House hacking can cut your housing cost, but it won’t make every property a good deal. One case-study set found a $285,000 home rented by the room produced $670 in monthly cash flow, while a $380,000 triplex lost $200 each month. I’m Robbie English, REALTOR, Broker at Uncommon Realty, and I’ll show you how to […]
Greater Austin Real Estate Blog: Expert Advice and Local Insights
Looking for straightforward, practical real estate advice for Austin and the surrounding area? Welcome to my Greater Austin Real Estate Blog.
I’m Robbie English, Broker, REALTOR. With more than 40 years of experience, I created this blog to help buyers, sellers, investors, and homeowners separate reliable guidance from outdated advice and real estate myths.
Here you’ll find practical buying and selling tips, neighborhood guides, Austin housing market insights, and plain-English explanations of contracts, inspections, appraisals, negotiations, and investing. You’ll also learn what makes communities throughout Greater Austin unique—so you can make informed decisions with confidence.
No clickbait, gimmicks, or sensational predictions—just honest answers to real questions. I hope you’ll bookmark the blog, explore the articles, and return whenever you need trusted Greater Austin real estate guidance.
Can Concrete Cancer in a Pool Be Repaired?
When a swimming pool has been diagnosed with concrete cancer, one of the first questions is whether it can be repaired or whether the pool must be torn out and rebuilt. The honest answer is that there is no universal repair that works for every affected pool.Concrete cancer is the informal name commonly used in […]
Capital Gains on Rental Property: Tax Guide
Got a rental property you’re thinking of selling? The tax side can feel like a maze, but I’ll walk you through the key pieces so you know what to expect. Below is a clear, step‑by‑step look at capital gains, depreciation recapture, and the few tricks that can save you money. Table of Contents How Capital […]
Best Austin Homes for Sale: 10 Areas to Explore
Looking for a place to call home in Austin? I’ve helped dozens of families find the right spot, and I know the market can feel like a maze. Below are ten neighborhoods that consistently show strong value, good schools, and a vibe that matches many lifestyles. Let’s jump right in. Table of Contents Robbie English, […]
How Apartment Locator Services Work in Austin, TX
I get asked about apartment locators fairly often, usually from someone moving to Austin who found five different locator websites in a Google search and isn’t sure what the catch is. There isn’t really a catch, but there is a business model worth understanding before you hand over your contact information and your search criteria. […]
Building an ADU (Granny Flat) in Austin: What to Know
An Accessory Dwelling Unit, sometimes called a granny flat, backyard cottage, or garage apartment, is a smaller residential unit built on the same lot as an existing single-family home. The City of Austin’s official definition describes it as a small dwelling on the same grounds as, and ancillary to, a single-family home. It can be […]
Escalation Clause in Real Estate: How It Works and What It Risks
An escalation clause can help a buyer compete without offering the absolute top price on day one. But in Texas, the wrong clause can expose you to a price you never meant to pay. I’m Robbie English, REALTOR, Broker at Uncommon Realty, and this is written for buyers and sellers in the Greater Austin area. […]
Buying a Home Near Samsung’s Taylor, TX Fab | Local Guide
If you’re relocating to Central Texas for Samsung’s new chip fab in Taylor, you’ve probably already noticed there’s not a lot of practical, boots-on-the-ground advice out there about where to actually live. Most of what you’ll find online is either a press release about the plant itself or a real estate listing with no context. […]
Buying Your First Home in Austin: Taxes, Assistance, and Closing
Austin’s housing market runs on rules that don’t always match what a first-time buyer expects from a “national” homebuying checklist. Texas has no state income tax, so property tax carries more weight here than in most states, and it works differently once you actually own a home instead of renting one. The city itself is […]
Buying an Investment Property in Austin: A Landlord’s Guide
Every year a handful of my buyers aren’t looking for a place to live. They’re looking for a property that will pay them back. That’s a different transaction than buying a home for yourself, starting with how the loan gets underwritten and continuing all the way through to the day a tenant calls about a […]
How to Tell If It’s a Buyer’s Market (Using Austin’s Numbers)
People throw around the term “buyer’s market” a lot, usually without saying what it actually means. It’s not a vibe. It’s a handful of numbers you can check for any city, any month: how much inventory is sitting on the market, how long homes take to sell, which way prices are trending, and how much […]
How a Quarter-Point Rate Change Affects Your Mortgage Payment
Every time mortgage rates move, buyers ask the same question: does this actually change what I can afford, or is it just a headline? It depends entirely on how much the rate moved and how large a loan you’re carrying, but the math behind it is simple enough that you can run it yourself for […]
Why Overpricing Your Home Backfires (And How to Price It Right)
Most sellers who overprice aren’t trying to be unreasonable. They figure a high number leaves room to negotiate down, or they want to see if a buyer will just pay it. What actually happens is different: the buyers who would have made a real offer never show up, because they never click on the listing […]
Is Now a Good Time to Buy in Austin? What Moves Affordability
Is now a good time to buy in Austin? It doesn’t come down to the season or a headline about “the market.” It comes down to three things that move independently of each other: mortgage rates, home prices, and how fast local wages are growing. Understanding how those three interact tells you more than any […]
