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The highest compliments that I receive for my work is the referral and recommendation of my clients. Here are the personal thoughts of some of the last 120 clients of mine. When all is said and done, my customer satisfaction rating is one of the highest in the business with more than 95% very happy clients. I can count on one hand the number of clients who did not say when surveyed that they would recommend me to their friends and family for future Real Estate deals. These are their gracious testimonies about my work helping them buy and sell their Austin area homes. I would love to add you to my list of clients and friends.
Here is what they said about me, their Austin area Realtor ®.
"As a Real Estate Investor, I had been successful buying and selling properties without the use of an agent, however, on my most recent transaction I called on Tim Thornton from Zip Realty. Tim took care of everything, reminded me of when I needed to take action, taught me quite a few things that I did not know about selling a house and developed a sound strategy that brought a contract on the house in 8 days and closed. Tim is the best I have seen in this industry and will use him from now on." -
Lou G, Austin, TX - Seller/Investor
"I would highly recommend Tim. He worked hard to find the right property and then stayed with us to quickly negotiate the best deal." -
Edwin Y., Buyer / Investor, Austin
"
I can't imagine someone being a better realtor than Tim Thornton. He is exceedingly conscientious, hard working, knowledgeable (on just about everything) and caring; he works seven days a week, and even on some holidays.
Where did you find this guy; he's one in a million. Most importantly, he is committed to find you the home that you truly want; he won't let you settle for less; nor does he push you or make you feel uncomfortable that the process is taking longer than it should. He cares about you being happy with your decision;
he understands how big of a decision this is for you. At one point in the process of looking for the "perfect" home, I started to get carried away with a builder's model that was considerably over my budget. The home had some issues and did not satisfy some of my needs, but it really was a spectacularly beautiful home, and I wanted it. After many days of looking and not finding what I wanted I was ready to put in an offer; even though it was not the right home in some important respects. Tim could see that I was ready to pull the trigger and make an offer, but Tim didn't share my same level of enthusiasm and it bothered me. At one point Tim looked at me and said, "Robert, are you sure this isn't going to be too much home for you?" That remark, brought me instantly back to earth and caused me to refocus and evaluate my thinking;
Tim was 200% correct; it would have been a bad decision and he could see it. Any other realtor would have picked up on my enthusiasm and put me under contract immediately; but not Tim. Like I said, he is one in a million."
R. Coulson, Buyer
"Tim Thornton is a good example of what a Real Estate Agent should be! There are very few Agents that would stack up to Tim. Very Professional! His assistance in a strange market made it easy to find the Real Estate we needed." -
B. Smith, Buyer/Builder
"Tim continued to push on, despite the challenges of buyer indecision, offer rejection, and various roadblocks. He stayed true to the mission to find us a home that we were delighted to buy. In the end, despite many more process challenges, we are in the home the we wanted, thanks to Tim." -
Buyer, Austin
"This is my second home purchase using Tim and as before he is probably one of only a few agents in Austin that knows what is going on in the Austin Real Estate market. A real professional!" -
Lee Smith, Builder / Investor, Cedar Park
"Tim was very instrumental in getting the buyer of my old house's lender on track...Tim spent hours on the phone with him trying to persuade him to do his job!"
