law Department to determine if the delay will affect "truth-in-taxation" requirements required by law leading up to the adoption of a tax rate, and whether it will affect the city's budget schedule.

The police, fire, EMS, Municipal Court, health and human Services, library and parks and recreation departments will present their budgets to the city council at a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The next day the city will hold a public hearing.

The Austin Energy, Economic Growth and Redevelopment Office, Austin Water Utility, Solid Waste Services, Watershed Protection, Public Works, Austin Transportation Department, Aviation, Convention Center, and Planning and Development Review departments will present their budgets on Wednesday, Aug. 19 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

If needed, the city will again host a public hearing the next day and hold more budget presentations on Wednesday, Aug. 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The budget approval readings will take place from Sept. 14 to 16.

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Read the original article here or visit my website for information and advice about owning, buying, or selling a home in Austin, Texas

Federal Reserve says housing market is improving

While residential real estate remains weak overall, many local markets are showing signs of improvement, according to the Federal Reserve’s Commentary on Current Economic Conditions, also known as the Beige Book.

Sales volume is up, especially in the Fed’s Minneapolis and San Francisco districts, and with the exception of the St. Louis district, sales declines are letting up.

The Fed credited the federal government’s $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit for the improvement to the low-end of the residential housing market, especially in its New York, Kansas City and Dallas districts.

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Read the rest of the article here or visit my website for information about buying or selling your home.

Healthiest Housing Markets in the Country

With most economists and builders expecting a national market decline this year, this may not seem like the best time to be selecting the "healthiest" markets in the country. Virtually every market was down last year. But a close look at the numbers reveals that some markets have way outperformed others during the last four years and are likely to continue to do so this year.

When the housing market stages its official recovery, the markets listed on the following pages are likely to lead the parade. It may take a year or more for the weakest markets--where burgeoning foreclosure sales are still pounding new home values, making building and selling new homes an exercise in futility-- to finally stage a turnaround. We’ll present that list next week.

The healthiest markets have many things in common. Most of them are great places to live, either close to the ocean, mountains, or major universities. Most of them didn’t have a huge run-up in prices during the boom and aren’t experiencing rampant deflation during the bust.

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Texas claims the top Five with Austin edged out only by Houston. Read the full article here or learn more about Real Estate in Austin, Texas on my website.

Austin named one of America's fittest cities.

A new report looks at 30 different measures to determine which cities' residents are healthiest.

When it comes to healthy living, Washington, D.C., is seldom mentioned in the same breath as cities like San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Seattle, all of which are known for their active, health-conscious residents.

But according to a new report, the city of pomp and politics is the healthiest in the nation. In the second annual American Fitness Index (AFI), a publication released by the American College of Sports Medicine, Washington, D.C., edged out Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., Denver, Boston and San Francisco.

Walter Thompson, a professor in the department of kinesiology and health at Georgia State University and chair of the AFI's advisory board, says the annual project is designed to give communities a data-driven picture of local health--and nudge residents in the right direction.

"I believe significant success in improving the fitness of the community can occur when the residents truly value healthy behaviors," says Thompson.

Behind the Numbers
The AFI is sponsored by the WellPoint Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the health benefits company WellPoint. The index ranks 45 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)--a geographical measurement defined by the U.S. Census Bureau used by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics--that include the city and surrounding suburban area. It measures each city's performance on 30 indicators, including acres of parkland, death rate from cardiovascular disease, the number of primary care physicians per capita and the percent of residents who bicycle or walk to work. The metrics were gathered from government and non-profit organizations. (For the complete methodology, visit www.americanfitnessindex.org.)

Read the entire article here or visit my website for more information about living in or moving to Austin, Texas.

Fed moves to curb housing abuses

The U.S. central bank recommends new rules to limit compensation for mortgage brokers and clarify risks for borrowers.

July 23, 2009: 11:36 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Federal Reserve Board Thursday recommended new disclosure rules for homeowners and compensation guidelines for mortgage brokers to correct some abuses of the recent runaway housing market.

Prospective borrowers would receive a one-page notice of key questions about their loan and see a graph comparing their interest rate to that of a low-risk borrower, the Fed said.

Mortgage brokers would not receive greater compensation if they put a borrower into a high-cost loan, under the rules.

"Consumers need the proper tools to determine whether a particular mortgage loans is appropriate for their circumstances," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said during an open meeting of the board.

View the original article here or visit my website for more news about the Texas real estate market.