Sunday's I try to do a little catch up reading from the Statesman website to see if there are any articles of interest that I missed during the week.

Here are a couple related to the ever-growing Austin market and real estate:

Cedar Park's first major retail center to open next year - If Cedar Park were a stock, and I was a stock analyst, I would have Cedar Park rated a strong buy right now.  Value priced, hit pretty good during our 'downturn' of 2000-2004, and poised with all sorts of positive signs showing its about to starting a nice ride up.  I have quite a few thoughts here, but I have to save some of them for my clients.

Last big development in Sunset Valley - Homes and retail.  Gee, starting to see a trend here in the Austin area!  Sunset Valley has seen tremendous growth over the past decade, including substantial retail development.  It's located in Southwest Austin near the Brodie and 290W area.  As the article mentions, there are only 475 residents actually in Sunset Valley (which is its own incorporated area), but there are more than 91,500 people living within 3 miles of Sunset Valley.  If you live in Southwest Austin, possibly in Legend Oaks, Western Oaks or Travis Country, and you need one of the big box retailers, chances are you can find them at that corner of Brodie and 290W.

First apartments for Mueller - Personally, this will be one of the more interesting projects to see take place over the next few years - the building on the old Robert Mueller (pronounced Miller, just so you know).  I've been getting quite a few clients who have been interested in the areas surrounding the old airport, such as University Hills and Vintage Hills, and its really starting to develop a cool, funky, yet affordable, vibe.  There are some very solid pockets within University Hills and Vintage Hills and the age of the houses is such that it's fairly similar to those areas running just north of Hyde Park, such as Allandale, Crestview and Skyview, but a little more affordable.  The mixed use plan for the old airport, hopefully, will add to the funky vibe.

Gas prices drive up Realtor's costs - Hmmmm, you probably don't care about this one as much as I do, do you? Ha ha.  I will say this though - this was the second thought (the cost of gas) I had after an experience this afternoon.  I had someone call last night on a listing I have in Round Rock and I set an appointment with them today at 2:30 to show them the home, on behalf of my seller.  I arrived at 2:25 and waiting until 2:55.  I left a message for the caller, and I want to believe the best of people, but after I had rearranged my day, thus missing out on a few hours with my family, and spent about $6 in gas getting there and back, it was a gentle reminder of how much I appreciate simple considerations, the fantastic referrals from my clients and friends, and how I need to continue to pre-screen.  So much of my business is from referrals from my past clients that there is an inate sense of trust right from the start and I know that I tend to carry that over to people who aren't referrals.

If you'd like more information about any of the areas that I have mentioned, or are mentioned in the articles, including Cedar Park, Sunset Valley, Legend Oaks, Western Oaks, Travis Country, University Hills, Vintage Hills, Hyde Park, Allandale, Crestview and Skyview, please feel free to contact me directly at Brink@WestElmProperties.com or you can use the contact page here!