I have a couple of Spanish Oak trees in my backyard, and I also back up to a Natural Greenbelt area with thousands of Spanish Oaks. Here is a picture of the leaves on the Spanish Oak tree: Well, it looks like my trees are having an identity crisis.  Look at the leaves that are currently growing in clusters all over the trees... What is this, and why is it happening?  They are two very distinctive kinds of leaves. These trees have to be OLD as this was untouched land prior to my community of Falconhead West being built here. Does anyone else have examples of their trees having an identity crisis and switching species or growing completely different leaves?   07/27/2009

Falconhead West in Bee Cave, TX, a small suburb just West of Austin, TX, is growing and growing so fast! Just a few weeks ago, I talked about how the Builders had sold all but a couple of their inventory homes, and new construction had slowed down a bit... and then all of a sudden, new house after new house started going up.  There are currently approximately 20 houses in various stages of building.  Some are in frame stage. Some are in Sheetrock and Exterior stage, such as stucco, stone, or brick. And some have the exterior almost complete and they're focusing on the inside. It was also confirmed last week that Falconhead West will be getting it's very own Community Park so we don't have to share the one in Falconhead.  There are kids of all ages within the neighborhood, so the communi... 07/27/2009

I've previously told you about Falconhead West in Bee Cave TX along with their three builders, Ryland, Taylor Morrison, and Drees Homes. However, that is not the "original" Falconhead community.  The original Falconhead community still has quite a lot of activity going on with Taylor Morrison finishing up the building on their remaining lots, and Monterey Homes still with 23 lots available to build on. Granted, all the Golf Course lots are already taken, but there are still some very nice lots left, even cul-de-sac lots of you're wanting a little larger yard. Each lot is 80', so you're already getting a wider lot and more yard than most of Falconhead West. Falconhead, also known by its legal description of Spillman Ranch, was, you guessed it, once a ranch owned by the Spillmans.  The co... 07/06/2009

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been posting pictures of some "creatures" in and around my house.  Can you guess what this one is?   I walked into my Toilet Room, as it's the little room in the bathroom that separates the toilet, and I usually don't turn the light on in there because there's a window or because I have the light in the main bathroom on. This evening, it was already dark outside, and I didn't have the main light on.  I just walked right into the Toilet Room, and casually turned the light on, and then JUMPED and screamed, and RAAAANNNNNN! I had never seen a scorpian in person before, only in books!  I coulda died if I stepped on it, I think... And granted, it wasn't that big, but when it's unexpected, it seemed HUGE to me!! **Are You Packed Yet?** Donna Harris, REALTOR... 07/02/2009

I previously blogged about this fabulous new community in Bee Cave, TX called Falconhead West. There are three different builders in the community, and I've already told you about two of them, Ryland Homes and Drees Homes.  Now, here's what Taylor Morrison has to offer. Taylor Morrison builds a quality home. There are many features that come as standard instead of being charged as an upgrade.  Taylor Morrison is building in both the 80' section and the 70' section.  The main difference of the homes, besides the size of the lots, is that the homes in the 80's have tile roofs whereas the homes in the 70's have regular composition shingles. Here are some pictures of one of the model homes: Below are some pictures of an inventory home they have available in the 80' section.  It is a 2 story... 06/25/2009

 You guys did so well helping me figure out what this creature was, the katydid, that I've got another one for you... What is this?? Here it is laying on its back kicking up its legs and I have it compared to a penny. Here it is completely stretched out hanging on to the side of the step for dear life. My husband called it a twig bug, as the body did look like a twig from a tree, but I've never heard of such a thing.... but I haven't heard of many of these new bugs I'm seeing.  Wait until you see the scorpian I found in the bathroom last night!! Take your wildest guesses!! **Are You Packed Yet?** Donna Harris, REALTOR®RE/MAX Austin Skylinewww.DonnaHomes.comDonna@DonnaHomes.com Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Spicewood, C... 06/25/2009

In my new neighborhood, we have Porpane instead of natural gas. I'm told it's because it's too expensive to dig under the river/lake to bring natural gas to many areas... whatever... Thus far, I can't really figure out the difference between Natural Gas and Propane except we can't get our grill to have a low setting.  It's either High or really HIGH so you have to watch those cook times and making sure the inside is cooking while the outside gets all black. We do not have a propane tank in our yard, yeah!  We have a community tank thing that you can't even see. A couple of weeks ago, we opened the back door to let the dog out, and ICK!  It smelled like skunk!!  We didn't think too much of it because we back up to a greenbelt and farm with lots of nature, so we just thought he was mad be... 06/20/2009

