According to an article in Inman News, which focuses on trends and statistics in the real estate industry, there were a few shifts in the rankings of the Top 20 Real Estate websites.

After falling to third place in a monthly ranking of the most-visited real estate websites in January, REALTOR® com reclaimed the No. 2 position last month, behind Yahoo Real Estate, according to the latest rankings from Web metrics firm Experian Hitwise.

Yahoo Real Estate has ranked as the most popular “real estate” category website since November. The site’s market share fell slightly, to 6.24 percent in February, while REALTOR® com’s rose slightly, to 5.87 percent.

Zillow ranked third in February, with a slight jump in market share to 4.94 percent. FrontDoor Real Estatemoved into the No. 4 spot with 4.49 percent market share. The site had previously jumped to the No. 2 in January, from No. 53 the month before, partially due to traffic from an ongoing sweepstakes competition that ended in mid-February.

Trulia and Rent.com held their No. 5 and 6 spots, respectively. Trulia’s market share rose above 4 percent to 4.12 percent, while Rent.com’s share stayed essentially flat at 2.52 percent.

MSN Real Estate moved up two places to No. 7, bumping Homes.com down one spot to No. 8. ZipRealty also fell one spot, to No.9, while Apartment Guide and MyNewPlace kept their No. 10 and 11 rankings, respectively.Rentals.com and Apartments.com switched places to No. 12 and 13, respectively, as did Re/Max Real Estateand ForRent.com at No. 14 and 15, respectively.

AOL Real Estate climbed two spots to No. 16, with LoopNet sliding down to No. 18. Vacation rental siteHomeAway, which just filed for a $230 million initial public offering, held steady at No. 17.

HomeFinder jumped two spots to break into the top 20 at No. 19, with Weichert.com down to No. 20.

Search Austin Listings from your phone!

The hunt for the most user-friendly online real estate home search tool in Austin Texas has ended! And it didn’t end up on www.AustinHomeSearch.com, the consumer website run by the Austin Board of Realtors, or even on the recently revised www.REALTOR.com. According to Team Leader Todd Smith, “we’ve taken a look at hundreds of agent (and brokerage)websites, not only in Austin but all across the country, and quite frankly, found their search functionality to be sorely lacking. Or at least using “yesterday’s technology platforms.”"  The explosion of the Internet and Telecommunications era has brought us within reach of the Holy Grail of property search functionality, and we’ve recently licensed the technology right on our own website.

In addition to offering one of the most rubust and easy-to-use search tools for Austin property listings found anywhere, we will soon be unveiling a downloadable application for IPhone, ITouch, Blackberry, and Windows phones  to enable users to search for property details right on their phones, see listing details, view property photos, and contact an agent for a showing if desired!  For GPS-enabled phones, the application identifies all available properties in the immediate vicinity, thereby enabling easy comparison between properties, and making the buying process seamless and efficient.

Based upon industry trends, the vast majority of folks looking for Austin real estate start their searches online many months before setting foot into homes for sale.  Smith adds, “either they drive neighborhoods to get a feel for an area or they go to a real estate website and search property listings without looking at much of anything else on the site.  They will look at schools, recreation, information about Lake Travis and many other things.  Always striving to improve the experience of buying and/or selling real estate for our clients, we’ve re-written the rule book on what an Austin real estate listing website should be as we roll out the all-new FineAustinLiving.com and its suite of technology tools!”

Users will be able to either visit a website and download the small application, or text message (via SMA) and receive a link to download the application, all free of charge.

For more information about this exciting technology, or to become one of our final beta-testers, please contact us directly.

Austin’s Mueller airport development, on the site of the former Robert Mueller Airport and on which we currently represent one of the select few homebuilders, Saldana Homes, will benefit from the recently announced $10.4 million grant awarded by the US Department of Energy to The Pecan Street Project to fund an advanced smart grid technology project at Mueller.

The project will create an open platform Energy Internet, which is two-way electricity and information flow grid, modeled on the architecture of the Internet. Additionally, a Technology Review and Advisory Committee will be formed, with representatives from a number of energy companies such as CPS Energy San Antonio and Pedernales Electric Coop.

Austin's Mueller airport redevelopment project

Read the full story in the Austin Community Impact News

Austin Texas wins award after award as the best place to live in the country.  Msnbc.com took five of the most prominent “best places” to live lists, those of Forbes magazine, Kiplinger.com, Money magazine, Fortune Small Business magazine and Relocate-America.com to offer a new perspective on the most ideal place to call home.

