What an amazing month for the Austin Real Estate Market! P.S. Austin Realty Group has had so much business over the past four weeks, between new buyers through referrals and closing 4 transactions, things are looking up, especially in Barton Creek West!
Last week we sold a Barton Creek West home that went Pending after only 2 weeks! At the moment, Barton Creek West has 6 homes on the market, and P.S. Austin Realty Group currently has 2 of those listings, and will be having another home coming up the first week in February!
From recent Open House activity in the neighbhorhood, it seems that there are several families that have been leasing homes in the area and are now ready to jump back into the Market, especially Barton Creek West. Families are drawn to the area because of the community pools, great hike-and-bike trails, greenbelt views, EANES schools and the family-friendly vibe.
The community is also so diverse, from lot to floorplan. Each of our homes have something different to offer any buyers. If you or a friend are interested in moving into this neighborhood, make sure you check out these three fantastic BCW homes through their custom websites: http://www.9311creeksedgecircle.com/, http://www.3007creeksedgepkwy.com/ and http://www.2901creeksedgepkwy.com/.
Make sure you don't miss this chance to get into the neighborhood while home prices are low!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Buyers drawn to district for quality of schools, quiet neighborhoods
By Shermakaye Bass SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Updated: 3:57 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
Published: 10:20 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
The Eanes Independent School District, a 31-square-mile area west of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), is Central Texas' own multineighborhood Mayberry. There's a small-town vibe to West Lake Hills, Rollingwood, Barton Creek and Cuernavaca. People know their neighbors, kids play ball in the parks and attend stellar schools together, sidewalks and lawns are nicely manicured. Even the affluent, close-in Westlake area has an idyllic, suburban quality.
"The people here are very nice. It's a very good mix of people," says resident Lesley Sarkesian, who lives on Far Gallant Drive in the Westlake area and has two teenagers. "There are kid people, people that are retired. ... It's just a very lovely community."
Because the Eanes school district covers of the large geographic area, homes can range in price from $250,000 to the multimillions. Eanes has had a little dip in sales in recent years.
According to the Austin Board of Realtors, in 2009, 402 homes priced for less than $10 million sold in the Eanes school district — the most expensive one selling for $4,037,500. In 2008, 404 homes priced for less than $10 million sold. That's 25 percent less than the 542 sold in 2007 and 34 percent less than the 608 homes sold in 2006.
That doesn't sound good, but compare those statistics to homes in the Austin Independent School District.
In 2009, about 4,900 homes listed for less than $10 million sold. That's 51 percent less than the 10,060 sold in 2008; 70 percent less than the 16,522 sold in 2007; and 64 percent less than the 13,671 sold in 2006.
The primary reason for the Eanes district's relative stability, according to residents and real estate agents: The schools. Eanes Independent School District is considered one of the top public school districts in the state. SchoolDigger.com — an online ranking site that covers 120,000 schools around the United States — rates Eanes Elementary 21st among Texas' 3,880 elementary schools and rates Eanes sixth among the state's 948 public school districts. The Austin school district is ranked 579; the Round Rock district, 240. The Texas Education Agency rated Eanes exemplary in 2008-2009, the highest rating. Austin was rated academically acceptable; Round Rock was recognized, the second-highest rating.
"People who are moving to Austin tend to get online and read the stats. And consistently, when out-of-towners call me they say, 'I hear we need to buy in Eanes,'\u2009" says real estate agent Nicole Bell Kessler, who currently is listing a sleek, 3,500-square-foot modern home at 9707 Timber Ridge Pass in Westridge Estates with two master suites and stunning hilltop views for $695,000.
"I'd say that 75 percent of the time, when someone calls from out of town or out of state — from New York or Seattle or Chicago or wherever — they'll say that. Eanes School District is a big factor."
However, Kessler, an agent with Gottesman Residential Realty for 18 years, admits that for some newcomers, especially traditional urbanites, "Westlake can feel a little too country. For some, it's a little too much, or they just don't get it. But many (transplants) want exactly that."
They want that neighbhoody, Mayberry, woodsy feel.