Name this Creature... I thought it was a Grasshopper, but as I got closer and closer to it, I don't think it's a grasshopper. The body looks to be made out of a leaf.  This was on my back patio for hours yesterday, just enjoying the shade, and late afternoon, Alyssa accidentally stepped on it... I helped it over to the grass and I saw it limping away, but have no idea if it survived the crunch.  I put a quarter by it so size wouldn't be in question.  The antenna goes out of the picture screen, that's LONG! And look how long those legs are!  I don't think it's a grasshopper... what other ideas do you have? **Are You Packed Yet?** Donna Harris, REALTOR®RE/MAX Austin Skylinewww.DonnaHomes.comDonna@DonnaHomes.com Austin, TX and the surrounding areas of Lakeway, Bee Cave, Westlake Hills, Ced... 06/14/2009

It was a hot HOT day yesterday, but the Mexican Fiesta put on by Falconhead West in Bee Cave, TX was a success! Many families showed up with kids of all ages. Alyssa's favorite was the bounce houses.  She would get down to put her shoes on to take them off again and climb in the next bounce house. There was even a "tattoo" section for the older kids. Really, they were just stickers but they called them tattoos to make it sound cooler. The karaoke didn't take off too well until all the pre-teen girls decided to make it their party.  Then we heard a lot of teen pop music and not-so-great voices, but VERY confident girls. The next big party?  National Nite Out in October!!! **Are You Packed Yet?** Donna Harris, REALTOR®RE/MAX Austin Skylinewww.DonnaHomes.comDonna@DonnaHomes.com Austin, TX ... 05/31/2009

Falconhead West in Bee Cave, TX, a suburb just West of Austin, TX, is have their first big Social event tomorrow, Saturday, May 30, 2009 from 4-7pm! There will be bounce houses for the kids!! There will be Mexican food catered by Taco Cabana! There will be live music with a DJ! You need to bring your own drinks and chairs to sit on, but everything else is right there.  The party will be on the street with the model homes, so the restrooms will be provided by the builders! There is absolutely NO parking on the street of the model homes so there is room for everyone to gather.  There are brand new streets where they just poured the concrete, and you can park there... or just walk on over!! **Are You Packed Yet?** Donna Harris, REALTOR®RE/MAX Austin Skylinewww.DonnaHomes.comDonna@DonnaHome... 05/29/2009

Falconhead West is one of Bee Cave, TX's newest communities. Once you drive past the PGA Golf course, you'll run right into the Community Park. This is not a one-size-fits-all playground.  The community took into consideration that there would be bigger kids and smaller kids, so they actually created two separate sections a few feet away to accommodate both agents. Here is the big kid section: Here is the smaller kid section: I've heard some people say that they wished the playgrounds were separate, but the way this one was designed is perfect for those families that have both a bigger kid and a smaller kid.  So, if a mom takes her 7 year old and her 3 year old to the park at the same time, she can watch them both play on the right sized equipment for them.  PERFECT! **Are You Packed Ye... 05/13/2009

I previously blogged about this fabulous new community in Bee Cave, TX called Falconhead West. There are three different builders in the community, and I'll eventually get to talking about all of them.  I already told you about Ryland Homes.  Now, here's what Drees Homes has to offer. Drees Homes is a very high-end builder and the quality of their homes is no different in Falconhead West.  Look at the kitchen in this house! If you like to entertain, you're going to love this island kitchen!   During the past 2 weekends, with the Falconhead West "Spring Fling", Drees Homes actually sold all of their inventory homes except one.  As you can see from the following pictures, there is still plenty of time to pick some options as the home is not slated to be ready for another 6-8 weeks. The en... 05/12/2009

Thanks to a great idea from Kristin Moran, I'm doing some marketing outside the box BAG! Take a look at my new marketing pieces.    I started walking the neighborhood this afternoon.  Boy is it HOT and it's only early May.  I need to finish walking the streets before it gets too hot to keep going. What I found was in my neighborhood there are LOTS of people home during the day.  I'm not sure if it was just because it was Friday, or if that many people really work from home, but tons of people home.  As I would walk on one side of the street, I would notice my bags disappearing inside the houses on the other side of the street.  A couple waved at me. People like their reusable bags and people LOVE chip clips, so I put them together.  I put some other marketing stuff inside the bag, but I... 05/08/2009

