Home Buyers

Pictured above: Aerial view of a Cedar Park neighborhood 2020 

Cedar Park is currently the fastest growing Austin suburb. Since the large population surge following the 2020 pandemic, Cedar Park continues to see residents move in from all over the country. The 2023 population came in at just over 86,000 with an annually growth percentage of 3.44%.

Current Cedar Park residents report that top-rated schools, job opportunity, and cost of living are just a few of the many reasons they choose to call this area home. While the demand for homes in Cedar Park remains high, the housing market has slowed down enough to offer buyers who were previously on the fence about facing high home prices and multiple offer situations, a window of opportunity to shop options with more buying power than...

Pictured above: Austin, TX skyline | 2022

Austin is home to 130+ condo communities and high-rises. Since the 2020 mass migration to the Austin area, condos have become increasingly popular. Today, the demand for condos within close proximity to downtown, The Domain and business districts continue to rise and new condo developments are seen popping up all over the Austin-metropolitan area.

Some of Austin’s top condo communities include:

1. 1010 West 10
2. 360 Condos
3. Austin Proper
4. The Austonian
5. The Independent
6. The Loren at Ladybird Lake - Recently opened!

In addition to the downtown area, South and East Austin have also seen a climb in condo demand as well as areas...

Pictured above: Omni Barton Creek Resort | Austin, TX

Austin is home to over 40 private and public golf courses with picturesque views and golfing weather nearly year round. The high number of top-rated courses in the Austin-area has attracted retirees from all over the country as well as families seeking a close-knit community with activities and events for all ages. 

Culhane Properties specializes in golf home communities! We are here to walk you through each golf course community, club memberships, local lifestyle and beyond. In fact, some of our agents not only specialize in golf communities, they live there!

Here are 3 Culhane Premier Properties featured golf home listings: 

9409 Lisi Anne Drive | Avery Ranch Golf Community

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Mortgage rates and the Austin real estate market have been hot and somewhat unpredictable over the past 2 years. This has left many homebuyers scratching their heads about when to buy a home and what kind of mortgage they should purchase. With the current surplus of inventory and dropping home prices, NOW is the time to buy a home in a the Austin area. 

Getting  pre-approved for a mortgage is the smartest thing to do before shopping for your new home. Fortunately, Culhane Properties has an incredible lending partner, Lendplicity Mortgage to assist our clients through the mortgage process and keep us up to date on mortgage trends and where they are headed.  

Lendplicity Mortgage Sr. Loan officer, Cord Slocum, weighs in on current mortgage rates and how buyers are taking advantage of the current Austin real estate market to purchase a home. ...

Congratulations, you have decided to purchase a home! But what now?

Buying a home should be an enjoyable and exciting experience, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. When choosing a real estate agent, who you choose to hire is incredibly important to ensure that you’re getting the most positive experience and your desired results. Our team at Culhane Properties has the experience and support to serve our clients at the highest level.  

When you are purchasing a home for the first time, here is what you can expect.

Step 1: Hire a real estate professional to represent and guide you through the home buying process

Step 2: Get Pre-approved with a mortgage lender. It is always best to know how much home you can afford before going out and shopping for a property

Step 3: Begin the house hunt! Discuss...

Are you worried about the upcoming negotiations that will take place when it’s time to buy your new home in San Antonio? Having an agent behind you that knows what they are doing is going to be a real asset to you as you not only locate a home that suits your family but also as you try to peg down that home and strike up a deal with the seller.

Bidding wars sometimes take effect when you have a seller’s market and the inventory is lower than the number of buyers that inevitably fight over the current options. When you’ve found your dream home, you don’t want to be left scrambling to try to win over a seller. Take a look at some strategies you can use that will be effective if you find yourself in a bidding war for your dream home in San Antonio.

OFFER TO PAY IN ALL CASH

Another strategy you could try is to offer to pay for the home as...

When you’re preparing to buy a new home this year, you may come across some terms you haven’t heard or used before. One of these terms that may come into play is “seller disclosures.” Fortunately, your real estate agent is going to guide you through the process and will be able to explain things like these as they come up along the way.

You won’t have to worry about missing an important detail or misunderstanding anything as you would when you try to navigate this process alone. Instead, your real estate agent will be able to make sure you’ve been informed on any seller’s disclosures before you go into a home that could have a defect or problem. Take a closer look at what this term means.

What is a seller disclosure?

Seller disclosures are available...

Now that you’re in the process of buying a home in San Antonio, you are likely navigating your way around new terminology and learning the ins and outs of the real estate world. While you’ll see terms you’ve heard before, there may be some areas of discussion that you don’t know as much about and that’s why having an agent along with you from the start will make it easier than ever to navigate the process.

One of the conversations you are likely going to need to be clarified is understanding the differences between APR and interest rates since these terms are often mixed up as being the same when they are actually different. When it comes to lending on a home, you’ll want to know the difference between your interest rates and your APRs.

What is the interest rate?

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Have you stopped to ask yourself why so many Texans are moving from their hometowns around the state to live in the ever-popular city of Austin? While the entire state of Texas is truly a United States gem, there is something drawing other Texans to move here.

