Insights
Practical, data-driven analysis of the Austin commercial real estate market — written for owners, developers, and investors. Each piece answers a real question with current, dated numbers and the way an agent with an engineering and finance background actually works the problem. No hype, no guarantees.
1031 Exchange Deadlines: The 45-Day and 180-Day Rules (and the Trap That Shortens Them)
Calendar days, no weekend grace, and a return due date that can end your exchange before day 180. The timeline, the three identification rules, and the extension that saves a fourth-quarter sale.
Read the guide →Boot and Debt Replacement: Why “I Reinvested Everything” Still Triggers Tax
You can spend every dollar of proceeds and still owe tax, because debt relief is boot too. The math, the netting rules, the one direction that doesn’t work, and how to fix mortgage boot before closing.
Read the guide →Finding 1031 Replacement Property in 45 Days in Texas
Most failed exchanges fail at sourcing, not paperwork. Start before you sell, treat day 25 as the decision point, and never identify one real option and two decoys.
Read the guide →Reverse and Improvement 1031 Exchanges: Buying First, and Building With Exchange Funds
When the replacement appears before your sale closes, Rev. Proc. 2000-37 lets an accommodator park title. The same structure funds construction with exchange dollars. How both work, and what they cost.
Read the guide →DSTs and Net Lease as 1031 Replacement Property: What They Solve and What They Cost
A DST can absorb exchange proceeds in days and size to the exact dollar. The tradeoff is that the seven restrictions preserving its tax treatment also mean nobody can refinance or re-lease — ever.
Read the guide →1031 Exchange vs. Opportunity Zone: What Changes on January 1, 2027
OBBBA left Section 1031 untouched and made Opportunity Zones permanent, with a 10% basis step-up from 2027 and 30% for rural funds. Which gains each tool accepts, and whether waiting makes sense.
Read the comparison →1031 Exchanges and Land: Raw Acreage, Covered Land Plays, and the Holding-Intent Problem
Land is like-kind to almost anything. The risks are the dealer exclusion for property held primarily for sale, and land’s inability to carry the debt you just paid off.
Read the guide →Selling on Land Value, Not Rent Roll: A 1970s Walk-Up in Austin’s Transit Corridor
7000 Guadalupe is 18 studios on 0.28 acre near two MetroRail stations. Priced as income it’s a modest asset; priced as land it’s a development site. The $1,875,000 ask, the math behind it, and how to market to the buyer pool that pays for density.
Read the case study →Austin TOD vs. ETOD: The Two Transit Zoning Systems, and Which One Your Property Is In
The 2005 TOD districts and the 2024 ETOD overlay are different programs. DBETOD allows 120 feet within a quarter mile of the light rail alignment and 90 feet between a quarter and a half mile, in exchange for affordable housing. How to tell which applies to you.
Read the guide →Austin Light Rail and Land Value: What Project Connect Actually Does to What You Own
Phase 1 is 9.8 miles and 15 stops, with construction expected in 2027 — but the entitlement value already landed in 2024 when the ETOD overlay was mapped. The three ways transit moves land price, and the risks nobody puts in the flyer.
Read the analysis →How an ETJ Release Changed What a ±55-Acre US 290 Tract Was Worth
11017 Fitzhugh Rd sat outside Austin’s city limits, paid no city tax — and still carried a 20% impervious cover cap from the Save Our Springs ordinance. Releasing it under SB 2038 removed the cap. It went to market at $15 million.
Read the case study →Five Jurisdictions, Five Different Answers: Impervious Cover on the US 290 Corridor
Austin ETJ caps cover at 15–20% of net site area. Dripping Springs ETJ allows 35% of gross area in the contributing zone. City limits run 60–70% by district. The county has no municipal cap. The boundary you can’t see from the road is the biggest multiplier on 290 land value.
Read the guide →US 290 West Utilities: Water Almost Everywhere, Wastewater Almost Nowhere
The West Travis County PUA serves water across ~225 square miles. Centralized sewer exists in four closed systems — Belterra’s WCIDs, Ledge Stone’s MUD 4, Highpointe’s MUD 5 and the City of Dripping Springs — and none of them can serve your tract. Why septic sets the density ceiling.
