AustinTXEstates

Peaceful Hill Country Escape

Exclusive estate on 7+ acres of beautifully groomed & manicured, flat, park-like land with walking trails & benches throughout. A peaceful, gated hide-away only 10 minutes from the Hill Country Galleria and 25 minutes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. This amazing retreat consists of 4 well built structures including a beautiful main home of 6,000+ square feet (5 spacious bedrooms, plus an office, gym, magnificent theatre and game room, gourmet kitchen and bonus room). The second structure has been nicknamed “The Treehouse”…a separate 3 car garage with a studio apartment upstairs, approximately 600 square feet, including a kitchenette, bathroom & 2nd story balcony nestled in the trees. A short walk away, is the 3rd home nestled in a beautiful forest of mature trees…a separate 2 bedroom, loft, one bath guesthouse that overlooks a beautiful pond with continuously running waterfalls and creeks. The fourth is a 6 car garage/workshop that can also hold a large RV… ample room to hold all of the toys of grown ups & children alike. This one of a kind estate is truly breathtaking with a certain feel of tranquility & privacy that few homes can match. Spacious, yet warm, cozy, nestled and homey.

More pictures and features here.

Video Tour of Property:

Cimarron Hills private sand trap and putting green

Early morning, and you’re enjoying a cup of coffee on your back patio. Ahead of you is a still scene with a long stretch of dewy green grass framed by mature trees, deer and birds and other wildlife, dotted with pools of clear water.

Many have found this bliss in buying homes on a golf course. The Austin-American Statesman recently did a feature on life on the golf course. A golfer, as they say, is just steps from his or her playground…but golfers and non-golfers alike can enjoy the scenery.

Says one agent, “it’s similar to a greenbelt, but there’s a more open look to it. With a greenbelt, sometimes all you see is brush. With a golf course, there’s usually a nice long view, clean and clear, of the trees and the greenery. You see a lot of wildlife, deer, squirrels and rabbits. It’s relaxing.”

Other advantages include the increased home value and sales appeal, similar to a greenbelt or lake property. Also, you can get your own golf cart to motor around in.

But what about the hazards of loose balls and broken windows? The Statesman quotes one insurance agent that “[the golf course location] is not a question we ask, and not part of the underwriting process,” making it no more expensive to insure a home on a course than anywhere else. Your homeowner’s insurance may cover some of the costs, the golfer is required to cover the costs, and some condominiums offer coverage as well with their fees.

Austin has many beautiful golf course properties; you can begin your search here!

Eagles Glen

The master planned community of Steiner Ranch is exceeding expectations, according to developers and agents, because of its great amenities and the strong reputation of local schools, Texas A&M’s Real Estate Center and the Austin Business Journal report.

In 2009, even with the economic downturn, 143 homes were sold in Steiner Ranch at the end of August. Compared to 164 homes by that time in 2008, just a 13% drop. Compared to the 35% drop the Central Texas area saw, particularly early in 2009, the Steiner Ranch development is going faster than planned. The median sale price for a home in Steiner reached $350,000 this year, also a significantly stronger performance than the rest of the area.

Currently in development for Steiner Ranch is Longhorn Village, a retirement community with assisted living services aiming to give University of Texas alumni a chance to reconnect with the University life.

Steiner Ranch, located northwest of the city on RR 620, is near both Lake Travis and Austin. To read more about our featured property on Eagles Glen and some more amenities Steiner has to offer, see here.

Most homeowners understand the value of updating and upgrading their home to add value, either because they’re selling their home now, or plan to in the future. But many feel overwhelmed or unsure when considering their options. Some updates are easy and obvious, like adding a fresh coat of paint or replacing the old dishwasher. But if you really want to invest in remodeling to up the value of your home, where do you start, and what do you do? And how do you make sure you don’t spend more in upgrades than you’ll make in return?

On Sunday, the Austin-American Statesman published “Upgrades that Pay Off,” full of helpful tips for homeowners looking to invest in their property. They spoke to experienced home investors for their ideas on money-making home improvements, specifically for homes in Austin, Texas. Here is some of their advice.

- Remember your budget. Because you don’t want the most expensive home on the block, keep your renovation costs at 20% to 30% of the home’s value.

- Don’t overdo, but don’t go cheap especially on core elements like flooring, counters, wall treatments, appliances, and outdoor living spaces.

- Consider your home’s positives and potential. Look at your home, take out a sheet of paper, and list the positives and negatives. Look at the lot, the house, the neighborhood, everything. Every home is unique, and has positives; your goal for remodeling is to bring the house to its potential.

