Cain Realty Group Austin Real Estate Blog

Are you thinking about remodeling your master bathroom? Does your tub need an upgrade? Before you start ripping cabinets out of the wall, take a look at these tips we have for you in order to make the process a little easier! Here are 10 things to think about before remodeling your master bathroom.

1.       Plumbing

You’d be surprised the stuff that piles up in the drain. The average drain pipe is about 1 ½ inches thick, consider upgrading to 2-inch pipes. The thicker the pipes, the less likely it is to get clogged. Consider routing your pipes through interior walls to avoid freezing your pipes in the winter time.

2.       Lighting

If you’re going to be surrounding yourself with mirrors in a place where you are most vulnerable, you might want to consider upping your lighting game. Use recessed light fixtures on the ceiling to brighten the room. Last thing...

Retreat home to this charming, traditional one-story family home in the highly regarded Bell Farms! Spacious and open family room, light and bright dining space, and a huge kitchen with ample cabinetry space, plus a breakfast nook. Master-suite with double vanities, soaking tub and a walk in closet! Generous secondary bedrooms.Best of all, enjoy the quiet and privacy of a privately fenced yard backing to a greenbelt for outdoor living - no backyard neighbors!

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Have a friend covered in fur, feathers, or scales? Austin recently ranked #4 on a list of most pet-friendly cities in America! There are nearly 85 million households in the US that own a pet. The pet industry is projected to cost Americans over $72 billion dollars!

Over the last decade it seems as if pets are getting more and more pampered. For a while the only options for pet supplies were PetSmart or Petco, now you have endless options- especially in Austin. Locally-owned and operated, Tomlinson's Feed is Austin’s local pet supply store with the healthiest pet supplies. Not to mention it is now illegal in Austin to breed dogs. Austin is officially an “adopt don’t shop” city!

Austin is so pet friendly that you can take your pet nearly everywhere. Drive up and down the streets of downtown Austin and it’ll be hard not to see a dog. There are so many FREE amenities that you can do with your pet! Walk the green belt, workout on town lake,...

Austin is a great city for all ages, there are plenty of ways to keep yourself entertained. In a study done recently by Wallet Hub Austin named Best College Town & City in America! Did you know the average cost of student living expenses for 12 months is $26,200? The cost of living only seems to go up, so choosing the right college has never been more difficult.

The methodology for this study was determined by 3 factors; 1) Wallet Friendliness, 2) Social Environment and 3) Academic & Economic Opportunities. Living in an affordable town is more important than one would think. Austin provides some of the most unique, fun, and FREE activities all year round.

The social environment of Austin is like no other, notoriously “weird” and accepting of all people. With over 1,000 electric scooters and bikes you can travel any where quickly and for a very low price. Everything...

Did you know that Austin was named THE BEST city to start a business? Austin tends to attract a lot of people for a lot of different reasons. There is the University of Texas, live music, reasonable cost of living, and the tech boom have been major factors in Austin’s ranking. The up and coming Silicon Valley of the South is here to stay and only get bigger.

Despite the fact that Austin is considered by most to be a “laid back” city, we have been proving otherwise that Austin is getting more and more fast paced. Austin is now growing 4 times faster than nearly all of Silicon Valley. Austin is the new Silicon Valley with all these major tech companies. Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Drop box are all located in Austin and providing a tremendous amount of jobs, stability, and financial security. With all these tech hubs, Austin has been nicknamed the Silicon Valley of the South.

Other cities that followed close behind were, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, Nashville, San...

We are both proud and excited to announce The Cain Team is now Cain Realty Group!  You can expect the same great service, commitment to doing what's right and passion for serving others that's driven us since 2006.  With this change comes some other monumental changes to our company that we are excited to share with you!

The cutting-edge technology we currently use to provide an exceptional service experience and a high-impact marketing punch will be even further enhanced in 2019.  We will continue to upgrade our systems and platforms as technology allows us to work more efficiently, smarter and faster.

In addition to our non-profit, Cain Cares, and our rewards program, Cain Club, we now officially have our own Client Concierge Director and program.  This means the level of service, care and value we provide while working with clients can be extended well beyond a home buying or home selling transaction. ...

Moving to a big city can be frightening, there are many unknown people and greater opportunity for crime. In a recent study done by safewise, Austin placed 8th on a list of the safest metro cities in America! In 2017, Austin was ranked 26^th. Austin has upped its game in public safety in the last year and continues to be more and more safe.