How the 10-Year Treasury Yield Predicts Mortgage Rate Moves
Mortgage rates and the 10-year Treasury yield move together because they’re pricing the same thing: what investors demand to lend money over a long time horizon. If you want a better read on where mortgage rates are headed than a daily rate headline gives you, the 10-year yield is the number to watch. I’m Robbie […]
Homeowners Insurance in Austin: What Buyers Should Know
Every buyer I work with in the Austin area eventually asks some version of the same question: why is my insurance quote so much higher than what a friend in another state is paying? It usually comes up right after their lender orders a quote during underwriting, and the number catches people off guard. Central […]
How to Vet a Realtor Before You List Your Home
Most sellers interview one agent, maybe two, and pick whoever they liked best in the meeting. That’s not enough information to base a decision on. The agent you choose controls your price strategy, your marketing, and how many headaches you deal with between now and closing. A short list of pointed questions in that first […]
Multigenerational Home Buying in Austin: What Actually Works
More families in Austin are buying one house instead of two. It usually isn’t a lifestyle choice made in the abstract — it’s adult kids and parents looking at the math, realizing two mortgages don’t pencil out the way one combined purchase does, and deciding to live under the same roof on purpose instead of […]
What FSBO Sellers Actually Give Up in Austin’s Market
Every year, a few sellers ask me to look at a home they tried to sell themselves first. The story is usually the same: it sat on Facebook Marketplace and a yard sign for six or eight weeks, the calls were mostly agents fishing for listings or buyers lowballing because they knew there was no […]
Build-to-Rent Communities in Austin: What Renters and Buyers Should Know
If you’ve driven through the Austin suburbs lately, there’s a good chance you’ve passed a build-to-rent community without realizing it. These developments look like ordinary subdivisions: single-family houses, a pool, maybe a dog park. The difference is that one company owns every home in the neighborhood, and none of them are for sale. Build-to-rent, usually […]
Preparing Your Home to Sell: What to Fix, What to Skip
Sellers usually ask me the same question first: paint the walls, call a stager, or start packing? The order matters more than the checklist itself. Spend money on the wrong thing first and you’ll run out of time and budget for the fixes that actually stall a sale or knock down an offer. I’m Robbie […]
Investing in Texas Real Estate: What to Know Before You Buy
Texas keeps showing up on lists of the best states for real estate investors, and for good reason. But “Texas” isn’t one market. An Austin duplex, a San Antonio rental near the medical center, and a lake house in Lakeway behave nothing alike, and the risks that matter in one don’t always apply to the […]
How Pricing Works Differently for Austin Luxury Homes
Pull the comps on a high-end Westlake or Tarrytown listing and you’ll often come up short. Maybe two or three sales in the past year come close on price, and even those won’t really match once you look at lot orientation, builder, or finish-out level. That’s the core problem with pricing luxury property the same […]
Owner Occupied Multifamily Loans in Texas
An owner occupied multifamily loan in Texas can let you buy a property with up to four units while living in one of them. FHA financing may allow 3.5% down, while eligible veterans may qualify for a VA loan with no down payment. I’ll explain the main paths, the rules that can stop a deal, […]
What Is a Bridge Loan? Texas Home Buyer Guide
Thinking about buying a new home before your current one sells? A bridge loan can give you the cash you need to move fast. Below is the plain‑talk rundown you need to decide if it fits your Texas situation. Table of Contents What Is a Bridge Loan? How Bridge Loans Work Between Two Properties When […]
Seller Blind Spots: What You Stop Seeing in Your Own Home
One of the hardest things about getting a home ready for the market is that the seller knows the house too well. That may sound backwards, but familiarity changes what we notice. We all get used to the rooms we live in, the way the house smells, the things we leave on the counter, the […]
Pool Inspection vs. Home Inspection: What Austin Area Buyers Need to Know
When you are buying a home with a swimming pool, it is easy to assume the regular home inspection will cover everything. Sometimes it covers more than buyers expect. Other times, the pool portion is limited to a basic visual review and operation of readily accessible equipment.The difference matters because a pool is not one […]
Renting Out an ADU in Austin: What to Know
Yes, you may be able to rent out an ADU in Austin, but the answer depends on the unit’s legal status and rental plan. Long-term leases are usually simpler than short stays, while zoning, permits, HOA rules, insurance, and taxes still need a careful review. I’m Robbie English, REALTOR, Broker at Uncommon Realty, and I’d […]
Why Showing Your Home Is an Inconvenience You Actually Want
One of the hardest adjustments for sellers is realizing that putting a home on the market means their normal routine is about to get disrupted. Buyers want to come through at inconvenient times. The house has to stay cleaner than usual. Pets need to be managed. Meals, work schedules, children, appointments, and quiet evenings at […]
You Have to Sell Your Home Four Times in One Transaction
One of the things I tell sellers at a listing appointment is that they may have to sell their home four different times before we ever make it to the closing table. That usually gets a puzzled look because most people naturally think a house is sold when a buyer makes an offer and everybody […]
