A HELOC and a home equity loan both let you borrow against your home, but they work in very different ways. A HELOC gives you flexible access with a rate that can move. A home equity loan gives you one lump sum with a fixed payment. I’ll explain how each works, what it can cost, […]
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of experience, I created this blog to help buyers, sellers, investors, and homeowners separate reliable guidance from outdated advice and real estate myths.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.
How High Inventory Changes the Way I Price a Highland Lakes Home
Pricing a Highland Lakes home has never been as simple as finding a few nearby sales, calculating an average price per square foot, and choosing a number that sounds appealing. In a market with high housing inventory, that kind of shortcut becomes even more dangerous. When buyers have more homes to consider, sellers are not […]
How to Handle Multiple Offers in Austin
When several offers arrive for your Austin home, the highest price isn’t always the strongest deal. I look at the full contract, the buyer’s ability to close, and the risk hidden in each term before recommending a response. Texas rules also shape the process. Set a deadline, tell buyers that multiple offers exist, compare every […]
Mortgage Points Explained: Costs and Break-Even
Mortgage points can lower your interest rate, but they can also raise your rate while giving you cash at closing. That trade-off catches many buyers off guard. I’m Robbie English, REALTOR, Broker, and I’ve spent over 40 years helping people understand Texas real estate decisions. Here’s how points work, what they cost, and when the […]
Marble Falls TX Gated Communities: A Local Guide to Your Real Options (2026)
A Marble Falls broker’s real guide to gated communities: acreage subdivisions, equestrian, golf, and waterfront options, HOA dues, and what a gate actually buys you.
How to Invest in Real Estate With Little Money
Want to get into real estate but think you need a fortune? You don’t. Here’s a step‑by‑step guide that lets you start with a modest stash and grow from there. Table of Contents Step 1: Set a Realistic Investment Budget and Goal Step 2: Choose a Real Estate Strategy That Fits Your Capital Step 3: […]
How Concrete Cancer Affects Home Value
A swimming pool can add enjoyment, visual appeal, and marketability to a home. When that same pool has suspected or confirmed concrete cancer, it can quickly become a source of uncertainty instead of value. Concrete cancer is the informal name often used for alkali-silica reaction, or ASR. In affected concrete, a chemical reaction can create […]
Your Guide to Main Street Market Day & the Starving Artist Show in Marble Falls
Marble Falls’ Main Street already carries a car show, an Oktoberfest, and most of the town’s Christmas season. Market Day and the Starving Artist Show add a recurring, lower-key layer underneath all of that — the kind of event that happens often enough to become part of the town’s normal rhythm rather than a once-a-year […]
The Things You’ve Learned to Live With May Matter to a Buyer
Every home has things the people who live there eventually stop thinking about. Maybe the window has been fogged for years. Maybe a door sticks when the weather changes. Maybe one faucet drips if you do not turn it just right. Maybe the air conditioner still works, but it has not been serviced in a […]
How to Screen Tenants in Texas: A Step‑by‑Step Guide
Getting the right tenant can make or break your rental business. One slip, like missing the required 7‑day decision notice, can turn a clean process into a costly lawsuit. Below is a step‑by‑step guide that walks you through every legal requirement, from setting criteria to notifying the applicant. Table of Contents Step 1: Set Written […]
Leave Your Ego at the Door: Real Estate Works Better When Both Sides Cooperate
Real estate has a funny way of making people feel like they have more power than they really do. A seller gets a listing. A buyer gets under contract. An agent represents a desirable property. Another agent has a strong buyer. Somewhere along the way, it can become easy to start thinking that the other […]
Your Guide to the Burnet BBQ Cook-off & Music Fest
Burnet’s food-and-music calendar isn’t limited to Oktoberfest. The Burnet BBQ Cook-off & Music Fest is its own separate weekend, built for serious competition barbecue rather than a beer garden and an art walk. Here’s what sets it apart. The Burnet BBQ Cook-off & Music Fest is built around IBCA-sanctioned competition barbecue, which means it follows […]
How to Read a Property Survey in Texas
Ever looked at a Texas property survey and felt like you were reading a secret code? I’ll show you how to by starting with the document type, then tracing the lines, symbols, easements, structures, and notes that affect the land. Those colorful flags and small marks are not decoration. They can warn you where not […]
Marble Falls TX HOA Fees: What You’ll Actually Pay by Neighborhood (2026)
A Marble Falls broker breaks down real HOA fees by neighborhood, why many homes have none, and how to get the true current number before you buy.
