This back yard view could be yours!

Incredible Lakefront Home with 181′ feet of lake frontage. “T” head pier with bench and submerged lighting. Lighted sidewalks surround the home with a sidewalk slopping down the back of the property to the lake. Property is fenced and has electric remote controlled gate. Additional parking area for guests. 2 Bedrooms with additional office and Hot Tub Room. Yes, the Hot Tub Conveys. This home is in pristine condition. Built in 1990, everything is original and well cared for. 3 1/2 bath’s. His and her master bath, with a full bath and bidet included in hers. His includes large walk in shower with tiled seating area. Walk in closets with built ins. Huge Formal Dining room that overlooks the lake. Laundry Room with Sink. 2 car garage is oversized. Generous over sized rooms, with the great room at approx. 28′x40′. Kitchen has separate breakfast room. Separate Sun Room/Game Room area with built in Dart Board and Bar area plumbed for future bar area if desired. Formal Living Room also.

Water softener, sprinkler system. Call me today for a private showing. Sherry at 512-925-8928

Relocating to Austin?  Here are some tips for a successful move

Listed as the second largest state in the US in both land size and population, Texas is known to do everything in large measure, whether it’s the size of its value-added real estate, its attention to culture and sports, or its cuisine. Widely recognized as a cultural and artistic hub in Texas, Austin is also the capital city of the state and is rapidly attracting those seeking a more subdued lifestyle mixed with access to entertainment, sports, and outdoor activities.

Everyday more and more people are packing up and moving to Austin, and it is those people that have propelled this city into one of the fastest growing in the nation. If you are thinking about calling Austin your home, there are a few things to keep in mind in order to assure that your move goes as smooth as possible.

The first, and probably the most important thing you should consider, is renting a self-storage unit. Despite what most people think, self-storage facilities are not just for people who have run out of room at home and need a permanent location to house their excess baggage. They are also an incredibly convenient way to move if you haven’t settled down yet. Temporary storage can be used to house a lifetime’s worth of belongings just long enough for you to conduct a thorough search for a new home.

The majority of self-storage facilities allow you to rent month to month, eliminating the need to rush or to find a contract that fits your short-term needs. Here are a few tips on finding the right storage company for you in Austin.

• If you have an idea of the general area or neighborhood that you want to live in, find a local self-storage facility to make your move less of a hassle.
• Weigh your options of cost versus convenience. The cheapest self-storage facility might not be located anywhere near where you intend to live, so you could end up paying more per month for convenience. But if moving out of your rental space will require more than one trip, consider paying more for a closer facility.
• Urban dwellers may also feel more confident about Austin storage facilities with high-tech security, as well as gated and alarm-activated storage units.
• Pack your unit carefully. Put non-essential items like furniture in the back, and leave items such as clothing where they can be easily reached. You might be living out of your temporary storage space for a while and you’ll want to be able to get to certain things easily.

Just because you need temporary storage to house your belongings while you look for a permanent place to live does not mean you should feel obligated to do everything yourself. Not everyone that uses a self-storage facility gets their belongings there on their own accord. Here are a few of your other options for this process.

• Have a professional moving company deliver your belongings to a pre-arranged self-storage unit. If you’re moving a fair distance, this will require that you get a good idea of exactly how much temporary storage space you’ll need. And if you have to overshoot, do so. It’s far better to have too much room than too little room.
• If you’re not moving far, look for moving storage companies that offer both movers and storage facilities. Not every self-storage company has a staff of movers and trucks at the ready, but there are some that combine services, which can significantly lessen the hassle of moving.

Renting from one of these facilities can seriously reduce the chaos that can be associated with the relocating process. Use a company like SpareFoot to guarantee you find the best deal available and also remember this is Austin, so once you are here, help us keep it weird.

This article was provided by SpareFoot, the largest online marketplace for self-storage.

Sherry Scales    Austin Real Estate Specialist

HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI

512-925-8928

Contact me or Find your home here

Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Dripping Springs

You Have Been Misinformed about a Realtor’s Commission.

Real Estate agents get a bad rap. Everyone thinks we are the only professional that works on commission. Sellers try to sell homes themselves just so they don’t have to pay a commission.  But unless you happen to be riding down that street and see that home, chances are it will take a long time to sell… if at all!  And does that homeowner have all the information together to complete a sale?  No, many will forget that they belong to an HOA, and special work is required to switch ownership. The buyer is out a lot of money later to straighten that out.  Is the buyer sure they aren’t going to have a lien on that home from the previous owner?   For sale by owners also have a habit of under-pricing or over-pricing a home.  They aren’t going to have you get an inspection.  If you are not working with an agent and buy a home from a for sale by owner…I say you get what you deserve.  And I have yet to hear of anyone not running into $urpri$e$ when they have done that.