- Keep a time frame. Three months is appropriate.

- Consider the land. Make sure the house and land work together. Make the most of an outdoor water feature, wooded lot or great view by adding a patio or other outdoor living space. (If you don’t have one, consider adding a manmade water feature, such as this.) Outdoor living areas are very much in demand, especially in Austin, and add space and value fast.

- Add privacy like fences or gates, particularly on high-dollar homes.

- Look at the whole house. Beware of completely renovating some areas, and completely neglecting others. You don’t want to redo your whole house, but leave in the old staircase. This will require planning your budget.

Infinity Edge Pool

- Make your home unique (if even just a little). “Every house is going to have a kitchen, every house is going to have a master bath. What many don’t have is those other areas – the wine room, the pergolas, the outdoor places you can see from within the house.” An Infinity Edge (or negative edge) pool, for example, will pop out. But of course, beware of going overboard and making too many exotic choices. Always consider what a buyer would like. You should always assume, no matter how much you love it now, you may one day decide to sell your home.

The photo featured is one of our newest listings. You can see it and other great homes at www.DMTX.com.

Rivercliff Entry

Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and contemporary interiors create this masterpiece on a bluff overlooking the Pedernales Arm of Lake Travis.

This 6,733 Sq Ft, shake roof home was built in 2008. It has 5 Bedrooms and 5.5 Baths and a cool, contemporary finish with stone floors and accents; rift cut oak ceilings, doors, cabinets and accents, and stone fireplaces.

The 5 manicured acres features a man-made stream spilling into a pond, and flowing under the entry. 

Great Room

The great room, at entry with elevated foyer, has a wood arched ceiling and a granite and stone fireplace with rift cut oak accents. The dining area is open to the great room and has two story ceilings with a stone floor. There is also a wet bar with exotic granite counters, ice maker and refrigerator open to the dining area.

The kitchen is open to the family room also with exotic granite counters, rift cut oak cabinets, stone floors, two sinks and breakfast area with seamless windows looking to the pool and patio.

Master Closet

The two story NanaWall Window System opens to the Infinity Edge pool, patio, and hill country views.

The master bedroom features a stone fireplace, double doors to the patio and NanaWall Window System running the length of the room with seamless corners and folding doors opening to the private, Infinity Edge soaking pool. The master bath has exotic granite counters, stone floors, jetted tub, walk in double shower and doors to the private patio. The master suite also has a huge, custom walk-in  closet with center island and granite countertops.

Kitchen

The private office in the master suite has custom built ins, and door to the private stone patio.

A family room has fireplace with granite , rift cut oak wall accents and window trim. An office or bedroom has full bath, seamless windows and entrance to patio. Two other bedrooms have full bath and doors to patio. The guest bedroom has full bath, walk in closet and private stone patio. The home also has utility room and secondary storage room, and attached 4-car garage with air-conditioned pet room.

Back, Pool

Altogether, 2,210 Sq Ft of stone patios with firepit surround the Infinity Edge pool spilling into overflow pool with spa and fountains.

The covered patio with stone decking off bedrooms leads to tram accessing waterfront.  The stone path leads to arched entry with glass facade and wood ceilings.

The home is located near Austin Country Club in the gated community of Rivercliff in Spicewood, Texas, 10 minutes to the new Hill Country Galleria and 30 minutes to downtown Austin.

Equestrian Center

This home can be purchased for $3,750,000 or combined with a 32 acre horse stables, covered riding arena and 3 bed, 2 bath guest home to create your dream luxury ranch.

 The 32 acres are fenced and cross fenced, with 5 contiguous 6+ acre lots all ag exempt. Electronically controlled stone and wrought iron gates create the entry, leading to 18 stall horse stables with limestone interior, each with doors to turnouts – 4 foaling stalls and 12 day stalls. Can easily be expanded to include additional stalls. Includes tack area, wash stall, store room and high bay doors on both sides for trailer or RV parking. Gates on both ends allow for trucks, trailers and RVs. The covered stone and split rail fenced riding arena is 100 ft x 200 ft.

Guest Home

The limestone guest home was built in 2006 and includes wood and tile floors with stone accents. The large living area includes a stone fireplace and open dining. The kitchen has granite counters and recent appliances. The master suite has a kitchenette, walk in closet, full bath, and sitting area. The home also features attached two car garage and pond at gated entry.

Owner will consider seller financing, call for details.

You can see the home listing here, and the stables/arena/guest home listing here. Call us today!

When high-rise condominium projects started appearing in the downtown skyline, many Austinites were curious and skeptical about what the demand would be for these condos, and if they may just be finished to remain empty.

