Alan In Austin: April 2008

  There are some great place where families can go to eat and best of all children will eat for free.

GREAT PLACES TO EAT FREE IF YOU ARE A KID. All these in the Austin Area. Every family loves to enjoy a meal out once in a while and now you know that when you are in Austin Texas you can find some great places to take the kids.

Enjoy!!!

Multi-family properties are a great way to get started investing in Real Estate. Live in one of the units and rent out the other. You get help with the loan paymend and you have some help building equity.

 So how much would it cost to buy a duplex unit in Austin Texas? As with other properties it is relative to the location. Properties that are closer to downtown can be more expensive but this unit is listed for a real bargain price of: $160,000

That is 80,000 per unit. With the rental market continuing to be very strong it is a great investment opportunity.

Want to learn more about the Austin Real Estate Market. Check out my blog or email me at roundrockhomes@gmail.com

STANDARD PACIFIC HOME

Affordable, beautiful and well built. Standard pacific has come to Teravista to make an impact! 2009 and 2007 Standard pacific made the fortune 500 top 100 best companies to work for. They treat their employees and their customers with excellence.

Teravista offers a wide range of amenities including an award-winning 18-hole golf course and an exclusive Residents Club. You might expect Teravista to be one of Austin's more expensive places to live. Actually, just the opposite is true, and we invite you to discover why Teravista is the premiere place to move up to "Affordable Golf Course and Family Living."

Some people teach that you have one maybe two chances in life to make the kind of decision that will change your life for the rest of your life. One or two opportunities to get rich or make a career change that will put you in your sweet spot for life. One or two opportunities to meet a life mate that will be the perfect match for you. One or two opportunities make an impact in life that will live beyond you.

I believe opportunity will knock more often than that but the real question is not how many times opportunity will knock but will we answer the knock. Anthony Robbins gives 12 reasons why most people will not be ready to answer when financial opportunity knocks. Here they are:

"1. They never decide and really define, very specifically, what wealth means for them. The keyword here is specifically. Can you imagine how hard it would be to build a car or a plane without making a blueprint or sketch drawings of it first? You have to know what your target is before you go chasing after it.

2. They make wealth a moving target instead of a fixed one (this is related to point one above). Once you have your target, fix it. Don't change it until you reach it. You must accomplish each step, celebrate, and then set course for a new step, a new target.

3. They define it in a way that seems unreachable. You only achieve what you believe. No more, no less. So you must make it believable for you. Set goals that will make you move forward and stretch, but not too high that even you yourself don't believe you can. Take the biggest step you believe you can, achieve it, then take the next biggest you believe you can. This will build positive reinforcement in your self-confidence as well.

4. They never start. Ok, this is obvious. If you keep thinking about it forever, it will forever remain in the thought level. You have to act! Start somewhere, anywhere! Only after you start do you begin to get some feedback which will help you plot your course better. The aircraft has to first take off before it starts to adjust course for its destination. You must start, somewhere, anywhere, doesn't matter, just start! Act!

5. They never make it a must. Let me explain what it means to make it a must. It means marshalling all your intent, your will, your direction, into one singular flow that is directed towards your goal. All obstacles are viewed as challenges to be overcome. You will meet obstacles, and so expect it, but also expect to move forward anyways. Use your obstacles to develop strength and skills, don't run away. Find out how to go past them. Find out! There is always a way, always. And if your emotions are acting against your desire, embrace them, learn what they are, know yourself, but keep moving forward. Make it a must, and it will happen. Guaranteed. You don't know in how many steps it will take, but you know it will happen.

6. They don't have a realistic plan. If you want to do something, find out how it is done from someone who has done it before. Make a realistic plan. Copy from those who have succeeded before you. But don't throw away your intuition. Your intuition is extremely powerful once you learn how to listen to it with practice.

7. If they have a realistic plan, they never follow through on the plan. Well, if you don't follow the plan, who will?

8. They give responsibility to others ("experts") instead of to themselves. This way, they never really learn how to do it, and if there are failures they never learn why the failures happened and so they are bound to repeat them. It is a good idea to get advice, but do it yourself. At least understand it yourself even if you will delegate the actual doing.

9. They give up when they face challenges. Going through the challenges is what has made people rich, not giving up. Look, there are always challenges. So get used to that. You will only get where you wish to get to if you are willing to face the challenges along the path. All challenges are opportunities dressed in work clothes, remember that. After the challenge is over, you will discover the amazing fruit it held for you.

10. They fail to conduct their lives as a business; they never ensure that they make a profit year by year. Get a personal finance package like Quicken or Microsoft Money. you need to have budgets and cash flow statements for your personal finances and your businesses. It is easy with those software packages. If you don't keep records and track, you wont know when you are making or losing money until it is embarrassingly too late.

11. They allow other people's ideas to affect their decisions unreasonably. There will always be people who don't believe in your way, or who are pessimistic, who try to pull you down, or whatever. And they will sometimes be your closest friends and family. You cannot change that - they have a right to be who they are. It is OK. Allow them their thoughts, don't judge them for that, but don't feel obligated to accept their thoughts of follow their way. Don't allow other people, now or from the past, unreasonably affect your decisions. Allow them their way, and you live your way.