Read the guide →Austin Full-Purpose vs. Limited-Purpose vs. ETJ: What Each Jurisdiction Means for Commercial Property
The four labels on Austin's jurisdiction map — Full Purpose, LTD, 2 Mile ETJ, 5 Mile ETJ — and what each changes for zoning, the $0.579948 city tax rate, utilities, voting, and SB 2038 release eligibility, with the Texas statutes behind them.
Read the guide →Texas Data Center Moratoriums by County & City: The 2026 Tracker
Every county and city pause, ban or permit regime we could verify — Hays County's 180-day review, San Marcos's zoning ban, Hill County's rescinded moratorium and $100M lawsuit, Austin County's AI/BESS pause, Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso — plus why county bans keep collapsing and what the ERCOT audit does to your land.
Read the tracker →Subdividing Land in Austin & Travis County: Process, Costs & Timeline
When a plat is required, the completeness-check-to-recordation sequence, the 30-day and 15-day state review clocks, sourced FY2025-26 City of Austin fees ($11,367.80 + $77.93/acre for a preliminary plan), parkland after HB 1526 — and how much a seller should do before selling to a developer.
Read the guide →Austin-Area Data Center Activity: Bastrop, Williamson & Hays County Tracker
Where the money is actually moving: ~5,500 acres in Cedar Creek (EdgeConneX, Amazon's 1,229-acre buy, Pacifico's withdrawn abatements), 30 facilities in Williamson County, Taylor's 665-acre Project Mustang, Hays County's 180-day pause — and Gov. Abbott's ERCOT audit over all of it.
Read the tracker →Data Center Site Selection Criteria: The 2026 Texas Checklist
Power first, then everything else. The criteria developers actually screen on — megawatts and interconnection timeline, acreage, fiber, water, flood, and zoning — and why ERCOT's ~410 GW queue means grid readiness now beats land readiness.
Read the checklist →Powered Land: Why ERCOT Access Decides Data Center Sites
Deliverable power, not acreage, decides where data centers get built in Texas. What "powered land" means, how SB 6 changed interconnection, why committed megawatts beat a queue position, and how to read your parcel's power position.
Read the analysis →How to Sell Your Land to a Data Center Developer in Texas
Developers buy power, not price per acre. Purchase vs. ground lease, option and diligence timelines, SB 6 site-control rules, how your dirt gets priced off committed megawatts, and the mistakes that break deals.
Read the playbook →Data Center Water, Cooling & Permitting in Texas
Water use runs from 5 million gallons a day to near zero depending on cooling — and Texas's wave of moratoriums, buffer ordinances, groundwater rules, and a 2026 state audit decides where a campus can actually be permitted.
Read the guide →Austin Office Cap Rates and Market Outlook (Q2 2026)
Office traded at a ~6.5% average cap rate over the trailing year, but owner-users — not yield buyers — are clearing most deals at $150–$235/SF. Vacancy improved to 22.7%, the construction pipeline collapsed 88%, and the submarket spread runs 12.5% to 41.9%.
Read the numbers →Tenant Representation in Austin: Retail & Office — What a Rep Does and Who Pays
Office tenants negotiate from 22.7% vacancy; retail tenants from 3.6%. Same city, opposite leverage. What a tenant rep does in each market, why the landlord customarily pays the commission, and when to start the clock.
Read the playbook →How Much Is My Land Worth to a Developer? How Buyers Actually Price It
A developer pays what their project can afford — finished value minus costs and profit — not what the CAD or an appraisal says. The five-step underwriting sequence buyers run on your tract, what pushes their number up, and how to read a contingency-loaded offer.
Read the breakdown →ETJ Release: Cost, Timeline, and What Happens After
The 45-day statutory clock, the 2–4 weeks of prep in front of it, and why the costs are professional services — not a city permission fee. Plus what actually changes after release (city platting control ends) and what doesn't (taxes, utilities, deed restrictions).
Read the process →Leasing Industrial Space in Austin: Rates, Lease Structures & Terms (2026)
Metro asking rents at $12.85–$14.43/SF NNN depending on the data set — flex $18.92, warehouse $12.74, manufacturing $11.79 — plus opex loads, 3.5–3.75% escalations, and the TI, free-rent, and teaser-rate concessions record vacancy puts on the table.
