Cool Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

On March 11th, which is the day before SXSW Interactive starts, Austin will be hosting a very cool RE Barcamp event downtown.  I plan to be there helping with check-in at the beginning, and probably hanging out at the after party, too.  :)

If you don't know what a Barcamp is, you have to come and find out.  Basically, it's a day to network, learn, and hang out as we discuss social media, technology, and other online tools to help your real estate business.  It's also called an "unconference", which means that ANYONE can show up and lead a session.

Who should come?  Realtors, lenders, title reps, escrow officers, appraisers, inspectors, virtual assistants, home stagers and anyone else in the real estate world (or any other world -- PR, Marketing, etc) who wants to improve their social media game.

There is space for up to 300 people, and so far over 60 have signed up.  If you are within driving distance, you cannot miss this one.  I'm thankful that it's only about 20 minutes from my house!  If you have to make special arrangements and bump appointments, I still think this day will be a memorable one for you and worth the trouble.  After my first Barcamp in Houston back in 2008, I have loved the concept behind these events.

One of the best parts is the cost: it's 100% FREE to participants.  How can you pass this up?

If you know anyone interested in sponsoring, I think we still need 2 more sponsors to make everything happen.  Sponsorships are only $250 each, and that will get you on the t-shirt, etc.  The last I heard, we need to know by Friday about any additional sponsors in order to ensure that you will appear on the event shirt. 

If you have any questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer them.  I hope to see you there!

To RSVP today, visit http://rebarcamp.com/austin and click on the tab to register.  You can also click on the "Who's Coming?" tab to see who has currently signed up to attend. 

See you there!

Well, it appears that Texas remains one of the strongest real estate investments around, as evidenced by a new list released by Forbes.com last week.  In fact, ours was the only state to place more than one city on the list (3 total!). 

Austin is #10 on their "America's Best Housing Markets" list.  For those of us who live and work here, the only surprise in this story is that we weren't at the top!  However, Houston appears at #3, and Dallas/Fort Worth is at #9 this time around.

The criteria used for this particular list were:

• Low foreclosure rate
• Rising home prices
• Continued affordability for people in median income range
• Areas without much excess inventory

To see the entire story, visit:  http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/19/best-housing-prices-personal-finance-real-estate-affordable-homes.html    

Here are the top ten best housing markets for 2010 according to Forbes.com:

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. Louisville, KY
3. Houston, TX
4. Minneapolis, MN
5. Indianapolis, IA
6. Memphis, TN
7. Columbus, OH
8. St. Louis, MO
9. Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
10. Austin, TX

If you're considering a move to Austin or if you are interested in investing in Austin TX real estate, let me know.  I would love the opportunity to help.  You can call me anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email jason@austintexashomes.com.  Thanks!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualistimages/3723339227/

Nestled on a cul-de-sac street in one of Round Rock's most popular communities, 2012 Solitude Cove offers a terrific, functional layout with nice space at an affordable price. 

If you get a home under contract by April 30th and close by June 30th, you may qualify for one of the federal homebuyer tax credits, too!

Details:

• 4 Bedrooms PLUS study with glass French doors
• 2130 s.f. per builder plan
• One-story floorplan flows well
• Wood floors through entry, kitchen, and breakfast areas
• Granite counters and nice tile backsplash
• Large master bedroom separate from other bedrooms for privacy
• Master bathroom with double vanity, garden tub, and separate shower
• Custom side door leads to stone patio and HUGE oak tree
• Enlarged back patio
• Professionally landscaped back yard
• Surround sound system to convey with home
• No neighbor behind you!  Backs to neighborhood street
• 10' Ceilings in main areas of the home
• Sonoma neighborhood was named, "Best Master Planned Community"
• Elementary and Middle schools are within easy walking distance of the home

If you have any questions at all or if you would like to set up a time to take a look at this home, feel free to give me a call anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email me at jason@austintexashomes.com.  If you are interested in searching all Austin homes for sale, visit my website at www.austintexashomes.com.

