Category: Home Buying

Move to Austin… without moving to Austin: 3 Suburbs to Watch

 

A glance at three Austin suburbs
Everyone wants to move to Austin, but with the cost of living as high as it is, these are three more affordable alternatives that also bring with them a great standard of living.

It’s no secret that everyone wants to move to Austin, TX. According to a recent study, Austin is the fastest-growing large city in the United States. The cities were scored based on 17 factors, including overall population increases, growth of businesses (notably of tech companies), income, and the cost of living.

There are several reasons why this is. Austin has everything from the University of Texas at Austin to a ton of tech companies– including Apple, who is expected to move into their new, $1 billion office by 2022.

There are some problems, however, with such rapid growth.

Perhaps the biggest one the “affordable housing crisis.” According to the Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR) in a 2019 report, home sales reached an all-time high while the inventory of single-family homes hit an all-time low. The discrepancy caused the median cost of a home to hit $405,000 in Austin proper.

Due to the high-demand-low-supply of Austin’s housing market, moving to Austin may not be as feasible, but moving close to Austin definitely can be.

This is a list of three nearby towns and suburbs that well let you move to Austin (even if you’re not technically” in Austin).

Cedar Park, TX

Cedar Park is situated about about 20 miles north-northwest of downtown Austin, just up U.S. Highway 183– and is also where Pure Realty is located! A report from 2019 ranked Cedar Park the third best affordable place to live in Texas for several reasons.

The affordability part of that title is due to a few things, like low tax rates and the ratio of available affordable housing. The median list price for a home in Cedar Park is $339,000 and is projected to stay well below the $400s through 2021.

There are more reasons for moving to Cedar Park, besides relative affordability: well-respected Leander ISD, groundbreaking tech firms, and attractions like Texas Stars hockey games– Cedar Park’s American Hockey League team– and Twin Lakes Park, and Lake Travis is close by, too.

Pflugerville, TX

Pflugerville is about 20 miles north from downtown Austin on Interstate 35. It’s a part of the Austin Metropolitan Area, but has a lot to bring to the table as its own city, with its German roots, unique downtown district, and nearby Lake Pflugerville.

In the last few years, people have moved to Pflugerville for numerous reasons. Per Shontel Mays, president and CEO of the Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce in a 2018 article from Culture Map Austin: “Businesses are attracted to Pflugerville because of our affordability, infrastructure, and business-friendly environment. We have the space they need, a skilled workforce, and a great location along major transportation routes.”

As of January 31, 2020, the median list price of a home in Pflugerville is $290,000– well below the $405,000 of Austin.

Georgetown, TX

The city of Georgetown lies 30 miles north of Austin and has a population that is still well shy of 100,000.

This sets it up as a sweet spot between the city living of Austin and the small-town feel many people want. It’s been one of the fifteen fastest growing cities in every year for the last five years, and there are several reasons why. Again, there is the small-town vibe of the town, which can be felt in the historic downtown– “The Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas,” according to the city. Other factors like schools, attractions, and the cost of living have contributed to its growth and desirability.

Like the other two cities on this list, the median list price of a home in Georgetown is $305,990 which is almost $100,000 less than Austin.

There are many more neighborhoods, suburbs, and towns in and around Austin, but keep an eye on these three as they grow in the years to come.

Pure Realty is located in Cedar Park and works with nearly 140 agents to help people in and around the Austin area find their home. Our agents’ listings can be found here.  

Learn more about the Pure Realty story here.

 

Spring Forward into Your New Home

This weekend, most of us will be turning our clocks an hour ahead as we ‘spring forward.’ We may be losing an hour of sleep, but that doesn’t mean you should lose hope on finding a home you love. If you’ve been thinking about buying a home but haven’t seen anything on the market that checks off the list of everything you’ve been looking for, this spring might just be when your dream home hits the market.

At the end of every year, we see a major drop in the housing inventory. Homeowners are less likely to sell in the winter months, and most closings happen before it gets too cold. The good news for you is that this encourages sellers to put their homes on the market after the new year when both the weather and the market start to warm up again!

We have seen the inventory climbing, and we expect spring to bring the biggest jump in available homes. So why should you buy now, if this is a yearly spring trend? According to CoreLogic, a leading provider for housing market statistics, home prices are projected to increase by 4.3% over the next year. If you’re thinking of waiting a few seasons, think again. Get a head start and beat the summer rush and higher prices.

Don’t wait to find your dream home – save some of your hard-earned money and call me. I’ll help you spend spring in your new house! 

Home Buying Myths

Although the internet can be a great resource for a variety of information, a lot of that information is incorrect. One of the most important and expensive decisions in your life, home buying, tends to circulate a lot of misinformation. Most of that misinformation is in regards to how much of a down payment you need or what your credit score needs to be. Let’s go over the real facts about buying a home and knock those myths out, so they don’t hinder your ability to purchase!

