Austin Housing Market October 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide Quick answer: As of early October 2026, Austin’s median sold price sits at $420,000, with 5.7 months of housing inventory — a market that favors buyers, with room to negotiate. Mortgage rates are hovering around 7.4%. Homes are taking an average of 74 days to sell, […]
How to Buy a Home in Austin Without Visiting (2026) Quick answer: Yes, you can buy a home in Austin without visiting first — many out-of-state buyers do. The process relies on a local agent who does live video walkthroughs on your behalf, remote earnest money transfers, a video-attended inspection, and a remote closing using […]
Moving to Austin from Seattle: Costs & Surprises (2026) Quick answer: Austin homes currently cost roughly half what Seattle homes do — a median around $426,000 in Austin versus an average near $833,000 in Seattle. But Texas’s property tax rate (about 1.58%) is nearly double Washington’s (about 0.84%), and Texas has no state income tax […]
H-1B Mortgage Checklist: Essential Documents (2026) Quick answer: To qualify for a mortgage on an H-1B visa, lenders will ask for your passport and visa approval notice (I-797), an employer verification letter, 2 years of W-2s and tax returns, your most recent pay stubs, 2–3 months of bank statements, and a credit report. Both conventional […]
Quick answer: If you’re buying a home in Cedar Park, TX in 2026, here’s the quick version: homes are averaging around $470,000, down about 4% from last year, with recent median sale prices closer to $515,000–$520,000. Commutes to downtown Austin run 25–35 minutes without traffic and 40–70 minutes at peak hours via US-183 or MoPac, […]
Can You Buy a House in Austin on an H-1B or OPT? A 2026 Guide Yes, you can buy a house in Austin on an H-1B, and in some cases on OPT or STEM OPT as well. Nothing in Texas or federal law limits home buying to citizens or green card holders. The hard part […]
Introduction Buying new construction in Austin is an exciting option for many homebuyers, but for some buyers — especially those on work visas — it can come with hidden risks. Over the past year, I’ve made a noticeable shift in my advice to certain buyers in the Austin real estate market — particularly those who […]





