Amazon Moves Forward with Plans to Build in Georgetown, TX
Photo Credit to Meritage Homes. This photo shows the kitchen, dining, and living rooms of their model home.
Amazon currently has a warehouse in Round Rock but has moved forward this week with plans to construct an additional warehouse in Georgetown. They will start constructions next month on a 249,000 square foot facility at 104 Wittera Way in Georgetown, TX. Amazon also has facilities in Kyle, Belton, San Marcos, Pflugerville, and Austin.
Investment opportunities abound near the Georgetown facility! One neighborhood close to where Amazon will be building their new warehouse is Travena by Meritage Homes. Travena is a planned community with amenities such as a resort style pool, a half basketball court, a pickleball court, playground and walking trails throughout the community. Homes start in the $400,000's and floor plans range from 1477 square feet up to 2812 square feet.
Whether you would like to be closer to the Amazon facility, invest in homes for those who may need to be close to the Amazon facility, or would like quick access to 35 from Georgetown to zip down to Austin, this neighborhood offers convenient solutions to any of those needs!
Partly Moves their Headquarters to Austin, TX
Picture credit to the Aire model home in Evelyn by Century Communities
One of the hottest new business move announcements this summer has been from Partly, an AI automotive company that helps to manufacture automotive parts. Partly anticipates relocating their headquarters from New Zealand to Austin, TX by 2027!
Able to raise $50 million, Partly anticipates using that funding to build up their work force in Austin hiring for jobs in the engineering, business development, and product management specifically. When questioned why they would not relocate their headquarter to California, Fawcett reportedly explained that Austin, TX has a proximity to real world businesses and real world people.
While it is unclear where exactly in the downtown area Partly will build their headquarters, one of the closest new build communities is preparing for the influx of people businesses like this one will bring. The Evelyn by Century Communities is a master planned community building amenities such as resort style pools, playgrounds, walking trails, and scenic ponds. The Evelyn is close in proximity to Tesla, Apple, Samsung, and the metro downtown area of Austin in general.
We're excited to have Partly join in on the tech scene in Austin and help build the tech presence here!
Samsung Invests in Taylor, TX
Photo credit to DRB Homes
One of the most exciting parts of being a real estate agent is learning about how Austin and the surrounding cities are growing. One company in particular that is investing heavily in the suburbs around Austin is Samsung.
Did you know that Samsung is currently building a semiconductor fabrication site in Taylor, Texas? This project is on track to be completed by the end of 2026 and is anticipated in bringing at least 1,800 jobs to Taylor, Texas.
On top of simply building a plant in Taylor, Samsung has also invested heavily in the town of Taylor itself. According to Samsung's own site, Samsung donated $1 million to Taylor ISD to support career and technical education and related workforce programming tied to the semiconductor ecosystem. Samsung also runs internship programs for Taylor ISD students. Their hope is to buoy educational development to prepare graduating seniors for the possibility of working at the fabrication site.
In preparation for this semiconductor fabrication site being completed, two major builders are already offering new planned community neighborhoods: DRB Homes and Coventry. Castlewood by Coventry Homes is building across from Taylor High School and offering mostly 3 bedroom, 2 bath floor plans in both a “paired cottage” (or duplex) option and a single family option. Spring Creek by DRB Homes is advertising themselves as being 5 minutes from the new Samsung fab site and offers single family floor plan options from 3 bedrooms/2.5 bath and 1640 square feet all the way to a 5 bedroom/3 bath option at 2740 square feet.
Focus on the Current Real Estate Market… Not the Previous One.
Professionally photographed picture of staged living room for our home which we listed on the market May 2025.
When we relocated to Austin from Idaho in 2017, the housing market in Austin was hot! I made a list of homes to tour, sent the list to my real estate agent at the time (Linda Miller now with Christie’s Brokerage), boarded a plane, and checked in to my hotel. By the time I woke up the next morning, most of the homes were already under contract. My list of 6 homes dwindled down to two. The home we ended up purchasing hadn’t even gone on the market but was listed as “coming soon”. Zero pictures on the MLS or on Zillow.
When I toured the home, the sellers were still packing up and preparing to have it listed. I took photos of the house to be able to compare it to the other home I was touring that day but they were not Instagram worthy! Besides the packing aesthetic currently displayed in the home, the floor plan and bedroom to bathroom ratio was exactly what we were looking for at the time so we put in an offer.
Fast forward to 2025 when we were selling that home to move to one that better fit our growing family’s needs. I worked with Lisa Roberts now with the Bramlett Partners brokerage and we spent a full week preparing to list our home. We touched up the paint on our baseboards, filled every nail hole, and only kept basic furniture in the home for staging. The rules of the real estate game had changed!
Similarly, this year the most busy time of home buying and selling has been different from previous hot market periods. In the current Austin real estate market, buyers can by choosy-they do not have to grab a house before it is officially listed on the MLS. Which means sellers have a lot more work up front to do in order to attract buyers. Having lived (and bought and sold houses) through both eras, I can identify with the pain that current home sellers have in preparing a home to sell. But embracing the current housing market and playing by its’ rules will be a lot less frustrating than trying to apply the rules of a housing market of the past.
Cell phone photo of living room we toured in 2017 before the home was officially listed on the market. The home owners were in the process of packing up the house in preparation to list but were gracious enough to let us tour before it was “show ready”.
Sweet Luxury
Want to know what luxury cookies and luxury real estate have in common? Read on to find out!
For the last five years I have operated a decorated cookie business on my own. And you might ask yourself, what do decorated cookies and real estate have in common!?
I was able to learn leaps and bounds about running a business and marketing a luxury business over the last five years. How do you convince someone to purchase your custom cookies rather than going to a big box store and buying them from a bakery? Besides providing a quality product, providing quality customer service was crucial. I was sure to have systems in place that were easy for clients to use. Finally, I communicated clearly from the initial inquiry, through the design process, and all the way to delivering the final product. Are those qualities you would like to have in a real estate agent?
I have lived in Austin since 2017 and I am excited to share about the city from a local's point of view. Just as there are different cookie flavors and designs to match various client’s perspectives and needs, there are different homes which match home owner’s perspectives and needs. Some homeowners love acreage and space. Some homeowners do not want a large yard to mow. Some homeowners want space to grow in their house while others are looking to downsize. Some homeowners do not actually want to own a home but would love a lease option. Navigating each individual desire within neighborhoods that are familiar to me is a service I look forward to showcasing with each interaction.