CREDIT SCORES

Though it may come as a surprise, you don’t need a perfect credit score to purchase a home. Traditional bank lenders will work with credit scores as low as 640, but your agent can also get you connected with local lenders that accept credit scores as low as 580. Although there are other required stipulations to qualify for the loan, you don’t need a perfect score in the 700’s or 800’s to get approved for a mortgage.

DOWN PAYMENTS

You don’t have to sell an arm and a leg to be able to purchase your dream house. There is a huge misconception that you need to pay a minimum of 20% down to buy. That information is outdated. These days, there a large variety of loan programs that only need an average of 3-5% down. Based on your income or military status, you may even qualify for mortgage programs that require 0% down. Although you’ll expect to pay an additional 3% in closing costs, which is separate from the down payment, this is still significantly less that 20% of the purchase price. If you’re in a buyer’s market, you may even be able to negotatie for the closing costs to be covered by the sellers.

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Be sure to connect with a local real estate agent to ensure you have the right facts. Don’t let online myths persuade you into thinking you can’t qualify or afford to buy a home. There are a variety of programs to help you get into your dream house. Since these vary by county to county, and state to state, it’s imperative to call your agent and let them fill you in on the facts.

The Risks of Buying Online

With the growth of online tools, companies are quickly building products to serve the real estate community. After all, it’s a lucrative industry, home buying and selling will always be a thing – even if it does slow down, and companies around the world are diving in to make as much money off consumers as possible.

What are they selling? The ease. The ease of buying or selling a home online. The catch? You actually don’t benefit from these online quick-sale services. In fact, you could find yourself out of tens-of-thousands in cost difference. If you’re in the market to buy or sell, and are considering foregoing a real estate agent for an online service, be sure you read the fine print. You’ll often times find that you aren’t benefiting at all. Will they buy your home upfront to resale, so you don’t have to worry about the headache? Sure, but you may have been able to get $50,000 more for your house using a Realtor. Can you see and purchase your dream home through said services and “save” on agent commissions? Sure, but you’ll probably be overpaying for the home anyway.

The real estate industry is heavily regulated for licensed professionals to ensure the consumer is always getting the best representation for the best savings. These online services don’t require regulation and licensing, therefore, they can get away with fine print “scams.”

Be sure you do your research. A Realtor is there to make YOU the most money. Quick online services are focused on making their business the most money – not focused on how much you can sell your home for or how much you can save when you buy. Licensed professionals exist for a reason, be sure you don’t lose more than you can afford to by using a gimmicky online service that dubs buying and selling an “easy” process. Any good agent will make the process easy, minus general lending issues that may arise.

Tips To Get Settled In Your New Home

Moving into a new home? We know how exciting it can be! We’ve compiled a list of a few things you can do after your move to make sure your experience is comfortable. The hardest part of a move is getting settled in, after that, let’s handle a few loose ends that sometimes get forgotten about till the last minute.

CHECK MAJOR APPLIANCES

Be sure to check all the appliances to ensure everything is still in working order after the move. You want to make sure nothing was broken in the move or stopped working suddenly. Look at things such as your stove, dishwasher, washer and dryer, refrigerator, and microwave. If you brought any appliances yourself and you used movers, you’ll want to make sure everything still works with them, since mover’s insurance companies give a limited timeframe for when you can make a claim.

CHECK ALL OF YOUR BOXES & FURNITURE

Be sure to go over all your boxes and furniture to make sure nothing got damaged during the move. Be sure that everything has arrived and didn’t get lost in the process. If you notice something is missing a month later, it may be too late to file a claim with the moving company. Even if you don’t plan on unpacking everything as soon as you move in, just do a quick review and inventory everything you brought to protect yourself and your belongings.

SET UP UTILITIES

Did you remember to set up your utilities before moving in? There’s nothing more frustrating than moving into your home to realize the lights don’t work. Make sure you’ve gotten with all of the necessary utility companies to have everything turned on in time for your move.

REGISTER INTO A GOOD SCHOOL

You may have already known to look for a school for your kids prior to your move, but if you haven’t yet found one, be sure to research all the schools local to you to find the right fit for your family. The sooner you can find the right school and register, the easier and less stressful it will be to get the kiddos in and settled.

REGISTER YOUR CAR

If you’ve moved to a new state or country, you’ll want to make sure to register your car in your new hometown and update your driver’s license, tags, and plates.

CONNECT TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Join sites like Nextdoor.com or get a subscription to your local magazine/newspaper to stay in touch with what’s going on in your neighborhood. Be sure to also join local community Facebook groups. You can find out about events or concerns relating to your community.

GETTING YOUR MAIL

Have you updated your address for all the people you’ll be expecting to get mail from? Like your bank, friends, family, and services you still pay for after your move. Check with the post office to have things redirected to your new address while you work to update your info with everyone else.