The capital of Texas, Austin, is the country’s 16th largest city. Austin won Kiplinger’s top ten best places to live this year because of the strong economy, an affordable real estate market, and a growing population. However, it ranked 47th in the Forbes’ list.  Money magazine awarded Austin the No. 2 ranking  in 2006 noting its natural beauty and recreational opportunities.

The Msnbc.com ranks Austin as #3 best places to live

Use our Free Property Search to find real estate in Austin, Texas

This suburb of Austin was established in 1987 and is home to some of Travis County’s most beautiful landscapes and luxurious homes.  Located in western Travis County,  Bee Cave boasts a population of 1,700 people.  This is the perfect place for families, young professionals, singles and seniors offering big spacious homesites, private communities, highly-acclaimed schools and an easy commute to downtown Austin.

Bordered to the North by the sparkling waters of Lake Austin and to the east by Loop 360 and Barton Creek Boulevard to the south, Bee Cave offers Austin real estate that is in high demand. Homes in the area start around $250,000.

The Village of Bee Cave is situated with plenty of great shopping with the Hill Country Galleria and the Shops at the Galleria just minutes away. There is also a great array of restaurants, cafes, medical services,  office buildings and all other sorts of services.

This wonderful suburb offers many cultural opportunities including fine arts and music and many nearby recreational opportunities including Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Hamilton Pool, Pace Bend Park and Mansfied Dam.

Use our Property Search to find the best in Austin real estate.

The Allandale neighborhood of central Austin is an established community that has thrived since 1973.  It s currently celebrating its thirty fifth anniversary. Mo-Pack forms the western boundary and Burnet Road forms the eastern boundary of this active, robust development.  Today, Allendale is the 28th largest neighborhood in Austin.

This community is still relatively affordable.  Residents enjoy high-quality single family homes that start around $250,000.00.  Allendale also boasts an incredible location. Located just minutes from the downtown Austin area, including world-class restaurants, diverse shopping and a plethora of diverse services.

This lovely community is a member of the Austin Independent School district including Gullett elementary, Lamar Middle and McCallum High School.

Use our Property Search to find more property in central Austin, Texas.

The sale of existing homes rebounded during the month of December based on an index that tracks signed contracts.  Buyers are taking advantage of the deep discounts that are available right now especially in the South and Midwest areas.

The National Association of Realtors stated that its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales of previously owned homes rose 6.3 percent  to 87.7.  The reading was also up 2.1 percent from the same month a year ago.

This is a positive sign for the US housing market and could indicate that a floor is finally forming.  With home prices still falling there are plenty of bargains around for those with good credit .

Step by step we are seeing the US housing market recover, take advantage of the present buyer’s market by talking with one of our licensed agents.

Let us find you the perfect Austin home.

Central Texas is a grand promoter of clean energy and embraces green energy alternatives whenever possible. Thanks to its technological prowess and vast availability of sun, wind, crops and other renewable energy, Texas is poised to renew its role as energy capital of the nation.

Austin is offering more green, energy-efficient homes, commercial buildings and developments than ever before. Home-buyers are also demanding more eco-friendly choices including solar panels, energy efficient appliances and non-toxic paints and wall coverings.
Texas has installed more than 8,000 megawatts of wind turbines generating enough electricity to power more than 2 million homes. Texas now has more electrical generating capacity than any other state including California.

Texas has also introduced a sales tax exemption for energy efficient appliances.

Texas is also looking forward to more farther reaching energy programs such as deriving 25 percent of the state’s total energy consumption from renewable energy sources by the year 2025.

These new energy efficient programs should help strengthen the local economy as well as creating thousands of new jobs in Texas.

Use our Free Property Search to find energy-efficient homes in Austin Texas.

Despite all the ‘doom and gloom’ being circulated in the media with regards to the mortgage markets and the overall real estate market, now is actually the time to take advantage of the combination of low interest rates and decreased housing prices. These factors and many others represent a great investment opportunity to buy a home in Austin.

The following are the Top 10 Reasons you should buy now:

1. Selection
Homes are available in every area and at all price ranges. The quantity of houses on the market allows you to pick and choose the qualities you want to find just the home you want. It wasn’t so long ago that buyers were jumping on new listings as soon as they came onto the market; that is no longer a concern for buyers in this economy.

2. It’s a buyer’s market
The best time to buy is when most people want to sell. If you buy now you can get a lot more house for your money, and you have a lot more negotiating power.

3. Homes are more affordable
Real estate, which was overpriced during the housing bubble, has returned to earth. That’s especially good news for first-time home buyers who were priced out of the market four or five years ago.