After attending Raincamp Dallas, I received a number of requests to re-teach some of our recent classes.  Jeremy and I will be offering both of our initial 210 Consulting webinars next week once again. 

"How to Chug Google Juice AND Get 15 Years of Fame" - Monday, March 1st - 1-3pm Eastern

The primary topics for our class will be: 

• How to write posts on your blog to increase your inquiries (and sales)
• How to get Google and other search engines to pay attention to your blog
• Dominating Google for your desired keywords
• What a longtail keyword is, and how it can send you oodles of potential business
• How to garner more subscribers and a loyal audience for your blog

In essence, your blog should serve as your "home base" online with any social media marketing plan.  With that in mind, we can help you shape your blog into a cozy and fun place to hang out.  

How would it feel to see other people start to spread your content and writing around to their friends?  
What are your goals with regard to blogging and social media?  This session is an absolute must for anyone who is new to blogging, or to anyone who feels that they aren't optimizing their efforts with their blog....yet.  We promise to share what has worked well for us.  

 Register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/581158260 - Cost is $60 - use discount code "activerain" for $10 off

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"Cashing In on Your Social Media Investment" - Tuesday, March 2nd from 2-4pm Eastern

During our (approximate) two-hour session, Jeremy Blanton and I will share a number of items that will help you to better leverage your online marketing efforts. 

For the upcoming class, we will be providing lots of details on specific tools that we have used to make it easier to engage with others.  We can also show you some tricks using Twitter and Facebook to connect with others in your geographic area and to find potential clients.  We will also cover Flickr, YouTube, and Posterous.

We will be discussing the following topics in a fun, laidback atmosphere:

• How to effectively listen in order to identify potential clients
• How to add valuable content to engage with those around you 
• Some basic "etiquette" for Twitter, Facebook, and blogging
• Techniques for promoting yourself and your events

Register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/581176314 - Cost is $60 - use discount code "activerain" for $10 off

-------------------------------------------------------

If you're interested in taking both classes, we are offering a package deal for just $90 for all four hours of training.  Please email me directly at jason@210consulting.com to take advantage of this deal.

If you're unsure about paying for the classes right now, but you want to get a taste for our teaching style at 210 Consulting, you can also check out our FREE 45-minute webinar this Thursday at either 12:30pm Eastern or 1:30pm Eastern. 

The topic this week will be "20+ Social Media Tools for Your Business".  Seating is limited to 25 people per session.  If you're interested in the free sessions, simply fill out this form and we'll be in touch with more details soon:

 

I wrote yesterday asking my local Austin-area friends if they would be interested in helping my 8-year old daughter by buying Girl Scout Cookies from us.  Many people said that they would if they could, but it's not practical to ship them to other states or cities. Others mentioned that the large cookie photo I used made them drool on their keyboards.

At any rate, if you want to support our cookie sales efforts, but you are:

• worried about your diet
• too far away, OR
• a crazy person who doesn't like the taste of the cookies

I have an idea for you. 

It's called "Operation Cookie Drop".  Basically, you donate $3.50 for each box of cookies, and they will be delivered to our troops overseas.

Cool, huh?

I have already bought and consumed cookies myself, but I think I may just go ahead and donate some extra money for this very special cause.

Here are a handful of benefits:

• You can keep your girlish (or boyish) figure intact
• You are directly helping our troops
• You are benefitting the Girl Scouts
• I will be your new friend

Perhaps best of all, the donation is tax deductible!

In an effort to make it easier, you can pay via PayPal (any amount in $3.50 increments) by sending the money to our account at jasonpam@swbell.net.  We will then write a check for the total and provide a receipt for your tax records if you like.  

If you would like to pay by check (minimum donation of $14), you can make it out to "GSCTX" or "Girl Scouts of Central Texas" and mail it to my office at 3636 Executive Center Drive, #210, Austin, TX  78731. 

