Mike Elliott's (maxwellmc) Blog

Since I live basically next door to the Austin Mueller redevelopment project, I get to drive through it regularly and see the progress that's been made.  Builders are still claiming that some houses will be on the ground and ready for occupancy by the end of 2007.  Frankly, I think it's a pipe dr...

A few years ago in TX, a change was made to the way we could do business.  When a buyer was purchasing a home, they were given the option of using the existing survey or obtaining a new one.  On the surface, this seemed like a great idea for consumers.  Buyer's would be able to save the $300-$500...

The Austin market is SMOKING HOT right now.  With both coasts taking a 40%-60% hit in values, investors are pouring in to Austin.  To that end, I thought some general education about our market would be appropriate.1. What's the play?  Buy and hold, fix and flip, cash flow?  Austin's rental rates...

In case you've been in a cave or maybe focused on why local tex mex eatery was just given 750k by the city of Austin, you may have missed the announcement that the Concordia University redevelopment.Concordia University sold their entire campus to a developer that is planning on mixed use develop...

Many factors come into play when looking at the long term viability of the area's housing market.  Austin is fortunate to have one of the largest universities in the country located smack dab in the middle of the city.  The city is consistantly ranked as one of the most desirable places to live, ...

"Keep Austin Weird" it's become a mantra of those in the city that oppose development and the "Dallas-ification" of the city.  Austin is blessed with a large number of independent businesses that bring so much culture and color to our neighborhoods.  I'm not a sentimental kind of guy most of the ...

I had my Buffini coaching call this morning and true to form, it made me look at some areas of my business that I'd been less focused on than I needed to, so I've got a long checklist of things to do before my next coaching call.As a Keller Williams agent, I'm able to take advantage of our MAPS c...

Looking over my calendar for tomorrow and I noticed that I have a call on tap with my coach from Brian Buffini's company.  Then I pick up my credit card statement and see the charge ($500/month) that I pay for the privilege of having someone else tell me how to run my business.  So, I had to ask ...

I would imagine that this is going to be somewhat of a contentious subject, but here goes.  My team is currently in the middle of a transaction where we represent the buyer.  The home is listed by a broker offering very limited services (MLS Listing only) to the seller for a very low flat rate.  ...

The weather in Austin this spring has been somewhat unusual.  We've gone from a 3 year drought to a plethora of water in just a few days.  I think we're up between 8-12 inches over normal, which is GREAT!  Our lakes are full again, everything is lush and green.  My water bill is almost non-exista...