If you're a top agent in the Lake South market and want to make the move to Realty Austin, don't hesitate to call us today or stop by our new office grand opening on June 21st. If you're selling a home in Lakeway or want to live on Lake Travis, contact one of our Lake South Real Estate Experts and they will attend to all of your needs.

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Looking for cool, Austin-y things to do this month? Check out these fun, family-friendly events in Austin this May. We have compiled a list of activities for you to easily jump into Summer.

 *Date is tentative and subject to change.

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Austin is the 14th largest metro, one of the highest employment rates, an attractive city to young professionals, and burgeoning tech town. Homes in Austin are selling 20% faster than this time last year, averaging 77 days on the market. Inventory levels are 19% lower than last February and list prices have jumped up 12% in response, making it the 2nd best real estate market for investors right now.

The Texas economy added 237,100 nonagricultural jobs from March 2011 to March 2012, an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent compared with 1.5 percent for the United States. The state's nongovernment sector added 291,900 jobs, an annual growth rate of 3.4 percent compared with 2 percent for the nation's private sector. 

Click here to read more about the Texas economic recovery last month.

Special thanks to Anthony Marino at Austin Area Photo for the original picture!

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Local urban planning non-profit, Imagine Austin, introduced a new comprehensive urban plan to address the rapid growth and help capture the Austin of the future. Imagine Austin's blueprint is just one of the many proposals to manage Austin's growth and remain competitive among other cities which have already adopted strict plans by which to develop. City officials understand that in order for Austin to be competitive amongst other buzz cities, Austin must be livable with solutions to traffic congestion, adequate transit to give way to sprawl, water and energy consumption and attractive amentities. Goals including density, livability, community and sustainability are part of the City of Austin's plan to manage continued growth in Austin.

Click here to read more about Imagine Austin's plan to fully optimize Austin's urban population growth. Tweet

The stability of the Austin economy plus a towering employment rate are the driving forces for Austin's successful real estate market. Since high employment drives demand for housing, Austin nutures the perfect environment for buying and selling homes. According to the National Association of Realtor's website, Austin is the 27th most searched real estate market on the web, another indicator of Austin's popularity for investors.

Not only was the Austin housing market impervious to the drastic nationwide decline in home sales, but Austin homes are selling for more than twice the national rate, making Austin the second best investment market in the nation. With Tuscon, AZ in the lead, Austin is still ahead of 144 other cities that were ranked by Realtor.com. Fort Worth also ranked in the Top 5 best investment cities taking home fifth place for best real estate market for investors.

However, homebuyers aren't the only ones getting lucky in the Austin housing market these days. Sellers are quickly finding that Austin's price growth potential is one of the best in the nation, leading most with a median list price of $229,500 which is almost 12 percent higher than last year's market.

Click here to read more and see the full list.

Everyday more and more people are packing up and moving to Austin, and it is those people that have propelled this city into one of the fastest growing in the nation. If you are thinking about calling Austin your home, there are a few things to keep in mind in order to assure that your move goes as smooth as possible.

The first, and probably the most important thing you should consider, is renting a self-storage unit. Despite what most people think, self-storage facilities are not just for people who have run out of room at home and need a permanent location to house their excess baggage. They are also an incredibly convenient way to move if you haven’t settled down yet. Temporary storage can be used to house a lifetime’s worth of belongings just long enough for you to conduct a thorough search for a new home.

The majority of self-storage facilities allow you to rent month to month, eliminating the need to rush or to find a contract that fits your short-term needs. Here are a few tips on finding the right storage company for you in Austin.

• If you have an idea of the general area or neighborhood that you want to live in, find a local self-storage facility to make your move less of a hassle.
• Weigh your options of cost versus convenience. The cheapest self-storage facility might not be located anywhere near where you intend to live, so you could end up paying more per month for convenience. But if moving out of your rental space will require more than one trip, consider paying more for a closer facility.
• Urban dwellers may also feel more confident about Austin storage facilities with high-tech security, as well as gated and alarm-activated storage units.
• Pack your unit carefully. Put non-essential items like furniture in the back, and leave items such as clothing where they can be easily reached. You might be living out of your temporary storage space for a while and you’ll want to be able to get to certain things easily.

• Have a professional moving company deliver your belongings to a pre-arranged self-storage unit. If you’re moving a fair distance, this will require that you get a good idea of exactly how much temporary storage space you’ll need. And if you have to overshoot, do so. It’s far better to have too much room than too little room.
• If you’re not moving far, look for moving storage companies that offer both movers and storage facilities. Not every self-storage company has a staff of movers and trucks at the ready, but there are some that combine services, which can significantly lessen the hassle of moving.

Renting from one of these facilities can seriously reduce the chaos that can be associated with the relocating process. Use a company like SpareFoot to guarantee you find the best deal available and also remember this is Austin, so once you are here, help us keep it weird.

This article was provided by SpareFoot, the largest online marketplace for self-storage.

Realty Austin developed the map based off of commute times from its agents and employees. We are always looking to find the best data, so please help us make it better! Do you live in an area in Austin that is misrepresented on the map? Let us know in the comments below.

Realty Austin's Communte Times Map Find where you should live if you want to avoid commute times and make your life a little easier.

Special thanks to Marsha Miller for the great photo!

Best Performing Cities Among 50 Metros

The Greater Austin area (including San Marcos and Round Rock) added 26,800 new jobs making it the 2nd highest job growth rate. While the government sector lost jobs, Austin's private sector kept it afloat with 28,200 jobs added to the Austin economy. Below is a graph of Austin's job growth year over year. Austin is ahead of its pre-recession peak by 16,100 jobs (2.1%).

Over the past 8 years, Austin generated 140,200 new jobs making it number 1 in job creation since 2004. Four other Texas cities made the nation's top 10 major metro areas in job creation between the end of 2003 and the end of 2011:Metro area | Percent increase | New jobs

Graphs provided by the Austin Chamber.

Realty Austin's top producer, Todd Grossman, won 2nd place in the Individual Producer Award. Please help us congratulate him on all his hard work and dedication while selling $30 million in real estate in 2011!  Congratulations as well to the other Realty Austin nominees whose hard work is also recognized:

• Kat Brooks
• Keri Chmelik
• Mark Clausen
• Tom Thornton
• Cara Keenan