Hyde Park Renovation... Our new roof!

We wanted a metal roof, but didn't want a modern metal roof that didn't match the era of the home. and... voila - our new roof. Interlocking diamond shaped metal tiles. A perfect match with the 1930s architecture.

We have our brilliant builders Spaller + Glover to thank for the suggestion and sourcing.

Hyde Park Renovation... Framing it up

Feels good to see it start to look more like a house again. My brilliant builders Spaller + Glover created this cathredal-esque hallway leading to an iron and glass custom window at the end to allow for more natural light and (of course) a little more glamor.

Future kitchen. (remember, used to be the bathroom) That door leads out to a courtyard.

This is the main living area... with high high ceilings. It's a small house, but won't feel that way thanks to all of the high ceilings.

Hyde Park - Quintessential Cottage on the Avenue Streets

Take a look at this darling vintage 1940s Austin home on an oversized lot in picturesque Hyde Park neighborhood. Just over 1200 square feet, the house is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with an extra flex room that could be used as a studio, study, or even a nursery. Excellent proximity Close to University of Texas and north Austin hot spots, restaurants, coffee shops, and shopping.

Lovely vintage tile in the bath!

Kitchen has copper sink and wall mounted faucets - lots of character and charm.

Great back yard with custom fence... picture yourself here. !

5014 Avenue F - currently listed at $313,500.

Click here for virtual tour.

Hyde Park Home Renovations...part deux

This was scary... all of that wood outside? That is my HOUSE. The demolition has been "a little" more invasive than I had imagined. I remember the time I naively asked my builder if we could live in the house during the renovations. I don't know how she managed to control herself from laughing. Before - master bedroom & closet area...

and post demolition... before bathroom...

Post demo - no more bathroom and the site of my future kitchen! Check out the ceilings... sky high. The ceilings are higher than I expected, but I love them. before... living and dining. (that's my 5 year old... practicing her best moves in the wide open spaces of the empty house)

and post demo.... no more walls or ceilings. Glad we took pictures. !

Introducing Our New Hyde Park Renovation Project

Where did I leave off? For the past 3 months my husband and I have been working on acquiring this little house in Hyde Park, one of Austin's oldest and most historic neighborhoods. Unfortunately, this particular real estate saga was high on drama and incredibly time consuming... not to mention my kids, my husband, my day-to-day real estate clients, and, oh right... the holidays...sigh. Needless to say, my blog was neglected.


I was out for a run one September morning in Hyde Park and I noticed that this little house - which I had jogged past MANY times... had a "For Sale" sign posted out front. This house, I should mention, has had a "For Sale By Owner" sign posted for probably over a year...but the sellers wanted an unreasonable amount of money given the property's compromised condition.

Turned out that the house was up for foreclosure and the sellers were now trying to do a short sale. My husband and I immediately wrote up an offer (for what we thought was market value) and submitted it. Apparently in the nick of time, saving the house from foreclosure. (Interesting to note - a bank cannot foreclose on a house if there is a written offer to purchase...no matter what the purchase price)

Now, 4 months later, and much drama... it's all ours. ! We have big plans for the house that we will renovate for ourselves to live in - hopefully for many years to come. The renovations will begin next month - pending city of Austin building permits. The house is actually located in a historical preservation district... which presents many fun hoops to jump through. Luckily, we have a great builder, Urban Nature, Inc. to help us through the process.

I am looking forward to telling the story of our renovation project this year as it progresses, along with keeping everyone informed of Austin things to do, to see, and of course... Austin real estate.

Happy 2011.

Hyde Park Austin Home - Stunning, yet Practical Renovation

Yet another Hyde Park Austin beauty.... The quintessential family home nestled on sought after Avenue C in Hyde Park. The home boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and 3000 squre feet and is priced agressively at $233/sf. It's a stunning example of how to tastefully bring a vintage Austin home into 2010. Also zoned exemplary Austin ISD Lee Elementary.

Rich maple hardwood flooring throughout the house. Designer paint colors, high ceilings, period details... and wide open spaces.

Cook's kitchen with granite, stainless appliance package (including built in fridge and wine refrigerator).

Lovely Master bath with Kohler undermount sinks, subway tile, and frameless glass shower giant soking tub. All this and still a shady backyard with plenty of space to relax, play, unwind. An oasis in the heart of the city... just a few miles north of University of Texas and downtown Austin.

Listed at $699,999. Open house 8/29 from 1 PM - 4 PM.

Austin Home for Sale - Avenue D in Hyde Park

Went for a jog this morning and came across this little lovely ...

A fully renovated turn of the century cottage located on picturesque Avenue D in one of my favorite Austin neighborhoods, Hyde Park. It's 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 1764 square feet and listed for $589,000. It's also located in exemplary Lee school district.

