I have written a number of articles which I hope you will find helpful as you are researching the Austin area. I tried to cover many of the major questions that I receive on a day-to-day basis as a real estate broker working with buyers who are relocating from other cities and states. This is really a work in progress, as I intend to update and add to this package often.
As with anything you find on my blog or website, feel free to contact me anytime with questions or for clarification. My cell phone number is 512-796-7653 and my email address is jason@austintexashomes.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
THE BASICS - SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (ABOUT ME AND ABOUT AUSTIN)
Are You Considering Relocating to Austin, Texas? An Open Letter - I would recommend reading this one first.
"High Property Taxes, Heat, and Tornadoes, TOO? Why would I want to move to Austin, Texas?" - This 
one tackles some of the potential negatives about Austin, while also providing a LOT of good reasons to make Austin your new home.
Top Employers in Austin Texas - Looking for a job? These may be worth considering - This seems to be a popular question for those who are not relocating with a specific company. I hope you find it helpful, too!
Austin Texas School Districts - How are the schools in the Austin area? - This includes information on public and private schools, as well as resources for Austin homeschooling.
Austin Texas Area Hospitals - An Overview - This covers all of the medium and large hospitals in and around the Austin area, including a top-notch children's hospital which recently expanded and relocated to a brand-new facility.
Austin Texas Golf Courses - Private Courses - If you enjoy golf, these courses offer a premier experience for you.
Texas Looks Like That? A Native Texan's Perspective - Check out some photos that I took in order to give you some idea of what it REALLY looks like here, as opposed to the stereotypes you may have seen in books or movies.
"Jason, how do you pronounce THAT?" - A Visitor's Guide to Austin - This should come in handy if you are here visiting very long, as it is a guide to how to pronounce some of the trickier area town and road names, and how to refer to the major roads around here.
AUSTIN IS FAMOUS NOW! LISTS THAT AUSTIN HAS MADE RECENTLY
Austin Texas Named as Top Place to Buy a House by Entrepreneur Magazine - Austin has made it onto a lot of cool lists lately, but none are more important to me than this one.
Austin Texas Named Fastest Growing Large Metro Area in the U.S. - This is another honor that bodes well for any purchase that you decide to make in Austin. Our robust economy serves as a springboard for home appreciation.
Austin Texas is Named One of the Least Stressful Places in the U.S. - Another list? Wow! Having lived here for about 20 years, I can attest to the truth of this claim.
SPECIFIC AREAS OF TOWN
Downtown Austin Real Estate - What Central Austin Neighborhood Should I Consider? - This is a breakdown of many of the neighborhoods surrounding downtown, including price ranges.
Pflugerville Texas is Coming into its Own - My current hometown seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. We have lived here since 1995, and we've enjoyed watching the growth occur in Pflugerville.
Why I Love Living in Pflugerville, Texas Despite Its Silly Name
Hutto Real Estate - Fastest Growing City in Texas! - This suburb of Austin to the northeast has seen some great growth lately. Find out why!
Georgetown, Texas is Named # 2 "Best Place to Live and Launch" by FORTUNE Magazine - The home of my alma mater, Southwestern University, has become a terrific place to start a new business, according to a recent article.
LIVE MUSIC
Austin Texas Live Music - Look No Further! - Austin is known as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and for good reason. This article includes most of the more prominent live music venues, along with a brief description.
FAMILY FUN AND STUFF TO DO WITH YOUR KIDS
Family Fun in Austin, Texas - I suppose the title here is self-explanatory. Here are about 20 terrific ideas for things to do with your children when you come to Austin.
Big Fun on a Little Budget in Austin, Texas! Some FREE and Inexpensive Things to Do - Looking for a good time but you don't want to break the bank? Check out this list that my wife and I compiled just for you.
Texas Jumping Beans - A great place to take the kids! - As the veteran of several kid birthday parties at Texas Jumping Beans, I highly recommend this place, and not just for parties.
