Prepare your Austin home for winter with these essential tips for protecting your property during a freeze. Learn how to cover hose bibs, wrap exposed pipes, check crawl spaces for insulation, and keep faucets dripping to prevent freezing. Stay ahead of the cold and avoid costly repairs with our expert winterization guide.

Discover the essential steps to take when moving into your new home, from changing locks and setting up utilities to personalizing your space and building community connections. This guide ensures a smooth transition while highlighting how Open House Austin’s expert agents can make your homebuying journey stress-free and successful.

Explore a creative homeownership strategy where buyers live in the main part of a single-family home and rent out a portion, typically a suite with a bathroom, as a short-term rental. This clever approach allows homeowners to offset mortgage payments by generating rental income without purchasing a multi-family property, making homeownership more affordable. The blog highlights the benefits of this strategy, including financial flexibility, tax advantages, and maximizing space, while offering tips on how to get started.

The Right@Home loan program by Cadence Bank helps underserved buyers, including low to moderate-income individuals and those in minority communities, achieve homeownership. With no down payment, no mortgage insurance, and below-market rates, this program is perfect for Austin buyers looking to purchase homes up to $766,550. Learn more about how Open House Austin can help!​

Buying a home with friends is becoming a popular trend in Austin, offering a creative solution to rising home prices and wealth-building opportunities. However, challenges like conflicting expectations, differing financial goals, and legal complications can arise. Despite the potential pitfalls, buying a house with friends can build equity, strengthen friendships, and serve as a stepping stone toward your dream home. Proper planning, legal agreements, and open communication are key to making it a success in Austin’s thriving real estate market.

Learn How to Drain Your Water Heater in this step-by-step guide perfect for homeowners, real estate investors, and first-time homebuyers. Regular water heater maintenance can extend the life of your system, prevent costly repairs, and improve efficiency. In this quick tutorial, we’ll show you how to safely and effectively drain your water heater, a simple task that can save you money and boost your property’s value.

Whether you’re a first-time buyer trying to cover your mortgage, a homeowner looking to maximize your property’s potential, or an investor seeking new income streams, adding a tiny home could be your solution. Tiny homes offer a flexible, cost-effective way to create passive income or add valuable space to your property without the expense of upsizing.

This post delves into the recent decline in Austin home prices since their peak in 2022, offering a hopeful perspective. While prices have dropped, they are simply returning to pre-pandemic levels, making the market more stable and affordable. Discover why this correction is a positive development and why Austin’s real estate future remains bright.

If you’re considering buying a home in today’s market, you might be wondering if it’s the right time and you may be hearing that it DEFINITELY ISN’T. Be careful who you listen to! There’s always someone shouting loudly that it’s a bad time to buy, regardless the market. With higher interest rates, low competition, and numerous opportunities for under-list offers, the current real estate landscape offers several advantages for savvy buyers. Here’s why you should consider making a move now.

Discover the ultimate guide to house hacking in Austin, Texas! Learn how to generate rental income by renting out parts of your property. This blog covers everything from finding the perfect property and understanding local regulations to financing tips and tenant management. Plus, explore how Open House Austin offers workshops and free 1:1 consultations to help you succeed.

The buzz revolves around a slight yet significant tweak in how commissions are presented and the handling of closing costs. Despite the flurry of opinions and headlines, it's essential to note that these changes are still in the pipeline, with nothing set in stone until July 2024.

I'm Holly, the Marketing Director here at Open House Austin. Today, I'm excited to share my journey of converting a room in my home into a separate rental space for Airbnb. It's a clever strategy we like to call the "sneaky duplex."

I want you to consider how you’ll pitch the idea of partnering on real estate to friends, family members - maybe even co-workers! At this point, you may have some simple answers as well. For example: “I have $15K that I plan to contribute toward the down payment.” Or, “I’d like to find a property with a tiny home to Airbnb out in the back…”

At Open House Austin, we help people buy houses every day - especially first-time buyers who might find the process intimidating. We’ve each been in your shoes! And that’s why we’re so focused on education and creative home-buying strategy. With that in mind…

I’m here to share insights on effectively navigating real estate challenges and the crucial role of an operating agreement in preserving your partnership…

Let's start with a simple truth - there's no one-size-fits-all guide to buying a house. We're encouraging you to approach this journey with an open mind…

HOME stands for "Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment." Its mission? To create more housing options for middle-income households…

Thanks so much for coming out to our Community Space & Office Launch Party on Thursday, September 21st. We were blown away by your support and can’t wait to connect with you again soon at a future happy hour or Women Investor Group Meetup…

We’ve dreamed of having a place of our own where we could hold our monthly events! Learn about how we found the right commercial space and our experience working with Dani Klarić, a TikTok influencer and beloved interior decorator.