Travel Agents, Car Salesman, wholesale, any kind of sales rep works on commission.  In fact in your own home a commission was paid to the Cabinet salesman, Floor covering salesman, Appliance salesman, Heating and air-conditioning reps, siding and/or brick companies, window companies, and many more depending on the upgrades your home has. Your Insurance Agent is working on commission. Paper salesman, every kind of advertising rep, yellow pages to TV ads to any kind of pen or other give-a-ways a business uses.  The list goes on.  If you are in Sales…you are working on a commission.

So why does everyone choose the real estate agent to pick on?  We are helping you with the biggest purchase you will probably make in your lifetime.  If we list your home, we usually take photos with our own camera or hire it done at our expense. We run flyers (paper and ink cost us money) and spend time getting your listing on the world wide web for the most exposure we can get for you. This is at no pay by the hour.   We keep in contact with agents that show your home for feedback. We answer phone calls from agents and buyers regarding your property all hours of the day.  We have purchased the sign and lockbox we use on your property with our own money.  For the buyers, we are showing you homes in our car, with no one making our car payment or paying our gas or insurance, or replacing our tires from the wear and tear we put on them.  We don’t get paid by the hour.  We spend hours looking for properties to show, getting the showing instructions worked out, to spend more time getting contracts together and keeping all the paperwork in order when you find a home to purchase.   We travel to title companies or lawyers offices and sometimes back and forth to get signatures.  We run comps to make sure you are getting the best price for your home, whether you are buying or selling. This is time consuming work.  We attend home inspections with you and sometimes for you. This again is time consuming work.  And if we don’t sell your home, or find you a home to purchase…we make nothing…zilch, zero, nada…but we are still out gas expense and other expenses.

I pay for a website every month, just so you can go look at houses in our MLS free of charge.

We have spent time and money to attend classes to earn our license. We pay yearly fees and have to spend money on additional educational classes to keep our license whether we sell a home or not.   Some of us have elected to spend the money to earn designations so we can be better educated in certain fields.  You would probably be surprised at how much we spend a year just on the basics.

You think we are the only group of professionals to work on commission? And you think I don’t do anything to earn a commission?  I think you better rethink the situation.  Your are paying for my knowledge and expertise in real estate and everything it involves.

Call me when you are ready to sell your home or purchase a home.  I will work hard for you. I have to!  It’s the only way I get paid. 

Sherry Scales    Austin Real Estate Specialist

HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI

512-925-8928

Contact me or Find your home here

Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Dripping Springs

SHERRY SCALES ATTENDS TEXAS REALTORS® WINTER MEETING 2012 IN AUSTIN

February 24, 2012 — Sherry Scales of HomeNet Realty a member of the Austin Board of Realtors in Austin was among more than 1,000 Texas REALTORS® attending the Texas Association of REALTORS® Winter Meeting, Feb. 24- 28 at the Hyatt Regency Austin.

Speakers during the five-day event included: Mark Dotzour, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M; Jed Smith, Ph.D., Managing Director of Quantitative Research for the National Association of Realtors®; Douglas Foster, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending; Congressman Lloyd Doggett; State Representative Burt Solomons; and Joe Stewart, 2012 chairman of the Texas Association of REALTORS®.

Topics discussed during the Austin meeting included: new housing initiatives for Texas homeowners, economic outlook for the real estate industry, the latest technology and marketing tools for Texas REALTORS®, the new Texas REALTORS® Strategic Plan as well as trends in commercial real estate, professional standards, technology, property management, risk reduction, member benefits and more.

In addition to educational sessions and speakers, the Texas Association of REALTORS® announced its top annual award recipients: TexasREALTOR® of the Year Avis Wukash of Williamson County; Educator of the Year Candace Cooke of Buchanan Dam; Tom D. Morton Association Executive of the Year Amy DuBose of San Marcos; Texas REALTOR® Hero Andrea Cooksey of Houston; William C. Jennings Commercial Transaction of the Year David Glasscock of Dallas; Omega Tau Rho designates from around the state; and Education Programs of the Year from local REALTOR® associations in Austin, San Antonio, Houston and MetroTex (Dallas).

Texas Association of REALTORS®

With more than 80,000 members, the Texas Association of REALTORS® is a professional membership organization that represents all aspects of real estate in Texas. We advocate on behalf of Texas REALTORS® and private-property owners to keep homeownership affordable, protect private-property rights, and promote public policies that benefit homeowners. Visit TexasRealEstate.com to learn more.

If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Austin or the surrounding area, please contact Sherry Scales at 512-925-8928, or email her at sherry@sherryscales.com .  You can also visit her website-  www.Luxury-Homes-in-Austin.com  to search for homes.   She serves Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Dripping Springs.

