Popular Lake Austin Neighborhoods

, Mar 7, 2022

An aerial view of Lady Bird Lake and the Colorado River as they meet downtown Austin, TX.

Shopping for a new home is both exciting and stressful. If you’re feeling this way, know that you’re not alone. 40% of initiatory home buyers find the process stressful; after all, a house is one of the most significant investments you can make. There are plenty of mental and emotional considerations to make during the process including commute times, the neighborhood’s crime rates, and the quality of schools.

Fortunately, preparing early for purchasing a new home can help you overcome or avoid this stress. Getting the type of Lake Austin home that meets your ideal standards can make all of the effort worth it. Living in one of these homes allows you to enjoy water-based activities and private boat docks right at home.

The following information on some of the more well-known Lake Austin neighborhoods is a good starting point for your home-search journey.

Bellagio Estates

The Bellagio Estates homes range from 6,000 to 11,000 square feet which will be perfect for any entertainer. The Bellagio estates backyards have outdoor dining spaces, private pools, sports courts, and even private lake access.

With the University of Texas just miles away from the area, you can enjoy the college-town ambiance, or visit the Common Fords Ranch Metropolitan Park and the Mansfield Dam Park.

You can also go shopping at the Galleria Mall, enjoy a trip to the HEB center and enjoy sports and music performances in the neighborhood.

Highland Park – West Balcones

The Highland Park – West Balcones is captivating for nature and outdoor lovers. If you enjoy biking and hiking, you’ll enjoy the parks, nature reserves, and hilltop views.

The neighborhood’s home sizes range from 2800 square feet to above 7000 square feet. The home prices differ as well with the smaller homes costing from $300k upwards.

While the neighborhood doesn’t have the most social amenities, its charming environment and greenspace are perfect for any family.

Mount Bonnell Shores

Mount Bonnell shores Austin, has large homes of high value. It’s an artificial island with a rated enclave set up in the early 2000s which resulted in 30 waterfront estates lining Lake Austin with private waterfront accessibility. These homes average around 2,000 square feet in size.

The neighborhood has world-class elementary schools, clubhouses, tennis courts, a heated pool, and different water-based recreational facilities.

The neighborhood has an average population of 839 with an average median age of 50 years.

Rob Roy Austin

Home prices in the Rob Roy Austin neighborhood range from over $1,000,000 up to $5,000,000.

Most homes in this area are within a 15-minute drive of the downtown area. Here, there are numerous local shops, boutiques, and national retail centers.

There are also plenty of outdoor activities to participate in with the 227-acre Wild Basin Wilderness Park nature reserve closely located. Rob Roy also has community schools of average performance and some of Texas’s most reputable schools districts.

The neighborhood has an average household income of $230,756, and 95% of the jobs here are white-collar. Rob Roy Austin has 3,029 residents with a median age of 43 years.

Tarrytown

You can get a Tarrytown Austin home between $995,000 and $3,995,000. Tarrytown is famous for its wide variety of architectural designs. The neighborhood’s canopied streets are full of oaks just waiting to be walked through. It is also home to 21-acre Mayfield Park, Deep Eddy Pool, the Austin Museum, the Mayfield Reserve, and Reed Park.

There are ample dog parks, downtown views, and fitness centers. The neighborhood also has some of the best public schools, including O. Henry Middle School.

Vineyard Bay

Home prices in Vineyard Bay range from $800,000 to $5,000,000. Vineyard Bay may be your ideal home ground if you want to enjoy the picturesque views of Lake Travis from the south shores.

Vineyard Bay Austin has 84 custom-built homes, each sitting on one or more acres of land. In addition, the neighborhood has a boat and marina ramp, a complete kitchen cabana, and other amenities like clubhouses for workouts and tennis courts.

It has winding roads, a beautiful landscape, and various shopping centers. The most exemplary Lake Travis ISD schools, restaurants, and grocery stores are also situated here.

Watersedge at River Place

Watersedge at River Place has luxurious homes with an assortment of beautiful architectural styles. The homes also come in varying prices and sizes for your convenience, with between 4400 square feet to above 8400 square feet. The home prices average around $193,000, and the Watersedge area has a median annual household income of $92,560.