Hmmmmm... clearly somebody has a knack for design...

Viking appliances and [what looks to me like] Carerra marble counters.

Original long leaf pine floors...

and a river rock shower.

Listing information courtesy of listing agent Jason Heffron, Juice Homes, LLC.

Open House Sunday at this Darling Austin Bungalow Home, 1-3

This coming Sunday, this quintessential 1920s American bungalow in north Hyde Park will be held open for brokers, buyers, neighbors and anyone else interested in stopping by. !!

List price is $289,000. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. Address is 5200 Avenue G, 78751. More details at http://www.5200avenueg.com/

Austin Home: Quaint American Bungalow in North Hyde Park

Quaint, darling, charming, picturesque... you get the idea. This little 2 bedroom, 1 bath Austin home in North Hyde Park, at the corner of 52nd and Avenue G just came on the market this week. A typical 1920s American bungalow, the house is small, but the space is used efficiently. Also typical of bungalows, the rooms are centered around a central living area with no connecting hallways.

Most Austin homes of this era in this particular Austin neighborhood have already gone through massive renovations and remodels (some tastefully done, some not quite). This Austin home however, maintains much of it's original charm and original floor plan. It has been updated moderately throughout the years and is perfectly darling and workable as it is, but would be ideal for someone to add on or modernize themselves.

The Austin home has a living room, dining room, corridor style kitchen, utility room (!), 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a picture perfect front porch. Many original 1920s design elements like a claw foot tub are still present in the home.

Another plus in this Austin home is the enormous corner lot with spacious, private backyard. There is a massive walnut tree in the front yard along with pecan, oak, crape myrtles, mountain laurels, and fig trees scattered about. Also in the backyard is a bonus 200 square foot storage unit with electricity, ideal for use as an artist studio or workshop.

List price is $289,000. For a full list of features and updates please visit http://www.5200avenueg.com/.

How to Determine your Austin Home Price

I am doing a lot of market analysis for clients this week...in fact, I have two more due tomorrow. A time consuming but fascinating process. (if you are me anyway) When considering your Austin home price, here is an overview of what should go into your decision.

First, it is your decision. You hired an Austin Realtor for their expertise and market knowledge, but ultimately, it is your house and your decision what price you want ask for your home. A good Austin Realtor will supply you with ample market statistics and arguments to support their price recommendation and help you with your decision.

Second, the buyer determines the sales price of the home. As the seller, you determine the list price, or the market position of your Austin home. Your goal is to position it correctly in order to attract buyers.

When I put together a market analysis for a client, I pull pricing for 3 active listings, any/all pending listings, 3 sold listings (within last 3 months), and 2 withdrawn/expired listings for comparable Austin homes by age, size, and neighborhood.

I take each comparable property's price, and add or subtract market value amounts for each feature the comparable property has or doesn't have in relation to my client's property. This creates an even playing field. (Note, this is also where it's important that you choose an Austin Realtor who understands your neighborhood and the market value of your home's unique features.) I then take all of the adjusted prices, throw out the lowest and highest, and come up with a price range for my client's home. My final price recomendation is somewhere within that range and based off of the home's general marketability, condition, staging, and overall aestetic.

Many sellers and Austin Realtors go by average dollars per square foot for a given neighborhood when determining the list price of an Austin home. However, in areas like central Austin where there is a great deal of variance between homes within a neighborhood, it is impossible to accurately price a home by dollars per square foot. For example, one 1930's, 1500 square foot home in Hyde Park may have 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, and its neighbor, also a 1930's home, 1500 square feet, may have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths! These two Austin homes simply can't sell for the same dollars per square foot. I personally take square footage differences between comparables and multiply it by 30-50% (depending on the neighborhood and degree of variation). I then use that amount of square footage to make a dollar per square foot adjustment in my pricing analysis. If you have a small Austin home but a great layout, this is a must do in your pricing analysis. It may earn you thousands of dollars.

Finally, the "acid test": Put yourself in the Austin home buyer's shoes. When they see this home pop up in an Austin MLS search, will the sticker price you have decided upon lure them in or turn them away? In this market, you can't afford to deter any potential buyers.

btw, if you have read this far... impressive. I thought I was the only one into this stuff.

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More Natural Food Stores Coming to Austin

Exciting stuff... 2009 will bring Austin three spiffy new natural food stores including Sprouts Farmers Market, Natural Grocer, and Newflower Farmers Market.

Fall 2009, Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Market will be opening in Rollingwood in the Mira Vista shopping center at Bee Caves Road and Edgegrove Drive, in the current Office Max space. Sprouts will also take up a portion of the John Williams Interiors space. John Williams Interiors will be closing their Rollingwood location this month and consolidating into their Anderson Lane space, which they plan to be bigger and better with more design resources.