Sherry Scales    Austin Real Estate Specialist

HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI

512-925-8928

Contact me or Find your home here

Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Dripping Springs

HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI

512-925-8928

Contact me or Find your home here

Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Dripping Springs

You can always tell garbage day in areas of town. Which subdivision, which day. We don’t hold
even Realtor open houses on collection day. It is the single garbage cart that can give a subdivision a black eye. Remember, if you are going to be out of town, ask a neighbor to retrieve your garbage can.
Subdivisions usually have HOA rules as far as trash bins, and they won’t hesitate to act on it.
HOA’s can get a bad reputation some times, but they are there to keep your subdivision looking
its best and keeping your property values high. Check your rules, or better yet, just put them out after dark the evening before and first one home picks them up that day.
Below is the rules for most cities in Austin and surrounding area.
Garbage carts should be placed at the curb by 6:30 a.m. on collection day but not prior to 8
p.m. the evening before. Garbage carts must be returned to their storage area on private
property by 10 p.m. on the designated collection day.
Sherry Scales Austin Real Estate Specialist
HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI
512‐925‐8928
Contact me or Find your home here
Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee
Caves, Dripping Springs

I overheard someone the other day saying they were going to have another garage sale. They
still had stuff leftover from the last sale, and had some new stuff to get rid of.
Depending on where you live, you might want to check into the rules of having a garage sale.
Some areas out in the country have no rules. They could have one 365 days a year and never
break a rule. But this usually isn’t the case in most cities.
Austin residents may only conduct two garage or yard sales within one year. In addition, signs advertising garage sales may only be posted on the property where the sale is occurring for a
maximum of three consecutive days. The sign must indicate when it was posted. If you conduct
more than two garage sales a year, then you are considered to be running a business from home in violation of the City Code.
Many folks say the day they have their sale, someone always comes around to see if they have
a license posted, issued by the city, to have a garage sale. So check your local rules, and make
sure you don’t need a garage sale license.

Sherry Scales Austin Real Estate Specialist
HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI
512‐925‐8928
Contact me or Find your home here
Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee
Caves, Dripping Springs

A Day at Your Local Café and a Life Lesson.
Do you know how much a waitress makes an hour? I bet a lot of you think…minimum wage.
Well you would be wrong. They make $2.11 an hour. They depend on our tips to make up the
rest. They may be busy rolling silverware, filling up the salt and pepper shakers, replacing sugar
packets, sweeping up after messy kids or adults, busing tables, washing windows or the many
other things done to keep an establishment clean and presentable…and still make $2.11 an hour.
If you have ever had to work as a waiter or waitress, you know what a hard job it is. Heavy
lifting, on your feet all day, and getting blamed for something the cook did, and not always getting the praise for correcting those errors.
Would you like to try and support a family on $2.11 an hour plus tips? Could you put yourself
through college on that with no help from anywhere else? Well, they are. So, stop leaving a dollar a person, or blaming the wait staff for something the cook did. If they did an excellent job, reward them. Did they go out of their way to make sure you were taken care of? Reward them. If they didn’t, then maybe they need to find another line of work. But remember they are working hard for $2.11 an hour.

Now for the Life Lesson:
I often tell young women who are interested in a young man (and this goes for those that are not too young either)… Be very observant and watch how your gentleman treats a waitress, as this is how he will treat you.
Sherry Scales Austin Real Estate Specialist
HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI
512‐925‐8928
Contact me or Find your home here
Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves,
Dripping Springs

2011 Year‐End Totals for the Austin, TX area

•  19,220 – Single‐family homes sold, seven percent more than 2010.
•  $193,000 – Median price for single‐family homes, unchanged from 2010.
•  84 – Average number of days that single‐family homes spent on the market, seven days more than 2010.
•  30,668 – New single‐family home listings on the market, 12 percent less than 2010.
•  8,609 – Active single‐family home listings on the market, 15 percent less than 2010.
•  21,002 – Pending sales for single‐family homes, seven percent more than 2010.
•  $4,931,910,843 – Total dollar volume of single‐family properties sold, nine percent more than 2010.

Sherry Scales Austin Real Estate Specialist
HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI
512‐925‐8928
Contact me or Find your home here
Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Dripping
Springs

Floor Plans For Every Home
I know…I am dreaming again!
Wouldn’t it be great if builders filed a floor plan when they built a home?
I would guess about 99% of the time sellers don’t have the floor plan to their home. Not everyone gets one even when they buy a brand new home. Wouldn’t it be great if a floor plan was put on file, just like a survey with every property? Perhaps just include it in with the tax info. This is another way to make sure a property is being taxed for the correct square footage. Any additions made to a home would require a new floor plan, just like a new survey when additions are made.
This also makes it easy to find the builders and the floor plan should you find a home you like and would like to build. I am amazed that usually about 5 years from the time a builder has a model home, that no one in the company can remember where or what model
they had or what subdivision. I always try to keep a floor plan with my new home buyers, so should they decide to sell one day they will have it in their packet. Can you imagine the time it would save in looking at homes when the buyer can look at the floor plan and either rule it out, or choose it to see.
Photo’s just don’t tell the story of how a home is laid out.

• Sherry Scales    Austin Real Estate Specialist
• HomeNet Realty, REALTOR, ABR, GRI
• 512-925-8928
• Contact me or Find your home here
• Serving Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park, Leander, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Bee Caves, Dripping Springs