FIND THE RIGHT PROFESSIONALS

If you’re moving far from your last home, you’ll want to have the right connections. Find a new doctor, dentist, vet, handyman, plumber, etc. Your real estate agent can be a great source of information for these kinds of things! Add your new contacts into an address book that’s easily accessible.

INSURANCE COMPANIES

More than likely, you handled home insurance and home warranty during the purchasing process. If you haven’t, be sure to get those taken care of right away. You’ll also want to get your auto, health, and any other necessary household insurances sorted for your move.

Five Reasons Why Fall is the Best Time of Year to Buy a Home

Many people know that spring and summer is when the real estate business is booming and inventory is at its highest, so you’d think this would be the best time to buy a home. But, maybe not! There are many benefits to buying a home in the “off season.” Real estate experts say fall may be the best time of all to buy a home, for these five reasons:

  1. Less Competition

Since spring and summer are the busiest times of year in the Real Estate business, competition is sure to be fierce. If you wait until fall, most buyers will have either found their home already or decided to wait until next spring to start looking again. With kids back in school and the busy holiday season fast approaching, many potential buyers are too busy during the fall and winter months to even think about buying their new home. Plus, as temperatures begin to drop, many people don’t want to venture out into the cold for house hunting. This leaves the market wide open for you! There will be far less buyers for you to compete with when putting an offer in on your dream home.

  1. Lower Prices

Because there are less buyers on the market, you’ll also have a lot more power when it comes to negotiating price with sellers. This becomes even more true if you’re interested in a home that was put on the market in the spring or summer and hasn’t sold yet. A seller whose home has been sitting on the market all summer will probably have either already reduced the price of their home or at the very least will be more willing to consider a lower offer. On top of that, statistics show that home prices in the fall are generally lower than during busier parts of the year. A study done by RealtyTrac discovered that the best month to buy is October, when home prices can be as much as 2.6% below market value.

  1. Motivated Sellers

There are two types of sellers in the fall – those who have had their home sitting on the market since spring or summer or those who have just listed their home – and both will be eager to sell. Sellers whose homes have been sitting on the market are tired and worn out, you’re going to have far more power negotiating with them now than you would have if you had put in an offer when they first listed their home. They’re ready to be out of the real estate game. Sellers who have just listed their home in the fall typically need to sell fast. The seller probably wants to be out of their old home and into a new one before the holidays. They’re serious about selling and are not going to wait around for the perfect offer on their home and are more likely to accept the first offer that comes in, even if it’s lower than they had hoped. There may be fewer homes on the market in the fall, but you’re going to find more serious sellers.

  1. More Attention from you Real Estate Agent

Since spring and summer are the busiest seasons for the real estate industry, it makes sense that your agent would be busier with an increased number of clients as well. In the fall though, your agent will most likely be working with fewer clients, since as we discussed, most buyers will have closed on a home by August or will wait until next spring to continue their search. This means your agent will have much more time to focus their attention on you! They’ll be more attentive, quicker to respond to questions, and be able to better fit your schedule for showings and meetings. This could lead to a better and less stressful house hunting experience for both you and your agent!

  1. End-of-Year Sales

Once you fall in love with your new home, you’ll be in primetime for finding great deals on home decor, furniture, and appliances! According to Consumer Reports, September and October are the best months for deals on things like paint, lawn mowers, and gas grills in case you want to get your backyard ready for a neighborhood barbecue in time for the next football game. November and December mean great holiday deals on things like kitchen cookware, television sets, and major appliances. Whether you just need a few items or are planning a whole remodel these kinds of savings will go a long way!

Start your hunt by browsing the listings on our website and contact one of our many amazing and talented agents to help you find your dream home this fall!

Happy house hunting!

Top School Districts in the Greater Austin Area

Austin is known for having some of the best public schools in the state and many families are choosing to move to the Austin area because of this. But with over twenty districts and hundreds of schools in the Greater Austin area, it can be difficult to narrow down your search when looking for the school districts that are the best fit and can offer your children the very best education. We know that this is an important factor for families when deciding where to buy a home, so we did some research! Here’s a list of some of the top districts in the Austin area, based on data from both the 2017 Children at Risk Texas School Rankings and Niche.com’s 2017 Best School Districts in Texas ranking. After you read this article you can search for listings by school or school district on our website and find your perfect home near the perfect schools for the kiddos!