Austin Children's Museum - Fun for the Whole Family! - The local children's museum in downtown Austin has been a staple of Crouch family fun for years now.
Tukong Moosul Martial Arts, Austin Texas - A great place for kids! - The titles of the post above and this one clearly indicate that my children are a big priority for me. Tukong Moosul is where my son has studied martial arts for the past several years, starting when he was just five.
PLACES TO EAT
Most Entertaining Restaurant Review Ever? EZ's on Lamar - Austin, Texas - EZ's is a great place to check out during your visit, and kids love it, too!
Austin, Texas Restaurant Review - Waterloo Ice House - My wife helped me write this review of her outing with our kids to two separate Waterloo locations.
Austin Texas Restaurant Review - Café Mangù in Pflugerville - This small, cozy restaurant has become one of our favorite "date night" locations.
Round Rock Restaurant Review - Zorba Greek Restaurant - You are probably thinking that we eat out all the time by now, but I really tried to save the reviews for places that have good food, believe me.
As you can see from the above articles, Austin is an absolutely terrific place to call home. I hope you decide to join us here! If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to contact me. I hope to have the opportunity to help you find the right home when the time comes.
As I mentioned above, my cell phone number is 512-796-7653 and my email address is jason@austintexashomes.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Jason Crouch, Broker/Owner - Austin Texas Homes, LLC
If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me elsewhere or subscribe via email?
If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can also visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. If you're interested in social media training, visit 210 Consulting. Thanks!
KATERINA - Thanks so much for your comment. I thought it was a good thing to send to my potential clients.
JILL - Thanks!
ELENA - That sounds great. Come on down!
GEORGINA - Thanks! I certainly hope so!
MARCHEL - I tried to cover as many bases as I could. I will probably add some posts over time. I noticed tonight that I am now #3 and #4 on Google for the term "austin texas relocation package"! Awesome!
DEB - Thank you! I was pleased with the outcome, too. It is ranking very well on Google, as I mentioned to Marchel above.
Jason:
This is really a great localism post. I love the picture of the 360 bridge. One of my favorite landmarks in Austin.
ALAN - Thanks, man. I thought it turned out well, too.
MICHELLE - I need to do some more restaurant reviews soon. It gives me a good excuse to eat out sometimes.
ADAM - Thanks for your compliments. I appreciate that. Talk to you soon -
Jason, as always, this is top notch work. I don't get how you have time to do this, run the business and raise such a gorgeous family. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon. Let's make that happen. Later in the rain~Deb
I am still praying for David. God bless you and yours.
Jason: I've been wanting to put a relo package for the Dallas area. I think the way you put it together is very well-planned. If you dont mind, I'd like to use it as a base format for what I could do for my area.
LOREENA - Of course you can use this format. I'm glad that you found it helpful! I have a number of posts that I need to add from the past few months.
Dear Jason, As usual thanks for the great post!!
Jason,
Great stuff! This is a great example of what I could do with my web site and my blog. Thank you for being so generous.
Brien
Jason ... We like your Austin, Texas, Relocation online package ... with links to good and fun articles. Keep up the good writing and sharing of ideas. Harrison
Jaon, this is an amazing relocation package you've done. I'm so impressed with you!
Jason, it's plain to see that you know a lot about Austin, and it truly does sound like a great place to live. You have given me some fantastic ideas of what to write about my own local city. Thanks.
Wonderful relocation package for Austin, Texas. Getting ideas here for mine, thank you!
Wow. No wonder why you've gotten 18,000+ views on this; I bet it's something that people refer back to quite a bit when they are in the process of relocating.
As Virginia (Response 31) suggests, it certainly sets a strong example for colleagues in other market areas.
Jason, I agree with Daren. This is a fantastic post to model. Congrats on hitting the 500K mark.
What a great idea! Will be using your post to help me do my own. Want to take some great pictures of the area first and we are about there for great Spring pictures.
Great idea, Jason, and obviously a ton of work went into this post. It has also obviously paid off for you. Nice work and congrats on the 500k points.
