Thinking Of Buying? Fed Pauses – You Shouldn’t!

The Federal Reserve, taking a break from its aggressive rate-cutting policy, chose not to alter key interest rates Wednesday, leaving the Fed Funds rate at 2.00% and everyone wondering where interest rates are headed next.

Since last September, the Fed has cut rates seven times for a total of 3.25%. However, many experts believe that the Fed’s decision this Wednesday, along with comments from the meeting itself, indicate an increased concern over inflation. This means the Fed could start increasing rates as early as its next meeting, which takes place in August.

The Fed is in a quandary. The economy has slowed, led by a decline in home sales and rising inflation, stemming primarily from increasing energy prices. The Fed’s primary role in relation to the economy is to combat inflation and preserve economic growth. To combat inflation, the Fed will ultimately have to increase interest rates in coming months.

What Does This Mean to You?

If you’re looking to buy a house, consider these key points:

Home prices in some areas are at five-year lows, while personal incomes in that same period have increased. Homes are more affordable for many right now, particularly first-time home buyers.

Sellers are extremely motivated and many buyers in our area have benefited from the unbelievable deals that exist today.

Experts foresee a strong rebound in home prices when the economy begins to recover, according to a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies. That means buyers today will be sitting on valuable properties tomorrow. Remember, annualized appreciation for homes exceeded 6.35% from 1940 to 2000.

Housing booms follow housing busts – and the savvy buyers aren’t afraid to jump into a tough market. But these savvy buyers know that homeownership is a long-term investment. Call me to discuss these points and get your purchase strategy on track. Ultimately, population growth and demographics point to a stronger housing market in coming years.

Even if you’re not looking to purchase a home, opportunities still exist. With the Fed taking a breather, this doesn’t mean you should be taking a break. It’s never been more important to create a financial plan that makes the most sense to you and your family’s long-term goals.

Writen By:

Ann McKinley
Network Funding

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Leander’s zoning draws attention

Community Impact Newletter, Written by Kara Vaught Friday, 20 June 2008

When David Hutton looks out the window of his office in the City of Leander Planning Department, he envisions people strolling to eat lunch at picnic tables in a public plaza surrounded by a garden of native plants.

Hutton is the city’s director of planning and author of Leander’s Composite Zoning Ordinance, an award-winning document describing the city’s planning philosophy that directly affects how Leander looks now and in the future.

Hutton’s plan for a walkable, inviting plaza in Old Town Leander is one example of composite zoning at work. Others are already in place — and more are on the way — yet citizens are not abuzz about composite zoning. It doesn’t work that way, Hutton said.

“There are zoning cases every month where composite zoning has worked, and they are not all grand or hugely different, but piece by piece, we are building a community that works better.”

Where zoning went wrong

City governments divide the land inside city limits into zones. The problem with conventional zoning, Hutton said, is that it is based on use alone. Common zoning categories are residential, commercial and industrial. Myriad other categories were created to more narrowly define the uses acceptable for a given area, such as single-family residential or light industrial. Overlay districts, planned unit developments, special use districts and other tools attempt to allow cities to control the look and quality of development, Hutton said, but are confusing and just act as a bandage.

For example, Leander’s city council once rejected an application for a donut shop with a drive-through window because the zoning category that allowed drive-throughs also allowed uses considered inappropriate for the location.

The “what ifs” killed the project, Hutton explains in his article “The Power of Composite: Shaking Conventions With Conventional Zoning.” What if, after a time, the donut shop closes and a gas station, car wash or auto dealership buys the property? Then it would be too late to change the zoning again to prevent those uses. If Leander had had composite zoning at the time, the developers proposing the donut shop could have applied for zoning that permitted the drive-through window, but ruled out undesirable uses.

Conventional zoning is somewhat like ordering a hamburger and being unable to specify the doneness of the meat, type of bun or condiments. A hamburger — not a chicken sandwich or beef taco — will be served, but it may not suit the diner’s palate.

In 2005, Hutton created Leander’s Composite Zoning Ordinance, which, in terms of a hamburger order, allows the choice of a well-done patty on sourdough with pickles, cheese and ketchup.

Composite zoning defined

Rather than categorizing zoning districts only by the allowable uses for a given area, composite zoning is broken into three parts: use, site and architecture.

Use defines the activities that can take place on a given piece of land.

Site refers to building coverage, scale, entrance locations, parking, sidewalks, landscaping, frontage type, exterior lighting, signage, outdoor displays and other factors that can play a large part in compatibility with surroundings, Hutton said.

The architecture component includes the quality and type of building materials, height and the type and number of architectural features.

Composite’s results

With composite zoning, problems associated with zoning are avoidable, Hutton said, creating “a win-win-win situation.”

City decision-makers win because they are more certain of the result of zoning decisions.

“They won’t get surprised when someone applies for something and paints a pretty picture of nice architecture and high site standards that, when it finally gets done, looks nothing like that,” he said. “With just use standards, you may have some architectural and site standards, but they are defined with some lowest common denominator standard. With composite zoning, we can raise those standards to what is appropriate for the site.”

Homeowners benefit from composite zoning because the developments near their property have higher standards of appearance, Hutton said, and the uses at those establishments are more precisely matched for compatibility with neighborhoods.

Developers with quality projects find it easier to gain approval under composite zoning because the mix-and-match categories allow the application to be so specific, the city doesn’t need to worry about the “what ifs.”

Inspiration and awards

In America’s earliest cities, zoning codes consisted of use, height and area components.

“So we basically took an old idea and expanded that to better serve our new development patterns,” Hutton said.

Leander’s Composite Zoning Ordinance received two awards in 2006: the Innovative Planning Award from the American Planning Association — Central Texas Section and the Current Planning Award from the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association. The latter is given to the best zoning plan in the state each year, Hutton said.

Since 2005, Hutton has been approached by other communities, several of which are in the process of copying his plan.

“I’ve had inquiries ranging from cities in California to Massachusetts and Minnesota to Texas and a number of places in between,” Hutton said.

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Twin Creeks Golf Course Community, Offered at $279,000

Cedar Park was chosen by Family Circle Magazine as one of the Top 10 Cities To Raise A Family in 2007.

Located in Twin Creeks Golf Course Community, Great floor plan with all bedrooms downstairs & gameroom on second floor. 4 Bedrooms + Study, Formal Dining & Breakfast Area. Inviting Entryway. High Ceilings. Whole House Bronze Fixtures. Kitchen has beautiful Granite Countertops, & is open to living room. Brick fireplace in Family Room. Master and Secondary Bathrooms have granite countertops & double vanities with upgraded fixtures. Master Bedroom features walk-in closet, garden tub, & separate shower. Huge gameroom upstairs. Built in 2002 by Ryland. Cul-de-sac lot on 0.22 acres, 2,769 s.f. per tax records. Must See this Gorgeous Home!

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Summer is here. Beat the HEAT at one of Cedar Parks Pools!

New Water Park coming near Avery Ranch. Ranch at Brushy Creek, Silver Oaks, Forest Oak, Mayfield Ranch Area.

Volente Beach Water Park www.volentebeach.com (512) 258-5109
Lakeside Custom Pools & Spas www.lakesidecustompools.com (512) 873-0671
Buttercup Pool (512) 250-9578
Shooters Billards & Sports Bar www.shootersbilliards.com (512) 260-2060
Unique Pools (512) 258-2819
Block House Swimming Pool Apache Park www.blockhousecreek.com (512) 259-0341
Nitro Swimming www.nitroswim.com (512) 259-7999
Mason Creek Pool (512) 259-9055
City of Leander Swimming Pool (512) 259-8115
Steelworks (512) 259-6500

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