This neighborhood has many educational facilities, entertainment hot spots, tantalizing restaurants, and entertaining shopping spots.

About the Author

Last updated: 08/15/2022

2300+ Client reviews!

Tara McGuire recently sold our house in Circle C and did an amazing job. She is so easy to work with, knowledgable, and responsive. I believe she got us top $$. Highly recommend working with Tara and her team at Bramlett! Their service was all inclusive with staging, marketing, etc. No nickel and diming. Just great service.

It was pleasure working with Tammy Costello from Bramlett Residential Real Estate in finding our home. We could not have imagined the process to be as seamless and easy as it was! As first-time home buyers, Tammy walked us through the process and guided us through each step. She is meticulous, has great communication and negotiation skills. With her help and years of experience, we were able to find our dream home. Thanks for making it so easy, Tammy!

I had the pleasure of working with Vicki Duran and I couldn’t be happier with the experience. From the very beginning, Vicki demonstrated deep knowledge of the market and a genuine commitment to understanding my needs. Her communication was exceptional – always prompt, clear, and informative. Throughout the process, Vicki went above and beyond, negotiating on my behalf, explaining the process/each step along the way, and ensuring every detail was taken care of. Her professionalism, dedication, and personalized approach was exceptional. She truly cared and I felt like I was working with a close family friend (having never met her before the process began). I can’t emphasis enough how seamless she made the process for me. People have the perception that buying a house is an extremely stressful process. My experience could not have been farther from the truth. I joked with her at times how smooth/easy buying a house was, all because of Vicki!

I could not have asked for a better agent. I’ve already referred a few friends to Vicki and will continue to do so in the future. Thanks again, Vicki!

Blessed to have connected with Kristen! I can’t say enough great things about Kristen. Her professionalism, market knowledge, and communication were beyond compare. She was incredibly patient throughout our home search. We looked at a countless amount of homes (we are very picky), and never once felt she was trying to push us in to something that wasn’t the right fit for the sake of a sale. We always felt she had our best interest in mind. Couldn’t recommend her more!!!

Sally was referred to me via a business network when I first moved to Austin in 2022. She helped me understand the area, evaluate my options, and find the perfect spot in a tough market. Sally has been a joy to work with because she creates partnerships + friendships with her clients!

I was impressed by Sally’s expertise in selling both my investment property and my primary residence, and in helping us buy our dream home. At our initial meeting, we found Sally knew the real estate market, but found even more impressive her emotional quotient in understanding and navigating the differences between my partner’s and my very different personalities. For my investment property, she timed the showings and sale perfectly and created a helpful Excel spreadsheet comparing the many offers. She was also savvy enough to suggest we pay the tenants a fair amount of money to make the property available for viewing from 9am – 5pm on the first weekend to make it as easy as possible for potential buyers to get through, and we let her deal directly with the tenants because we could tell her people skills would serve us well

We got multiple offers by the deadline on Monday afternoon with one outlier that was $150K higher than what we had unsuccessfully listed the property for (with a different realtor) a year earlier!

When it came to selling my primary home, Sally’s expertise in the luxury market, and in historic homes in particular, truly shone. She understood that selling a high-end property, with various restrictions, required a different approach. Sally crafted a listing for the home that perfectly captured its unique character and premier location. Her marketing strategy was well timed and appropriate for the more limited market, attracting the right buyer pool and creating a sense of exclusivity around the property. She suggested listing it on the private market for a week or two before sending a message that it would be listed on the MLS. She organized private showings that allowed buyers to experience the warmth and charm of the home and the neighborhood, which I believe was instrumental in securing a sale.

The pricing and marketing strategy Sally recommended was spot-on, and we sold the home at a price that far exceeded our expectations. Sally helped thread the needle perfectly.

