Austin, Tx. Area Lakes

[Jimm]

We may be moving to Austin or the surrounding area but we are having a hard time thinking about leaving our lake house behind, and my boat. So anyone familiar with lakes around Austin and real estate on them? There seem to be a number of lakes but knowing nothing about them we are totally lost.
Thanks in advance.

[Cactus371]

Any lake around Austin is awesome we drive 3 hours to go there at least once a year.


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[2in2out]

Lake Travis is a sizable lake with many amenities. Houses on the lake have gone up considerably in the last couple of years. Lake Austin is a dammed up river channel that is narrow, and boating can be less than fun on busy weekend. House prices are much higher because it’s closer to Austin.

Georgetown lake is nice. I don’t think there are any houses on it yet.

Marble Falls is upstream of Lake Travis. Nice place. It’s further out, so house prices are less there.

Lake Belton is ok. Don’t know what houses cost there because it’s further away then we wanted to be.

Canyon lake is closer to San Marcus than Austin. I’ve never been there but my wife has, and says it’s nice.

Depending on how you want to store your boat is a consideration in where you live. Not a lot of houses in Austin have room to store your boat on property. I’m sure covered storage is in short supply and not cheap. Boat slips are spendy and few and far between.

[Jimm]

Wonderful information, thank you. Lake Austin housing is super expensive it looks like for the sizee we would need. I wouldn't mind living off the lake, but close, but the whole boat storage thing has me concerned.
My wife has an offer from Dell which is in Round Rock I think. Would that make a difference in lake choice?

[FamilyMan]

Little further north Stillhouse and lake Belton are top notch but are core lakes so no boat houses.


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[rhouse181]

Would second Belton and Stillhouse if you are already up in the Round Rock area... less than an hour north and much removed from the craziness of Colorado River chain of lakes northwest of Austin.

[FamilyMan]

July 4th Lake Belton and think I saw two other boats. Limestone lined. Fantastic.


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[Jimm]

I love the looks of Belton and there seems to be a lot of new construction up there. But, stupid question, are there are actually waterfront house on Belton or Stillhouse? I can't seem to find any for sale but that just may be because none are for sale right now.
Wouldn't mind being a little off the water if it is convenient to access.

[bmjenkins82]

Lake Travis - Large Body, nearly all waterfront on the Austin Side is $1.5MM and up, Lago side can be had for under $1MM, but can really vary. Note, Travis is not constant level and lake access from your lot can go dry. Lake Travis has varied from near full this spring, to down 20FT(right now) and can go significantly lower during a drought, which can cause some navigation issues. From 2011ish - 2015 I'd guess more than 50% of Lake Travis lots lost their water access.

Lake LBJ - Virtually constant level, Cove homes start around $700K for something decent, to $1MM plus for basic direct water front. Pricing has gone through the roof this year. Taxes are typically lower on certain parts of LBJ VS Travis and can be a real difference maker when picking out a house. LBJ is very long and has distinct parts.. Marble Falls area is pretty large and wide with LOTS of houses, condos etc.. Further upstream the lake turns into more of a river form near the Kingsland area. There are some really nice homes and lots available around this area, but it still remains pricey.

Lake Buchannan - Large body of water, same issue as Travis, the lake can go down to the point that many lots lose their water access. Buchannan doesn't have Gas on the lake last I heard which can be a little annoying if you have a boat on the water at a house. Much more reasonable on pricing.. you can get in around $500K. See about about 2011-2015 going dry.

Inks Lake - Very small, constant level just north of LBJ.

I just bought a lake lot on LBJ to build on after researching for the past couple years. If you look on google earth and you can't see boat docks... it's most likely an Army Corps of Engineers controlled lake/reservoir which doesn't allow them(belton, Georgetown etc..)

If you are going to consider travis or buchannan, download google earth and use the historical timeline feature to roll back the clock and see if the lot/house you are interested in went dry.

[FamilyMan]

I cringe when I think of how cheap lots in horse shoe bay way 19 years ago and how we passed up on them. Cost is 4x now. I will say, horse shoe bay is quite shallow, prefer further up the river all the way to kingsland. Some really cool sandy beach up there.


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[bmjenkins82]

I cringe when I think of how cheap lots in horse shoe bay way 19 years ago and how we passed up on them. Cost is 4x now. I will say, horse shoe bay is quite shallow, prefer further up the river all the way to kingsland. Some really cool sandy beach up there.

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We bought in Kingsland, small development in Legends Area. Wish I had done this when I first moved to Austin years a go.

The only business better than selling boats is building docks.... what a shocker when the quotes came in.

[2in2out]

My wife was picking the brain of a real estate friend in Austin because we will be moving back there eventually. We were toying with selling our house and her moving there and renting until we found the right house (we’re kinda particular). The agent friend basically said, be ready to pull the trigger on anything that hits the market. He said no look offers are hitting within 2 hours of being on MLS especially in the trendy areas and around any body of water.

[bmjenkins82]

My wife was picking the brain of a real estate friend in Austin because we will be moving back there eventually. We were toying with selling our house and her moving there and renting until we found the right house (we’re kinda particular). The agent friend basically said, be ready to pull the trigger on anything that hits the market. He said no look offers are hitting within 2 hours of being on MLS especially in the trendy areas and around any body of water.

It’s slowed down just a hair, but thing priced right go instantly.

Beginning of the summer, a lot we bid on had 17 offers in 3 days and went 50% over asking.

[FamilyMan]

We bought in Kingsland, small development in Legends Area. Wish I had done this when I first moved to Austin years a go.

The only business better than selling boats is building docks.... what a shocker when the quotes came in.

Small world, this summer rented a VRBO property "Shady Grove" just a mile or less south of Legends golf course in the cove across from Mill Creek Road. Went through 200 gallons of gas.... so needless to say, tons of good times. Kingsland is perfect, close enough to Marble falls, but far enough you don't feel like you are in a city-ish area.

[bmjenkins82]

Small world, this summer rented a VRBO property "Shady Grove" just a mile or less south of Legends golf course in the cove across from Mill Creek Road. Went through 200 gallons of gas.... so needless to say, tons of good times. Kingsland is perfect, close enough to Marble falls, but far enough you don't feel like you are in a city-ish area.

Thats awesome.. if you filled up at Wakepoint that is practically my backyard!