Atimes4

I am not a realtor. I do marketing and real estate research...because of this, I moved to East Austin less than one month ago. I sold my home next to Mueller in order to do so... more on that in a second
If you love architecture run, don't walk, to Agave which is at MLK and 183. The top architects in Austin were chosen to design green-built homes on site-specific lots and they are amazing...East Austin does make them more affordable but the key to increasing your equity and continually moving up in home worth each time you sell is to go where things are about to explode due to positive buzz, not to move there afterwards.
A good rule of thumb is to locate areas that are being renovated as "artsy" or "hip" yet have lower taxes and prices due to not yet being totally revamped...artists move in, then it's trendy, then wealthier people move to trendy areas, then values increase..(think Soco in New York as the best known example) .East Austin is at the cusp of this...it fits every element and, with areas 5 minutes from downtown...well, you do the math. Did I move to Agave from Mueller? you bet. Our last home in Mueller doubled in price and we plan on doing that again. Things are all coming TO this area of East Austin and many others. Ideally, if you get there right before them, you'll be a smart investor in an area you'll enjoy immensely. For us, an additional benefit in Agave was that the super thick insulation, low E windows and other energy efficient features dropped our electrical bill from 400.00 per month in our older home that we just renovated...to a 50.00 bill. Seriously... - Mon May 19 2008, 13:38