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Home & Property

Local home & property news and services in Austin, TX.

Home & Property — page 2

How to Read the FEMA Flood Map for Your Austin Property Before You Buy

FEMA's national map is the starting point. Austin's own floodplain viewer is where the real story lives. Most buyers never check it.

By James Hartley ·
How to Read the FEMA Flood Map for Your Austin Property Before You Buy

What Home Improvements Actually Add Resale Value in Central Texas

With inventory up and the seller's-market free pass gone, here's what local agents and Austin MLS data say before you spend a dollar on pre-listing renovations.

By Diana Park ·
What Home Improvements Actually Add Resale Value in Central Texas

Why Austin Homeowners Insurance Rates Keep Climbing and What You Can Do About It

Carrier pullbacks, back-to-back hail seasons, and soaring rebuild costs have pushed premiums up 30–60% since 2021. What Austin homeowners need to know, ZIP code by ZIP code.

By James Hartley ·
Why Austin Homeowners Insurance Rates Keep Climbing and What You Can Do About It

How Austin's University of Texas Area Lease Market Works for Renters This Summer 2026

If you're searching for an August apartment near UT Austin right now and feeling like you missed something, you're not entirely wrong. The West Campus inventory most students want has been largely …

By Diana Park ·
How Austin's University of Texas Area Lease Market Works for Renters This Summer 2026

What $450K Actually Buys in Leander or Cedar Park Right Now

From school district boundary traps to MetroRail math, here's the side-by-side breakdown families need before they sign.

By Diana Park ·
What $450K Actually Buys in Leander or Cedar Park Right Now

What Kyle, Pflugerville, and Hutto Actually Cost After Taxes, HOAs, Tolls, and Closing Day Surprises

The listing shows $380,000. The builder's sales counselor hands you a payment worksheet. The number looks manageable. Then you close. Six months later, the escrow adjustment letter arrives, and you…

By Diana Park ·
What Kyle, Pflugerville, and Hutto Actually Cost After Taxes, HOAs, Tolls, and Closing Day Surprises

Which Austin HOA Communities Have the Highest Fees and What You Get for Them

From Steiner Ranch to Mueller to Falcon Pointe, we tracked the fee structures, documented the cost drivers since 2022, and examined which amenities actually justify the bill — and which don't.

By James Hartley ·
Which Austin HOA Communities Have the Highest Fees and What You Get for Them

How to Prepare Your Austin HVAC System for Summer Heat

Austin summers don't ease up gradually. They arrive fast, stay long, and punish any mechanical weakness in your home with compounding urgency. By the time you notice your house struggling to hold t…

By James Hartley ·
How to Prepare Your Austin HVAC System for Summer Heat

How Austin's Expanding Flood Zones Are Hitting Homeowners' Insurance and Mortgages

A neighborhood-by-neighborhood guide to where the lines are moving, what it costs, and what you can do about it

By James Hartley ·
How Austin's Expanding Flood Zones Are Hitting Homeowners' Insurance and Mortgages

What Austin's ADU Rules Actually Allow and What It Really Costs to Build One

The HOME ordinance rewrote the backyard cottage math. Here's a plain-language breakdown of the new setback rules, real permit timelines, current contractor costs, and the short-term rental question…

By James Hartley ·
What Austin's ADU Rules Actually Allow and What It Really Costs to Build One

What a Summer Home Inspection in Austin Should Catch That Others Miss

Buying a house in Central Texas in July or August means you're closing during the worst heat of the year, which most buyers experience as a nuisance. The smarter frame: summer is actually the most …

By James Hartley ·
What a Summer Home Inspection in Austin Should Catch That Others Miss

How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost in Austin and Does Your House Really Need It

From Blackland Prairie geology to per-pier pricing, a ground-level guide for Austin homeowners

By James Hartley ·
How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost in Austin and Does Your House Really Need It

Where Austin Home Prices Are Rising and Falling in 2026

A home in Bouldin Creek goes under contract in under three weeks. A comparable resale in Cedar Park sits for two months. Two streets over from that Cedar Park house, a DR Horton subdivision is adve…

By Diana Park ·
Where Austin Home Prices Are Rising and Falling in 2026

How Austin's Three Property Tax Caps Work and What Each One Actually Does to Your Bill

TCAD appraises your home at one value, taxes you on another, and the state just added a third layer. A Travis County homeowner's real bill shows how it works—and where the protection runs out.

By Sarah Okonkwo ·
How Austin's Three Property Tax Caps Work and What Each One Actually Does to Your Bill
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