RE/MAX Austin Associates - Jana McCool, ABR, CDPE, CHMS, CRS, REALTOR

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Category: Real Estate News.
Tags: Austin area homes, Austin new homes, Austin Realtor, Jana McCool, mortgage interest deduction, taxes, USDA

America is on sale right now and it’s a spectacular time to buy real estate. There are some amazing bargains on homes in the Austin area with some price ranges having 7-15 months inventory which can lead to some very motivated Sellers. We are still experiencing historically low interest rates andthere are so many benefits to home ownership. You need a place to live, so why not buy your own home and pay off your own mortgage instead of a landlords’ mortgage? At this time we still have the homeowners’ mortgage interest deduction which will benefit you on your taxes. And for many, their own home provides a sense of stability, choice in how you decorate/landscape/etc. without having to get a landlords’ approval, USDA 100% home loans are available in some areas, and a choice of schools/location/amenities you can enjoy. Plus, owning a home is the “American Dream”.
New development in the Austin area is about 1/3 of what have seen in the past years. Since Austin area builders have greatly reduced the number of homes they have been building over the last few years, we can expect to see a shortage of homes in the near future as Austin continues to grow. As our unemployment numbers go down, job growth increases, and the population of Austin increases, Austin is projected to become one of the strongest markets in the country. Now is the time to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity! Call Jana McCool at (512) 280-2665 to discuss what your options are.

Tags: Austin area homes, Austin real estate, Austin TX foreclosures, foreclosure, foreclosures in Austin TX, home for sale in Austin TX, TX foreclosures

The Texas Attorney General has sent suspension notices to 30 mortgage loan services to halt allforeclosures,and sales of properties which had been foreclosed on. The Texas Attorney General has also halted all evictions of tenants residing in homes which have been previously foreclosed on by these companies. The Texas Attorney General’s Office will be performing a review of the processes each of these mortgage-loan services perform in the event of a foreclosure. The mortgage-loan services in Texas that were sent suspension notices include:American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc.,American General Finance, Inc.,AmTrust Mortgage Corporation,Aurora LoanServicec, Inc.,Bank of America,Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC,Cenlar, FSB,JP Morgan Chase & Co.,CitiMortgage, Inc.,EMC Mortgage Corporation,First Horizon National Corp.,Ally Financial, Inc./GMAC,Home Loan Services,HomEq Servicing, Inc.,HSBC North America Holdings, Inc.,Litton Loan Servicing, Inc.,MGC Mortgage, Inc.,Midland Mortgage Company,MorEquity, Inc.,National City Mortgage c/o PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.,Nationstar Mortgage Company,Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC,OneWest Bank Group LLC,PHH Mortgage Services Corporation,Saxon Mortgage Services, Inc.,Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc.,Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc., Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo & Company, and
Wilshire Credit Corporation.

Tags: Austin real estate, Bank of America, Countrywide, free credit monitoring, home loans

Countrywide, now Bank of America, as a result of a lawsuit, is offering FREE credit monitoring for the approximately 17 million folks whose credit was compromised due to a security breach. Who is eligible? If you have ever had an account with Countrywide as your lender, they will have to reimburse you up to $50,000 each time your credit is compromised.

Tags: Austin TX Realtor, Dripping Springs, Dripping Springs TX real estate, things to do in Austin

For a fun filled day/evening come out to Harrison Ranch Park in Dripping Springs for the second annualWild West Fest on Saturday, October 23rd. There will be tons of fun for all ages. In 2009 1,500+ people attended the Wild West Fest.
The heritage of Dripping Springs will come to life with western activities and other entertainment. Day-time activities include an equestrian playday, barrel races, a ranch rodeo, a goat show, Imagine a Horse, a chili and salsa cook-off, arts and crafts vendors, pumpkin carving contest, an old fashioned pie contest, haunted house and kids heritage games. Later in the day and evening, the Wild West Fest will feature a full BBQ dinner and dancing to the music of theMichael Myers Band.
Currently, Harrison Ranch Park and the existing farmhouse are used for a multitude of activities, including family events, weddings, informal classes and demonstrations, horseback riding, nature viewing, film/movie venue and a variety of other activities.
Harrison Ranch Park is located at 29401 Ranch Road 12, just west of the Ranch Road 12/Highway 290 intersection. For more information about the Wild West Fest, please go towww.dswildwestfest.com. The website also lists event times for activities..

Austin Formula One auto race organizers announced that the proposed track will be on about 900 acres near Elroy in southeastern Travis County. But, then in their news conference they said they were still considering other locations. So there is some confusion still on the exact location.
Austin, TXwill be the first city in the U.S. to have a facility built specifically for Grand Prix racing. The racing will be held from 2012 to 2021. The U.S. hasn’t had Formula One racing since 2007 where it had been held for eight years at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The great state of Texas has pledged $25 million annually in support for the event.
The venue will be designed by Tilke, a German firm. Tilke has built racetracks in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Shanghai and Istanbul as well as some other cities.
As many Americans know, Austin has earned a reputation as one of the ‘it’ cities in the United States, stated Tavo Hellmund of Full Throttle Productions. Austin features that rare combination of ideal geographic location and beauty. Its fine dining, world-renowned hospitality and excellent transportation infrastructure make Austin ideally suited to host and manage an event of this magnitude. Few cities if any in America could rival the connectivity of all these key elements needed for hosting a Formula 1 event as well as Austin.
Visit their new website,www.formula1unitedstates.com for additional information.

