A few years ago, I got a secondary cell phone number. My primary cell is a 973 area code, which is North Jersey. I went onto my husband's family plan about a decade ago, and decided to keep the number even after we moved out of North Jersey and to Austin, Texas.

As a salesperson who makes lots of outgoing calls, I found that my North Jersey area code confused the heck out of everyone.

I'd get this: "So... I almost didn't answer because of your area code. Are you actually in Austin, or... what??"

I figured it might be hurting my answer rate, so I got a 512 number, an Austin area code, to see if my answer rate would go up.

What I didn't bargain for was that the number was recycled from a ne'er-do-well. His name was Rufus.

Soon after getting

At the end of April, Chris and I took an awesome trip to Hawaii with my cousins.

This was my first time in Hawaii and Kauai is breathtakingly, jaw droppingly beautiful. I spent the whole time gawking like a little kid and whispering "wow..." wondering how something so beautiful could exist in real life.

I always thought Hawaii was over-rated. Why do I need to fly halfway across the world and spend so much more money, when I could just pop down to Mexico on a 2 1/2 hour flight? It can't be THAT cool.

I was wrong. It was that cool.

We spent every day doing something beautiful, fun and exhausting. We went hiking, we took surfing lessons, we boogie boarded, we did a helicopter tour and an ATV tour and drove around in a minivan rocking out

This is the decades-old question of whether, at any given point in a market's upswing, is it better to rent vs buying in Austin.  We often hear potential Austin home buyers saying things like "The Austin real estate market looks like it may peak and I'm wondering if I should wait until prices go down before I buy Austin tx real estate".  Well, it's hard to time any market and, from the studies we've seen, why would you want to try?  

As long as interest rates stay anywhere near the level they are at now, it will likely be better for consumers to rent a home in Austin vs buying a home in Austin.  See this article from CNC where they state that in every one of the 100 biggest metro market's, buying a home was found to be the more affordable path over

Matt Fajkus Architecture

MF Architecture is an award-winning, licensed architecture office that welcomes residential and commercial projects, both small and large. The brilliant mind behind designing some of the best Austin homes and commercial spaces in Austin is Matt Fakjus.

Matt, a native of Austin, holds a Master in Architecture from Havard University Graduate School of Design where he completed his thesis work with Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rafael Moneo. In 2010, Matt established MF Architecture and achieved significant experience in architectural practice. He worked in numerous high-profile, international large-scale projects, as well as small-scaled award-winning projects. He was then awarded two AIA National Emerging

Being more efficient is one of the important aspects you have to look at while working with a team. You want to make sure that your team is in the track especially in the real estate industry, it can be difficult to find the perfect collaboration tool that suits your team since most of them are on the move. That’s where we decided to make use of what technology has to offer us and find the best collaboration tool that is out there which is Facebook Workplace. In this blog, learn how Facebook Workplace for Real Estate has reshaped our company.

Of course, our great team deserves great tools when it comes to collaboration. The functionality of Workplace has transformed us by creating a company culture that we did not have before.

We are aware

Ryan Rodenbeck Interview with Max Leaman, Austin's number one mortgage broker

SGR: Okay so what we're doing today is we're interviewing my good friend Max Leaman from Prime Lending. Max is the number one volume producer of loans here in Austin Texas and before we go there. I'm going to kind of give a little history. I met Max probably about five years ago. And you know I just started becoming more of a top producing Austin listing agent having more listings than buyers and we kept getting pre-approval letters through our clients and our listings. With Max's name on them and they just went really flawlessly so I decided you know let's have Max let's just schedule lunch with Max and talk to him. And see if he can be our preferred lender. And we

Our homes are meant to be a place for relaxation and comfort for you and your family. Your home’s interior can sure reflect your personality and style. Having a great interior designer that will team up, inspire and guide you throughout the process will help you transform your personal space to a lasting masterpiece.

Do you have plans on designing your newly bought home in Austin? It’s always wise to call your local interior designer that knows how to work with furniture, colors, and layouts that will bring the best out your beautiful home. You know what, no matter how tough or complex your home can be, an expert in the field will always find ways to keep it astonishing!

Are there times where you think that you have to sacrifice design just for

In April, I took a trip to Charleston for my first 30 Under 30 Mastermind.

First, let me tell you about my hotel in Charleston, because it was amazing. We stayed at the Spectator right off Market Street. When I arrived to check in, I was greeted by the staff, given a leather-bound key fob for my room, and introduced to my butler, Alexander.

I'm not kidding.

Alexander offered me a complimentary cocktail, and then escorted me up to my room. He then informed me that he was there to help with just about anything I might need. Their services included complimentary steaming and pressing, shoe cleaning and shining, luggage packing and unpacking, and small errands around town. Was there anything he could do for me at that moment?

At first I felt a

Davey McEathron Architecture

Building or constructing a visually appealing home is one of the biggest achievements for most people. Professional builders and developers are the most reliable people you might first want to talk to. Discuss to your chosen Austin home builder about the design of the project you are aiming for in order to ensure that your vision turns into reality and construct you a durable and strong home that can also increase your ROI if you have plans on selling your home in the future.

One of Spyglass Realty's very own, Chris Affinito, started a building company called Urban ATX. He works closely with renowned architects such as Davey McEathron and architectural photographer Leonid Furmansky. Seeing the robust yet

Is Austin heading towards a recession?

I recently went to two different Austin economic forecasts provided by title companies.  This report is based on the notes I took with some commentary from myself.  A very special thanks to David Tandy with Texas National Title and Mark Sprague with Independence Title for providing the data and commentary for these reports.

Austin’s Current Economy

Austin’s economy is still in a very healthy state.  The population of Austin’s greater MSA is right around two million people.  Our population growth was around 4% during the 70’s and 80’s and we’ve been hovering around 3% for the past two decades.  This year we’re looking at adding about 57,000 residents in the greater Austin MSA.

Stats about our population