South Austin Texas Real Estate blog: July 2009

Felicia's Scrapbooks in Southwest Austin is a very cool store, and not just because it has great air conditioning in our record breaking heat wave here in Texas   this year.Felicia's Scrapbook store has been around awhile.  I have watched it grow and expand until I thought it was going to burst out of the walls.  

Felicia's Scrapbooks Southwest Austin is in the HEB Shopping Center at the Y in Oak Hill.  Now, all you Austinites know that the "Y" means where Hwy 71 and Hwy 290 W. divide.. so go toward the HWY 71 at the Y and the Shopping Center is on your right. 

A couple of years back I was introduced to handmade card making, my daughter is a real scrapbooker, not me, I like simpler and quick.  :)   Anyway, I stumbled across Felicia's Scrapbooks and found a wonderland of supplies and hard to find items.Felicia's has many items the large chain stores do not carry. Unique stamps some just made here in Texas depicting Texas traditions like bluebonnets and the Lone Star and HOWDY YA'LL.   Now that you can not buy at a big chain store!

Felicia is happy to order something for you if it is not on the shelves.  There are classes on scrapbooking and cardmaking regularly.  A few times a year there are "sidewalk garage sales".  I love those, who doesn't love a good sale.  Felicia's Scrapbook Store gets an A+ from me.

When talking to Felicia a while back (she is out on maternity leave right now) I found she was from California, the San Diego area, and had a scrapbooking store there... So Felicia has been at this a long time and knows her way around  retail store and the whole scrapbooking world.

It'sgreat to have a neighborhood specialist to take my unfinished projects to for ideas, suggestions and otherwise great input.  Stop by and check out the large supplies for scrapbooking or card making,  I know you will find the store delightful.   (It can be busy at garage sale times and crowded but worth the wait).

Check the Felicia's Scrapbooks website for store hours for and information.

Felicia writes a great blog about scrapbooking too.

If you are a home buyeror home sellerin Southwest Austin give me a call, I can help you realize your real estate goals.  Gail Tassey, Realtor, 512-127-9482  http://www.austincomeshome.com  working in Circle C, Legend Oaks, Village at Western Oaks, Cherry Creek, Brodie Lane, Tanglewood Forest, Hillcrest or near South Park Meadows. 

Lewis Mountain and the Overlook at Lewis Mountain in Southwest AUSTIN, is such a unique area among a City made up of unique areas and enclaves of idyllic settings for homes.  Lewis Mountain and the Overlook at Lewis Mountain are two almost connecting neighborhoods that are bordered by FM 1826.

Drive thru the area early in the mornings or late afternoon til twilight and you will see the wild deer roaming and grazing across the spacious greenbelts.  Most of the homes here are set on an acre or more and few are completely fenced so it gives a wide open spacious setting. 

Just a few minutes down FM 1826 is the new Southwest Seton Hospital and a short drive of about 8 miles to the South is the Salt Lick Barbecue.  Famous for its tasty sauce and savory pecan pie and the barbeque is always plentiful and fresh and some of the best in Texas.  The Salt Lick has an outdoors arena where live music is playing on the weekends.  One can sit at any of the tables under the canopy and have a cold one (bring your own) and enjoy the music before or after filling up on the Family Style dinners.

Lewis Mountain and the Overlook at Lewis Mountain homes are impressive in size and structure, sweeping front porches, grand entries, many of these homes were built in the 1990's and have very modern interiors. From about 2,200 square feet to over 5,000 square feet.  It is not uncommon to see people outside enjoying the areas greenbelts with hiking or biking.

As the name Lewis Mountain implies there are views to behold, most homes have gorgeous views of hills in the distance.  Just minutes to Escarpment Village off Slaughter Lane or the Y at Oak Hill residents have ample shopping in either direction.  

Looking for a home to buy near Lewis Mountain or to sell your home in Lewis Mountain?  Visit my website and call me..  Gail Tassey @512-217-9482                       http://www.austincomeshome.com

Alta Mira another side of Circle C Ranch, Circle C West located off FM1826 is the beautiful DR Horton area known as West Circle C, or Alta Mira.  Impressive homes with natural stone facades, some mixed with the traditional brick or Texas Native Stone and some with the new Sandstone Look. 