Tags: businesses in Dripping Springs TX, Dripping Springs, grocery store, H-E-B, Homes for Sale

Yesterday the long awaited H-E-B Grocery Store opened its’ doors in the small town of Dripping Springs. For months residents of Dripping Springs had beendiscussing their excitement about H-E-B coming to town so they won’t have to drive to Austin anymore for groceries. There were severaldozen peoplewaiting in line when the doors opening yesterday at 6 am.
Most arearesidents seem open to the change, but know that H-E-B is bound to bring other big businesses to the area. The quaitness of Dripping Springs may not last much longer. Super-S grocery store has faithfully served the area for many years, and it’s uncertain if they will be able to hold up against H-E-B forverylong. H-E-B’s gas station opened last week and promptly drove down some neighboring gas station prices.
The newH-E-Bmeasures approximately68,000 square feet. It is estimated that H-E-B will pay up to $130,000 annually in property taxes to the Dripping Springs ISD, a large portion of those taxes would havesurely gone to Austin grocery stores if this store had not opened. It has also brought many new jobs to town.
I have lived in Dripping Springs for almost 6 years and am personally very happy that H-E-B has come to town.

Tags: Austin area homes, Austin TX real estate, Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit, home buyer, home for sale in Austin TX, HR 5623

HR 5623 was passed by Congress. With this bill, the home buyer tax credit closing deadline has now been extended to 9/30/10. The passage of HR 5623 will allow thousands of home buyers that were not able to meet their closing date of 6/30/10to take advantage of the $8,000 and $6,500 tax credits.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has been encouraging of its passage. We know that up to 180,000 home buyers eligible for the tax credit are rejoicing this morning. And we all thank both houses of Congress for their work to ensure passage of both bills, said NAR president Vicki Cox Golder.
Who is eligible for this deadline extension? If you had already met the qualifications of being a are a 1st time or “step up” home buyer, and had your home under contract no later than 4/30/10, but you were unable to close on your home by 6/30/10, this extension of the closing deadline will apply to you. The same restrictions apply to the extension of the closing deadline as did in the previous rules of the 6/30/10 deadline.

Tags: 4th of July, Austin area homes, Austin TX real estate, home for sale in Austin TX, Independence Day, Wimberley tx

I hope you enjoy the 4th of July. I’m in an orchestra called the Hill Country Community Band in Wimberley. We are playing a patriotic church service tomorrow morning at the 1st Baptist Church in Wimberley, and playing a concert tomorrow evening with some other great groups at the Wimberley fireworks show. The fireworks display will followour concert. It should be a blast (no pun intended). If you are in the area or want something free and fun to do, drop on by.If you can’tmake it, I hope you’re doing something fun too! Take care.

Category: Short Sale & Foreclosure.
Tags: Austin area homes, distressed homes, foreclosure, Homes for Sale, short sale

Statistics show that you or someone youknow in the Austin area has lost their job, is behind on their payments, or facing the possibility of foreclosure. You need to knowthatthere are solutions.
1 in every 10 homeowners in the U.S. is behind on their mortgage payments and refinancing a home loan has become very difficult, if not impossible for many. It is of upmost importance that folks in this situation hear what their solutions are. Foreclosure can be avoided, however,it’s not an easy path. But, by doing this, it may help to salvageyou from financial ruin.
Through my experience in handling distressed properties at RE/MAX Austin Associates I’ve found that homeowners today have many questions and want answers as to how they can best deal with their circumstances.
I am an experienced agent who has earned the CDPE designation. I have a strong and unique approach to the process of working with the homeowner and their lender to save a homeowner from foreclosure.
If you would like to discuss your options, please call me at (512) 964-7653 or 280-2665.
I am here to help!

Tags: Austin area homes, Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit, House vote, HR 5623, June 30 deadline

The House voted this afternoon on a standalone bill which will extend the closing deadline for homebuyers purchasing a home using the Federal Homebuyer Tax Credit. The vote was 409-5. The current deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday 6/30/2010. If this standalone bill is passed, it will extend the deadline three months to 9/30/2010. This would be a tremendous help. Without this passage many homebuyers would be unable to get their homes closed on time that are planning on using the federal homebuyer tax credit.
The Senate could vote on HR 5623as soon as tomorrow. However, it has been mentioned that the pace of work has slowed due to the death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.
The National Association of Realtors had estimates of as many as 180,000 homebuyers who were under contract by April 30 that could miss the 6/30/2010 closing deadline, including over 15,000 Texans. Although some articles stated mixed opinions on the prospects for a quick passage of HR 5623, or of it even coming to a vote. I’m hoping the Senate will pass this as soon as possible to help so many Americans in need. Many buyers did all their lender asked them to do in getting required documentation to their lenders so that their loans could be processed. But, lenders have been overwhelmed with the amount of loans they received that needed to processed and closed by the 6/30/2010 deadline.

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