About Austin's Great Hills

Austin Texas Open Houses - Dog Day Afternoon In Great Hills

I recently took my clients to see some homes in the Austin Great Hills area. We viewed about five different homes in the neighborhood, but my clients were not too impressed with any of them. As we were driving around the neighborhood we saw an open house, so we stopped to take a look. My clients were impressed - they really liked the front of the home with its custom landscaping and fresh paint. We entered the home and my clients became even more impressed. The home had been staged and they thought the layout of the interior was perfect. They were also admiring the large kitchen and the spacious bedrooms. And don't forget the huge three car garage! We talked for a few minutes about the home and it seemed that this home was the one they were looking for! With all the open houses I've attended, you never know what to expect. But, it looked like we found the perfect home.

Now it was time to check out the backyard. We approached the back door and we were all ready to see the perfect backyard. STOP!

A very large and intimidating dog was standing on the other side of the backdoor. It was a Great Dane and he was waiting to greet us. This dog certainly looked friendly and he was ready to play, but my clients had other ideas. Suddenly, my clients' opinions about the home changed. They briefly looked through the window at the backyard and said, "Let's look at some other homes."

It was an unusual situation, because the hosting agent never said anything about a dog being in the backyard. A bit of a warning would have been appropriate, but perhaps she thought we weren't going to look at the backyard.

It's too bad the sellers didn't know that pets and open houses don't mix. This is the same concept as removing personal items from a home when staging. Always remember to remove the pets when showing a home, too.

So, was the big dog the deciding factor about my clients' decision concerning the home? I guess we'll never know, but it would probably be a good idea to take the dog for a long walk during an open house. And watch out for those big dogs if you ever attend any open houses in Austin Texas !!!

Steve Zarry, Realtor(R)

512-945-3494

http://www.realestateaustinhomes.com/

 I've been hearing everyone talk about the new "Sprouts" Farmers Market located near our office at Great Hills.  Geno has been over there trying to buy up all the naval oranges he can carry!  He's been bringing bags of them to the office to share and I have to admit they are delicious.

I stopped by to see what all the fuss is about and the word is out!  They are located at 10225 Research Blvd. #1000 in Austin, TX 78759 (right by Jason's Deli) ~ open 7am - 10pm.  Check out the video!  They are located in California, Arizona, Colorado and Texas.  If you love fresh produce and more at great prices then you must shop at Sprouts!

What does your office do together to celebrate the holidays? We have a Holiday catered luncheon! Our office has fun and is always ready to plan a party. We love for Alfred to come spoil us with his festive flair and yummy food! Alfred@alfredcatering.com is an amazing chef and party planner.

Our office manager calls in for long tables, has them set with linen cloths (even brightly colored ribbon down the center of each table) in our entry in our office. Alfred sets up an elegant buffet table and serves us one of his many special dishes in our large conference room. This time we feasted on salad, wild rice, a variety of steamed vegetables, ham & turkey with cranberry sauce, bread sticks topped off with his tasty pistachio pudding, Godiva chocolate cookies and brownies!!

The presents for the Austin Children's Shelter are now piling up under the tree...our gift to each other for Christmas!! Next week it will be time to plan an event to get them delivered! I love the Holidays!!

North and Northwest Austin Homes: What you get for the Money- $300,000-$400,000.

In an earlier post, I discussed what you can get for your money in NORTHWEST AUSTIN HOMES: Hunters Chase and Milwood Subdivisions.

Hunters Chase and Milwood are great areas to live and I am a resident there myself. It appeals to first time home buyers as well as couples or small families. As people move up in their career and/or their families grow, they start to think about moving up. This is where we would play the theme for The Jeffersons if this was on TV (Movin' on up...to the East side) Here in Austin, you don't have to move to the East side (unless you want to)***. Many people would like to move to a bigger home or a swankier area or both but still be close to work and the restaurants, shops and schools that their family is used to. Well, Northwest Austin is great for that. Less than five miles from areas that are great neighborhoods for first time home buyers and young families, there are great neighborhoods for move-up families. A move-up family is one or more people that own a home that they would like to sell and purchase a newer and/or bigger and/or fancier home.

Today I am going to focus on three general areas in Northwest Austin that are great for people looking to spend $300,000-$400,000 on a home. We will look briefly at what you can get in the areas of Great Hills, Canyon Creek and Balcones Village. There are other areas with a small concentration of homes in this price range like Balcones Woods and Jester but these are areas that have a good number of homes available in this price range.
Great Hills Austin Homes: This area is Southwest of the intersection of Hwy 183 and Loop 360. The homes are all around the Arboretum area. This area is all about location, location, location.

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North and Northwest Austin Homes: What you get for the Money- $300,000-$400,000.

***If you are interested in Moving on up to the East side, check out a great post by a fellow REALTOR Garreth Wilcock about what you can buy for $300,000-$400,000 in the Mueller Austin Development.
Posted by Brian W Martin REALTOR for The Pinnacle Group of Keller Williams specializing in Assisting People that would like to save money on their Move Up of Homes in Austin, TX