I previously blogged about this fabulous new community in Bee Cave, TX called Falconhead West. There are three different builders in the community, and I'll eventually get to talking about all of them.  I'm going to start with Ryland Homes. Ryland is building all over the community and even has an exclusive section.  Falconhead West is split into the 60's section, 70's and the 80's.  Each section is unique.  For example, the 80's section are larger homes, because the lots are 80 feet wide, and they HAVE to have a tile or slate roof.  They are not allowed to have a composition roof.  All the builders have lots in this section so it leads to variations. The 70's section, where I am, are medium sized homes, up to about 4200 sqft, with decent sized yards.  All the builders are building with... 05/08/2009

Bee Cave, TX was a place of 656 people at the last census.  I'm sure when the census is done next year that there will be well over 1000. Bee Cave is a great place in the South West area of Austin.  It's directly West of Downtown Austin, and it's just South of Lakeway.  Bee Cave is easiest described as being located at the intersection of 620 and 71 at the new Galleria. Many people in Austin have no clue where Bee Cave is located, but if they've ever gone out to the Pedernales River, they've driven right through it as you have to in order to get to the river. Falconhead West is a huge, new communittee that is attached to the communittee on the PGA Falconhead Golf Course that opened in 2003. Many of the homes in Falconhead West have gorgeous views for miles.  I can stand on my Balcony an... 05/08/2009

For years, I've tried to grow tomatoes in my backyard.  I don't have much of a green thumb for this... One y ear, I went through 7-8 different plants as they all kept dying on me. This year, new house, new method! New way of thinking of things! Instead of planting tomatoes, I decided to buy the Topsy Turvy.  Have you heard of this?  Basically, you hang this mini greenhouse outside and put the plant in upside down so it hangs.  I planted it last night. There are already two small tomatoes ready to grow big and strong. Anyone have any good experiences with this thing?  If it works, I'm going to get another one for my basil.  I can grow basil, no problem, but the plant gets so big, it would be nice to let it hang upside down and out of the way. By the way, ordering it from the infomercial ... 05/04/2009

I never thought having things being convenient could be taken for granted until now. What am I used to?  From my old house, I had 3 different WalMarts and Sams within 4 miles of my house, all in different directions.  Which way do I want to go today?  To help with that decision, know that I also had 4 Home Depots and 2 Lowes in the different directions within 2-5 miles. Where else might I want to go?  There were 5 grocery stores within 2 miles, Super Target had 3 locations, all within 4 miles from my house.  Do I want to grab lunch or dinner on the way to or from anyplace?  Well, then I had 2 Pei Weis, 2 Outback Steakhouses, 2 Olive Gardens, 5 McDonald's, 2 Chick-fil-a's, 2 Panda's, etc... all within a mile or two of my house. There are tons more places, but the examples I gave above ar... 04/28/2009

Falconhead is a golf course community in the hill country just west of Austin. We can help you if you need a real estate agent for Bee Cave or the Lakeway Texas areas. We are a local company with agents knowledgeable in the different areas of Austin. Falconhead Golf Course Community Many of the homes in Falconhead feature a golf course lifestyle. We have real estate agents who can help you with your real estate questions about the Falconhead community just west of Austin Texas. Learn more at http://www.skyrealtyaustin.com/blog 02/07/2009

Real Estate Market Analysis Report for Homes in Bee Cave Texas Property Type: Residential Status: Sold Number of Properties: 5  BedsBathsSqFtListing PriceLP/SqFtSelling PriceSP/SqFtSP/LPSP/OLPDOM High 5 3 2,596 $529,000 $229.3 $508,000 $220.2 100% 100% 119 Low 3 2 2,049 $395,000 $172.95 $359,000 $155.61 89.97% 86.63% 0 Average 4 2 2,287 $450,000 $197.03 $427,900 $187.64 95.12% 92.32% 47 Median 4 2 2,307 $429,000 $191.83 $415,000 $181.69 96.03% 89.97% 49   Search Criteria Bee Cave Texas Status S Property Type HOUSE Subdivision contains bee cave Sold/Lease Date between 1/1/2007 - 12/31/2007  Report time: 12/16/2008 2:28 PM All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed User must verify information Visit our website for more information about Bee Cave Texas 12/16/2008

I sometimes wonder is Buyers' agent actually explain things to their buyers in terms that they'll understand.  If they do, why do so many things happen that don't make sense. My latest example is this:  I have a listing under contract. The buyer did their inspections and presented an amendment to the contract.  My sellers countered back.  The counter included agreeing to one repair, giving the buyer a $500 repair escrow, and leaving the $1200 fridge that is barely 2 years old. When I presented the fridge, I reminded the agent to let the buyers know that if they feel they don't have a need for the fridge, they could always sell it on Craigslist or at a garage sale and probably get a good $500-700 for it, but we were neither doing nor compensating for any other repairs on a house that had... 11/17/2008