Austin Real Estate

I have written a good number of posts about my kids and their sense of humor and unique wisdom.  Over the past couple of weeks, each of them has had a memorable quote or two that I wanted to share with you.

By the summer of 2009, Lake Pflugerville is set to receive a number of improvements, to the tune of $800,000.  Included in the project will be a park on the north shore, gravel beach, pavilion, two covered and lighted picnic tables, a boat ramp, boat rentals and additional parking. 

Yes, that is an actual picture of the lake to the right.

According to a report from Business Week magazine which was released today, Austin real estate has not suffered the same ill effects that have plagued many markets around the U.S.  The zip code 78749 placed SECOND (behind Sunnyvale, CA) for the lowest number of days on the market, at 68 days.

The article contains the following statement:

We have been the proud owners of a Nintendo Wii for the past year and a half or so.  It was actually given to me by a friend of mine who thought we would get more use out of it, since we have three kids.  He was right, of course.  All of our video game systems get a pretty good workout, since I like using them sometimes, too! 

Yesterday, while I was out and about, I spoke with two of my friends from other markets on the phone.  Paul Slaybaugh called me and we chatted for awhile, then he had to go because he was busy with his two sons.  I later called Adam Waldman and he had to call me back because he was watching "Hard Knocks", the Dallas Cowboys training camp show on HBO, with his son. 

Once again, the Austin economy has managed to make it onto an encouraging list.  Yesterday, Austin was named #5 on Forbes.com's list of places where home prices are likely to rise.

The study looked at the following criteria to develop this list:

• Projected housing starts
• Job growth figures
• Cost structures for local businesses
• Composition of local economies

 The text of the whole article is here:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/25/housing-prices-rising-forbeslife-cx_mw_0825realestate.html

I finally experienced Dot's Place cuisine for the first time tonight, and I left happy.  We were looking for a place nearby to take our three children and my mother-in-law, Jackie, who is in a wheelchair now.  It turns out that Jackie had been there a good number of times before, so she was excited about the prospect of returning. 

As such, I realized something the other day.  Those who are looking to buy a home often make the same statement as those who are considering having a child:

In Pflugerville, along I-35, just north of Grand Avenue Parkway, sits Austin's Park (formerly Austin's Park and Pizza).  Although they still serve pizza, they changed the name awhile back.  I have taken our family there on a number of occasions to enjoy miniature golf, bumper boats, video games, and the batting cages.  They have two full mini golf courses, and they are suitably challenging and fun.

There is also a go-cart track which I think I am too tall to try, along with laser tag, a rock climbing wall, and a tea cup ride, a la DisneyWorld.