12. They don't get quality coaching. This is extremely important! Coaching is simply getting mentored by someone who has succeeded wildly in the area of your interest. Get coaching! Our education system hardly equips us for real life, so don't assume that because you went to college you are properly equipped. Hardly. You need to keep learning. The most successful people attend seminars, read books, join mastermind groups and clubs, find mentors, network, and even hire expensive personal coaches to make sure they succeed."

Opportunity is knocking in the Austin Real Estate Market. If you want to know more contact me: roundrockhomes@gmail.com

The Miami Dolphins select Offensive Tackel and all star Jake Long from Michigan in the first round of the NFL draft with the very first pick.

 Height:6'7"

The great running back out of Arkansas Darrin McFadden went number four in the Draft to the Oakland Raiders. Darrin runs a 4.33 40 and can take hit as well as give one.

 THE COWBOYS with two 1st round picks at 22 and 26 started with the outstanding running back from Arkansas Felix Jones.

Running Back

Height: 6-foot-0
Weight: 207 pounds

With their second first round pick the cowboys traded up one a couple of picks to select cornerback Mike Jenkins from South Florida.

   FOOTBALL SEASON IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR FAVORITE TEAM DID IN THE DRAFT?

 On the Left is Roxy Hart. She has some great advice when it comes to Real Estate. I was talking to her a few days ago and here is the bottom line:

She says:

1. Buy Now.

2 Buy Texas (Austin area in particular)

Her last piece of advice was to use her favorite Realtor: Alan Kirkpatrick. What can I say, I am honored. I found her owners a great home in the Austin area so she of course is happy to reccomend me.

Roxy has made a lot of friends since moving to the Austin/Round Rock area. Meet Phoebe, her new best friend. Phoebe delivered the welcome basket from her realtor and owner(you guessed it) Alan Kirkpatrick.

If you want your dog(s) to be happy too (even cats, birds, snakes and other great pets) make sure you give me a call. The Austin/Round Rock market is still one of the hottest markets in the country and a place where real estate continues to appreciate.

AUSTIN OUTDOOR LIVING AND SUMMER CELEBRATIONS!

 Attend outdoor concerts! Live concerts are happening all over Austin everyday. In the evening just roll down your windows and drive slowly down the famed 6th street and you will hear some great bands. You can pick your restraunt or bar by listening for your favorite style of music.

Ride the Riverboat!

"The Lone Star Riverboat & Austin are two shining stars of Texas!
This true, old-fashioned, paddle-wheeler, is sure to charm you with nostalgia and our gorgeous city skyline; experience the exhilaration of the outdoors, the abundant waterfowl, and beauty that is Austin.
Join us on our narrated sightseeing cruise or witness the spectacular emergence of the famous Mexican free tail bats on our sunset cruise! Come see the sights and learn about Austin. Or jazz up your next occasion and have a private party aboard the Lone Star Riverboat."

Want to see nature at its best? Try the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 

 It will be an experience you will not forget. Bring your Camera!

Great opportunity for both employers and employees!

The job fair is designed to promote employment opportunities in Williamson County and Greater Round Rock. Public service announcements will be placed with local newspapers to promote this event. In addition, promotional information will be distributed to Chambers of Commerce, The School District and other community agencies within the Williamson County area.

Booth Registration Information

There is a $125 registration fee. (Electricity- additional $30) Each exhibitor will receive a professionally skirted six-foot table, two chairs, a company identification sign and two deli-style lunches. We are confident you will find this event to be of great value in your recruitment efforts.

Texas ranks No. 1 for its wind power development, increasing its installed capacity by 60 percent over 2006, according to the latest rankings by the American Wind Energy Association.

Texas is the nation's leader in wind energy thanks to its long-term commitment to bolstering renewable energy sources and diversifying the state's energy portfolio. Wind power plays an essential role in providing Texans clean, affordable and reliable energy, Texas Gov. Rick Perry says.

With total installed U.S. wind power capacity now over 16,800 MW, or enough to serve the equivalent of 4.5 million average households, wind was the second-largest source of new electrical capacity in the nation, behind only natural gas, for the past three years, according to the Washington, D.C.-based trade group.

 Texas Size Wind Energy!

Pity the poor mountain lion.

He's loved and hated, either a mega-predator that's a symbol of wild Texas or a remorseless haunt, a killer of livestock and a danger to kids and pets.

Mountain lion encounters are on the rise as more people encroach on the animals' natural habitat. Texas does not classify the lions as game animals.

It is a rare site indeed to spot one of these big cats in the wild. I was out taking nature pictures a few years ago in Arizona. I had arrived at the top of a cliff before sun rise and was scoping the landscape below. As the sun began to come up I descended down the mountain side to explore a greenbelt where a creek was running.

The shadows and filtered light made it difficult to see but I could make out something at the creeks edge just inside the tree line. A few steps closer revealed it to be a dead wild pig. Torn in pieces it was a fresh kill. That is when I heard the cat make a low growl. It did not take me long to get back to the top of that cliff and thankfully my friend did not follow. Later, I ran across his tracks and thought that would be a good time to move camp.

It is sad that we are moving into their homes. This is forcing encounters that are dangerous for us and these grand animals.