Only a little bit of bidding at Austin’s Travis County Foreclosure Auction

From the Texas A&M Real estate center reports:

LITTLE ACTION AT FORECLOSURE AUCTION

AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – As the number of foreclosed homes climbs rapidly, the possibilities for investors to buy homes at auction at reduced prices also climbs. But Travis County’s final foreclosure auction for the year saw few buyers.

Of the 124 homes posted for auction Tuesday, only 15 were purchased. The rest were sent back to lenders.

Investors who buy foreclosed properties must pay cash up front, and tight credit markets make borrowing money tough, even for them.

Investors are also exhibiting caution in their purchases because of the uncertain housing market. They are watching to see if the trends will continue to point downward.

Keep Austin Beautiful

CLEAN SWEEP

Clean Sweep 2009 will be Saturday, April 4th.

Each year thousands of volunteers come together during Clean Sweep to remove TONS of trash from our beautiful city.  Last year 30 TONS of trash was removed in just two hours!

We need cleanup leaders and project locations for 2009! Want to lead a project? This is the perfect opportunity to clean your neighborhood, street, or local creek.  As always, KAB will help you recruit and register volunteers, provide cleanup supplies, arrange for collection of the full trash bags (and may even be able to provide a roll-off for a few projects, if needed)!

We’re still in the planning stages of this event and there’s definitely time to sort out all of the details, but we’d love to get some project leaders and potential locations in place before the holidays!

Early registration is OPEN if you are ready to sign-up as a leader for Clean Sweep 2009!

Visit www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/cleansweep for more information!

Refinishing my Grandfather’s desk

DSCF0300, originally uploaded by ryankucera.

Here is a snapshot of Jennifer applying a first coat of finish to one of the drawer sides.

Burrrrr!

Fw: photo, originally uploaded by ryankucera.

I am ready to go back to Montana for another hike up the glacier!

Austin makes the list for best cities when looking for a job

Austin made smartmoney.com ’s list of the top 5 places to live when searching for a job. With all of the ike evacuees in town that is good news because they will be looking for work. With the Texas coast torn up from the hurricane.

Here is what SmartMoney.com said about Austin, TX:

Austin-Round Rock, Texas

The capital of Texas may be best known for cultivating the live music scene, but it’s also proving to be fertile ground for tech companies. IBM, as well as electronic components firms Applied Materials, Flextronics and Samsung Austin Semiconductor have offices there, and collectively employ more than 13,000 residents, says DeVol. Many of these employees are picked up after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, says Greg Garrison, president of Startup Staffing Group, a finance, HR and recruiting company. Overall, this metropolitan area registered the fourth largest job growth — 2.89% — between March 2007 and March 2008 of all the cities Milken surveyed.

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/105783/Five-Best-Cities-for-Job-Hunting

Great news. Way to go and lets hope Austin keeps attracting more employers.
rk

As Ike rolls across Texas enjoy a little Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson – Hope

Austin is all safe.  We are receiving some winds but no issues.  Similar to winter storm winds.  Enjoy the cool breeze and think about your friends in Houston.

rk

Support Clean Energy

Check out the video.

Ryan and Jennifer over 4th of July

Ryan and Jennifer in Montana, originally uploaded by ryankucera.

At Flathead Lake.

New Mileage Rate: $0.585 per mile

Effective July 1 2008, the mileage reimbursement rate will change to $0.585 per mile.

Master bath remodel

Here is what my master bath looked like when I moved in.

Here are some of the improvements My buddy Andy and I made.  Along with my old roommate todd who did the floors with me a year or too ago. All the plumbing is brand new except the pipes in the wall.  I was ready for that this time.  Because the 3rd day I owned my house on a Sunday night at 11pm. I was change the guts on a toilet and the water hose broke.  And then the water shut off lost compression and we had a slow leak!!!  Fun stuff. Enjoy the pics.  still have some painting and doors to do.  but i love the new sink and faucet.  Thanks Andy for being a curtious plumber and showing any crack!