Colorado-based Natural Grocer will be opening at 3901 Guadalupe in Hyde Park in the next couple of months.

Newflower Farmers Market will be opening a new location at William Cannon and Manchaca next month. NFM fashions itself after Trader Joes, selling a large portion of private label product lines and price conscience produce. This is especially good news for South Austinites who have been hoofing it all the way to Whole Foods downtown or Sun Harvest on Lamar up until now.

That will make 8 good sized natural food markets in Austin, a city of less than 1 million people (not including burbs).

Note to self for further research one day when I have some "free" time (that's a joke) ... what city has the highest # of natural food stores per capita?

Vino Vino Yum Yum

Quite a serendipitous evening last night when the hub-man and I lucked into sharing a babysitter with friends (like hitting a clearance sale...1/2 price!!) and our early evening engagement ended ... well... early -- We took the opportunity to head over to Vino Vino to catch Miles Zuniga, singer/songwriter for Fastball doing a solo performance. His performance was strong, witty, heartfelt, and lively... and included special guests like new Austinite Freedy Johnston (Bad Reputation).

Of course, Vino Vino on Guadalupe in Hyde Park remains one of my all time fave local restaurants. Even my husband, a jaded veteran of the wine industry, is consistently thrilled with Vino Vino's enormous old world selection (and prices) of wines by the bottle (seen lining the walls in the pic above). They also have a beautiful menu offering small plates, "bigger" plates, and a selection of fine cheeses. My hubs was in love, quite literally, with a bottle of Corbieres (a French AC Red Wine) for $20 and the bison slider (mini-burger) for $5.

Wheatesville... Under Construction ... But Still A Favorite

This is my favorite Austin grocery store, Wheatsville Co-Op on Guadaloupe, just north of the University. Yes, yes, in Austin we do have the famed Whole Foods Flagship downtown that is seriously...the most beautiful grocery store on earth...and I go there occasionally. BUT my favorite place to grocery shop is here at Wheatsville. It's a small store with that friendly, hometown feel, full of yummy, natural products to fuel yourself on. It's a true co-op, and by paying the annual "ownership" fee, you can be an owner too. Owners get lots of special coupons and savings, as well as a monthly newspaper that again...has that warm fuzzy feeling. Non-owners pay an additional % on their bill Produce at Wheatsville is super fresh and comes from local growers whenever possible. They carry farm fresh eggs. Their wine department is also on the upswing offering an eclectic collection of good wines at good prices. I love that it never takes me more than 3 minutes to walk from my car in the parking lot to the front door...unlike the mega grocery store's whose parking lots are bigger than the stores themselves. If you have kids, there is also the bonus of little mini shopping carts. My little girl loves getting her own shopping cart (located at front of the store, to the left when you walk in) and filling it with her favorite foods. Wheatesville is in the middle of a renovation, but don't let that deter you, this is a wonderful place to shop. Also to fall in love with are their smoothies and deli items at the back of the store. Located at 3101 Guadalupe, in Hyde Park, North of the University.

Best Wading Pool in Austin

I love Eastwoods wading pool in Hyde Park, just north of the university. It's cool. It's clean. It's shady. It's free. It's almost never crowded. It's open 3-7 Tuesday - Friday. 2-6 on Saturdays, Sundays. Closed Mondays. ...and closes for the winter August 24th...so sad. Oh - and here's a little secret if you live in the area and you have a water-lovin' dog...casually show up at closing time and the lifeguards will let your pooch go for a dip before they drain the pool for the night.

'Walk Scores' for Austin's Neighborhoods

I found this website ** http://www.walkscore.com/ ** where you can plug in any address, and it will calculate that address's "walk score". A high walk score means less dependency on automobiles to go about one's daily life and judges distances to grocery stores, gas stations, fitness centers, hair salons, post offices, restaurants, etc ... a low walk score means high dependency on the car. I plugged in addresses for some of Central Austin's neighborhoods and here's what I got:

(possible total score = 100)

Travis Heights *55* - somewhat walkable
Bouldin Creek *78* - very walkable
South Congress (SoCo) *80* - very walkable
Rollingwood *52* - somewhat walkable
Westlake *45* - car dependent
Zilker *75* - very walkable
Downtown *94* - walker's paradise (obviously)
Clarksville *86* - very walkable
Tarrytown *63* - somewhat walkable
Rosedale *72* - very walkable
Allandale *55* - somewhat walkable
Crestview *62* - somewhat walkable
Northwest Hills *40* - car dependent
Delwood *58* - somewhat walkable
Hyde Park *78* - very walkable
French Place *72* - very walkable
Central East Side *58* - somewhat walkable
Holly Street District *69* - somewhat walkable

...next up... SCOOTER SCORES!

(thanks to Sister72 @ flickr.com for the pic!)