Short Sale Special Agents on a Mission

Just a cute photo of my team. The Mahon Team, aka Alternative Foreclosure Solutions, is tackling Short Sales and helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. Special Agent Mahon, Winter and Sirgo stands ready to serve homeowners who are behind on their mortgage and need assistance.

We're no Charlie's Angels... but maybe you could call us KW Angels :)

Personal Triumph!

This past 6 months has been quite filled with lots of changes. I wrote a little about my growing team in my last post. Now I will share with you my shrinking me! Thats right... I have lost 20+ lbs since the beginning of this year. I did it with Weight Watchers and the support of my family and friends. I never really thought of myself overweight and I really just decided to lose the weight to see if I could. And now when I go back and look at old pictures I see that I was a little on the chunky side and am feeling great now that the weight is gone.

At Weight Watchers, you are asked to set goals and just like in my business life, I tend to go after them with gusto! My lifetime goal was reached this week and now I have to maintain it to become a Lifetime Member of Weight Watchers. My dad also is doing Weight Watchers and he has lost 40+ lbs!

Check out my before and after pics below!

BEFORE

>

AFTER!!!

It's amazing what you can accomplish if you put your mind to it and visualize it!

Whats up with the Mahon Team!

Hey there everyone!

It's been a while since I last posted to my blog. ALOT has happened in the past few months. My team is growing by leaps and bounds! I hired a new assistant this past April. Her name is Karen Sirgo and is long time resident of Round Rock. Her and her husband owns Pure and Simple Water. Karen brings order to my business and am very grateful she has joined our team!

Kellie Winter is the lastest addition to our team. She is our buyer's agent and has been extremely busy helping our clients find their dream homes. Kellie also owns Milani Custom Interiors. She is my goto home stager when I have a listing that needs to be staged to sell.

With all of this growth, we got an office within the Keller Williams office in Round Rock. This is a big move since I have been officing out of my home my entire real estate career. You can check out these pics as we were getting the office ready for us to move in! Can I say I HATE PAINTING!!!

Another big thing that has happened is that I am now an Affiliate Short Sale Trainer/Coach with America's Home Rescue. This is the short sale program I went through last year that revolutionize my business. It taught me how to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by negioating a short sale with their lender. Because of my success with the program, they have asked me to help teach other agents how to help other homeowners.

Well thats about it for now... sorry for not posting in a while! Take care!!

Homestead Cap - Please Read

I recived the following email recently about the homestead cap on property taxes and thought it might be interesting to you all!

You must vote in May to keep the Homestead tax cap for 65 and over, even if you are not 65 yet. If you are a Texas homeowner then this is VERY important to you. If not, I am sure this will be important to all your friends.

If you agree, please pass along to all on your email lists.

I am sending this email to everyone on my email address list who lives in Texas. I want to be sure you are aware of a constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot at the May election. It is an amendment to correct an error made by the lawmakers when they voted for a reduction in school property taxes in 2005.

When the lawmakers voted for a one-third reduction in school property taxes beginning in 2006 and to be completed this year, they forgot about the homestead exemption for senior citizens and people with disabilities.

The state constitution caps school property taxes for homeowners 65 years and older and those who are disabled. However, they DID NOT get the same reduction when the property tax cut for schools was voted on two years ago.

So an amendment is on the May ballot to correct this error.

The problem is that most voters who are younger than 65 or not disabled probably won't even notice the amendment or care.

PLEASE get out and vote for this amendment if not for yourself, then for your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends. We would really appreciate your getting the word out to all your friends and families to vote for this amendment.

The fear is that with a low voter turnout, the amendment could very well not pass.

So, please, please pass the word and VOTE FOR the constitutional amendment. Early voting will take place APRIL 30 - MAY 5 from 7 AM TO 7 PM; MAY 6 FROM NOON TO 6 PM AND MAY 7 - MAY 8 FROM 7 AM TO 7 PM. ELECTION DAY IS MAY 12 FROM 7 AM TO 7 PM.

Alternative Foreclosure Solutions is hiring a buyer's agent!

Alternative Foreclosure Solutions is hiring a buyer's agent. If you know anyone who is looking to jump head first in the pre-foreclosure short sale maket, please pass this email on to anyone you think might be interested. We are experiencing an overflow of leads that need a buyer's agents to take.

Requirements:

Sales Agent licensed in the State of Texas
Ability to work weekdays and weekends
Possess attention to detail
At least 6 months of real estate experience or 2 years sales experience
Well organized
Highly motivated

Desired:

Ability to speak Spanish
Ability to sign American Sign Language

Short sales are increasing in large numbers and we need agents to help homeonwers avoid foreclosure. If you, or anyone you know, might be interested in taking on this exciting career.... please have them send me their resume to blmahon@kw.com.