Mike
Wow. I moved back to California from San Antonio, TX. Wishing I had stayed in Texas now!
Hey, Jason. What a wonderful blog. I don't know how I missed it. Thanks and keep up th great work, Jim
This is a great relocation package! I'm really glad they "made" us do this. I need to beef mine up a little now that time has passed.
The format that you've set up has given me some ideas, Jason! I've got my work cut out for me, I see...but at least I have many of the components already in place. Thanks for sharing this with us all.
This is really great! I'm not surprised that you get great Google rankings from this and that you continue to get alot of response from potential buyers.
Wow Jason. Great relocation Blog. I have never seen so many links in one Blog.
Fantastic post Jason. I am REALLY excited to work with you and Jeremy. Thanks again for the class yesterday. It has me thinking and organizing and blogging!
Jason, I just wanted to let you know how informative your website was to me. I've been researching my move to Austin with a few of my friends from Pittsburgh. Your website really gave me an idea of the culture and way of life in Austin and was very helpful. It really got me excited about the city. I will be visiting in June before I make the BIG move, and now I can't wait! Thanks so much!
Amber - Please let me know how I can help when the time comes. I would love the opportunity to help you find the right place to live here in the Austin area. :)
Jason,
You have proved once again that knowing and sharing are two completely different issues. Many Realtor know the benefits of Austin, Texas buy you have taught me the value of sharing the information in a manner that is easily understood and interesting. I will now attempt to do your format justice sharing the benefits of the areas that I serve. There is a ton of information on my website about Valenca, Ca. Stevenson Ranch, Saugus, Newhall, Castaic, and Canyon Country, Ca. as well. Our city is Santa Clarita, Ca. and the area is called the Santa Clarita Valley. Let me know if you ever have clients moving to Southern California as there is no better place to live then the Santa Clarita Valley! Visit www.TonyLewis.com and check out the local information. I would really like some feedback from you and others concerning changes needed or anything else!
Tony Lewis * RE/MAX of Valencia 661-702-4720 tonyglewis@yahoo.com
Jason I found this about a year after the last comment because someone had mentioned it in another post. So I searched for the name and I'm glad I found it.
As I work on videos for my area I've been working on ideas of how to do a better job of promoting the community and Town. Your package is great and I will incorporate some of the techniques you've done such a great job of using.
Your relo pkg is awesome, must have taken hours.
Hi Jason...You have a wealth of information for anyone considering a move to Austin. I am going to keep this blog and use it as a guide for potential Lake Anna buyers.
I have suggested this. Although it is over three years old, this post is a gold mine. Bob Stewart mentioned in his post today. I'm so glad he did and that I came over to take a look.
Kate
Jason,
I came from the mention in Bob Stewart's last blog post. I am glad I came. It is a simple and very effective idea.
Excellent
WOW just finding all those links is amazing.
Kate - My friend, I thank you for the kind words. Glad you found it to be helpful. :)
Jon - Thank you, sir!
Susan - Actually, the links all point to posts that I wrote back then. :)
Jason, you've probably gotten some new responses on this since Bob Stewart shined the spotlight on you...I do something similar to this on a WordPress Blog for my Fishhawk Lake clients, including an alphabetized Resource List of recommended contractors, etc., but the idea you have here of compiling it into one "page" and sending it that way is SO EASY A CAVEMAN COULD DO IT.
Uh huh. Dat's me!!!
This is fabulous, Jason. You do kno that half the planet is going to borrow this idea right? :)
Wow, I had to come see what you were talking about. I'm thinking maybe I"ll cut "Austin" and paste "Albuquerque."
OK with You?
Jane and Rich - I have no problem with people "stealing" this idea for their own markets. Happy to provide some inspiration!
Congrats on being in AR's top 10 for 2011! Looks like great info! I've bookmarked for future reference.
Jason
This is one of the most complete info packet I have ever seen. Sure makes me realize, I have work to do on mine. cheers cvc
Hi Jason, great post and congratulations on your top ten post! You deserve it!