How Sellers Should Handle Buyer Repair Requests
Repair requests are one of the places where a real estate transaction can get emotional very quickly. The buyer has inspected the home, the inspection report arrives, and suddenly the seller is looking at a list of things somebody else thinks need attention. Some of those items may be legitimate. Some may be minor. Some […]
Your Guide to the Bertram Oatmeal Festival
Bertram already has the closed-street charm of Halloween on Vaughan Street going for it, but the Oatmeal Festival is the event that actually put the town on people’s radar statewide. It started as a protest, and it’s still going strong nearly 50 years later. The Oatmeal Festival exists because of an insult. In 1978, residents […]
Appraisal Gap Coverage: A Buyer’s Guide
Appraisal gap coverage can keep your purchase alive after a low appraisal, but it can also put a large cash bill on your shoulders. I’ll explain how the gap works, how lenders calculate the loan, and how to weigh the risk before you write it into an offer. Table of Contents What Is an Appraisal […]
Why Buyers Still Need Access After Your Home Goes Under Contract
One of the things sellers sometimes expect after accepting an offer is that the stream of people coming through the house is finally over. The showings are done, the buyer has been found, the contract is signed, and it feels reasonable to think the home should now be left alone until closing. In reality, that […]
When 16 Months of Inventory Changes the Question Sellers Should Be Asking
If you own a home in Horseshoe Bay, Marble Falls, Kingsland, Granite Shoals, Llano, Burnet, or elsewhere in the Highland Lakes and you’re thinking about selling, you’ve probably heard some version of this advice: you need to use a local REALTOR. I understand why people say it. Local knowledge matters. You absolutely want someone who […]
Living in Bee Cave, TX: Hill Country Views with a Real Town Center
I’ve sold homes in Bee Cave for years now, and the question I get most from buyers isn’t about the schools or the commute. It’s “wait, is this actually a separate town, or is it just part of Austin?” Fair question. Bee Cave is its own incorporated city in Travis County, with its own city […]
Does Home Insurance Cover Concrete Cancer?
Homeowners often hope there is a simple yes-or-no answer to whether insurance covers concrete cancer in a swimming pool. There usually is not. Coverage depends on the exact policy, how the pool is classified, what caused the damage, when the damage began, which exclusions apply, and whether another covered event contributed to the loss. Concrete […]
Austin ADU Rental Rules: A Practical Guide
Thinking about turning unused space behind your Austin home into rental income? The city still draws a firm line around permits, short stays, and parking. I’ll walk you through the checks I’d make before buying a lot, hiring a builder, or counting rent in your budget. Table of Contents Step 1: Confirm Your Austin Lot […]
Living in Buda, TX: Small-Town Main Street With an Easy Run Up I-35
I’ve written contracts on houses in Buda where the sellers had lived there since before the H-E-B on Main Street existed, and I’ve helped young families close on new construction in subdivisions that were cattle pasture five years ago. Both of those are Buda right now, and honestly that’s the thing people ask me about […]
Marble Falls TX Property Tax Rate: What You’ll Actually Pay in 2026
A Marble Falls broker breaks down the real property tax rate: city, ISD, and county rates, the 2025 homestead exemption changes, and what buyers actually pay.
Living in Kyle, TX: Small-Town Roots and Big Growth South of Austin
I’ve sold homes on both sides of I-35 in Kyle for long enough now that I can tell you which streets pond up after a hard rain and which Plum Creek cul-de-sacs get shade in the afternoon before I ever pull an address. Kyle comes up in a lot of buyer conversations these days, usually […]
Best Escalation Clause Real Estate Options
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, Broker, REALTOR at Uncommon Realty. Written for buyers and sellers in the Greater Austin, Texas area. Here are […]
Living in Meadowlakes, TX: A Gated Golf Community on Lake Marble Falls
I get some version of this question every few months from buyers looking around the Highland Lakes: they’ve toured Horseshoe Bay, priced out Marble Falls proper, and someone mentioned a small gated neighborhood on Lake Marble Falls called Meadowlakes that they can’t find much about online. It’s a fair reaction. Meadowlakes doesn’t get the attention […]
Living in Horseshoe Bay, TX: Resort Life on Lake LBJ
I get a version of the same question every time someone drives out to Horseshoe Bay for the first time: is this actually a real town, or is it just a resort with a zip code? It’s a fair question, because the golf and the yacht club are what get people out here in the […]
Living in Cottonwood Shores, TX: A Small River Town Between Two Lakes
I get some version of the same question a few times a year from buyers who’ve just driven through Cottonwood Shores for the first time: is this town actually on the lake, or is it just close to it? It’s a fair question, and it’s one people get wrong more often than you’d think, usually […]
Living in Burnet, TX: County Seat Life Near the Highland Lakes
A good chunk of the calls I get about Burnet start from the same wrong assumption: people hear “Highland Lakes” and picture a town with docks and a shoreline, the same way Kingsland or Horseshoe Bay work. Burnet isn’t that. It sits back from the water, and once buyers understand why, it usually becomes the […]
