Posts Tagged ‘ georgetown ’

Georgetown Chamber of Commerce launches interactive map

Friday, February 20th, 2009

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce has announced the launch of their new online, interactive map. This map is too cool! The first page you come to shows the “big picture” of Georgetown. Georgetown TX interactive map
Then you zoom in, and you start to notice business logos on the page. Hover over one of these logos, and up pops a window with more information about each of the businesses. Click some of the other tabs to find more information about points of interest, local parks, and even a broader map showing Williamson County.
The map is very user-friendly. When you zoom in, you’ll see a blue box on a miniature map in the upper right-hand corner. You can click and drag this blue box on the miniature map in order to navigate the main map.
You’ll find a smaller version of this icon in the sidebar here at HometownGeorgetown.com. I’m proud to feature this very useful tool from the Chamber!

Georgetown to be featured in Hill Country Magazine

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Hill Country Magazine is a high quality quarterly filled with wonderful stories and photos from right here in the Texas Hill Country. (Georgetown is, in my opinion, at the northeasternmost point of the Hill Country. In fact, I would say the portion of our town that lies east of I-35 is outside of the Hill Country. East of 35, we have beautiful flat farmland. West, we have those gorgeous rolling hills.) From what I hear, Georgetown will be featured in Texas Hill Country Magazine in their Spring 2009 issue. You can buy it at the Hill Country Bookstore on the square here in Georgetown, a wonderful little bookshop that has a great selection of reading material. (The bookstore itself was featured in Community Impact just over a year ago.)

BB’s Home Cooking reopens on Williams Drive (new location)

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

I can’t count the number of people who have asked me with a sense of longing in their voice, “Did you ever eat at BB’s Home Cooking?” Alas, the small restaurant had closed by the time I moved to Georgetown. From everything I’ve heard, BB’s provided some of the best Southern comfort food in town.

Rejoice, foodies! BB’s Home Cooking reopened this morning at eleven! Although I still haven’t eaten there, I did stop by the restaurant this afternoon to see what it looks like. BB’s is at 4701 Williams Drive, in the same shopping center as Hollandaze Gourmet, a fantastic upscale kitchen shop, and Hippie Cowgirl, one of Georgetown’s fabulously unique boutiques.

If you’re coming from downtown, drive out Williams Drive past the H-E-B, and the shopping center will be on your right soon after about half a mile. The shopping center is a series of stucco buildings with arched doors and windows and rustic appeal. Inside BB’s, you’ll find vaulted ceiling and more of that rustic charm. Plenty of seating at tables, in booths, and along the bar.

I sneaked a peek at BB’s dinner menu. Catfish, chicken, salads… Even a veggie plate which allows diners to choose four vegetable sides. All the desserts are homemade. I won’t be able to enjoy those until after my New Year’s resolution proves effective, but I’d love to live vicariously through you all. Anyone who has eaten at BB’s, whether in the new incarnation or at the former place of business, please post a comment. If I remember right… and those of you in the know can feel free to correct me if I’m wrong… the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day and for breakfast on the weekends.

Super fun kids’ activity on no-school days

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

Mel’s Lonestar Lanes, Georgetown’s own fabulous family entertainment center, is offering something very creative next week at 10 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday… Bowling with Santa! Isn’t that cool? $5.00 per child includes an hour of bowling and shoe rental. Bring your camera so you can get a picture of your children bowling with St. Nick. Reservations are requested, and you can make them by calling 512-930-2200. Bowl with Santa at Mel's Lonestar Lanes
The bowling alley will be open on Christmas Day, too, from 3 p.m. until midnight (half-price until 7 p.m.) Santa won’t be there that day, as far as I kow. He’ll probably be recuperating from a long evening flying all over the world.
At CJ’s Sports Bar & Grill, in the Mel’s entertainment complex, there’s going to be a New Year’s Eve party. I spent a couple of hours at CJ’s last week, and it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. It’s a casual, adult place to hang out. A pub, cozy (but not small). Each lane has soft, comfortable sofas in a booth-type setup. No smoking allowed, so you don’t have to fight your way through the air to get to your booth. There’s a full bar, too, as well as pool tables. This really would be a fun place to spend New Year’s Eve.

