Austin home buying, answered straight.

New construction gets you current codes, builder warranties, and energy efficiency, but base prices rarely include landscaping, blinds, or upgrades, and build timelines can slip. Resale gets you established trees, negotiated price, and a known neighborhood, but you inherit the prior owner's systems and finishes. In many Austin-area master-planned communities both exist side by side, so the real question is your timeline, your tolerance for decisions, and how the all-in numbers compare once upgrades are added.

Most builders write on their own contract, not the standard TREC resale form, and those terms favor the builder — on earnest money, change orders, completion dates, and which inspections are allowed. Deposits are often larger and design-center selections can be non-refundable. Having your own representation review the builder's paperwork before you sign is the single most useful thing a buyer can do here.

Yes. New does not mean flawless — independent inspections routinely find HVAC, roofing, grading, and trade-work issues a buyer would otherwise discover after move-in. Many buyers inspect twice: once before drywall (a pre-drywall inspection) and once at final walkthrough, so problems are documented while the builder is still obligated to fix them.

Many newer master-planned communities sit in a Municipal Utility District (MUD) or carry a Public Improvement District (PID) assessment that funded the water, roads, and amenities. Those add to your tax bill, so two homes at the same price can have very different monthly payments. Always look at the total tax rate for the specific address, not just the list price, and ask whether MUD rates are expected to decline as the district's debt is paid down.

It depends on commute, schools, budget, and lifestyle — the Hill Country west and southwest, the growth corridors north toward Georgetown and Leander, and the east side all offer very different trade-offs. Rather than chase a name, we start from how you actually live and narrow from there. That's what three decades in these communities is for.

On a resale, the option period (your negotiated window to inspect and walk away) comes first, then financing, appraisal, and title work run in parallel toward closing — often four to six weeks. On new construction the clock is the build schedule, which can be months, with your rate and financing needing to hold or be re-locked near completion. We map the specific dates for your deal so nothing surprises you.

An appraisal gap is the difference when a home appraises below the agreed price — lenders lend against the appraisal, so the buyer has to cover the gap in cash or renegotiate. In hot stretches of the Austin market, gap coverage became a common way buyers competed. Whether it's worth doing depends on the property and your finances; it's a decision to make deliberately, never by reflex.

Beyond the down payment, expect lender fees, title and escrow fees, survey, appraisal, prepaid insurance and property taxes, and HOA or community transfer fees. As a rough planning figure many buyers set aside a few percent of the price, but the real number depends on your loan and the property. Your lender's Loan Estimate and the title company's figures are the authoritative sources.

Yes — in Texas you can protest your appraised value each year with the county appraisal district (Travis, Hays, Williamson, depending on where you land), and many owners do. A recent arm's-length purchase price, comparable sales, and condition issues are the usual evidence. The homestead exemption, filed after you move in, also reduces the taxable value on your primary residence.

Ignore single headlines and look at inventory, days on market, and price-per-square-foot trends for your specific submarket — Austin is many markets, and a close-in neighborhood can behave nothing like a growth-corridor suburb. We'd rather show you the data for the areas you're considering than quote a citywide average that describes none of them.

The friendly person in the model home works for the builder. Having your own broker costs you nothing extra in the typical deal and means someone is reading the contract, tracking the build, and negotiating upgrades and credits on your side of the table. This is exactly the kind of transaction where representation earns its keep.

More than three decades guiding buyers specifically through Austin new construction and Hill Country master-planned communities, and a two-broker partnership with Mary Fields so someone who knows your deal is always reachable. We work from how people actually buy homes here — not a script. Start a conversation whenever you're ready.