Single-story homes move quickly in Cottonwood Shores, and once you look at who’s actually buying here, it makes sense why. Cottonwood Shores sits on the Colorado River below the Lake LBJ outlet — it’s not directly on Lake LBJ itself — in southwestern Burnet County, about 4 miles southwest of Marble Falls and roughly 50 miles west of downtown Austin. It’s sandwiched between Horseshoe Bay and Marble Falls, smaller and quieter than both, and it’s zoned to Marble Falls ISD.
I’m Robbie English, a REALTOR and Broker at Uncommon Highland Lakes Realty here in the Highland Lakes.
Why Single-Story Matters So Much to This Buyer Pool
A big share of the people I work with in Cottonwood Shores are retirees or second-home buyers, and for both groups, stairs are a dealbreaker more often than price is. Retirees are thinking about aging in place — a one-level floor plan means they’re not planning a future move just to get away from stairs. Second-home buyers who are only in town part of the year want something low-maintenance they can lock up and leave without worrying about upkeep on a multi-level layout. That combination is why single-story listings here tend to move faster than two-story homes at a similar price point.
Older vs. Newer Single-Story Stock
The single-story homes in Cottonwood Shores split into two fairly distinct groups. There’s the older housing stock — smaller footprints, original layouts, built back when the town was still a modest, lake-adjacent community — and a newer wave of single-story construction on the remaining buildable lots, usually with more open floor plans and updated finishes. The older homes tend to be more affordable and are often good candidates for updating; the newer ones cost more but need less work done to them. Which one makes sense for you depends on whether you’d rather pay upfront for finishes or negotiate on price and handle updates yourself down the road.
A Few Practical Notes
Slab foundations are common throughout Cottonwood Shores, which is typical for this part of the Hill Country and worth knowing going in if you’re used to shopping areas with different foundation types. The single-level layout isn’t just about avoiding stairs, either — it’s genuinely easier to age in place in a home with no level changes, wider doorways are more common in the newer builds, and there’s no upstairs HVAC zone to maintain separately. Because the town itself is small, you’re rarely more than a few minutes from one side to the other, and you’re a short drive from H-E-B and the rest of Marble Falls’ shopping without paying Marble Falls city taxes.
Nearby Communities
If a single-story Cottonwood Shores home isn’t on the market when you’re ready, I also show buyers homes in Sherwood Shores and Granite Shoals, both nearby and directly on Lake LBJ, or the wider Marble Falls area. Reach out anytime if you want my take on what’s currently available.
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