The population of Austin sits at approximately 950,000 and is only going to continue to rise. Even with this many people, the average “violent crimes” per 1,000 people sits at only 4. I don’t know about you, but this sounds much more appealing than Detroit, MI that has an average of 20.5 “violent crimes” for every 1,000 people.

Another statistic to look at is the “property crime” per 1,000 people. The average for Austin is right at 35 per 1,000 people. Not a bad number to be at considering cities like Memphis, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Oakland all sit above 50 per 1,000. Not the easiest places to feel...

Unless you have been living under a rock the last few years, you have probably heard the term “Foodie” in conversations or on the internet. From rainbow bagels to sushi burritos, I am sure you are curious as to what people are talking about. According to The Merriam Webster Dictionary the definition of a Foodie is:

“a person having an avid interest in the latest food fads”.

Austin made the top ten list for “Best Foodie City in America” by a study done by Wallet Hub. If you have been around, you know that the restaurant scene in Austin has tremendously stepped its game up. With Korean BBQ, authentic Dim Sum, ice cream rolls, snow cones, and al the Mexican food you can dream of, you can see why Austin is the place to be.

One of the best parts about Austin is the brunch scene. Sunday is...

On Friday, Cain Realty Group spent the morning working and the afternoon playing! Before everyone jetted off to be with their family and friends over the holidays, Cain Realty Group wanted to celebrate the holidays together. The most exciting part of the day was that it was all a surprise!! Ricky and Kodikay planned an eventful afternoon…

We shut things down in the office at noon and headed out to the Cain’s home for some yummy treats and Christmas drinks! With still no clue where we were going, we got to our first location-lunch! We enjoyed queso and margaritas and chatted about our favorite Christmas traditions.

After lunch we piled into cars and headed over to Barton Creek Mall. We all gathered in the center of the mall waiting to be directed to our surprise when Kodikay passed out envelopes. Inside was money for each of us AND for a coworker. We were confused until we read the envelope…

“Roses are red, violets are blue,

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According to a study done by Money Magazine Austin is the best city to live in right now! Out of a list of the top ten, Austin was named THE best place to live at the number 1 spot on the list. If you need some more reasons to move to Austin here are some factoids that are sure to make you rethink your current living situation-

-          Average Family Income: $87,389

-          Median Home Price: $326,562

-          Projected Job Growth (2017-2022): 10.9%

Not only is the job growth projected to grow by over 10%, but the unemployment rate sits below the national average at just 3%. The job growth projection is contributed from small businesses but more importantly the tech boom. Large tech corporations like Dell, IBM, and Amazon are the biggest employment opportunities....

This past weekend Santa flew down from the North Pole to spend time with the boys and girls in Travis Country. It’s incredibly important to Cain Realty Group to give back to the community and stay in touch with past clients. This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to spread holiday cheer throughout Travis Country! Our 3^rd annual Santa’s Winter Wonderland was a major success!  

We had special visits from Buddy the Elf and SANTA!! The room was set up so that everywhere you turned there was something to do. Take pictures with Santa, decorate your own ornament, write a letter to the North Pole, it truly felt like Santa’s Winter Wonderland.

Not only did we have fun activities for all the kids and adults, we also had tons of treats!! Kids had fun decorating Christmas cookies, eating fresh popcorn, and drinking yummy hot cocoa. Cain Realty Group was dressed like elves and spent the day helping children with all the fun little crafts and activities.

One...

With things only getting crazier towards the end of the year, this week we set aside some time to set up our office for Christmas! We wanted everyone to feel the warm and fuzzy feeling of the holidays. Simply hanging some Christmas lights and putting up a tree has already put the whole office in the holiday spirit.

Before everyone parts ways to visit their loved ones, Cain Realty Group has been working together to close out the year stronger than ever. Everyday we help each other achieve our personal and team goals. The holidays remind us of what is important and why we are doing what we do. Decorating and listening to Christmas hits while eating some sugar cookies really brought us together to appreciate one another!

Little Christmas treats like cookies and chocolates have been exchanged and with everyone nibbling on sweets, we understand that the holidays aren’t easy for everyone. We want to make sure everyone is using smile.amazon.com when purchasing through...