- J. Mcnutt, Seller, SW Austin
"This is the second house we bought with Tim. We are so happy with his great service, that our daughter is buying her 1st house next week with Tim." -
Buyer/Investor, Round Rock
"He was very patient and was not pushy. He did not waste our time with houses that did not fit what we wanted. I would and will work with Tim again very soon." -
Buyer, Round Rock
"Tim was calm, creative, knowledgeable, savvy...it was amazing. I absolutely could not be more satisfied with Tim Thornton, and would happily be a reference for him. I will use him again and again and again." -
J. Saliga, Seller / Investor / Builder
"Tim is a wonderful agent to work with, and I would highly recommend him to anyone!!!" -
Elizabeth B, Buyer/Investor
"Without Tim's help, I do not believe we would have found a home that had everything we wanted that was in our price range. We also did not think that we could purchase a new home and were looking at used. The home we decided to buy was brand new and we would never have seen it if it were not for Tim suggesting we take a look at it." -
J. Wood, New home Buyer, Austin
"Tim did an outstanding job for us in all aspects.Very professional." -
Buyer, Round Rock
"Tim is a thorough professional. He has been there for us throughout the process. He knows his job and has steered us in the right direction. He has been very patient, responsive and honest in the way he has conducted business with him. Austin was a new city for us but with Tim we feel that he showed us all the options before we made the decision. His help throughout the process was exceptional. In future (god forbid if we have to sell) we will definitely work with him." -
Buyer
"My parent's bought 2 homes with Tim and I will use him again also, in the future." -
Destini R, Buyer
"Tim went above and beyond in representing us. He followed up with our builder on our behalf on several occasions and ensured that all issues were properly and promptly addressed. Every aspect of the deal was fully explained in layman's terms, and Tim ensured that both my wife and I were completely satisfied with his explanations before ending the conversation. I'd happily buy a house through Tim again and would recommend him to anyone in the market." -
Jonathan Hickman, Buyer, Houston
"We would highly recommend Tim as an agent for the Austin area. He was very accommodating and helped guide us to the perfect home. If he didn't know about something, he would get back to us very quickly with the answer! Tim is an all-around good agent and good guy!!" -
Gunther A., Buyer/Re-modeler, Lakeway
"I would be thrilled to recommend Tim Thornton to anyone who needs a realtor. We could not have asked for a better agent!" -
J. Youngs, Buyer
"Mr. Thornton was a pleasure to work with. He responded to every phone call and/or email, almost within minutes. Had an intelligent response for everything we queried about, was incredibly diligent with respect to every detail of our home purchase, from questioning the inspection report, commenting on potential problems, resolving issues as they arose (and unfortunately, too many issues arose), and making us feel completely comfortable and at ease with his expertise and professionalism. In addition to doing his job as a Realtor, Tim proved to be a great person to be around. We would recommend Tim to anyone we knew who was interested in either purchasing or selling a home. He is an asset to Zip Realty." -
John E. and Cirlei E., Buyers, Forest Creek
"From day one, Tim completely facilitated all our needs during our relocation and was invaluable in our search for the right home. We couldn't be more pleased with Tim and the outstanding service he provided." -
Buyer
"Tim was great at keeping us informed and prepared for the next step and also managing the contract and closing. He was also always available even with last minute requests to see properties. We appreciate Tim's availability, integrity and knowledge." -
J. Weatherly, Buyer, Twin Creeks
"I had two different buyer's agents tell me directly that Tim was doing an unusually good job representing me as they pointed out that he consistently called the buyer's agents for follow-up and immediately called them back to answer any questions they had. They said that it is rare to see such responsiveness and pro-activeness in the industry." -
L. Gagliardi, Seller/Investor
"Tim did a great job... Tim was always there to answer our questions. The overall experience was very good." -
Buyer
"Tim is a very knowledgeable, trustworthy agent. He is committed to ensuring his client has all the information he or she needs before closing a contract. When it came down to completing the transaction, he was a pit-bull in all aspects of the deal, following up on all of the commitments everybody made to make the sale happen. Overall, Tim is an A+ agent and I'll work with him again and again." -
Buyer
"This agent was very helpful and listened to all of my needs as a buyer. He was always available and returned phone calls in a very timely manner. He also kept in touch throughout the whole process." -
A. Martinez, Austin, Buyer
"I would definitely recommend Zip and Tim Thornton to my friends and colleagues." - Seller
"Tim was wonderful in every aspect. From the very beginning of our search he was always there to help and patient with our specific requirements for our new home."
