Any long-time residents think of all the Austin growth? (Houston: condo, home)

[TexasHorseLady]

Well, I'm an EcoBroker, does that count? (One of several in the Austin area.) And I am the organizer of meetups that are involved with building and educating about green homes in Austin and new urbanism and sustainable development.

As I said, growth in and of itself is not bad, it's the KIND of growth that's an issue.

By the way, after a long and varied career over the past decades (everything from working for the state to horse breeding to business owner to personal chef, and others in between), I find real estate anything BUT boring and rote. Every deal is different, and between my EcoBroker and horse property areas (which can combine, of course), and all the other things to keep up with in developments in the field, it's hardly lacking in interest and challenge.

[Mike78613]

I still think its because of our water Its our sources they want, not our city. They wanna dry it up, just like they did in Colorado. Look at AZ now! Water issues.

[Exult.Q36]

Austin is not the only one having population overload Fort Worth is also seeing a massive explosion. Austin freeway system is worst than Fort Worth so I feel you guys pain. Traffic in Fort Worth seems to get more congested every year, but I think the growth is great for Austin area

Originally Posted by AustinTexan

Unfortunately, the word has gotten out that Austin is "The Place to Live" and it's been going on for years. All these stupid freakin travel magazines, MSN reports, Money reports, housing reports, and even the Oprah Show have built up Austin and most of Texas to be the Best Place on Earth to live! We need a new part of the country to focus on and promote! It's been a snowball effect and as soon as one person moves and loves it, they tell all their family and friends about it and so on and so on and next thing you know, half the freakin state of California has either moved here or has plans to move here soon. Every part of the country where housing prices are or were out of control, those people are now looking for the next best deal and coming to Texas. It's just a matter of time before Texas is as bad as California. Meanwhile, with all this rapid growth, our quality of life suffers and now we're having to compete with that many more people for jobs, housing, gas, water, etc. Atlanta is a good example. It's a few years ahead of Austin and look at it now. It's too big, too crowded, too expensive, and water has become a huge problem there. This state can't afford to have all these people move here, our water supply won't be able to keep up. Our school systems are already under huge amount of pressure and the Katrina evacuee situation was no help. Texas is just getting hammered with migrants moving here and something needs to be done to slow it down. I don't know if it's even possible, but at some point, that bubble has to burst. I'm just tired of seeing the city I love grow uncontrollably and change for the worst. Every person who visits here says "it's my kind of lifestyle." Well, it use to be ours too until half the country decided to move here!

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Well, I'm an EcoBroker, does that count? (One of several in the Austin area.) And I am the organizer of meetups that are involved with building and educating about green homes in Austin and new urbanism and sustainable development.

As I said, growth in and of itself is not bad, it's the KIND of growth that's an issue.

By the way, after a long and varied career over the past decades (everything from working for the state to horse breeding to business owner to personal chef, and others in between), I find real estate anything BUT boring and rote. Every deal is different, and between my EcoBroker and horse property areas (which can combine, of course), and all the other things to keep up with in developments in the field, it's hardly lacking in interest and challenge.

Actually, RE agents, being the only party dealing directly with buyers, probably have more influence that you would think. They do decide the best places for their buyers to go, move particular areas, and motivate sellers and buyers, so I probably have been selling the field short. Per RE being interesting, I supppose its as interesting as you make it. I think it depends how varying the deals are you encounter, and the people you work with. In Austin, you get people from all over the place, so that is certainly more interesting than working within a limited demographic, like I was. I just worked a specific suburban area, with much of the same houses. Also, Austin is growing, which makes it more interesting as a market. Come to think of it, most jobs are pretty uniform and relatively humdrum. Clocking into work in the same place, working with the same faces year after year, and all. I guess thats why they call it work.....

[twange]

Originally Posted by scongress1234

Also, Austin is growing, which makes it more interesting as a market.

So, is this good or bad? Seems like this conversation often resembles a cul-de-sac Or maybe more accurately, a roundabout?

[austin-steve]

Actually, RE agents, being the only party dealing directly with buyers, probably have more influence that you would think. They do decide the best places for their buyers to go

Actually, we don't decide where buyers will purchase homes. We listen to what they want in a home and neighborhood, schools, commute times, price, size, age, etc., then match them to the homes that fit their stated needs.


Steve

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by twange

So, is this good or bad? Seems like this conversation often resembles a cul-de-sac Or maybe more accurately, a roundabout?

Thats because no one wants to qualify growth. It certainly is not an uncontrollable, intangible force. It is what you make it out to be, and can be good, bad, or ugly. Growth can be very bad as well. It certainly is not a non-qualified, across-the-board good. Also, who benefits from it? That certainly is not across the board either, as many low income residents see no benefits whatsoever from it, as most of it is focused on new areas, along with the new jobs. And who pays for it? Thats the biggest issue. We pay for it time wise, and just plain uncomfortable-wise, by fighting traffic shopping on week-ends, and communting to work. AND, we pay for it by never-ending new tax referenda and the revising of tax caps, such as the current revising in Leander's school dist., per tax caps.

So, again, you have to ask, what kind of growth, who benefits, and who pays for it? And do we really need more or faster of the same?

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Actually, we don't decide where buyers will purchase homes. We listen to what they want in a home and neighborhood, schools, commute times, price, size, age, etc., then match them to the homes that fit their stated needs.


Steve

True.....but there will always be multiple areas that will suit them, and agents do have that ability to push/pull within reason. If that wasn't the case, buyers would simply find their houses themselves, as they would have a total line on what they need. Within the on-line context, that may happen soon anyway, putting buyer's agents essentially out of business. Real estate agents don't, or shouldn't, steer, but they are fully capable of pushing particular neighborhoods and developments. I had tremendous leeway in doing that when I sold real estate full-time. I gave them a wide swath to choose from, and we both narrowed it down, but I certainly have people living in areas, to this day, that I made that choice for, essentially.

[LookingtoLeave]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

Geez...if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black... That is so wrong of you to make assumptions like that about Northerns. Your statements on this thread have been nothing but rude and offensive to me. You don't own Austin--you might have been born there, but you don't own it. The same way that I don't own my city or state. Anyone is free to move where ever their heart desires within this nation. This nation was founded on immigration/migration.

Good call! You got rep points for that. But on the other hand this person feels they can speak for native Austinites.

[LookingtoLeave]

Originally Posted by AustinTexan

Those who like the change, are not native to Austin or Texas, that's for sure!

Who are you to say? Native Texan here and I like the change! Guess what, prices are going up and traffic is increasing in many major cities too. Don't think this issue is isolated to Austin. Visit some of the other cities on the forum and they b**ch about the same things you do.