Austin Market Data and Leasing Strategies
The market has continued to flatline, and, in some areas, it is still dropping. A recent article asserted that “Austin has seen the nation's fastest drop among comparably-sized cities.” This is backed up by sources such as this national rent report and additional data in our previous posts linked below. While the research typically includes apartments in the data, or is based on apartments overall, it is still very indicative of the overall leasing market. A prospective may be drawn to lower rents at apartments with amenities, lower rents, and incentives such as free rent with long term leases.
In our February and March posts we addressed the trend and mentioned the need to consider market data and the current market when working with your property manager to get a new tenant. A quick read for more info is a recent BMG Austin blog post that addresses how to price a rental property in a slow market.
Emergency Preparation Tax Holiday
Each year Texas has a few tax holidays for specific occasions, and this one helps to prepare for many scenarios. The upcoming emergency supplies tax holiday from April 25-27, 2026, can be very helpful in stretching your dollars while preparing for the unexpected. The list of eligible items is posted on the state comptroller’s website along with additional details of how it works and where you can buy items tax free. Now is a good time to plan what items you may want to have on hand and start putting together a list and comparing prices.
Tax Protests Are Around The Corner
It’s almost time for the protest season to begin, and the cycle of sending out notices of appraised value will begin in the coming months. We’ve had great success partnering with Home Tax Shield, and they’ve achieved savings for many of our clients. If you already participate in the protest process through us and Home Tax Shield, you’ll get notifications directly from them as the process hits certain milestones. If you’d like to get set up to protest this year, you can use the link above to get started.
Here is some data from the 2025 protest season that our participating clients benefit from:
$214,630 Total tax savings for our clients
Average Tax Savings of $367
If you’re unfamiliar with the tax protest process or benefits, you can find more info here where we go in detail. There is no better value proposition than a contingency-based service that only costs you a portion of the taxes you won’t have to pay if they are able to reduce your taxable valuation. If they don't reduce your tax bill, then you don't pay anything.
Any current participants should confirm that their accounts are paid and have a valid payment method on file. If there is an unpaid balance on the account then the current year protest may not be filed, and if the deadline is missed, there is no way to participate until next year. You can check your account by going to their website, select Sign In, and enter the email address associated with your account to receive an email containing your “magic link” that logs you in automatically.
If you have questions about the process, the status of your account, the email associated with your account, or anything else, please use the chat feature on the bottom right corner of the Home Tax Shield site to get help from them directly.
BMG Austin Blog
We’d like to introduce you to the BMG Austin blog. In the future, we’ll include some of this content. Please feel free to visit and check out the content we also have available on our sister site.
Property and Flood Insurance
In our previous blog post we talked about insurance and the changing landscape while costs continue to go up for policyholders. One thing we didn’t discuss, and feel is worth mentioning, is flood insurance. Most people don’t know if their property is in an area that has potential for flooding in long term scenarios such as 100 year or longer flood plains. Development can also alter floodplains significantly and cause flooding that standard policies don’t cover. We have seen it happen to our clients and recommend reviewing your property’s location and potential for flooding when considering whether you should have a flood policy. They are relatively low cost for the benefit of recovery if it happens and are definitely worth looking into.
We are not experts but work closely with Andor Insurance. The principals of Stone Oak partnered with an insurance industry veteran to set up Andor Insurance Agency for the purpose of providing exceptional service and options to our clients after seeing some bad insurance related mishaps. Some common issues are having the wrong policy, inadequateness, or lack of coverage among other things. Ryan, the rock star agent and great human that answers the phones and emails at Andor, has spent a good deal of time putting together a strong portfolio of options that cater to real estate investors and homeowners. He’s happy to review your policies, answer questions, shop policies, and make recommendations whether you become a client or not. He always enjoys the opportunity to research options for home, landlord, auto, business, and many other types of insurance and has no issue recommending that someone buy a policy that he did not quote if it is the best option for the circumstances. If you’d like to connect with him the contact info is available here.
Thank you for your trust in us! We always welcome your feedback and questions. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need anything at this time.