- D. Cole, Buyer
"Tim has been very helpful throughout the buying process. We are very satisfied with his real estate knowledge. He even acted as our proxy during our overseas visit and did not let us feel that our absence is any handicap in the closing process." -
A. Shiraz, Buyer
"Tim was a very thorough Agent and a good friend. He saw to all our needs and questions. There was no stone left un-turned." -
K. Hackney, Buyer, Georgetown
"I'm very happy that I was able to deal with such a wonderful person such Tim. He is professional, knowledgeable and a very caring person. I can't say anything wrong about him. He was always there for my questions and insecurities of buying a house. He guided me through it all and advise me in many things that I was not aware of. It was a pleasure working with Tim and I'm very happy with my new house. Thank you." -
Blanca F., Buyer, Austin
"You can't go wrong working with Tim..." -
P. Hennigan, NE Austin, New home Buyer
"Just wanted to let you know again how much we enjoyed working with you. We are closing on our house today in Kansas City and the Realtor there that we are working with is not near the professional that you are!" -
Buyer/Investor, North Austin
"We found Mr. Thornton to be very helpful and knowledgeable in our endeavor to buy a home. He went out of his way to get us the best deal possible. Kudos to ZipRealty for having such friendly and sincere agents." -
Azra and Latief K., New home Buyer
"I WAS COMPLETELY SATIFIED WITH TIM THORNTON I WOULD RECOMMEND HIM TO ALL MY FAMILY/FRIENDS" -
P. Distel, New home Buyer
"I love the way Tim helped us. He made me feel like I was the only client that he was representing. He had a lot of patience with us... Thank you Tim." -
Buyer
"We are very happy to have Tim Thornton who guide us efficiently in choosing our new home. Thank you so much." -
J. Wilson, New home Buyer
"...thanks to Tim getting us with the right people, everything went so smoothly and we love our new home." -
V. Day, New home Buyer
"Tim was just great at getting things done when I asked. He kept me informed all the time on up dates on the house and when I asked him something and he did not know the answer he found out what the answer is right away and got back to me. He is great and I would give my friends and family his number." -
D. Hill, Buyer
"Tim was a huge help in buying my home! He provided all the advice I asked for and more knowing I was a novice in buying a home. He went out with me many nights/weekends and always had time for me either on phone calls or meeting with me. I would highly recommend Tim and Zip to everyone I know!" -
M. Forsythe, Buyer
"...I had a million questions and Tim took the time to answer every one of them and walked me through the entire process. I couldn't have asked for a better agent to work with throughout the house hunting and buying process. Tim was awesome. " -
A. Ricketson, Buyer
"Tim and Kevin were great. They were very responsive and were very straight-forward during the entire process. I would definitely use them again."
-Buyer and Seller, Falconhead
"Tim was very responsive and thorough in answering all of our questions, and taking care of the various situations that arose in the purchase of our condo." -
Buyer
"Tim is an outstanding Realtor. He was always available and very professional "
- H. and F. Gnuechtel, Builders/Seller
"Tim is very much attuned to his clients and always seams to have time to work with any problems you might have. He is also extremely good at following up on any potential buyer's leads and always tries to up-sell your property with the potential buyer and buyer's agent. I would always recommend Tim as a listing or buyer's agent." -
Seller
"Tim's experience was extremely helpful for us given our lack of homebuying experience. He advised us with knowledge and allowed us to take on this endeavor with confidence." -
A. So-Ying Fan, Buyer/Investor, Austin
"To anyone looking for a really friendly, knowledgeable and an all around good guy real estate agent, you need look no further because Tim Thornton is your man. He works hard for you and will answer every question you have in a professional and friendly manner. He is up front and honest, and will tell you reality not fantasy when it comes to buying/selling your home. I highly recommend Tim as an agent and will recommend him to all my friends/colleagues in the Austin area." -
Seller
"Tim was a great agent. He was always willing to meet and show us houses in a prompt manner. Tim gave us great suggestions and guided us through the whole process." -
G. Olinger, Central Austin
"Tim Thornton is a wonderful agent, very helpful and very knowledgable in his feild" -
M. Rodriguez, New home Buyer, Crystal Falls
