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Austin Real Estate

A Guide to buying a home in the great city of Austin, Texas

Austin can't seem to stay out of the news lately. Normally this would be bad. But in the case of Austin real estate it's mostly good news! The reason the city keeps popping up in articles and news stories is because it's a great place to live, and a lot of folks are taking notice of that.

But don't take my word for it. Here's what I mean:

• In 2006, CNN Money did their annual ranking of "Best Places to Live" in the United States. Austin, Texas was ranked #2 in the big cities category.
• That same year, Kiplinger's (a finance magazine) put Austin at #5 on its list of "50 Smart Places to Live."
• More recently, in 2008, Entrepreneur.com ran an article that listed some of best places to buy a home in the U.S. And Austin appeared in the #1 spot.
• The city appears on dozens of other lists in publications ranging from Men's Health to Forbes. Best cities to raise a family, best cities to live and work — the list goes on and on.
• You also see Austin real estate featured on a lot of TV shows, such as "What You Get for the Money." In most cases, it's too showcase what a great value homes in Austin are (by comparison to other cities).

What This Says About Austin

What can we learn from all this coverage of the Austin real estate scene, and the city as a whole? Well, for one thing, it means that a lot of people agree on this being a great place to live. It also means that real estate in Austin, Texas will be a good investment for a long time to come, mainly due to the steadily growing popularity of the city.

Image source: Wikipedia.org. Licensed under GNU Free Documentation License

So with all this being said, should you buy real estate in the Austin area? Possibly. In reality, this is a question that only you can answer for yourself. But one thing is for certain. There's plenty of "evidence" to justify a decision to buy a home in Austin. The articles and surveys cited above are only scratching the surface. Do an Internet search for "Best places to live +Austin" and you'll see what I mean!

Everyone has their own idea of what makes for a great place to live. For every city in America, there are some who love it and some who hate it. It just seems that the editors of those "best places" articles all seem to agree on Austin. To add to their lists, we have composed one of our own. Here are seven things we like about the city.

7 Reasons to Buy Real Estate in Austin, Texas

1. The climate. Like most of Central Texas, Austin has mild winters with snow being a rarity. Spring is especially beautiful, with a vast array of Texas wildflowers (such as the bluebonnet) sprouting up along the roads and in fields. The summers are hot but not unbearable, with only mild humidity as compared to coastal Texas.
2. The music scene. They don't call Austin the "Live Music Capital of the World" for nothing. Venture downtown any night of the week, and you're likely to find venues offering live music that ranges from rock to country to blues ... and just about anything else you would want to hear. Austin also sponsors several music festivals each year, including the world-famous South by Southwest and ACL Festival.

3. The shopping. Congress Avenue in downtown Austin has a hip shopping scene with plenty of locally owned shops. Take a short drive up the road to nearby Round Rock and you'll find great deals at the outlet stores that opened in 2007. Oh, and there's an IKEA store right across the street from the outlets, if you're a bargain furniture shopper.
4. The real estate prices. Every once in a while Austin will appear on one of those real estate values TV shows, such as "What You Get for the Money." It's usually to show how far the real estate dollar goes in Austin, when compared to high-price cities like San Diego.
5. The highway improvements. Over the last few years, Texas spent a small fortune (okay, a large fortune) for highway improvements. Most of this took place in the greater Austin area. As a result, the infamous Austin traffic mess has been greatly improved. This has a positive impact on quality of life as well as real estate values.
6. The people. Austin is the home to University of Texas, a world-famous music scene, and the state capital of Texas. As a result, there's an eclectic mix of students, musicians, yuppies, cowboys, politicians and more. In a certain sense, Austin is a cosmopolitan city.
7. The water. If you like fishing, boating or any kind of water sport, you'll love the Austin area. A series of lakes runs through Central Texas, as well as plenty of rivers and creeks. And don't worry about all that water bringing mosquitoes, because Austin has something to take care of that too ... lots and lots of bats!
8. The bats. Austin is home to the largest urban colony of bats in the United States. In fact, the bats have become part of the city's culture, and they're a popular tourist attraction. On summer evenings, it's a site to behold as these bats emerge from the Congress Avenue Bridge more than a million at a time.

We hope you have found this guide to Austin real estate helpful, and we wish you the best with your home buying experience!

Related article: Home Builders in Austin

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