Looking for something to do with your significant other, family, friends, or pet? The holidays are officially here which means you are most likely in the party spirit, or looking for some holiday spirits... Lucky for you, we have created a calendar with all the fun events going on in the Austin area until the end of the year!

Our list includes some of the locals favorite’s like, Zilker Trail of Lights, Ballet Austin’s The Nutcracker, and Zach’s Theatre Santaland Diaries. We also wanted to include a list of events and occasions that are absolutely free!

We understand that for most the holidays can put a stress on...

It’s hard not to have a good time when you’re in Austin; live music on every corner, music festivals, amazing food and all the outdoor activities you can think of. Recently, Austin was ranked #14 on a list of the most fun cities in America. To no surprise, others at the top of the list were major metropolises like New York City, Las Vegas, and Miami.

According to a study done by WalletHub, the average American spends $3,000 dollars a year on entertainment. That’s a lot of money! Austin has a plethora of activities that are absolutely FREE. From art festivals to light shows, Austin is a great place to have a good time without breaking the bank. 

One of the determining factors of whether the city was fun or not, was the age that people were having fun. A successful city has entertainment for ALL ages, babies to senior citizens. Austin offers something for everyone, you can take it easy by going to the Texas History Museum...

Like most people these days, you do your holiday shopping online. It’s faster, easier, and you can do it in your pajamas. We wanted to bring the simplicity of online shopping to donating.

Cain Realty Group has partnered with Amazon Smile to help raise money for our non-profit, Cain Cares. This year we are asking everyone to shop through Amazon Smile. By doing so, you will be helping those when they need help most.

Amazon Smile is a simple way for you to support Cain Cares every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at amazon.smile.com, you'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate .5% of the purchase price to Cain Cares. 

To shop at Amazon Smile simply go to amazon.smile.com from...

We pride ourselves at Cain Realty Group by treating everyone like family. We value the relationships we have with our employees and wanted to show our appreciation and love. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks and praise and that is exactly how we wanted to celebrate!

On Tuesday Cain Realty Group celebrated Thanksgiving by each team member bringing in their favorite Thanksgiving dish. We had a great time sharing a meal that we all helped create. We had a standard feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, green been casserole, macaroni and cheese and A LOT of dessert! YUM!

We only had one minor set back- we lost a casserole (spilled casserole pictured below) but we still managed to have an incredible feast! Everyone is always in great spirits so we truly had a wonderful day together before the holidays! 

To top off our office turkey day, Ricky and Kodikay blessed each employee by bringing in a licensed masseuse for chair massages! It was an amazing day spent with the team relaxing and breaking...

It’s no secret that Austin is growing like crazy. According to a recent study done by Magnify Money,  Austin, Texas was named the largest boomtown in America! Scoring in the top percentile of lowest unemployment ratings as well as showing the greatest five-year growth in population and housing.

With a large influx in job opportunities and an amazing climate, people are naturally wanting to move here. Austin has the highest workforce and earnings score as well as the largest drop of unemployment by 23%.

Showing the greatest five-year growth throughout the entire country, it’s easy to see the appeal. Now is a great time to be a buyer AND a seller in the Austin area.

Austin is a great place for great food, live music, and has an amazing nightlife. It's no surprise that Austin is experiencing major growth and development.

Cain Realty Group consistently ranks as one of the best real estate teams in the Austin TX for...

We are happy to announce we are now offering a free year of BarkBox through our loyalty membership program, Cain Club!  There are so many prizes now being offered through our program, yet we forgot about all the sweet pups out there.  Reward your pup for being awesome with a free BarkBox!  Login in to www.cainclub.com today to redeem our latest prize, and thank you for your continued support!

There are a lot of things to consider when thinking of retiring.  In addition to wondering when is the perfect time or what you will do once you retire, what may be the most important thing to ponder is where to live.  Do you continue living where you are currently, or do you consider a new location to live out your so-called golden years.

Finding an area or city to relocate to where you can get the most for your money and stretch out those dollars may be easier, yet where can you do this without sacrificing your current lifestyle?

According to a recent WalletHub study of over 180 U.S. cities, Austin, Texas was named the 8th best city in the nation to retire in.  While the study determined our Health Care to be mediocre, our scores for affordability and activities ranked towards the top.  

Austin consistently ranks as one of the top cities in the United States for a variety of reasons, and Cain Realty...