"Tim was very on top of things, and he didn't try to 'sell' me. He informed me and helped me with the process, which is exactly what I wanted. He was always on time and willing to meet me at any location. His emails of new postings were extremely helpful." -
S. Whited, Buyer, Re-modeler
"Working with Tim, made our experience much easier here in Texas. He was very knowledgeable and accessible at all times. I was very pleased to have a realtor like Tim." -
Alba Helms, Buyer
"Tim was completely professional, answered all my questions and was very positive throughout the whole experience." -
J. Killebrew, Buyer
"We met Tim via the Internet and then via phone from California. He was invaluable as our family made the decision to move to Austin, and he was very patient as my husband and I made multiple trips to see Austin areas and homes. No pressure! We would highly recommend Tim to any friends who might be following us to Austin as their new home!! As we searched online for homes, we happened to "save" homes via ZipRealty and Tim Thornton. After many, many virtual home searches, Tim contacted us via email and asked if we were looking to buy in Austin. Living in Los Angeles, CA,
we knew very little to nothing about living in Austin, TX, but the city looked appealing to us. From our first telephone conversation with Tim,
we knew we were in good professional hands. He knew Austin, he knew the housing market, the schools, and he knew how to work with out of state clients.Between August 2009 and December 2009, my husband and I visited Austin several times to look at residential areas and specific homes. Tim made himself available to us each visit, with patience and professionalism. As we decided on a brand new home from a renowned builder, Tim did all the negotiations on our behalf. Essentially he said a price that we were comfortable with, and the builder agreed.
This was a pretty painless process for us. While we were not his only clients, Tim made us feel like we were. Tim's online blog is also a wonderful resource of information about Austin and the real estate market! We continue to read it even after we've purchased and moved into our home! We highly recommend Tim Thornton as a real estate professional." -
Jenny and John R, Steiner Ranch, Buyer/Realtor
"Tim was a big help to us. He is also very knowledgeable, eager to help and friendly." -
Buyer
"Tim is an honest and moral agent which is probably why he is so successful even during these tough times for real estate." -
Emerson S., Buyer, Austin
"Tim worked very hard for me and with endless patience. He responded quickly any time I wanted to see a home or ask a question. I would be confident to recommend him and ZipRealty to my friends." -
Elizabeth B., Buyer
"After working with Tim on this sale and previous dealings he is still in my opinion one of the best, or the best Real Estate Agent in the Austin market." -
Lee Smith, Builder/Investor/Seller
"Tim was great. We were very impressed and happy to work with him. He was committed, worked hard and made everything easy."
Pat R, Buyer, UT Austin Area
"We enjoyed our experience with Tim for his expertise and professionalism. He was always pleasant and patient and it was a pleasure to know him."
Barbara and Fred M., Buyers, River Place
If you need a Realtor
®, I would be honored to assist you in your home purchase, search or selling your Austin area home.
tT
Tim Thornton, Realtor ®
Top Producer 2010, 2009, 2008
Century Club member
Zip Realty, Inc.
Austin, Texas
Tim Thornton, Realtor ®, Austin, Texas.
Do you know how low the Austin Real Estate inventory levels are right now? Low. Low. Low. Translation: It's a seller's market and it's time to put your home on the market. Right now.
There are certain assumptions that often go along with the purchase of foreclosure properties. The most common assumption is that banks are happy to receive virtually any offer on a foreclosure--especially a cash offer. But this is not how banks look at their assets. Banks have no emotional investment in a property. It is just a non-cash asset to them. Furthermore, banks are looking at their bottom line, first and foremost. When a bank gets an offer on a foreclosure property, they are doing what any seller would do--looking at how much is due on the loan vs how much the offer price is on the property. If it makes financial sense to sell--they will sell. If it does not...well, don't expect the bank to do something unnatural. 
Continuing my series this year on Austin's most challenging golf courses and outstanding golf communities--let's talk Forest Creek Golf Course and community. Located in Round Rock, just 25 minutes from downtown Austin, Forest Creek Golf Course is a semi-private/public course and this course is all about it's name sake--trees and water. With one of the higher slope ratings in Austin golf, this course has more than its share of signature challenges. 
