Private Private's (ariakristen) Blog

Have you ever gotten emails supposedly from Nigeria or some other foreign nation promising to pay or give you money if you follow some steps?  I received the following email today offering me this supposedly great opportunity to serve some international clients from Nigeria and to possibly invest...

I've had an influx of emails from other local Realtors® lately asking why I use one service or another. First of all, I'm a very frugal person. Stay tuned for Monday's post for more on that topic. I search high and low for the best resources to use on my site that will provide you, the visitor, ...

  Although Austin isn’t seeing the horror of many other markets (like southern California), the nervousness and hesitation of Austin’s buyers still has us in a buyer’s market. So in a buyer’s market, what should you do differently, as a seller? One of the best things a seller can do in any market...

I know that I have a pretty strong mix of consumers and Realtors® reading this blog and this is an issue that really matters to both. What is the value of a Realtor®, what are the basic levels of experience you expect, and should standards be raised? I read a blog for agents several times a week...

After my recent post “We Are the Real Estate Experts, Aren’t We?” you may argue that large, national chain brokerages may be better because they have the resources and the budgets for agent raining and education. And while I think that these Brokerages are a great place for new agents to start fo...

Sites like Zillow claim to be an authority on home values, but are they truly friend or foe? I know it’s easy to visit the sites that say “We can give you the true value of your home,” but take the information you see with a grain of salt. They are based on tax records which is old and often inac...

For those of you interested in the project at 4113 Avenue G in Hyde Park, Austin, Texas, the plans are available publicly: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/agenda/2008/downloads/d3nrd20080088.pdf It is my opinion that objecting to this project based only on the fact that an old house that is being remo...