Phil Hutson

Proponents of higher education in Round Rock, Texas, fulfilled their almost 20-year dream last month of bringing a community college to the city with the Austin Community College (ACC) annexation election passing by an overwhelming margin! This is a huge investment for Round Rock and Williamson County, raising the property taxes approximately $200 for the average homeowner, but raising the bar for college students in particular, reducing the tuition paid for Round Rock residents by two-thirds, and giving the local economy in general a huge boost.

Since the election passed, ACC will now move forward with plans to create their largest campus to date in Round Rock for it's 12,000 students - this campus will be ACC's largest overall by over 2000 students. This move will also allow ACC to double it's nursing program, making it the largest nursing program in the Round Rock area, and will open the door for ACC to develop it's new health science and hi-tech center there. The location for the new campus in Northeast Round Rock is the perfect spot from several aspects - three of Round Rock's top 13 employers, Round Rock Medical Center, Scott and White University Medical Center, and Seton Medical Center Williamson, are all located within a couple of miles, and RRISD high school graduates choose ACC by a two-to-one margin over the second-most popular college, the University of Texas. ACC also draws the most graduates from the Pflugerville, Leander/Cedar Park, Westlake, and Manor school districts.

ACCtion for Education co-chair Raymond Hartfield said, "For a lot of students now their education options can be met - we've completed the higher education piece of the puzzle. We now have the opportunity to create a community where young people can graduate from high school and college - right here, and then go to work - right here."

I know as a local Realtor and with a freshman in high school next year, it gives me a lot more reasons to sell Round Rock as a great place to live, and also gives my son a chance to go to college close to home at a much reduced costs!

Austin was named third on the Forbes.com list of the top 10 "Recession-Proof Cities" in the United States. At number three, Austin was right behind San Antonio, which grabbed the second spot thanks to solid employment figures and affordable home prices that continue to rise.

To create the list, the magazine looked at the 50 largest U.S. metros, examining key measures, such as unemployment data, non-farm related job growth, median home prices and data from a 2007 report, "U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis" by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Forbes.com examined unemployment data supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year ending in February 2008 to see which areas are most adding or subtracting jobs. Next, they looked at the BLS data on job growth in non-farm payrolls, through February 2008, for construction, education and health services, financial activities, information, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, natural resources and mining, professional and business services, trade, transportation and utilities, and the BLS's catch-all category, "other services."

They also took into account median home price data from the National Association of Realtors--from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007--to see which areas posted the largest annual gains. Their data didn't account for the impact of declining sales in the first several months of this year.

Finally, their rankings were adjusted using data from a November 2007 report, "U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis," by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It lists each city's estimated gross metropolitan product growth by projecting how rising foreclosures and falling home prices would affect overall levels of productivity in local economies. The Outcome? SUNNY SOUTHERN SKIES!

For its part, Austin was lauded for being a hip town with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

Forbes magazine's list of recession-proof cities also included: Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., Salt Lake City, San Jose, Calif. and Seattle.

Forbes says that Texas cities such as San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth have benefitted from historically lower home prices, land availability and 'little zoning'.

All four Texas cities boast falling unemployment rates, according to Forbes, with Austin dropping from 3.8 percent to 3.6 percent.

To find out more about Austin and why it is such a great place to live, Contact me for a free 350-page Relocation Guide - a comprehensive resource for everything Austin! Table of contents include: Business and Economy (cost of living, top 25 employers, etc.), Education (schools), Healthcare Resources (hospitals/healthcare facilities), Housing (area map, communities), Leisure (museums, theatres, wine tasting, etc.), Lake Living (all about the lakes), Shopping and Dining, and Getting Settled (moving resources, religion, etc.)

An interesting phenomenon started taking place in the home building business around Austin in the late ‘90's that took even some of us old-time REALTORS by surprise - custom home builders started moving BACK to Austin instead of AWAY from it, areas that used to be "too far out" were now becoming "desirable", lots that had been selling for $75,000 began listing for $275,000, and the average age of a custom home buyer in the $1,000,000 range went down from age 60 to age 40! I did an Austin MLS search in 1999 for a client that wanted a new custom home in the $800,000 range and found 39 homes for him to preview. I did a search recently for another client with the same search parameters and found 246 homes for him to preview - and those were just the ones built this year!

Interesting trivia note: in Austin today, there are almost 3 times as many "Custom" Builders (110+) as there are "production" builders (40+)! The Austin custom home buyers market has never been better! Areas such as Barton Creek, Spanish Oaks, Rough Hollow, and Steiner Ranch continue to attract luxury home buyers.

Below is a list of 95 Austin Custom Home Builders currently building in the Austin metro area - I probably left another 20 or so off the list! I have sold some of these Custom Builders' homes and I have seen the completed homes of several others. Because of the current "buyers market" for homes in Austin, some of these custom homes are being heavily discounted, making for some extraordinary purchases!

AUSTIN CUSTOM HOME BUILDERS

Certainly one of the better New Home Builders in the Austin, Texas, area, Newmark Homes has been welcoming families, establishing communities, setting design trends and strengthening the bond between the company and their customers for over 20 years. They have been described as "visionary" by BUILDER magazine and won awards for design, construction and customer service, and are now
among the top 15 single-family builders in the nation.

Newmark offers hundreds of choices in home location, design and amenities. Among some of your many Newmark choices:

• Homes ranging from $110,000 to $600,000
• Elegant and architecturally alluring elements, such as art niches, rocking chair front porches, stone and stucco elevations, porte-cocheres, motor courts and three-car tandem garages
• Versatility in design, with multi-functional spaces that are easily adaptable to meet the demands of growing families and changing lifestyles
• A large array of carpeting, ceramic tile, hardwood flooring, granite countertops, cabinetry and paint colors
• Award-winning energy features including high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, programmable thermostats, continuous soffit and ridge venting, double-paned insulated high-performance low-E windows, and radiant barriers
• Contact me for additional information

DR Horton Homes Hutto
Hutto Town Square
mid $130's - the upper $150's

Hutto Town Square - Affordable housing in fast growing Hutto. Conveniently located within a master-planned community just minutes from all new major highways.

• Walk to Elementary and Middle Schools
• Home Depot, Restaurants and Shopping 1 block from community
• Easy access to SH 130 Toll Road
• Dell Diamond 3.5 miles from community
• HEB Super Store is 4.5 miles from community

DR Horton Homes Hutto
Riverwalk
low $150's - the low $180's

Riverwalk - Hutto's Best Value with Oversized Homesites

• Easy Access to New Toll Roads
• Great Location
• Beautiful Designs

Hutto Texas is an Austin suburb that prides itself on being family oriented. Located in Williamson County, Hutto is part of the greater Austin / Round Rock area. Hutto TX has experienced stellar growth going from a population of 1,250 at the 2000 census to 7,401 in 2005.