My home at 922 Berrywood Dr.

Come check out my home that I am selling! This was my 1st home I ever bought! Sad to see it go... but it has to be sold so we can move on to bigger and better things!

We are having an open house this Saturday, February 16, 2008 between 1:00pm-4:00pm.

This home is NOT YET posted on the MLS, so come check out the house before all the other buyers find out about it!

Check out this flyer to get more info on the property!

My partner and I have been renovating this home by updating the interior. It is a cute home that would be perfect for 1st time home buyers or buyers with small families. 3 bedroom/2bathroom/2 car garage, 1280 sqft, .23 acres, 2 large decks out back.... perfect for entertaining! This well established neighborhood has great neighbors! State officer lives next door! We were the 3rd owners of this property and the 2nd owners had it for over 20 years!

We will have Helen Robinson, from Pathfinder Mortgage, on hand to answer any questions regarding your ability to qualify for this a loan to purchase this home or any other home. She can also answer any questions you may have about refiancing your current mortgage to get a better interest rate or a better payment.

If you are not in the market to buy a house, come by anyway! I would love to visit with ya!!

Xmas wishes to all!

Hello there!

I made a couple of xmas greeting videos for you all. The lighting is not that great but you get the picture:) One video is in ASL for my deaf friends and family and the bottom one is in voice for all of my hearing folks out there! Take care and hope to see you soon in 2008!

I'm selling my own home!!

I have decided to sell my rental property that is located in north east Austin. I wanted to give you first peek before it goes on the market.

I plan to list it at $149,000 with some minor cosmetic things done to it, but I will consider an as-is offer. The tenant I have in there now is paying $1125 a month. He is on a month to month and has been given his 30 days to move out notice. His last day in the house will be November 30th. If anyone wants to view the inside, please make arrangements with myself.... it will not go on lockbox until the tenant is out.

The property has 3bd/2ba with 1280 sqft,Fireplace, ceramic tile and laminate throughout. AC is approximately 4-5 years old. Large lot .22 acres. Two tier deck on back. City recently annexed in subdivsion. Neighborhood well established, located convenient to I 35 and shopping at tech ridge. Tenant has kept property up. Refrigerator conveys with property. Has lockable shed in backyard.

Feel to drive by, but please do not disturb tenant. Call me for a showing.

If you refer a buyer to me that closes on the house by December 31st... I will send you a $50 gift card of your choice of stores.

Another Successful Food Drive at Teravista

This past weekend we succesfully collected about 150 bags of food from the Teravista neighborhood in Round Rock. This is my own neighborhood, so I am proud that so many of my fellow neighbors gave to this cause. Round Rock Serving Center benefited from all the food we were able to collect. If you want more infomation on the Serving Center you can go to their website at http://www.servingcenter.org/. I want to thank the following people for volunteering to make this event successful!

Mike Riggen - Real Estate Investor
Patricia Hill-Fry - Local Citizen
Marvin Heger - Real Estate Investor & Realtor
Ann Roberts - Local Citizen
Kellie Winter - Miliani Interior Designer
Olivia Gaona - Xango Distributer
Felicia Warren - Local Citizen

Cristina Miranda - Recreation Therapy Services

Please Vote FOR Proposition 6!

Do you know anyone that uses their personal car for business use? The government wants to tax small business owners on their personal vehicles they use for business use. This is unfair!

Please vote FOR Proposition 6 to make this unfair tax go away! It might not effect you personally today but it may sometime in the future! For more info go to www.VoteForProp6.org

If you are not registered to vote please do so NOW before it is too late!

The Mahon Team Launches Alternative Foreclosure Solutions!

The Mahon Team has recently launched a new part of our business..... Alternative Foreclosure Solutions. This part of our business allows us to help homeowners nationwide avoid foreclosure. If you or anyone you know is faced with foreclosure.... just know there are alternatives... and we can help! This will help save your credit, and hopefully allow you or your loved ones purchase a house again soon!

Check out our new commercial that is set to air on 10 different cable networks in the surrounding areas of Austin,TX in October. If you are not in the Austin area.... no worries... we can help you too.

SiSI... A new technology to convert hearing speech into sign language??

A friend just sent me an email with a link to an interesting article on the web. It seems IBM is developing some technology to covert hearing speech to sign language on the computer. Has anyone seen this yet?

Have you recieved notice of the new laws that go into effect September 1, 2007? Here a couple I thought were interesting. You can find a more exhaustive list on the Texas Department of Safety's website.

SB 502 increases the minimum liability coverage amounts for automobile insurance. The first increase applies to motor vehicle liability insurance policies issued or renewed after January 1, 2008. A second, larger increase in motor vehicle liability insurance coverage takes effect on January 1, 2011.