Sarkesian was just such a transplant when she moved to the Westlake area from Chicago 10 years ago. She worked for Dell Inc. at the time, and she and her then-husband wanted to nest in a quiet area with increasing property values and great schools.
They found it in the home she is currently listing with Tosca Gruber, a high-profile agent with Coldwell Banker. Because Sarkesian's son and daughter are approaching graduation age and her former husband still lives in Eanes, Sarkesian is selling the five-bedroom home at 1820 Far Gallant Drive for $1,395,00. in order to downsize and buy a condominium near Lady Bird Lake.
But she says she wouldn't change a thing about her kids' childhoods, which were shaped by their years at Bridgepoint Elementary and now at Westlake High, where one is a freshman and one is a senior. They also went to a private school for a few years.
"I've been in this house 10 years. When we relocated, I knew immediately that we would move into this blue-ribbon school district, period, end of story. My daughter was 6 and my son was 4."
Sarkesian and her former husband didn't look anywhere else. They bought the lot where the current home is and built it from scratch.
"It just fit, it felt right — it's close to downtown, close to a lake," she says. "It seems just very safe, very scheduled, very exact and predictable. It's very suburban.
"This community has a very nice feeling," she says "The people that I know are the people that my children know. It's just very supportive."
According to Kessler, clients often gladly spend additional money to live in Eanes because they have children. Homes in the Eanes district typically cost more per square foot than homes in any other Central Texas school district, while the property taxes are comparable to those of Austin Independent School District at about $1.20 per $100 taxable property value.
The average number of days that homes stay on the market has increased in the past year — 92 to 97 days on average in the first 11 months of 2009 vs. 80 to 81 days in the first 11 months of 2008. But Kessler says Eanes' appeal, especially to families, is unflagging.
"It's people who are trying to make long-term decisions for themselves about where they're going to live and how they're going to raise their families," Kessler says. "They look at the price of private schools and factor that in. I see quite a few who have taken the leap from Central Austin to Eanes because there truly is consistency from elementary to middle school to high school."
As far as the increase in the number of days a home is for sale, Kessler isn't concerned.
"It's comparable to (West Austin's Tarrytown area). When you look at the numbers, in Eanes consistently and Central Austin consistently, there's always something moving."
One family, whose house at 10046 Circleview Drive in Barton Creek West is listed with Mary Lindenberg of Keller Williams Realty for $499,000, says that the only reason they're selling is to upgrade and buy a bigger house within the Eanes school district. Their current home is their third in Eanes.
For downtowners and big-city slickers, this idyllic, lights-out-at-9 district might be a little tame, but for families seeking a like-minded community with great schools, the Eanes area is Mayberry in Austin.
Updated: 3:57 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
Published: 10:20 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010
The Eanes Independent School District, a 31-square-mile area west of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), is Central Texas' own multineighborhood Mayberry. There's a small-town vibe to West Lake Hills, Rollingwood, Barton Creek and Cuernavaca. People know their neighbors, kids play ball in the parks and attend stellar schools together, sidewalks and lawns are nicely manicured. Even the affluent, close-in Westlake area has an idyllic, suburban quality.
"The people here are very nice. It's a very good mix of people," says resident Lesley Sarkesian, who lives on Far Gallant Drive in the Westlake area and has two teenagers. "There are kid people, people that are retired. ... It's just a very lovely community."
Because the Eanes school district covers of the large geographic area, homes can range in price from $250,000 to the multimillions. Eanes has had a little dip in sales in recent years.
According to the Austin Board of Realtors, in 2009, 402 homes priced for less than $10 million sold in the Eanes school district — the most expensive one selling for $4,037,500. In 2008, 404 homes priced for less than $10 million sold. That's 25 percent less than the 542 sold in 2007 and 34 percent less than the 608 homes sold in 2006.
That doesn't sound good, but compare those statistics to homes in the Austin Independent School District.
In 2009, about 4,900 homes listed for less than $10 million sold. That's 51 percent less than the 10,060 sold in 2008; 70 percent less than the 16,522 sold in 2007; and 64 percent less than the 13,671 sold in 2006.
