Real Estate Blog & Resources

Master-planned community amenities aren’t just a nice thing to have at home today; they are essential for many buyers and can even drive a new-home purchase in a specific community. As leaders in master-planned development over the past two decades, SouthStar Communities remains committed to well-rounded communities where the lifestyle opportunities are just as important as the homes. To that end, we are proud to announce new amenities at Mission del Lago in San Antonio and The Crossings in New Braunfels.

When it comes to real estate, there’s no hotter place than Texas—again! The 2016 Texas Annual Housing Report released by the Texas Association of REALTORS® “shows broad demand for Texas real estate and continued sales growth,” said the Texas Association of Realtors (TAR). TAR Chairman Leslie Rouda Smith credits the state’s “diverse economy, rapid population growth, and high quality of life” for Texas’s continued “real estate growth, housing demand, and development, which attracts homebuyers from across the country and around the globe,” she said.

At this time of the year, it’s easy to get lost in all the shopping and cooking and decorating and forget, temporarily, what’s really important. At SouthStar Communities, we also recognize that this may be an especially difficult holiday season with lingering political differences straining some relationships. In the true spirit of the holidays and from our family to yours, we've gathered together some of the best tips we can find to celebrate each other, practice gratitude, and enjoy the season with the best gift of all: A home and loved ones with whom to share it.

Young and young at heart. Those just starting their families and looking to put down roots in a new builder home in New Braunfels, and those seeking the ideal place to buy Texas land and build a custom home for retirement. Those are just a sampling of the people you’ll find in the Hill Country. So how does one place appeal to such a wide array of people? Easy. By offering something for everyone.

“Houstonians flocking to the Hill Country…do not have to give up the luxury they are accustomed to…nor the city amenities they crave.” These are the findings of Houston-based Realtor Denise Graves of Phyllis Browning Company, an affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate, who told the Houston Chronicle that Hill Country luxury was proving tempting for Houston clients. They are “are attracted to the slower pace of life in the Texas Hill Country and, just as important, the value they get for their dollar,” she said. “They are almost always surprised by how close to the amenities of a large city they can build or buy.”

Is Texas in the middle of a land rush? The Wall Street Journal thinks so, noting that buying land in the Texas Hill Country to build a custom home is one of the hottest trends in luxury real estate.

Last week, Fox Business released an article titled, “Texas Tops Best Places to Work and Live.” The article was based on website CareerCast’s report on the 10 Best Cities for Return on Salary, which “cross-referenced the salaries of the 200 careers tracked by our Jobs Rated report, broken down by metropolitan area via the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,” they said. “We then measured average cost of living in cities that paid comparatively well in a broad range of sectors, using Payscale.com’s Cost of Living Calculator, with data via the Council for Community and Economic Research.” Not surprisingly, Texas led the list, with four cities right there at the top.

The latest example of SouthStar Communities’ commitment to civic responsibility will be a boon to those who live at Vintage Oaks, New Braunfels’ leading masterplanned community. As owner and developer of the community, SouthStar has interpreted the area’s need for improved access to local emergency service by donating land for a new full-service fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) station.

In a recent article about community amenities, NewHomeSource said, “Long before families move in or before any houses are built, developers create a master plan for their communities. Master planned development requires a team-oriented approach to building, with many disciplines working together to ensure a quality community that looks and feels just like home. In order to appeal to buyers, planners must be creative and forward-thinking when developing their communities.”

Texas Independence Day is Wednesday, March 2, and there are celebrations going on all over the state. It got us thinking about how we feel about Texas and how fortunate we are to do business here. Living in Texas is a privilege for so many of us at SouthStar Communities, and for landbuyers and homebuyers all over the state, just as it was in 1836.