“Who should I hire to sell my Highland Lakes house?” is really two questions in one — what should this agent actually know about this market, and how do I tell that apart from a good sales pitch. I’m Robbie English, REALTOR and Broker at Uncommon Realty, and I’ve spent more than 40 years selling real estate across Central Texas, including a lot of that time specifically in the Highland Lakes.
TL;DR: Who Should I Hire to Sell My Highland Lakes House?
- The Highland Lakes cover six lakes and three counties — look for an agent who can speak to your specific stretch of it, not the region in general.
- Waterfront, near-water, and off-water homes sell to different buyers at different price points, so comps have to match your property’s actual setting.
- Ask any agent directly how they’d price your home, market it, and handle offers — vague answers are the red flag.
- I’ve spent more than 40 years in Central Texas real estate and have taught real estate agents nationally since 2016.
Why “Highland Lakes” isn’t one market
The Highland Lakes are a chain of six Colorado River reservoirs — Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, Lake Travis, and Lake Austin — spanning Burnet, Llano, and Travis counties. A house on Lake Buchanan and a house a few miles inland near Marble Falls aren’t competing for the same buyer, and they shouldn’t be priced or marketed as if they were. An agent who treats the whole region as a single market is going to miss details that affect what your home is actually worth.
What to ask before you hire anyone
These are the questions I’d want answered if I were the seller:
- What comps are you using, and why? A property near the water should be priced against similar waterfront or view-lot sales, not an area-wide average.
- Do you understand water rights and dock permitting here? Lakefront sales in this region come with LCRA rules, dock permits, and HOA or POA requirements that a generalist agent may not have handled before.
- What’s your actual marketing plan? “I’ll put it on the MLS” isn’t a plan. Ask what photography, video, and buyer outreach look like for a property like yours.
- Are you a broker, or working under one? A broker carries direct legal responsibility for the transaction, which matters when questions come up mid-contract.
Thinking About Selling?
How I approach a Highland Lakes listing
I price against comps matched to a property’s actual setting, not a blanket area number. I handle water-rights and permitting questions directly instead of routing you to someone else mid-transaction. And because this region draws a smaller, more specific buyer pool than a typical Austin suburb — retirees, second-home buyers, and people relocating for the lake — I build the marketing and negotiation around who’s actually shopping here.
Let’s talk about your property
If you’re deciding who to hire to sell a home anywhere in the Highland Lakes, reach out and tell me about your property and timeline. I can tell you honestly whether it’s a fit for how I work.