It is the dead of winter out now and two things stand out here--golfers are playing golf in their shorts (most days) and this course is in great condition. Coming out of the great drought of 2011, you would never know it from playing at Forest Creek today. The greens are clean and the fairways are rich. If you have not played Forest Creek Golf, or you are looking for a great golf community to live--give me a call and let's go play Forest Creek this week!
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In the Real Estate world we have been conditioned to think of Real Estate as an Investment. While this is partially true, it is also a major obstacle for buyers looking for a home that will make them happy. They find a home that they really like and then they begin to look at it as an investment. 
"Leslie" as he was widely known to downtown area patrons, locals and visitors alike, was infamous for his scant attire and downtown presence. He was so well known that at one time refrigerator magnets were made with clothes magnets that could be used to dress Leslie on the refrigerator. Why anyone would want to do this before eating may be beyond imagination, but now that Leslie is gone--only fond memories and kind words remain.
The first gadget is a "Power Usage Meter". These devices let you plug electronics, computers, TV's, or other devices through the meter to determine just how much electricity they are consuming. Depending on the device's features, you may be able to program your actual energy costs and determine exactly how much it is costing you to keep your phone battery charger plugged up to the wall 7 x 24. There are also "whole house" versions of these gadgets that can read certain digital power meters that are starting to show up on homes in the Greater Austin area. These gadgets cost more money, but allow you to read and monitor whole house power consumption and give you real-time energy consumption costs. Very cool technology. 
A
Moisture Meter is a device that tells you the moisture content in a
piece of wood, window seal, door jam, flooring or any place in your home
where water may have penetrated into the house. In Austin, we get a
fair amount of rain, so windows and doors require ongoing maintenance to
insure that water does not make its way into the house (slowly and
gradually). This eventual water penetration does not usually occur like a
flood, but like a air coming into your house--you don't see it, but it
is happening. The moisture meter let's you test the water content around
window seals and doors to make sure water is not coming in and
destroying the wood around these entry points in the home. Like I said,
it is a little harder to get your head around this one, but this little
device is a lot cheaper than an annual house call from an inspector and
having your handyman caulk around windows is a lot cheaper than
replacing window seals and door jams. Prevention is always cheaper than
repair. 
I help about 25-30 buyers and sellers every year find their new home in the Greater Austin area and every year I have two or three clients who find a home that they feel very strongly about owning--but then they hesitate. They want to think about it for a few days or a few weeks. Suddenly, the house is gone. Sold to someone else. Often times someone who was looking at the home the day before my client saw the home.
The "minimalist" design of Falconhead is different from many courses you will play in Austin. But you shouldn't be fooled by this word. Minimalist does not translate to "easy". In fact, this description is deceptive. Ever so slight contours on such well kept greens may be the difference between a good lag shot and a 9 foot third putt. And I should mention the sand here. Falconhead has some of the most unique and longest sand traps that you may ever play. Something that you don't expect--a sand trap that is nearly 100 yards long and has geometric grass islands in the middle. It's something that you will have to see for yourself and it's a great excuse for getting out today to play Falconhead today.
Just a couple of last thoughts here and I will leave you with two video interviews from the Pro's at Falconhead, Laura Gunia, PGA Director of Golf and Steven Septoski, Assistant Gold Professional. If you are looking for match play, skins games, special events, couples play--get on the email list and get regular updates for what is happening. They may do events better than any course in Austin.
If you like water and you like fun, you should be planning your next vacation to Schlitterbahn. Better than that--just wait a couple of years and you can get a season pass and take the kids every weekend!
Ssssshhhhhh! It's a Secret. Or--so you might think. 
License plates around Steiner Ranch reveal where people have arrived from -- Georgia, Colorado, New York, Florida, Oregon, and of course California. But Texas law requires new state residents to get Texas plates within 30 days. Those out of state plates don't last long...but the license plate holders do!