1. Eanes Independent School District

Eanes ISD serves the Westlake Hills, Lost Creek, and Rollingwood communities in West Austin. It’s smaller than many of the other area school districts with a total of nine schools including six elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. This district is one of the highest ranking in not just the state, but the entire country, having ranked number two on Niche.com’s 2016 List of the Best School Districts in America. They received an ‘A plus’ rating for academics, health & safety, teachers, and resources & facilities! Eanes was also number one on a 2017 Niche.com list of the best school districts in Texas. Many schools within the district also ranked well individually on the 2017 Children at Risk school ranking. Barton Creek Elementary was ranked among the top ten elementary schools in the Austin area; Hill Country Middle and West Ridge Middle were among the top ten middle schools in the area; and Westlake High School has consistently ranked among the top ten high schools in the Austin area, even achieving the number one spot in 2016. The district offers great opportunities to students including a robotics program, gifted & talented program, health occupations courses, and a winning athletics department (Go Chaps!).

2. Round Rock Independent School District

Serving nearly 50,000 students in Round Rock and parts of Austin and Cedar Park with thirty three elementary schools, ten middle schools, and five high schools, Round Rock ISD is exponentially larger than Eanes, but the quality is not lost. Round Rock ISD is number twenty five on Niche’s 2017 Best School Districts in Texas list with an A for their overall grade and A pluses in the Academics, Diversity, and College Readiness categories. In addition, their schools make up the majority of the Children at Risk’s Top 10 Lists of elementary, middle, and high schools in the Austin area. The top three elementary schools on the list are all part of Round Rock ISD, with five more elementary schools from the district rounding out the top ten. Among middle schools Round Rock ISD also holds the top three spots in the Austin Area, and Westwood High School is number two among Austin area high schools. All of these schools also rank well at the state level. The district’s high schools have a strong focus on college and career readiness and many have academies in which students can specialize in areas that best suit their interests and talents.

3. Lake Travis Independent School District

Lake Travis ISD is another smaller district and contains nine schools covering nearly 200 square miles and serving four Northwest Austin suburbs – Lakeway, Bee Cave, Briarcliff, and The Hills. The district is similar to Eanes ISD, with the same number of elementary, middle, and high schools. The district has a District of Innovation designation which has allowed it to implement changes including new school hours. For the 2017-2018 school year the elementary school day will run from 7:40am until 2:55pm while the secondary school day will run from 8:50am until 4:05pm. This change is sure to make many parents and sleepy teenagers very happy! As far as rankings go, Lake Travis ISD comes in just behind Eanes at number ten on Niche’s 2017 Best School Districts in Texas List and also landed the number five spot on their 2017 list of the Safest School Districts in Texas. They also have one of the best high school football teams in the state, with Lake Travis High School earning numerous championship titles in the last decade!

4. Leander Independent School District

Leander ISD is one of the fastest growing school districts in the state of Texas and is ranked number nineteen on Niche’s 2017 Best School Districts in Texas list and number three on their 2017 list of the best Austin area school districts. The lowest grade they received on their ‘report card’ from the website was a B+, my parents certainly would have been happy if I’d brought that report card home! The district serves nearly 40,000 students in a 200 mile area covering Leander and parts of Cedar Park, Austin, and Georgetown. The district contains forty two schools including twenty six elementary schools, eight middle schools, six high schools, and two alternative schools. From the primary to secondary levels Leander ISD schools have some great advanced placement programs to help students reach their full potential starting from a young age. Their college and career readiness program at the high school level does a great job of helping students prepare and plan for their future as well. They also have some excellent sports teams and a great band and choir at the high school level!

5. Austin Independent School District

Austin ISD was ranked pretty low on Niche’s 2017 Best School Districts in Texas list at #141, so you might be thinking, why are they on our list? Austin ISD is the fifth-largest district in Texas, serving over 80,000 students at 130 schools, and many of those schools are among the top rated in the state and even the country! Despite a low ranking, the district still received an overall grade of A- on Niche.com with A pluses in Diversity and College Readiness. Austin ISD struggles most at the middle school level according to studies done by Children at Risk, but they have some elementary schools and high schools that outrank even Eanes ISD schools. The Liberal Arts and Science Academy was ranked the number one public high school in the Austin area, number four in the state, and number twelve in the country by Children at Risk and Niche. Three other Austin ISD high schools made it into Children at Risk’s top five list of high schools in the Austin area as well. Austin ISD’s Clayton Elementary made Children at Risk’s top ten list of Austin area elementary schools. In addition, nine Austin ISD elementary schools were named gold ribbon schools, including Blackshear Elementary, the district’s first elementary fine arts academy. Austin ISD has made great strides to improve their school system and it has paid off, graduation rates have steadily increased and are currently at an all time high. The district now employs 261 National Board Certified Teachers, which is more than any other school district in the state. They also have an excellent college and career readiness program that starts in the student’s freshman year of high school. So, their overall ranking might be low, but Austin ISD schools should not be overlooked!

Of course there are many other individual public schools and school districts in the Greater Austin area that offer students a wonderful educational experience that we just don’t have room to include in this list, so it’s important to do your own research! Whether your child loves sports, music, math, science, writing, or all of the above, there’s a school in the Austin area that will be a great fit for them, and we’re happy to help you find it!