Of course, my original offer still stands as well.  If you are in the general Austin area, and you buy at least three boxes, we will deliver them to your home or office personally.  I am meeting one fellow AR member (Robert Twaron) on Thursday who is driving up from San Antonio to pick up 9 boxes!

Don't wait too long - the sale ends March 14th.

Thanks in advance for your help!   If you have any questions, let me know.

I'm curious to see if this will bring results or not.  If not, no harm done.  If so, I can help out a good cause and my daughter at the same time.

If you live in the general Austin area, let me know if you would like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies.  My 8-year-old daughter is selling them for the first time this year.

If you buy at least three boxes ($10.50 or more), and you live/work in the Austin metro area, my daughter and I will deliver them to you at your home or office (your choice). 

By the way, I already know what you're thinking.  YES!  They are still just as delicious as you remember them.  In fact, you might be doing my waistline a service by getting them out of my house.  They are really, really good. 

The cost?  $3.50 per box. 

The sale is still going on for almost two weeks, from what I understand, so time is of the essence.  They've even added some new cookies to the old favorites.  Meet the cookies here (but buy them from us if you are in/near Austin): http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/

Help me demonstrate the power of social media and blogging.  :)  They also make great gifts. 

Quick update: If you are dieting, or you live too far away to take advantage of this, you can also donate to help the cause, and the cookies will be sent to our troops stationed overseas:

Do you want to help my daughter AND our troops? Read on...

On Monday night, I drove up to my mom's house near Dallas and spent the night in anticipation of the Raincamp event the next day.  Surprisingly, there was still several inches of snow on the ground when I arrived, although the roads were clear.  Since we didn't get any snow at all at my house, I was a little disappointed that my kids weren't there to see it. 

This was the very first night I spent away from my wife and kids since May of 1998, when my son was a few months old.  He had an emergency surgery (intestinal blockage) the night before my grandfather's funeral.  I was there for both "events".  When I was at Raincamp, I mistakenly thought that it was the very first time I'd been away from them.  Still, it takes a lot to get me away from my family.  I was looking forward to Raincamp for weeks.

But I digress...

Raincamp was a terrific event!  It was incredibly valuable from a networking standpoint, since it allowed me to finally connect in person with many of my friends from AR that I have known for years online.  Additionally, I learned some great techniques with regard to lead conversion and generation.  I hope to implement some of the real estate ideas right away at my company.  Big thanks to Ben Kinney, Bob Stewart, and Brad Andersohn for putting together such a cool day of learning.  I have a list several pages long of sites to check out. 

After lunch, I was asked to sit on a social media panel with my good friend Debe Maxwell of Charlotte and Josh Hartley of Dallas.  It was a lot of fun to answer questions from Brad and Ben and a few from the audience as well.  Here's a picture that Lori Cain of Tulsa took of us:

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend getting to one of these events if you have a chance.  You will learn some tips, tricks and techniques that will help your business to grow, regardless of your level of expertise.  They covered a broad array of information in one day, and I am frankly not that easy to impress.  I won't claim that I learned something during every part of the event, since I also teach social media and blogging, but I will say that it was well worth my time to attend. 

Ben has a very laidback presenting style, but hearing some of his sales techniques was motivational to me as a broker.  It stimulated me to work on our own lead conversion, since we have tons of leads coming to our site, yet not that many sales to show for it most months.

I think Bob mentioned that the next Raincamp will be held in Denver.  If you have a chance to make it, GO!  Maybe I can convince them to fly me in.  Kidding.

P.S. I wasn't really kidding in my title, by the way.  I spent so much time talking that I really didn't make a point to take pictures, and I even ended up with a hoarse voice the next day.  I was hoping that many of the photos that were taken with me in them would appear on posts and on Facebook.  I wasn't disappointed, since I saw a bunch of them in earlier AR posts, but I didn't see any of them make it to FB.  If you have any to share, feel free to post them in the comments below.  :)

When I was a kid, I remember being excited about my "half birthday".  For anyone who may be unfamiliar with this concept, it's the day you are halfway between birthdays. 

