ATX: the Austin Real Estate Life Blog

  Going Up, Opening Doors: What a West Campus Housing Panel Taught Me About Austin Affordability By George Vance McGee (GVM), Broker Associate, Austin Silent Market Realty · Sep 30, 2026 georgevance@gmail.com 512.657.9281  The short version: West Campus proves density works, students are learning to be tenants in real time, and the fixes Austin needs most are simpler code, faster permits, and fewer old rules blocking new homes. On a Wednesday lunch hour at Victory Lap on West 24th Street, a few steps from the University of Texas, about five panelists sat down to talk about the one issue nobody in Austin can stop talking about: Housing affordability. The discussion was hosted by Texans for Reasonable Pro Housing Policy Solutions, and it felt less like a lecture and more like a think tank, with students, advocates, and housing professionals trading ideas in a space full of people who live the problem every day. Here is what I heard, and why it matters well beyond the edge of ...

Jason Scharf @Jason_A_Scharf Jason Scharf @Jason_A_Scharf Life’s Work is Catalyzing Innovation | http:// ecosysmetacognition.substack.com | Host of the Austin Next Podcast | Old handle @AustinNxPodcast PodcasterAustin, TX youtube.com/@austinnext Joined September 2021 Austin is becoming one of the most important job engines in the country. It doesn’t yet have the scale of a NYC, DFW, or Houston, but the combo of growth rate plus absolute jobs added is next level.

  Year-over-year home price shifts across America's 50 largest metro housing markets, by year 3 weakest: 1. Austin, TX -> -4.2% 2. Las Vegas, NV -> -2.8% 3. Dallas, TX -> -1.9% 3 strongest: 1. Milwaukee, WI -> +5.5% 2. New York, NY -> +5.2% 3. Hartford, CT -> +5.2%

 Per Community IMPACE Reporting / Media. Click here for the Article  Austin council gives final OK to Rosedale School rezoning Now, the case hinges on Austin ISD winning its lawsuit against Rosedale homeowners. Click here for ROSEDALE Elementary School Re-Zoning Future Development Article. Central ATX Real Estate News. Sept. 2026

  The Greatest Agents Are Made in the Hardest Markets My takeaways from Tom Ferry's EDGE Conference, Downtown Austin By George Vance McGee (GVM), Broker Associate, Austin Silent Market Realty On September 23, 2026, I spent the day at the Austin Marriott downtown for Tom Ferry's EDGE, a one-day real estate coaching conference. I left with pages of notes and one clear message: this market isn't going to change for us, so we have to change for it. Here's what stuck. Accept the Market You Have Tom didn't sugarcoat it. Elevated mortgage rates, political arguing, and inflation are the backdrop, and he expects it to stay this way for roughly the next two years. His advice: accept it, work through it, and find joy in serving your clients. "Don't let the outside world noise control the inner you." — Tom Ferry He went further: stop watching the news, since both sides are usually negative, and go sell houses instead. Get the appointments. Go on the ap...

  Agents Decoded: Stop giving showing feedback  This outdated "professional courtesy," once expected of buyer agents, has passed its expiration date — especially as liability risks have increased. The direction of your business depends on decisions you make every day. Agents Decoded can help you by presenting the perspectives of seasoned pros who have been there, made mistakes, and found success. A few decades ago — when real estate was still a low-tech industry and buyer agency was not yet the norm — seller clients had no way to assess how their listing was being received by the buying public outside of showings.  It was natural, and indeed assumed, that showing agents report their buyer's feedback to the listing agent, who shared it with their sellers. A persistent expectation Even after buyer agency became the primary form of representation, feedback was still expected as a professional courtesy. It was programmed into automated showing platforms, and procuring it com...