Read the numbers →Industrial Tenant Representation in Austin: What a Tenant Rep Does — and Who Pays
The tenant rep's job from requirement to signed lease, why the landlord — not the tenant — typically pays the fee, when to engage (9–18 months out), and why record vacancy makes representation most valuable right now.
Read the playbook →Austin Multifamily Cap Rates: Where Deals Are Pricing (2026)
Market cap rate ~5.7% (CoStar), stabilized deals clearing 5.5–6.5% (Northmarq), median $193,100/unit — the sourced Q1 2026 numbers, why Q1 was the strongest sales start since 2022, and what the halving delivery pipeline means for pricing.
Read the numbers →Is My Property in Austin's ETJ? How to Check — and Why It Matters
An "Austin, TX" address proves nothing, and the tax bill can't distinguish ETJ from county — the ETJ levies no city tax. The reliable ways to confirm jurisdiction, why split tracts are common, and what each answer means for platting, utilities, and value.
Read the answer →Buying Land in the Austin ETJ: What Changes After You Close
No city zoning and no city property tax — but Austin still controls platting, utilities aren't guaranteed, and HB 2512 changed who can petition out. What an ETJ land buyer actually takes on, with a pre-close diligence checklist.
Read the answer →ETJ Release: The Window Is Narrowing — Who Still Qualifies in 2026
The petition path still works — the Texas Supreme Court has backed it — but eligibility tightened once already (HB 2512's 12-acre rule), 20+ cities are suing, and the Legislature reconvenes January 2027. Why filing under today's rules beats waiting.
Read the analysis →Austin Commercial Real Estate Cap Rates by Property Type (2026)
Industrial ~7.5%, multifamily ~5.2–6.0%, retail 6.4% (strip centers 6.5–8.5%), NNN 5.5–7.0% — the mid-2026 number for every asset class, dated and sourced, and why the citywide "average" misleads.
Read the numbers →How to Get Your Land Out of a City's ETJ in Texas
SB 2038 lets you petition out of a city's ETJ in ~45 days with no city discretion — but HB 2512 (Sept 2025) added eligibility limits. Who still qualifies, and whether leaving actually helps your land.
Read the guide →How Much Is My Development Land Worth in Austin?
The clearest breakdown of how Austin development land is actually priced — per acre, by entitlement, and by highest-and-best-use — and why residual value, not raw comps, sets the number.
Read the breakdown →How to Sell Raw Land to a Developer in Austin (Step-by-Step)
The five-step process for taking raw Austin acreage to a developer sale — establishing highest-and-best-use, pricing on a residual model, packaging the vision, and reaching active buyers.
Read the steps →Austin Industrial Cap Rates & Market Outlook (Q2 2026)
Market cap rate ~7.5%, vacancy 14.1% (highest among the 50 largest U.S. industrial markets), rents flat — current, dated 2026 Q2 figures and what they mean for buyers, sellers, and owners. Refreshed quarterly.
Read the numbers →What Is a Good Cap Rate for an NNN Retail Property in Texas?
The direct answer cautious net-lease investors are searching for — current Texas NNN ranges by tenant credit and lease term, plus live Austin CoStar figures (6.4% market cap rate, 3.4% vacancy).
Read the answer →How Does a 1031 Exchange Work for Texas Commercial Property?
The 45- and 180-day deadlines, what counts as like-kind, the identification rules, and the moves that quietly blow up exchanges — a plain-English 2026 walkthrough for Texas owners trading up.
Read the guide →How to Buy an Industrial Building in Austin: A Buyer's Playbook
From defining your buy box to financing (SBA 504 from 10% down), sourcing off-market, underwriting tenancy and basis, and due diligence — the step-by-step way to acquire Austin industrial without overpaying.
Read the playbook →What Is a Good Cap Rate for Austin Retail Strip Centers?
Strip centers clear ~6.5–8.5% — wider than single-tenant NNN — because you're buying rollover, not a rent check. Current Austin vacancy by center type (strip: 6.6% vs 3.4% market) and the rollover math buyers miss.
Read the breakdown →What Multifamily Developers Look For in an Austin Land Site
Density, utilities, entitlements, floodplain, and the residual math — how an apartment developer decides what your tract is actually worth to them, and how to make it worth more.
Read the breakdown →Have a property question the articles don't cover?
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