4. Interest rates are low
Mortgage interest rates are at their lowest point in the last several years. This means your mortgage payment takes you a lot farther than it did before. We’re not that far off of the all time lows we hit several years back. It is smart to take advantage of the low mortgage rates while they are still available.

5. Tax savings
Buying a home is one of the best ways to save money on taxes. Your mortgage interest, real estate taxes and in many cases mortgage insurance are all tax deductible. If you are a first-time home buyer this means that after-tax, you can pay a lot more for a mortgage payment than you pay for rent.

6. Appreciation
This might not seem like the best reason to buy, with prices stagnating and falling in some areas, but in the long run, home prices always move up. There is a lot of pessimism in the real estate market today, but even the most pessimistic are bullish in the long run.

7. Equity build up
As you pay down your mortgage you build up equity in your home. Most people don’t even think of this because it is so gradual, but every mortgage payment (as long as it is an amortizing loan) pays a little less interest and a little more principal. In a way owning a home is a form of forced savings.

8. Rents are rising
Buying a home means you can fix your mortgage payment, at least the principal and interest portion. Rents are projected to rise this year and over time.

9. A lot of homes are move-in ready
In order to sell a home in a tough buyer’s market, sellers have to put their best foot forward. This means sellers will paint, landscape, and do any necessary repairs to make their homes look the best as compared to their competition. For a buyer this means, you are getting a nice looking home with no maintenance issues to take care of.

10. Incentives
Buying in a buyer’s market gives the buyer the upper hand. As a buyer, you may ask the seller to convey their washing machine, refrigerator, or pool table with the home. In addition to material things, you can ask the seller for a homeowner’s warranty, lawn, or maid service for six months to a year, etc.

Take a look at homes on the market by starting your search of available homes today!  You can search by Map, by School District, by Address or Subdivision…practically any way you want!

As always, we hope you Let Us Show You the Fine Art of Austin Real Estate.  Let one of our experienced, trained professionals at The RealtyPro Team assist you with your next real estate transaction. We’d be honored to be of service. Visit us online at www.TheRealtyProTeam.com  or give us a call at 512-402-9800 today.

The hunt for the most user-friendly online real estate home search tool in Austin Texas has ended! And it didn’t end up on www.AustinHomeSearch.com, the consumer website run by the Austin Board of Realtors, or even on the recently revised www.REALTOR.com. We’ve taken a look at hundreds of agent (and brokerage)websites, not only in Austin but all across the country, and quite frankly, found their search functionality to be sorely lacking. Or at least using “yesterday’s technology platforms.”  The explosion of the Internet era has brought us within reach of the Holy Grail of property search functionality, and we’ve recently licensed the technology right on our own agent website at www.TheRealtyProTeam.com , and soon will be launching an even more robust set of tools with the launch of the www.FineAustinLiving.com  website in January 2009!

What makes a great property search page?  For one thing, users tell us they like to search by map.  You can zoom in and out as well as click the map and drag it to an area you want to look more closely at.  You can search by school district, subdivision and other criteria.  Of course there are the standard things like property type (home, condo, lease, commercial…), number of bedrooms, price range, waterfront and other criteria, but it gets better.  You can build a search and save it to come back to later.  In fact, you can build a number of searches to come back to!  When you see a particular listing that you want more information about, you can save it in a folder marked “favorites.”  If the status of the listing changes, that change will be noted.  If the listing sells or is taken off the market, it will disappear from the favorites folder.

Based upon what I’ve learned from other sources, the vast majority of folks looking for Austin real estate start their searches online many months before setting foot into homes for sale.  They usually go to a real estate website and search for months before looking at much of anything else on the site.  When they start getting serious and the time to look in person draws near, many people will then do more research on our site or on others.  They will look at schools, recreation, information about Lake Travis and many other things. Our RealtyProTeam.com website has many pages dedicated to giving people information and resources about moving to the Austin and Lake Travis area, and from the feedback we’ve received, folks have found the site to be a really good resource. We’re always looking to improve, however, so that’s why with the upcoming launch of FineAustinLiveing.com we’ve re-written the rule book on what an Austin real estate listing website should be!

As always, we hope you Let Us Show You the Fine Art of Austin Real Estate.  Let one of our experienced, trained professionals at The RealtyPro Team assist you with your next real estate transaction. We’d be honored to be of service. Visit us online at www.TheRealtyProTeam.com  or give us a call at 512-402-9800 today.