HB 1355, known as Lillian’s Law, requires all dog owners to properly secure their dogs on their property. The law provides that a dog owner can be held criminally responsible if the dog causes serious bodily injury or death at a location other than the owner’s property in an unprovoked attack during which the owner by criminal negligence failed to secure the dog. It exempts many dog professionals (including peace officers) who deal with dogs on a regular basis from the bill.

SB 369 prohibits the use of blurring or reflective matter on a license plate that significantly impairs the readability of the state name and license plate numbers and letters; prohibits the use of material or an apparatus that alters or obscures one-half or more of the state name; and prohibits using material that obscures the license plate number or plate color.

Hope you all are doing well!

Lake levels at Lake Travis still VERY HIGH!

What do you do this weekend? I went out to my dad's property on Lake Travis. With all of the rain central Texas has been getting since the end of March, I have not spent much time out there... that and because real estate has been so busy this summer... Anyway, my dad has been real busy getting his water system in. This weekend my dad needed help building a shed for his pump.

My partner, Cristina and her father are such the handy at that kind of thing, they came out and helped dad build it. I, on the other hand.... sat back and read the rest of the last Harry Potter book. I'm not going to spoil it for any of you that haven't read it... but I will tell you that it is a GREAT book and it keeps you hanging all the way to the end.

Now for those of you who have been out to my dad's place.... you see in this picture where that dock is? That is where the water is normally... but with this flood... most of the land below is still underwater. It's amazing! We are waiting for LCRA to start letting some of the water out so we can get down there to enjoy the lake.

New law may require sellers to install hearing impaired smoke detectors!

This was taken from the Texas Association of Realtors' Website:

Smoke detector requirements

The 80th Texas Legislature in 2007 made changes to seller's disclosure requirements, specifically regarding smoke detectors. What are the smoke detector requirements for homes in Texas? (Aug. 6, 2007)The legislation, which is effective Sept. 1, 2007, requires one- and two-family dwellings constructed in Texas to have working smoke detectors installed in accordance with the requirements of the building code in effect in the area in which the dwelling is located. This requirement extends to a landlord of a one- or two-family dwelling unit and satisfies the requirements of the current smoke-detector laws applicable to landlords. The law further requires that a permit issued for a home improvement include the installation of smoke detectors in accordance with the local building code if the dwelling for which the permit will be issued does not comply.

What rights do buyers have under this law? (Aug. 6, 2007)Certain purchasers may require the seller to install smoke detectors equipped for hearing-impaired persons prior to the closing date of the sale of the home. In order to impose this requirement on the seller, the purchaser must satisfy a number of requirements:

There must be a written contract in place.
It must be a sale of single-family dwelling or duplex.
The buyer or a member of the buyer’s family who will live in the dwelling must be hearing impaired.
The buyer must provide written evidence of the hearing impairment signed by a licensed physician.
The buyer must submit a written request to the seller to install the smoke detectors.
The buyer must specify in the written request where the detectors are to be installed.
The buyer must send the written request not later than the 10th day after the effective date of the contract.

The bill allows the buyer and seller to agree on the brand and which party will bear the cost of the detectors. The seller must install the detectors no later than the closing date. If the seller fails to install, as may be required, the buyer has the right to terminate the contract.

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As a realtor that works heavily in the deaf community, it is my pleasure to assist my disabled clients to understand their rights when it comes to being safe in their new home. The Mahon Team stands ready to help you! Give us a call! - Brandi Mahon

Short Sales... Alternative to Foreclosure

We have all been hearing about the tsunami that approaches with the flood of foreclosures that is coming to our market. Nationwide foreclosures are widespread and unfortunately we are starting to experience some of that here in Central Texas.

Here are some statistics for you to digest:

Austin/ Round Rock had 2,733 foreclosures in Q1 of 2007.

Austin/Round Rock ranked 34 nation wide in Q1 of 2007 for foreclosures.

Zip code 78664 is ranked 182 on Money Magazine’s foreclosure list.

A majority of those homeowners could have avoided foreclosure if they were able to sell their home in a short sale.

What is a short sale? Folks who have had some kind of personal hardship such as a loss of job, illness in the family, and/or divorce and have fallen behind on their mortgage might qualify for alternatives from their lender to help them out of the situation. A short sale is when someone sells their home for less than what is owed. And that is where my team comes into play.

My team is trained to work with homeowners in this situation to negotiate with their mortgage lenders to agree to allow the homeowner sell the home for less than what is owed, so the homeowner does not need to bring any cash to closing and avoids going to foreclosure. By helping these homeowners, we are bringing the foreclosure rate down one home at a time and thus helping the overall real estate market in our area.

If you know of anyone that needs our specialized services such as a short sale, or anyone else that just wants to purchase or sell real estate, we have the team in place to help your friends and family. Please let us take care of you referrals as if they were our family!