Inside these Alta Mira Homes are just as gorgeous as the exteriors.  Most boast beautiful wood cabinetry,  granite countertops, awsome tiled bathrooms and the master bedroom suites are amazing.  Spacious homes starting in square footage at about 2,380 square feet up to and over 3,130 square feet. 

This part of Circle C West, where the Alta Mira homes are the Grey Rock Golf Course is nearby, and just minutes to the new Seton Southwest Hospital.  Right around the corner is the Y at Oak Hill with an HEB Market and  multiple shopping centers, eateries, cleaners, gyms, Doctors and Dentists.  Just about anything a person would look for to make it convienent.  

Schools in Alta Mira at Circle C West are in the Austin ISD, most of the area is served by Clayton Elementary, Bailey Middle School and Bowie High School.  Always check the address with the school district due to boundary lines change often. 

The community amentities feature jogging and biking paths, playgrounds, community pool and tennis courts. The stately Austin Oak trees are plentiful in the area and the builders have done a good job of placing homes around the trees giving the area an established look.  Some neighborhoods take 20 years to look this green. 

Looking tobe a home buyer or home seller in this great part of Southwest Austin or any area of South Austin give me a call and lets chat about your Real Estate Goals.  Gail Tassey, Realtor®  512-217-9482,  or visit my website at http://www.austincomeshome.com

Mundane Mondays...  how to beat the blues.   Recently Richard Weisser created several new groups here in the Rain, in order to help Richard get these new groups off the ground I am doing my best to help fill the emptyness.

Mondays are not mundane for me.... see my old post about how fabulous I think Mondays are.. but today I must be in the dog days of summer because I am not motivated to move, not motivated to do much, I need to go take some fresh photos today of a couple of neighborhoods I want to blog about.  I need to take the car to be washed since its been dry and dusty here lately.  Oh, wait, maybe rain tonight?  No car wash. 

I should gather up my notes from my Open House yesterday and put them in order and get ready for next Sundays Open House, I have some of the neighbors inviting their friends to come out and talk about the $8,000 Tax Credit, so follow up on that.  I should take my grandsons to lunch today.  They have been gone most of the summer on vacation and the older one is leaving again this weekend with his mom to tour Universitys in the Eastern US. 

So, what is Mundane about Monday?  Not much here, and now that I have created my TO DO list, I am off TO DO and thats how you beat the Monday Blues.  A to do list is a great inspiration for me because when I cross off just ONE THING, I know the day wasn't wasted. 

Village at Western Oaks an established community in Southwest Austin.  Driving down Mopac (Loop 1) if you exit at William Cannon, go west just a bit to Escarpment and turn left then just down the Escarpment past Convict Hill you enter into Village at Western Oaks.

The Village at Western Oaks has stately and modest homes that share a commonality like brick facades, Traditional Texas Stone, and many grand Oak trees.  I have been told that Austin has 7 different types of Oak Trees.  Many are a hundred years old with sprawling branches that yearn to touch the ground and spreading around a diameter of 4 feet.  In the Village at Western Oaks builders built around the groves of oak trees, making the neighborhood seem to be much older than it is.  

Built from the early 1980's thru 2003 this area boasts a great school system, a part of the Austin ISD, with several school being rated as blue ribbon.  Many community parks, some HOA and the Dick Nichols Park and Recreation Area is operated by the City of Austin and free for anyones use. 

Driving down Escarpment at almost any time of the day one sees people outside just "doing" and enjoying the Texas outdoors.  Riding bicycles, walking dogs, pushing strollers and jogging along.  Activity is common in this community.  People walk to the supermarket. Hike and Bike trails are numerous throughout this community with built in greenbelts.

Let me expand on the HEB supermarket. It has a real international style with aisles of food from various countries, you can walk down the Aisle for Asian food and find coconut milk, Mexican food and find great chilies, Kosher aisle and find real kosher ingredients, not to mention the fresh produce and fish areas, plus something is always cooking with the onsite chefs showing you how to make a new or fresh meal tonight.  I recently took a friend who was visiting from out of state to make a market run with me and she was amazed at the variety of foods in this one store. 