Not only is it so different from the rest of the state, but its unique weirdness is what other Texans are wanting to become a part of. Along with the motto “Keep Austin Weird,” you’ll find some other reasons why Texans, and frankly people around the country, want to move here and become a part of the community. Take a look at the reasons why people are leaving areas like Houston and Dallas to become Austinites.  

Job opportunities

If you find yourself moving here for a career opportunity, it’s not surprising....

In part 3 of our series, we’ll be taking a look at which schools made the cut for the best high schools in Austin for 2019. If you are moving to Austin or plan to enroll your children in high school sometime soon, this will help you to see which school ranked the highest and which ones weren’t far behind.

Austin is already known for having great schools, and this will show you options in all of the main school districts so that you can figure out which area you want to live or which schools to look for in your district. Take a look at the best high schools for 2019.

Eanes ISD

Start with Eanes ISD, you’ll have one school that made the list for...

Our series continues as we now look at the top middle schools for Austin this year. The first installment looked at the best elementary schools in Austin. If you have children that will need to be enrolled in middle school soon, there are a few schools that have outperformed the rest in each district.

We’ll take a look at all of the better schools for the districts of Austin, Eanes, Round Rock, Leander, and Lake Travis, and then let you know who is scoring the highest for 2019. This may help you determine what area of town you may want to make your relocation to Austin or give you an idea of where to get the kids enrolled if you are new to the area.

Round Rock ISD

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For families that are new to the Austin area, you may be eagerly preparing to enroll your little ones into school for the first time since moving here.   This means that you will likely be looking into the different options and which schools excel above the rest.

The good news is that you can follow this series of the best schools in Austin for 2019 before your move to Austin or before you enroll, in order to make sure that you are choosing schools and the school district that suits your family. Take a look first at the best elementary schools for 2019 in Austin.

Austin ISD

First, we’ll take a look at the schools found in the Austin ISD....

Even though you plan to move to Austin, it doesn’t mean you have to choose a home right in the center of the city. There are many great small towns just outside of Austin that gives you access to this great city.

These small towns make it easy to have the best of both worlds; a quiet and spacious piece of Texas and city life just a short drive away. While the city has a small town feel despite its growth, the population of the metro area is close to one million people. If you prefer a slower lifestyle when you’re not at work or exploring the city, check out these cool small towns close by.

Driftwood

The first neighborhood on this list to take note of near Austin is Driftwood; a neighborhood just 30 minutes away from downtown Austin. There is a huge variety of price points here starting at $200k for homes and going up to $2.4 million but on average homes...

There are plenty of older homes for sale in San Antonio. When it's time to buy a home and you prefer something with character, it's important to hire the right real estate agent. A good agent will know what to look for when buying an older home.

Even with a good agent, you should know what to look for, as well. Here are some of the top things to look for whenever you decide to buy an older home.

The Foundation

If the foundation isn't in good shape, it could mean disaster. Many historic homes were built with stone foundations, which are very strong. Often, mortar was used between the stones, which may not be as strong. Make sure you have a thorough foundation inspection done if you plan to buy a home with a stone foundation.

When it’s time for your family to buy a new home, you expect many different costs to come up. You have the initial down payment, the realtor’s fees, and the moving costs that are all pretty straightforward and expected expenses.

What about the costs that you weren’t expecting? Are there going to be things that come up that you didn’t realize were a part of the process? From new furniture to maintenance, here is a look at some unexpected expenses to be prepared for when you buy a new home.

Furniture

While you’re probably going to be moving with some furniture you already own, that furniture is not always going to work in the new home. many times the furniture doesn’t quite fit the space right or doesn’t fit the style of the home you’ve purchased.

In part of one of our series, we looked at what it would take to begin the process of home buying in Austin as a first-time homebuyer guide. Now we will look at part 2 which will dive further into what the process looks like starting at the 6-month mark of home buying through the conclusion of the process at 12 months. Take a look at how the process continues and concludes to the day of arriving in your dream home!

6 months into the process

Now that you’ve worked on the numbers, dreamt up your needs versus wants list for a home, house hunted online,...

Are you moving to the Austin area and will be new to the area? This is a very exciting time for you as a family finding your first home and also to get to be a part of one of the most popular parts of the country right now. This area is growing and thriving as people are flocking here for the opportunities, the weather, and the personality.

You’ll love doing life here in Austin and that can happen for you as soon as you find that first dream home and make your official move. Since this is a large process, we are here to help you figure out how to navigate it from point A to Z. Take a look at Part 1 to first-time home buying in Austin to learn how to start the process.

The first month of home buying

The assumption is that you’ll be ...

You're ready to find your dream home in Austin, but you're a bit worried. It's a big deal and even if you've purchased a home in the past, finding your dream home takes it to a whole new level.

When it's time to start shopping for a home, it can quickly become overwhelming. You'll get opinions from everybody you know and it can be hard to sift through everybody's advice to find what you really want. Here are a few things to consider when buying your dream Austin home.

Why are You Buying a Home in Austin?

Before you go any further, you need to consider why you want to buy a home in Austin. Whether you've lived in Austin all your life or you're relocating to the area, it's important to really think about this question as buying a home is a huge undertaking.

Most commonly, people...