A version of this question comes up almost every time I’m working with someone new to the Highland Lakes: they’ve had lunch downtown, maybe walked out to the water at Lakeside Park, and they want to know if the town holds up once you’re not just visiting for the day. Marble Falls is the town […]
Living in Sunrise Beach Village, TX: Life in Lake LBJ’s Oldest No-Short-Term-Rental Town
I get asked about Sunrise Beach Village more than almost anywhere else on Lake LBJ, usually by people who’ve already ruled out Horseshoe Bay on price and want to know if there’s anywhere left on this lake that still feels like an actual small town instead of a subdivision with a lake view bolted on. […]
Living in Sherwood Shores, TX: Lake LBJ Access from a 1962 Ranch Subdivision
I get a version of the same conversation a few times a year with buyers who’ve spent a weekend out on Lake LBJ and don’t want to go home. They’ve usually already priced out Horseshoe Bay, or they’ve looked at the newer construction further down the shoreline and balked at what it costs to get […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Living in Pflugerville, TX: A Local Broker’s Guide to the Suburb North of Austin
I’ve sold houses on both sides of Pflugerville, the older streets near downtown and the newer sections off Pecan and Weiss, and I still get buyers who ask me to spell it for them. It’s a German name, and the town has German roots that go back to the 1850s, but what strikes people once […]
Living in Lago Vista, TX: Life on the Lake Travis Peninsula
I’ve shown property in Lago Vista in every season of the year, and the question I get asked in the truck on the way out there is almost always the same one: is this too far? People hear “lake town on a peninsula” and picture something remote, then they drive out RM 1431 for the […]
Living in Jonestown, TX: Life on the Quiet North Shore of Lake Travis
I get calls from buyers who found Jonestown on a map and want to know why it’s not on their radar sooner. Usually it’s the same story: they’ve been looking in Lakeway or Cedar Park, prices there make them wince, and then somebody mentions there’s a whole other lake town on the north shore of […]
Living in Driftwood, TX: Ranch Land, Wineries, and Hill Country Space Southwest of Austin
I’ve had buyers stand on a piece of land in Driftwood and ask me if the survey is wrong, because they can’t believe how much space is actually included. It isn’t wrong. That’s just Driftwood. If your reference point for Hays County is a standard subdivision lot, this part of the county resets your expectations, […]
Living in Kingsland, TX: Life at the Confluence of Two Rivers on Lake LBJ
I get a version of the same phone call a few times a year: someone who fell in love with the Highland Lakes on a weekend trip, priced out Horseshoe Bay or Marble Falls, and asked whether there’s anywhere left out here that still feels like the lake country their grandparents talked about. My answer […]
Living in Highland Haven, TX: A Quiet Lake LBJ Community Near Marble Falls
I’ve shown property in Highland Haven a handful of times over the years, and every single time the buyer’s reaction on the drive in has been some version of “wait, this is it?” That’s not a knock. It’s the whole point of the place. Highland Haven is one of the smallest, quietest towns I work […]
Living in Granite Shoals, TX: Life on the Quiet Side of Lake LBJ
I get calls every few months from buyers who’ve driven through Granite Shoals on their way to Marble Falls, seen the lake glinting through the trees off FM 1431, and asked me why nobody talks about this place. Fair question. It sits right next to Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay, two towns that get all […]
Living in Downtown Austin, TX
I get asked about downtown Austin condos more than almost any other segment of this market, and I’ve noticed most of what’s written about it online only covers one slice: whether a luxury tower is “worth it.” That’s a fair question, but it skips the bigger one people actually need answered first, which is what […]
Living in Rob Roy, Austin TX
Rob Roy comes up a lot when I’m talking with buyers about West Lake Hills, but I’ve never actually given it its own page on this site until now. That’s an oversight I want to fix, because Rob Roy has a personality of its own within West Austin’s luxury market, separate from its neighbors along […]
Living in Hutto, TX: A Complete Guide
I get a lot of questions about Hutto from buyers who found it on a map, heard the name from a coworker headed to Samsung’s plant in Taylor, or noticed a hippo logo somewhere and wanted to know what that was about. Hutto doesn’t get talked about as much as Round Rock or Georgetown, but […]
Your Guide to ACL Music Festival in Austin: Living Near Zilker Park During Festival Season
I get asked about Austin City Limits Music Festival every fall, usually by clients who are looking at homes near Zilker Park and want to know what festival weekends actually feel like from a resident’s perspective. So I put together this guide to walk through what ACL Fest is, how it uses Zilker Park, and […]
Living in Clarksville, Austin TX: A Neighborhood Guide
I’ve sold homes all over Austin, and Clarksville is one of the few neighborhoods where I can walk a buyer down the street and point out a piece of Texas history on nearly every block. If you’re looking into living in Clarksville, Austin TX, I want to give you the real picture: where it is, […]
Living in Rosedale, Austin TX: A Neighborhood Guide
TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read): Living in Rosedale, Austin TX Rosedale sits in north-central Austin, bordered roughly by 38th Street, Shoal Creek, North Loop/Hancock Drive, and Lamar Boulevard, tucked between Central Austin and North Loop. The neighborhood’s housing stock dates mostly to the 1930s and 1940s, when the Ramsey sisters platted the original subdivisions, and […]
Living in Windsor Park: A Complete Guide to This Austin, TX Neighborhood
I spend most of my week driving Austin’s neighborhoods with buyers and sellers, and Windsor Park is one I keep coming back to because it still looks and feels like Austin did before the boom reshaped so much of the city. It’s a Northeast/Central-East Austin neighborhood with a housing stock and street pattern that hasn’t […]
Living in Zilker, Austin TX: A Neighborhood Guide
I get asked about Zilker more than almost any other neighborhood I work in, and I understand why. It’s one of the few pockets of Austin where you can walk to a natural spring-fed pool, a 350-plus acre park, and a hike-and-bike trail along the lake, then be back home in time to grab dinner […]
Barton Creek vs. Spanish Oaks: Which Austin Community Fits You?
I get asked to compare these two communities more than almost any other pair in West Austin. Buyers usually arrive with a rough idea that both are gated, both involve golf, and both come with a serious price tag. Past that, the details get fuzzy fast. I have shown property in both neighborhoods for years, […]
Clarksville vs. Tarrytown: Comparing Two Historic West Austin Neighborhoods
## TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read): Clarksville vs. Tarrytown: Comparing Two Historic West Austin Neighborhoods Clarksville sits immediately west of downtown Austin with a Walk Score near the top of the city, a National Register Historic District status dating to 1976, and lot sizes typically between a tenth and a fifth of an acre. Tarrytown […]
Rollingwood vs. Westlake Hills: Comparing Two Incorporated Cities West of Austin
Rollingwood and West Lake Hills come up together in almost every conversation I have about the west side of Austin. They sit next to each other, they share a school district, and they’re both small incorporated cities with their own governments rather than Austin neighborhoods. Past that, the similarities start to thin out. I put […]
Living in Barton Hills, Austin TX: A Neighborhood Guide
I’m Robbie English, a REALTOR and broker with Uncommon Realty here in Austin, and Barton Hills is one of the South Austin neighborhoods I get asked about most and write about least. That’s a gap I want to close. If you’re weighing a move to this part of 78704 or you already live here and […]
Living in Travis Heights, Austin: A Neighborhood Guide
I’ve sold real estate in Austin long enough to watch a lot of neighborhoods change names, boundaries, and reputations. Travis Heights is one of the few that has held onto its identity the whole time. It’s one of the older residential neighborhoods in the city, and it still looks the part: mature oak trees arching […]