Also in the Escarpment Village Shopping center is a video store with all the new releases, a sandwich shop, a bank, dry cleaners and across the street are restaurants, an animal hospital, massage therapy and salon, and a delicious Ice Cream shop, let us not forget the ever popular Starbucks Coffee with a drivethru.

Homes in Villages at Western Oaks are sought after for the lifestyle, the awesome floorplans, the school district, the community overall.  Prices in this area remain steady and currently range from $200,000 -$300,000 depending on square footage, which ranges from 1,400 square feet to 3,200 square feet. (stats from the Austin Board of Realtors July 2009).

Living in Southwest Austin, I am familiar with the Village at Western Oaks, I would be happy to help you with your Real Estate Goals, buying or selling in South or Southwest Austin Texas, call me and let me help you.  Gail Tassey, Realtor®, 512-217-9482 or visit my website http://www.austincomeshome.com

Cherry Creek off Brodie Lane is convienent to everything in South Austin.  This is a great part of South Austin.  Unlike the Cherry Creek off Wm Cannon, this section is newer, with very modern home, wonderful trees everywhere and access to 2 parks. Just 2 miles to Mo-Pac Expressway for easy access to downtown Austin.

Cherry Creek off Brodie Lane is just around the corner from the Randal's supermarket, Maudie's Tex Mex Restaurant, (and who doesn't like Maudie's?), and just a short hop, skip and jump up Brodie is the Lowe's Home Store, Michael's, Old Navy, Fire Bowl Cafe, TJ Maxx, and World Market. Too many shops to visit in one day within a 5 minute drive.  From the boutiques to the thrift store while shopping on Brodie Lane you can find it all.

The homes in Cherry Creek off Brodie Lane were built by Milburn and range in size from 1,500 square feet to just over 2,700 square feet and the average prices start about $215,000 to $270,000. Check with your Realtor for current sales statistics and availability.  Exteriors are the Traditional Texas white stone or soft shades of red brick on 3 sides with a Hardyplank type siding on the rear.  Backyard are spacious and the Austin Oak trees are abundant for plenty of shade during Texas summer heat.

The Cherry Creek off Brodie area has an active HOA and the deed restrictions are online for viewing before you buy.  Please check to make sure the those online are the most current.  The parks have built-in picnic areas for family enjoyment and community activity is fun for all.  Just a short drive to Beckett Rd is Dick Nichols Park with its exceptional swimming pool, tennis courts, and huge barbeque area for all sorts of fun gathering.

In this part of South Austin the Austin ISD is the school district and Bowie High School, Covington Middle School and Cowan elementary are the current schools serving the area.  Please be sure to check the boundaries as school boundaries can and do change.

If you are interested in selling your home or buying a home in SOUTH AUSTIN,  give me a call and I can help you.   Gail Tassey, Realtor® 512-217-9482.  Call about the $8,000 Tax Credit and the LIMITED TIME offer to TEXANS from the State of Texas that lets you use the tax credit to PURCHASE your home. 

Clean House the TV Show has become a real favorite of mine.  For a few reasons, Neicy Nash is a very funny and straight talking lady.  She can tell someone to get this "stuff" out of here and make them like it.

If you haven't seen Clean House, it is an incredible show ..  the cast and crew visit a viewer that is innundated with clutter.  like a worst nightmare of clutter, can't get to the bed in the bedroom clutter, stumbling over everything in the garage clutter.  (Selected homes have requested the visit).

The crew, Neicy Nash the hostess of the show, Mark Brunetz the designer, Matt Iseman the "GOTOGUY", and Trish Suhr the garage sale DIVA are work together to clean out the clutter and then they have a neighborhood garage sale, use the money gained to redo some of the rooms in the house.

An after picture is where we all want to live.  Designed for each family with that family's taste and flavor and flair.  Talk about staging to the utmost.  Its done!  Wow.  30 minutes of great ideas and tips, Im thinking all sellers need to watch 5 or 10 hours of this show to see what it means to get a house ready to sell.  Although the show is not to sell a home the finished result is definitely what you want a home to be when you do put it on the market to sell.

