Dee Copeland’s Blog

In today’s ‘green conscious’ society, not only is there a moral obligation not to destroy and discard, but to recycle and reuse.

The eco-friendly ‘unbuild’ has now become an option to the traditional ‘tear-down’ of Austin real estate. According to a Wall Street Journal article, an unbuilt house can be carefully disassembled, piece by piece, and the parts used for a new house and/or donated for reuse elsewhere. Whatever is donated can be deducted from income tax.

‘Unbuilding’ an Austin home may be the right thing to do for many reasons, but saving time and money is not top of the list. It will take longer to ‘unbuild’, but at least a couple of weeks and may end up being more expensive in the long run, even after any tax deductions. But, other benefits are the reuse of materials such as beautiful aged brick from fireplaces, stone foundations, custom woodwork, decorative tile or antique fixtures and working appliances.

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Here’s some background on popular Travis Heights, one of South Austin’s oldest neighborhoods. Making a drive through the area a pleasure to the eyes with its lush mature landscaping, charm and history.

Located south of the Colorado River and tucked between Interstate 35 and South Congress Avenue and in the 78704 zip code, Travis Heights is a desirable address among professionals who are looking for a quiet neighborhood close to downtown.

Development of Travis Heights started in the late 1880s. It was an ideal place for a “country mansion” away from downtown. At that time, the only way across to cross the Colorado River was by ferry, making the Travis Heights location extremely desirable. However, few mansions were ever built.

In the 1920s, real estate developer, Travis Heights, built smaller homes with carriage houses and detached garages, which today have been turned into much desired apartments. There is an ongoing battle between developers and residents who wish to preserver the integrity of the neighborhood. Many of the older homes have been torn down in recent years for ‘McMansions, which are usually bigger than the older 1920s homes.  

Reasons To Buy Travis Heights Real Estate Read the rest of this entry

Texas State Senator Kirk Watson and Austin City CouncilMember Brewster McCracken have led the charge to change how we commute to within Central Austin.After struggling with congession from our population growth, Mayor Will Wynn charged various groups, community leaders, transit experts and other residents to come up plans for a final vote in November.

Roma Design Group was hired as a consultant to the city to evaluate the dire situation and make a proposal. Roma’s final solution: place 14 miles of light rail line through Central Austin.

Top concerns for Central Austin light rail were:

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(Note: this was a satirical article reprinted by the Austin Statesman that points. Read comments for further discussion.)

Today’s Spotlight focuses on the proposed condominium project, Towering Towers II, which is being developed by Baulsy Bros Builders LLC, based in Miami. The proposed 100-story towers will become the tallest in the state and include 2,361 units.

Towering Towers II, will include a number of ‘Green’ features, including no-flush” toilets that will pipe residents’ waste products directly into a holding tank below the building which can then be recycled and used as fertilizer by the Austin Parks Department. Each unit will have solar-powered coffee makers and reusable canvas grocery shopping bags inscribed with “Keep Austin Weird.”

As innovative and environmentally friendly as these buildings will be, two concerns arise.

The first is the demolition of our historic State Capital and the second is whether downtown Austin need yet another condominium project.

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I receive questions each week from real estate agents, small business owners and other professionals about mobile marketing tools and where they can find more information.

Mobile software is used on mobile devices such as the iPhone, BlackBerry, PDA’s, and/or other cell phones and handheld devices. Some are specifically for real estate while others have more general applications.

This article lists the the top mobile real estate or business tools that stand out in today’s marketplace.

Top Mobile Real Estate Tools for Home Buyers

Home buyers typically want to search for listings information from their phone. Besides listing information, some mobile sites and software provides also provide local real estate information and chat. A few top home buyer tools:

Continue reading “Tech Roundup: Top 8 Mobile Tools for Real Estate and Business Use”

NOTE: This article is part of the forthcoming book, the Gotcha Guide™ to Buying or Investing in Real Estate. by DeeinAustin™

I was elated to see the Home Warranty of America (HWA) announcement of their GreenPlus Program earlier this year.

GreenPlus is an upgrade to HWA’s 13-month contract, which covers appliance and mechanical systems. GreenPlus makes Energy Star exchanges, replaces your water heater with a tankless version, and upgrades your heating system to 90% efficiency upon disrepair.

This is especially useful in Green cities like in Austin, where our mayor is preparing to roll out a Climate Protection Plan, requiring all Austin home owners to make green upgrades before they can sell their home.

The Dark Downside of Home Service Contracts

Continue reading “Gotcha Guide™: Green-ify Your Home Service Contract”

Today’s spotlight is on controversial Park Place Village, a 10-acre gated RV site for 150-175 “chronically homeless” individuals.

The 99-year ground lease for the city-owned land in East Austin was approved by council to help fight homelessness.

Opposing East Austin residents faced an uphill battle at this week’s city council meeting. Reporters said hundreds of homeless Austinites and their supporters packed council chambers to ensure approval for the 3-year project. Park Place Village residents would rent the RVs and cottages for $100 to $375 a month, including electricity, water and TV services.

Three Major Reasons Why East Austin Opposed Park Place Village

Continue reading “Spotlight: Park Place Village Homeless RV Park in East Austin Creates Criticism, Praise”

Austin is consistently one of America’s top places to live, causing demand for housing to remain steady in most areas of the city.

As the Greater Austin metro area grows, we face rising home prices. Austin and other Texas cities are among the few in the nation to continue to appreciate while we face a recession.

We face tough questions every day. Their answer will affect our children and future generations.

Top Housing Issues in Austin

1. How can we create walkable, sustainable communities as the population increases?

2. How far should we take density if we want to remain livable?

3. How can we keep our city affordable, not just for low income wage earners, but for the working class, students, artists, musicians and young professionals.

What is affordable Austin real estate? An “affordable” home in Austin is about $160-180k with payments around $1300 to $1500 per month. This can get you a 3 bed, 2 bath, 1200-1700 square-foot home with a 2-car garage.

Continue reading “Is Affordable Austin Real Estate Just a Pipe Dream?”

Empty Nesters are moving to cities like Austin and Las Vegas in droves, keeping the local economy afloat during the current recession while growing housing demand.

Empty Nesters are couples whose children no longer live at home. They’re often members of the Baby Boomer generation, between 55 and 64 years of age. Baby Boomers have made huge impacts on health care and real estate due to the fact that there’s going to be about 78 Million of them.
Both Empty Nesters and Boomers are mobile and unafraid of change. In their lifetimes, they experienced America sending a man to the moon, the advent of the television and internet, and huge swings in retirement planning.

Top Three Reasons Why Empty Nesters and Baby Boomers are Hot for Austin Real Estate

Continue reading “Three Reasons Why Austin is Among Top U.S. Real Estate For Empty Nesters, Boomers”

This week’s spotlight focuses on the $85M mixed-use project breaking ground in Northwest Austin.

The Villagio will be located at RR 620 between US Hwy 183 and TX Hwy 71 minutes from Lake Travis. This project is sizable, with 29 acres of retail, office and luxury residences, all with an Italian style.

• 117,310 SF Retail/Restaurant space
• 31,800 SF Professional Office space
• 300 Apartments and a 5-acre lake

Who will live, work and shop at the Villagio Austin?

Continue reading “Spotlight: $85M ‘Villagio’ Brings Mixed-Use Luxury to Northwest Austin”