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• Where Is The Water?

  Sure enough, the almost impossible is happening at our doorstep. The unlikely severe drought is here and destined to continue through 2012 and become the most severe drought in central Texas history. Lake Travis low lake levels are expected to break all Read More... Posted Tuesday, January 31, 2012 9:53 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: Lake Travis, Lago Vista, Low Lake Levels, Central Texas Drought

• Best Apps for Realtors

  Our office hosted an outstanding Awesome APPS class for phones and tablets today. Agents from numerous companies and areas attended a fast and lively 3 hours presented by Independence Title. When it was all said and done, the EVERNOTE and CAM SCANNER Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 18, 2012 8:06 AM by Gene Hammonds | 5 Comments Filed under: apps, android, ipad, awesome apps for realtors, tablets, iphone

• Get the best indicator of your individual neighborhoods by contacting your local realtor.

  Also in the news… Another interesting bit of information from our friend, Mark Sprague, In-house Analyst, Independence title: The Case-Shiller index made news nationally last Tuesday, showing housing process dropping more than 1% in October, the Read More... Posted Monday, January 02, 2012 8:43 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: 2012 Real Estate Market, Real Estate in Lago Vista, new home sales, home prices

• More signs that point to a healthier Central Texas housing market in 2012, experts say

  The article above appeared in the Austin American Statesman last week, and our friend, Independence Title, in-house analyst, Mark Sprague, had some comments. In taking apart some of the numbers reported by the Statesman, there are some revealing insights Read More... Posted Monday, January 02, 2012 8:20 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: Texas, 2012 Real Estate Market, local real estate market, Real Estate in Lago Vista, Central Texas Real Estate

• True Grits of Jonestown...Down for the Count

  These are tough times for a lot of small business owners and a closure now & then is expected. But True Grits? This was the home of real Texas chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, napkin soaking hamburgers & breakfast pancakes that hang Read More... Posted Friday, December 23, 2011 10:21 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: Jonestown, LCRA, True Grits, Texas

• Residential Housing Market Predictions Look Bright for 2012!

  Good news for Real Estate in 2012… the predictions look bright and according to many experts, the residential market is ready to awaken. Click here to read a recent article from Yahoo Finance. Why so positive? Per the Yahoo article, industry analysts, Read More... Posted Tuesday, December 20, 2011 11:12 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: Jonestown, Lago Vista, 2012 Residential Real Estate Predictions

• The War That Never Should Have Been Ended Today.

  Over 9 years, 4500+ dead boys & girls, thousands disabled and billions of dollars that could have been put to better use in the USA, the Iraq war officially came to an end this morning. Am I missing something? Shouldn't the headline take up most Read More... Posted Thursday, December 15, 2011 4:08 PM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments

• Does Santa Buy Homes?

  He doesn’t...but Mrs. Santa is a different story. Every year the same question comes up concerning selling a house during the holiday season. There are fewer buyers, and many sellers wait until spring so there are fewer choices and less competition. Read More... Posted Thursday, December 15, 2011 4:05 PM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments

• The Importance of A Brand

  It Really Works – Proudly Display Your Brand As I was waiting in the airport after the NAR conference leaving Anaheim for Austin, I met the President-Owner of Oakley Signs of Orlando & Chicago. He saw the Highland Lakes Real Estate logo on my Read More... Posted Tuesday, December 06, 2011 10:15 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: Highland Lakes Real Estate, Branding

• What About the Cloud?

  The mysterious CLOUD kept surfacing at the NAR convention in Anaheim. Many agents are already using programs like Google Docs and storing everything in the cloud with ipads, smart phones and such without a hard drive for storage. As best I can tell, the Read More... Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2011 9:27 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: NAR 2011 Conference & Expo, Highland Lakes Realtors, cloud computing

• What are short sales?

  One thing they are not - homes for short people. They are sales of homes short on sales price when compared to the loan balance. Basically, the home value has decreased to a point below the amount of the loan and allows the home to be sold for an amount Read More... Posted Thursday, November 24, 2011 2:11 PM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: forclosed homes, foreclosures, short sales

• Failure is OK

  One other thought on the Michael Eisner speech from Saturday night. He also talked about his failures and thought they could be just as important as his successes. You only experience failure if you take risks. And you cannot achieve success if you never Read More... Posted Monday, November 14, 2011 6:58 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: NAR 2011 Conference & Expo, Ed Thomas, Disney, Success, Michael Eisner, Apple vs. Android, Aaron Thomas

• Keep it simple – Keep it Creative – Seize the Day

  That was the message from Michael Eisner last night. He is the CEO that took Paramount pictures from last to first place in the movie industry and Disney from a 1.3 billion dollar company to a 30 billion dollar multi-media powerhouse. In the days of mega Read More... Posted Sunday, November 13, 2011 9:11 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments

• Crazy for QR Codes

  After the typical travel shuffle, Clara and I made a brief stopover in Las Vegas. "Viva Las Vegas" is a far cry from "Livin' la Vida Loco", however, we got some great ideas for the Lago Vista/Jonestown Las Vegas Night in January. Read More... Posted Saturday, November 12, 2011 7:28 AM by Gene Hammonds | 0 Comments Filed under: Lake Travis, Living La Vida Loco, NAR convention, QR Codes, Jonestown, Lago Vista

• Stay tuned for more from the NAR (National Association of Realtors) 2011 Conference in Anaheim, California

  The National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2011 Conference & Expo opens Thursday in Anaheim. I’m heading there in the morning with a stop over in Las Vegas. Every educational opportunity imaginable is offered from sunup to sunset. Diana Ross Read More... Posted Monday, November 07, 2011 4:20 PM by Gene Hammonds | 1 Comments Filed under: NAR 2011 Conference & Expo, California, Anaheim, Diana Ross, National Association of Realtors