As in, "I'm five and a half today!"  From that day forward, you are no longer 5, or 8, or 12.  The "and a half" has to be added when someone refers to your age.

For me, my half birthday is today.  My birthday is August 17th.  However, instead of just rounding my age up to 40, or 40-ish, I will require all of my friends and family to refer to me as "39 and a half" for a few more months. 

Clearly, my goal is a bit different from when I was growing up.  In this case, it's to ward off saying that I'm 40, not to emphasize how close it is for me.  I'm really not bothered by it, but I think the emphasis on the half is funny.

I guess if people guessed my age higher all the time, I would be more hesitant to reveal how old I am, but I still pass for 32-35 most of the time, so I'm happy when people act surprised.  If you are not surprised, or if you actually thought I was even older, feel free to keep that to yourself.  :)

So, I guess I need to celebrate my half birthday today, huh?  Perhaps I should buy (or consume) half a cake?

Maybe I'll go buy some wine and see if I get carded.  That happened to me twice over the past year.  That would make it a very good day indeed.

On Monday, February 15th at 1pm Eastern time (noon Central, 11am Mountain, 10am Pacific), 210 Consulting is offering a webinar entitled:

"Cashing In on Your Social Media Investment"

During our (approximate) two-hour session, Jeremy Blanton and I will share a number of items that will help you to better leverage your online marketing efforts.  Our first webinar was very well-received, and a good number of students signed up for individual coaching.  We have the recorded version available for that one at http://budurl.com/210recording.

For the upcoming class, we will be providing lots of details on specific tools that we have used to make it easier to engage with others.  We can also show you some tricks using Twitter and Facebook to connect with others in your geographic area and to find potential clients.

We will be covering the following topics in a fun, laidback atmosphere:

• How to effectively listen in order to identify potential clients
• How to add valuable content to engage with those around you 
• Some basic "etiquette" for Twitter, Facebook, and blogging
• Techniques for promoting yourself and your events

The cost is $50, but if you sign up by Friday at midnight, you can use the CODE "earlybird" and get a $15 discount!  Space is limited to the first 25 people to sign up, and we do offer a money-back guarantee if you aren't satisfied with the class.

Some praise from our students:

REALLY enjoyed my coaching session today and am looking forward to working with you both!  Already made suggested changes on AR!    - Lori Cain

I picked up some valuable lessons from your class. I have tried a few other Blog platforms including Blogger, Live Journal, Typepad and Wordpress. Wordpress seems to be ideal for what my needs are. Still learning it.  Thank you for the class. I look forward to future sessions.  - Dawn O.

Here are a couple of full posts that others have written about us: 

Want To Blog Better & More Effectively? Check Out These Guys: by Kent Simpson of Tucson

Why I hired Jason Crouch as my social media coach. by Bruce Brockmeier

Sometimes, you just have "one of those days".  For me, that day was today.  While I was preparing for our radio show this morning, I found out that my co-host was too sick to participate.  Of the other four show regulars, one was travelling (i.e. no internet access) and one was tied up with sick children. 

As I was about to call in and start the show, my Macbook decided not to work for the first time ever, so I started about 4 minutes late.  Lastly, the show's intro, which is programmed to start automatically, didn't play at all. 

Ugh.

Needless to say, all of this stuff threw a small wrench in the works and altered the show agenda.

Thankfully, Mike Mueller and Jeremy Blanton were both able to help out for the entire show, and we kept things moving along. 

So, if you're interested in hearing how I sound when I am a little flustered, feel free to check out today's show.  :)

We had two entertaining guests, Kay Ballard of Social Media Soiree and Women Are Not Funny Radio, and Michael Tchong, founder of MacWEEK and Ubertrends.

Here's the direct link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jckc/2010/02/09/social-media-edge