November home sales in Georgetown, TX

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

The holiday season has kept me from posting as often as I’d like. For the past week or so, I’ve been planning to write a nice, meaty article about home sales in the MLS areas of GTE and GTW (Georgetown East and West). Finally, today is the day. Hurrah!
Georgetown Texas real estate
I had a recent online conversation with a former math teacher who suggested I provide information on the mean sales prices, rather than the average. Instead, I decided to do both, and to throw in the median prices, too. For the past five Novembers, the mean and median sales prices were nearly identical.
Georgetown Texas real estate
As you can see clearly from this chart, the sales prices have continually risen, even in today’s tough real estate climate. For those of you trying to sell a home out there, please don’t use this as a reason to price your house too high. There are a lot of homes on the market. 597, to be exact. With just 57 sales this past November, that means we have more than 10 months of residential inventory at the moment. Buyers have the power. If you want to sell quickly, you need to price your house to sell.
The chart below tells another chapter of the November sales story. In 2007, homes spent an average of 74 days on the market. This year, that number jumped to 91 days. One home spent 330 days on the market before finally selling. That’s nothing compared to a house in Sun City Texas that’s been on the market but is finally now under contract. If you want to sell your home and get on with your life, then price your home to sell. Give the buyers such a deal that they simply can’t resist, and know that you’ll probably get just as big a deal on your next house.
Georgetown Texas real estate

Homes on 1 acre + ($200,000 - $325,000)

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Yesterday, a reader called me to ask for some very specific information. He’s trying to decide whether or not to buy a home, and he wants to get started by doing his due diligence. Smart! He wants to get to know the market so that when he’s ready to buy, he can make an informed decision.
He asked me if I could help him find some information about homes with at least an acre that had sold over the past two months for $250,000 to $325,000. I expanded that a little bit and started my search at $200,000. A little more information never hurts. I told him that I would write an article about my findings, and that I would send him a spreadsheet with more details.
I love when people call me to ask specific questions. This website is much more fun and interesting with that interactive element. I created HometownGeorgetown.com as a way to meet people who are interested in buying or selling a home, so I’m happy when my phone rings. All I ask in return is that when you’re ready to take that next step, you keep me in mind. Give me a call at 512-876-6544 or email me at jenel@HometownGeorgetown.com. I’m here to help!
Ten properties came up in my search of MLS areas GTE and GTW. The map to the right shows the location of these properties. The newest of the homes was built in 1997. The average year built is 1983. Newer construction on 1 acre plus tends to be priced significantly higher. Georgetown Texas home sales
I was surprised to find the majority of the sales were west of the freeway, in the MLS area known as GTW. I had expected to find homes in this price range to be in GTE. A couple of the homes are in Serenada, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods. The trees in Serenada are incredible. They’ve been there a long, long time, and so they look substantial and comforting. Just gorgeous.
The average sales price per square foot of these homes was $126.39. This number was brought up by one property that is on nearly 9 acres. When we take this property out of the mix, the average price per square foot drops to just over $120. This particular property sold the fastest, spending just a couple days on the market before going under contract. The average active days on market for the ten homes was 133. During the properties’ time on market, the list prices dropped by an average of about $43,000. This average was brought up drastically by the price reduction of almost $200,000 on two of the homes. The owners of those two homes obviously started out with a very unrealistic view of the worth of their properties. When you take these two homes out of the mix, the average price reduction was a much more reasonable $7,635, or 3%.

Anytime Fitness to open soon in Georgetown

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Georgetown will soon have a 24-hour fitness facility. Anytime Fitness, which already has branches in Cedar Park and Leander, will open within the next two weeks. They’ll be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and holidays. (Oh no! No more excuses!) Each of their treadmills has its own TV, which sounds great to me. Exercise can be tedious, but if you can do it while you’re distracting your brain with mindless fluff, it’s not so bad.

If you’d like more information on membership, give them a call at 863-9990. They’ll be located right across the street from Catfish Parlour on Williams Drive.

Top of page