Sally is also accessible. We found more well-known realtors would respond to our email days later, whereas she was always available right away to answer my questions, and provided us with regular updates, making sure every detail was handled with care. Selling a high-end property can be a stressful experience with fewer potential buyers and some downtime inherent in waiting for the right buyer, but Sally made it a smooth and surprisingly easy process encouraging us to be patient while giving us enough information on what was happening to satisfy both me and my partner. In the end, we were thrilled with the results

Sally’s rep of us as sellers could not have been more professional, but her work repping us as buyers is the most memorable. We were trying to be our dream home in an overheated market, and Sally gave us advice that at each turn proved invaluable. She recommended offering just the right amount above the offer price for us to make it to the next round of offers. She handled a very difficult appraisal process by advising us on financing sources, even offering to help us put down a higher amount by loaning us money herself! We were able to finance the home without taking her up on that offer, but how many realtors make that kind of offer to their clients? In the end, we closed on the house ontime and ended up with the home of our dreams, thanks to Sally’s world-class advice and service.

We cannot say enough good things about Sally’s technical knowledge, people skills, and responsiveness. You won’t find a better realtor in Austin.

I have lived here in Austin for more twenty-five years, and have bought and sold several homes and rented others during those years. I have worked with five realtors during that time. SALLY IS BY FAR THE BEST OF ANY IN TOWN. Her work ethic is simply unmatched. She hides her competitive streak underneath a layer of Austin hip and friendly, but she will absolutely get you the best home, the best deal, and stop at NOTHING to get your home sold as well!

Sally loves real estate. She has a genuine passion for Austin, too, and for her client’s well-being. She took time to understand my needs and was always available to answer any questions and provide me with honest and insightful advice.

We toured many homes in Barton Hills and settled on a great home that was hotly contested by builders and homeowners. Sally understood how we could be the preferred buyer without getting into a bidding war. She knew the motivations of the Seller and we maneuvered and negotiated the contract and secured my dream home.

Furthermore, at the 11th hour, the day before we were set to close, our lender said we needed to put a fence around the pool before they would release the funds. The seller was not inclined to extend the closing again. We were out of town. Sally saved the day by racing to Home Depot and getting the largest tarpaulin available and then securing it over the pool at the house. Sent pics to the lender and we were set to close.

In short, Sally will work harder and smarter than anyone. She’s simply the best.

Sally is incredible! She spent nearly 2 years with us – understanding our very specific preferences and needs – to help us find our dream home. She was the first agent to reach out when the home was listed and negotiated the contract astutely so that we secured the home. The home was only in the framed stage, still had a few months until completion. Once it was completed, however, our plans had changed and we needed to get out of the contract. We were expecting to have to relinquish our very considerable deposit. But Sally spent the entire weekend working on a way to get us out of the contract AND get our deposit back. Everyone we have spoken to about this extraordinary outcome has been surprised that Sally managed to get our deposit back for us. Thank you Sally, we can’t recommend her highly enough.

Sally is reliable, diligent in her research, prompt on exchanges, creative in deal making, and has a tremendous work ethic. She is the sole reason we were able to close on our primary residence, which has been our dream home and a fantastic investment. From there, we’ve gone on to close on multiple rental property purchases in Austin together. Thanks to her astute analysis, we’ve passed on many deals as well, which has proven just as valuable. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

I highly recommend Kiel if you’re looking to rent a place in Austin. We originally met him to look around a particular unit, and when it was not to our satisfaction, he was able to quickly take us around many more units that day. He also set up a whole day of viewings for the very next day! Within 48 hours we had done enough viewings to be confident in choosing a new home. The landlord accepted our offer and Kiel handled all of the paperwork, even stopping by our hotel to pick up the needed checks. We couldn’t be happier.
Kiel is highly organized and unlike some realtors in the Austin area, he is responsive and ready to move quickly. We were always able to contact him and never left waiting.

Kiel has your BACK!! We are so grateful to have had his guidance and knowledge while navigating the intense, frustrating and way competitive Austin rental market. He quickly picked up on our taste and designed a game plan to help us push through the clutter and get to the properties that best suited us. He was ALWAYS available to us and answered our emails, calls and texts with great speed. We’re so grateful to have had him on our search team. Because my goodness, it really is a crazy market out there!

Kiel was amazing to work with! He walked us through everything, explained anything we didn’t understand, and he is is just a great guy to work with. As a first time home buyer, his knowledge was invaluable. 10/10 would recommend!

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