But News 8 Austin reported on Tuesday that now, Downtown living flourishes.

“According to the Downtown Austin Alliance, since 2007, 1,562 condos have been built or are currently under construction. Of those, 73% have been sold,” they report.

555 Condo Living Room and View

“Conveniently located to everything around here, easy to get around, public transportation, bikes, walking; it’s the best,” says Chelsea Write, a downtown Austin resident. She is living in the 360 Condos, a development that has every unit sold.

While downtown condos are showing to be a solid investment, there are still good deals to be made. “I don’t know of anything that is selling for full price these days, but the fact that these condos are selling is remarkable,” says Tom Stacy, President of Austin’s Downtown Alliance.

Although don’t expect prices to fall much further. “Stacy says more than likely, prices won’t fall that much, because soon, demand will outweigh supply. ‘There won’t be any new construction starts for probably another four or five years, so the condos being built now, that’s it,’ Stacy said.”

Our Downtown Austin Luxury Condo is a 3 bed/2.5 bath, 2,039 Square Foot condo with stunning panoramic views of the city. It’s reduced price is $899,000. You can see the full listing, and more stunning pictures, here.

East Creek

From Top10RealEstateDeals.com, the Top 10 Regional Deals List for the month of September 2009 in the city of Austin features stunning East Creek in the number two position. This gentleman’s ranch is beautiful country living in a sophisticated soon to be gated community, with both horse and home ammenities catching the eye to make this property one of Austin’s top deals.

See the full top ten deals list here, and see more of the property listing here.

Still thinking that house prices are going to decline further? Are you still anticipating the “deal of a lifetime” just around the corner? You’re about to be out of luck. It’s natural to look at the national economic news and think that we are going to see a further erosion in home prices but it looks like things are pointing up for Austin’s economy. We have seen a decline in high-end home prices but the average home price in Austin has remained relatively stable. But by far the biggest reason: Interest rates are anticipated to go up and that is going to price a lot of people out of the market. Compared to the week prior to August 24, 2009, the national 30-year mortgage rate is up 4 basis points from 5.14%. Compared to three months ago, the 30-year rate is up 20 basis points from its average rate of 4.98%. Why are interest rates going up? The massive government spending has the potential to lead to long term inflation, causing interest rates to rise. Ted Jones, Senior VP and Chief Economist at Stewart Title explains it best:

“…let’s assume a loan amount today of $100,000 with a 30-year fixed-rate residential loan at 5 percent. Nationwide at the time of this writing, the average 30-year rate was 4.85 percent per Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae forecasts an average rate in all of 2009 of 5.13 percent. So the 5 percent is a reasonable assumption.

The following table shows the monthly payment for each loan amount and interest rate. A buyer today at 5 percent interest borrowing $100,000 has a monthly principle and interest payment of $536.82. If prices decline 5 percent (and the loan amount does also) and interest rates rise just ½ of 1 percent, then the monthly payment remains the same ($539.40).

So if rates go up just 1 percent to 6 percent per year, then prices must drop at least 10 percent for that same buyer to qualify for the same monthly payment. A 1.5 percent increase in rates to 6.5 percent requires a 15 percent price decline, and a 2 percent increase necessitates a 20 percent price decline to qualify. Note: This 1 percent interest rate change to a 10 percent price change is only true when interest rates are 5 percent as they are today.”

Interest Rates vs. Price Changes

Admittedly, at the same loan-to-value ratio, as prices decline so does the down payment. Since, however, many buyers select the price range of homes they consider buying based on their monthly payment potential, rising rates may force future buyers into less expensive homes and hence properties they find less desirable.

So, if you are waiting to move up or to make that second home investment – don’t wait much longer! Postponing that purchase is going to price you out of the market and you are going to have to settle for something less or just wait for the next recession. Don’t get burned. Thanks to Ted Jones for letting us reprint part of his blog which can be found here.

The City of Austin Energy Audit is now in effect.

Read About the Audit

Austin, Texas has caught the eyes of lots of top economic analysts trying to find the best places to live and work in the country right now. Strong growth and opportunity makes property in Austin a great investment. Some highlights:

The Today Show listed Austin as the #3 market most primed to rebound quickly.

WomenCo listed Austin as #1 City for your Career

Relocation.Com listed Austin as #1 City for a Fresh Start

Forbes listed Austin as #1 City for your Money, and the #2 City where Americans are Relocating.

Fortune Small Business named Georgetown, just north of Austin, #1 city to start a business.

Austin is the #1 Top Performing Metro Area.