The primary reason for the Eanes district's relative stability, according to residents and real estate agents: The schools. Eanes Independent School District is considered one of the top public school districts in the state. SchoolDigger.com — an online ranking site that covers 120,000 schools around the United States — rates Eanes Elementary 21st among Texas' 3,880 elementary schools and rates Eanes sixth among the state's 948 public school districts. The Austin school district is ranked 579; the Round Rock district, 240. The Texas Education Agency rated Eanes exemplary in 2008-2009, the highest rating. Austin was rated academically acceptable; Round Rock was recognized, the second-highest rating.
"People who are moving to Austin tend to get online and read the stats. And consistently, when out-of-towners call me they say, 'I hear we need to buy in Eanes,'\u2009" says real estate agent Nicole Bell Kessler, who currently is listing a sleek, 3,500-square-foot modern home at 9707 Timber Ridge Pass in Westridge Estates with two master suites and stunning hilltop views for $695,000.
"I'd say that 75 percent of the time, when someone calls from out of town or out of state — from New York or Seattle or Chicago or wherever — they'll say that. Eanes School District is a big factor."
However, Kessler, an agent with Gottesman Residential Realty for 18 years, admits that for some newcomers, especially traditional urbanites, "Westlake can feel a little too country. For some, it's a little too much, or they just don't get it. But many (transplants) want exactly that."
They want that neighbhoody, Mayberry, woodsy feel.
Sarkesian was just such a transplant when she moved to the Westlake area from Chicago 10 years ago. She worked for Dell Inc. at the time, and she and her then-husband wanted to nest in a quiet area with increasing property values and great schools.
They found it in the home she is currently listing with Tosca Gruber, a high-profile agent with Coldwell Banker. Because Sarkesian's son and daughter are approaching graduation age and her former husband still lives in Eanes, Sarkesian is selling the five-bedroom home at 1820 Far Gallant Drive for $1,395,00. in order to downsize and buy a condominium near Lady Bird Lake.
But she says she wouldn't change a thing about her kids' childhoods, which were shaped by their years at Bridgepoint Elementary and now at Westlake High, where one is a freshman and one is a senior. They also went to a private school for a few years.
"I've been in this house 10 years. When we relocated, I knew immediately that we would move into this blue-ribbon school district, period, end of story. My daughter was 6 and my son was 4."
Sarkesian and her former husband didn't look anywhere else. They bought the lot where the current home is and built it from scratch.
"It just fit, it felt right — it's close to downtown, close to a lake," she says. "It seems just very safe, very scheduled, very exact and predictable. It's very suburban.
"This community has a very nice feeling," she says "The people that I know are the people that my children know. It's just very supportive."
According to Kessler, clients often gladly spend additional money to live in Eanes because they have children. Homes in the Eanes district typically cost more per square foot than homes in any other Central Texas school district, while the property taxes are comparable to those of Austin Independent School District at about $1.20 per $100 taxable property value.
The average number of days that homes stay on the market has increased in the past year — 92 to 97 days on average in the first 11 months of 2009 vs. 80 to 81 days in the first 11 months of 2008. But Kessler says Eanes' appeal, especially to families, is unflagging.
"It's people who are trying to make long-term decisions for themselves about where they're going to live and how they're going to raise their families," Kessler says. "They look at the price of private schools and factor that in. I see quite a few who have taken the leap from Central Austin to Eanes because there truly is consistency from elementary to middle school to high school."
As far as the increase in the number of days a home is for sale, Kessler isn't concerned.
"It's comparable to (West Austin's Tarrytown area). When you look at the numbers, in Eanes consistently and Central Austin consistently, there's always something moving."
One family, whose house at 10046 Circleview Drive in Barton Creek West is listed with Mary Lindenberg of Keller Williams Realty for $499,000, says that the only reason they're selling is to upgrade and buy a bigger house within the Eanes school district. Their current home is their third in Eanes.
For downtowners and big-city slickers, this idyllic, lights-out-at-9 district might be a little tame, but for families seeking a like-minded community with great schools, the Eanes area is Mayberry in Austin.
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