Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Just Another Day at Work in Austin, Texas

 

Austin real estate in a nutshell:

Number of people moving here, wanting houses > Number of houses available

Consequently, it's important for an Austin real estate agent to be acquainted with builders and new homes. 

So today I attended a class on helping clients find and purchase new homes. We even had a field trip to this cute little subdivision only 10 minutes from downtown Austin. 

 


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The homes had small yards and detached garages…some with small apartments on top.

(We had fun imagining who would stay in the apartments. Older children returning home? Visitors to ACL or SXSW, needing to rent a room? In-laws?)

 


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It is so cool that part of my job involves exploring new homes, opening closets, cabinets, and drawers.

And getting free lunches.

 


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I loved the pops of colors and Craftsman-style touches on many of the homes.

 


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A MetroRail Station is adjacent to the neighborhood and all of these homes face a small dog park.

Very urban without being right downtown.



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Yes, I love my job.

(Contact me if you want more information about these urban gems!)

 


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P.S. Happy Halloween Week!

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17 responses to “Just Another Day at Work in Austin, Texas”

  1. Wolf Pascoe Avatar
    Wolf Pascoe

    I want them all!

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  2. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    Be careful what you say to a Realtor! hehehe
     

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  3. Hilary Avatar
    Hilary

    What fun. I have to say that orange and turquoise always catches my eye.
    I watched as the people who bought our house came through last night with their family and friends in tow. It’s weird to try and detach myself from my home of nearly 30 years and listen (okay eavesdrop) in on what they plan to do with my space. It makes me wonder if during your studies, you learned interesting things about the psychology of the seller (as opposed to the buyer)? Just a curiosity, mostly.

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  4. Gail Avatar
    Gail

    How exciting, Barbara! The Austin area is so hip and cool and the colors of the homes certainly reflect that. Double D and I thought about retiring to Austin….we might still. As you know, we have good friends that live in Lago Vista, and they are loving it.
    Just wanted to mention that I had to curb my blog roll to a manageable level, so I kept your Blogger one and took away this one. I haven’t seen a post on the Blogger blog in a while; are you posting more here? If so, I will change the links out. 🙂

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  5. Gail Avatar
    Gail

    P.S. The only reason I knew about this post was from a G+ email alert. Don’t know how that happened!

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  6. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    I'm still posting on both, but this summer, because of real estate school and my parents' issues, my posts got scarce (as well as visits to other blogs!) I mostly kept up with my 'sweets' here, for sanity's sake. 🙂 I gave up on keeping updated blogrolls on my blogs – there are too many I like, so I'm using Feedly. Alas, because of the time thing, lately I mostly visit based on comments here. I've gone through most of the classes now, though, and will soon have time to visit more again! Yay!
    I wondered if your friends still lived in Lago Vista. I would love it if you lived here – I can already imagine all of the photo shoots we could go on! Let me know if you decide to
    come here. I'll find you a great place!
     

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  7. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    I don't, either, but I'm glad it did!
     

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  8. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    Actually, we do learn about different personality types in both buyers and sellers. It's very interesting! I know how you feel about needing to detach yourself from your home. I felt the same way when we left our home near Houston and moved to Austin. It had been a foreclosure and my husband had done so much in the ten years we were there…acid washed the pool so we could use it, landscaped, built a huge deck and playscape. And of course, we lived there when all three kids were born. It was tough to say goodbye, but one evening it clicked that I would have those memories no matter what, and my brain clicked forward to the new ones we would create. And that was it. Now I have to face saying goodbye to the home I myself grew up in, though. I think it will be harder than I
    imagine. 
     

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  9. Katie Avatar
    Katie

    those are such cute little homes, and i’m so happy that you love your new job!

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  10. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    I am, too! After more than a year of revising resumes and sending in applications, I'm kicking myself that I just didn't listen to my sister-in-law and do this a year ago!
     

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  11. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    I am, too! After more than a year of revising resumes and sending in applications, I'm kicking myself that I just didn't listen to my sister-in-law and do this a year ago!
     

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  12. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    These are so cute and I do love the color choices!

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  13. lisleman Avatar
    lisleman

    I always thought fads and trends didn’t belong in house design. This area went through a trend (maybe it was long lasting?) of fireplaces. The only fireplace I ever cared for was one at a hotel where I didn’t worry about the cleaning or loss of heat. So we don’t have one and I’m glad. I like the shapes of these houses but not the colors so much. With that bright Texas sun I would suspect strong colors would have a fading problem. My opinions are just that. I’m not in any housing market and don’t expect to be for a long time.

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  14. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    That just proves there needs to be variety! I think you're probably right about the fading problem. But any paint would start to fade and need to be touched up, I guess. The Craftsman style has been around a long time, though. I'm with you on regular fireplaces. I always wanted one, but then when I had one in our old house, the smoke triggered my kids' asthma. Now we have a tight woodburning stove and it heats the whole house because of the way Tom designed its placement. I doubt it would accomplish that farther north, but for our Austin winters, it's perfect. 
     

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  15. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    If I ever decided to move from the country….
     

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  16. Skye Avatar
    Skye

    These photos are making me want to move… !

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  17. Barbara Shallue Avatar
    Barbara Shallue

    Well, you know who to call if you decide to!! 🙂
     

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