Are you a home seller or homebuyer in South Austin? If you are thinking of selling your SOUTH AUSTIN home, call me.. I also work with Buyers .. I can help YOU realize your Real Estate goals.  Visit my website for details.  Gail Tassey, Realtor® 512-217-9482

Hillcrest homes in South Austin is a family affair.  Large homes with spacious backyards on tree lined streets, driving thru the Hillcrest neighborhood one see bright flowers in neatly trimmed flowerbeds, children playing and the pride of ownership reflects in this wonderful area.

Just minutes to Downtown Austin where the nightlife is varied with music of all sorts and kinds on the famous 6th Street, or the busy Capitol of Texas where the business of the State of Texas is conducted and tours take place daily.  The Capitol is a sight to behold for most proud Texans, it swells the heart with pride and almost brings a tear to your eyes when you tour the building and see the portraits of all those who came before you and fought to make this a home for all.  The ancestors of Texas.  History is rich here.

Hillcrest homes are just around the corner to the large SouthPark Meadows Shopping Center, everything one could want is at SouthPark Meadows, food, clothing from JC Penneys, a super Target Store,a TGIFridays, just to name a few and one of my favorite movie complexes in the area, the Cinemaplex with the latest sound system and digital movies and seat as comfortable as your recliner at home.

Hillcrest homes are of the medium price range, many were built by KB Homes and have those huge closets that KB Homes are famous for putting in their designs.  Who doesn't love a big closet in each bedroom?  Without the granite and travertine upgrades these homes are very affordable for the average family.  Prices range from $169,000 to the low $300,000 with sizes range from 2,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet.

The Hillcrest Community Center offers a swimming pool and park for the residents usage.  Minutes of their meetings can be found at the website for further information about the area

Ready to sell your Hillcrest home?  Purchase a new home in Hillcrest? Call me and let's chat about your real estate goals.  I know and work South Austin homes.  Hillcrest, Oak @ Slaughter Creek, South Park Meadows, visit my website for details.  Where Austin Comes Home.  Gail Tassey, Realtor® 512-217-9482

Vintage Place is a unique part of Circle C Ranch here in Austin Texas, while much of Circle C Ranch is reknown for its large brick and stone facades the homes in Vintage Place are to a throw back era, when Austin was a smaller City.

Vintage Place homes in Circle C Ranch have exteriors of Hardee Plank Siding remininsece of a day gone by of old Downtown Austin.  Drive thru the meandering streets of old Downtown Austin and you will see some of these types of homes on Castle Park Drive and nearby streets.

This enclave of homes has its own park with swing sets for the children and good walking areas for everyone, driving down the streets of Vintage Place one is reminded of the old town America where you see children on bicycles riding down the streets.

While the flavor of the community of Vintage Place in Circle C is oldtime the interiors are not..  one sees hardwood flooring, travertine tiles, granite countertops, stainless appliances, all the amentities you would expect to see in a home built after 2000.  This area was developed by Capital Pacific Homes the homes are ranging in size from 2,300 square feet to just over 3,800 square feet.

With the new Escarpment Village very nearby for Shopping at the nearby HEB market with its aisles of International menu items or eating out at Waterloo Ice House or the Satelitte Cafe or delivery of some of the finest pizza around at Mangieri's Pizza Cafe, everything is at your fingertips here.  A part of the Circle C HOA including the Circle C Swim Center has one of the only heated Junior Olympic Pools in this part of Texas. Homes in the Vintage Place at Circle C Ranch do not stay on the market very long.  Its a unique looking part of the community and a wonderful place to raise your family.

For more information about buying or selling your home in Vintage Place in Circle C Ranch call me or visit my website Http://www.austincomeshome.com     Gail Tassey, Realtor, 512-217-9482 

The video tour is of many neighborhoods in South Austin, it gives you a tiny taste of what to expect or what to see in my neck of the woods. Call me if you wish to find a home in any of these or other neighborhoods in South Austin Texas. I live here, I work here and I can help you discover the South Austin flavor.