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As real estate markets across the country report record numbers of foreclosures, national real estate experts said there's still money to be made in Austin.
From KXAN.com Posted Nov. 30, 2007
Now may be the time to look towards up-and-coming neighborhoods, such as South Congress. Friday on The Today Show, a national real estate expert said Austin was the number one up-and-coming place to purchase real estate and specifically SoCo.
One sign of an up-and-coming neighborhood is the conversion of an old warehouse to lofts, and one part of SoCo is certainly seeing that housing development happen.
Real estate expert Barbara Corcoran highlighted SoCo, because it's just across the river from downtown, and with an eclectic mix of people, it fulfills the slogan "Keep Austin Weird."
She said the combination of quirky and trendy shops make it a great place for nightlife. Corcoran admitted that SoCo might not be the ideal spot for families, but she said it is a good place to make money.
"Old ladies on park benches are a good sign? I've seen it over and over again. You have a ghetto area, where no one sits on a park bench. Suddenly, old ladies are there, so if it's safe enough for them, then it's safe enough for you to put your money into," said Corcoran.
KXAN Austin News spoke to people who live in the SoCo area who said they feel like the up-and-coming aspect of SoCo has already passed.
Besides new housing, what makes a neighborhood an up-and-coming spot? A neighborhood has to re-invent itself and folks moving in will be younger than people moving out. If you buy early, then when you sell a few years later, you should make a significant amount of money. Corcoran also said a way to spot an up-and-coming neighborhood early is to watch coffee prices. If a price for a cup goes from $1 to $1.50, then you know real estate prices are going up as well.
Besides Austin, four cities were on the up-and-coming list: the west midtown area of Atlanta; the Biddleville area of Charlotte, North Carolina; Seattle, Washington and Reading, Pennsylvania.
View the companion video to this story- click on the link and then on the top left National Real Estate Expert Touts Austin video link:
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