Carriage Hills Homes Market Information

New Webpage for Carriage Hills Subdivision

For home owners and home buyers, I have a new web page, www.carriagehillshomes.com.

What You Will Find

Here you can see Market Reports and the current homes for sale in the Carriage Hills subdivision in Fredericksburg, Texas. It is a quick place to find my brief overview of the neighborhood market and the listings are updated daily directly from our Central Hill Country Board of Realtors MLS.

Of course, I do more in depth “homework” on recent sales, days on market, etc, but I don’t publish this information online. I prefer to create a fresh, updated report for each of my buyer and seller clients. Continue reading…

Moving to Fredericksburg From Houston

Moving to Fredericksburg from Houston

Are you considering moving to Fredericksburg from Houston? Are you wondering what the lifestyle is like? How about the shopping? As someone who moved from the Galleria area of Houston to the Texas Hill Country, I thought I would share a few tips to help you understand if moving to the Fredericksburg, Texas, area is right for you. Continue reading…

Challenges and Benefits facing Wineries and Vineyards in The Texas Hill Country

Vineyard Land Fredericksburg TX It seems like new wineries and vineyards are popping up every month in the Fredericksburg, Texas area. There are always lots of challenges in any agricultural endeavor, but the growth shows no sign of slowing down. Other parts of the state may be better suited for growing grapes, but Fredericksburg continues to be the heart of the Texas Hill Country tourism.

I wanted to share this article. It’s a great read for those considering opening a vineyard and or winery in the Texas Hill Country.

Best Website to Search for Fredericksburg, Texas, Area Real Estate!

If you have found this site, I hope you find it to be the best website for searching for real estate for sale in the Fredericksburg, Texas, area. After trying other websites myself, I found them to be lacking in several areas.

First of all the quick searches on other websites were too broad. If I searched by price range, it didn’t make sense for a rural market. Sometimes the value of the property can be mostly in the house with a small amount of land, or it could be a large amount of land with no improvements. A prospective buyer doesn’t want a huge number of search results that don’t focus on the type of real estate they are looking for.

So next I could go to the detail search on other websites. Wow, those are too detailed. I had to answer 15 or 20 questions, and they weren’t necessarily the questions that got me to the desired results. Once again, the search parameters I was seeing were just right for homes in an urban area, but not for rural land and homes.

Many properties in this area have improvements that would be important to a buyer, but can’t easily be searched.

For example, you want extra bedrooms for guests. Would you search for a 2 bedroom? Probably not. But what about a 2 bedroom with a study and a 2 bedroom guest house? The searches only looks at attributes of the main house! You can be missing out on some great features, when using a traditional search page and not having a local realtor who knows the area!

To help readers of my website find properties for sale that meet their needs, I have created shortcut links. You will find them on each page. There are two catagories for the two types of buyers I meet most often.

Home buyers will find links to homes by price range. The properties for sale are arranged from least to most expensive. People looking for ranch land can use the links for acreage range.

Next, you will find this site features BIG photos of each listing. This is really important for the prospective buyer, as it can help them narrow down which properties are of interest. The Gillespie County area is quite large, and there is no reason to drive 30 miles or more between listings if you can preview photos online and decide which properties you don’t like.

Finally, this website goes beyond only my listings or my company’s listings. Searching this website, www.fredericksburgtexasproperties.com, you will find ALL the listings in the local MLS and better yet, this site is updated daily!

I hope you find this to be the BEST website for searching Fredericksburg area real estate for sale!

If you need more information on any property or have questions about the area or the local market, I look forward to hearing from you!

Beyond the MLS Search, Finding other Properties for Sale.

Searching the available properties for sale through a website linked to the local MLS is the best way to start your search for homes and/or land to buy in Fredericksburg, Texas, and the Gillespie County, Hill Country area. This website, www.fredericksburgtexasproperties.com, is updated daily, so you can always see the newest listings with big pictures, current asking prices, and detailed information.

However, in some cases, there may not be a property currently on the market that suits your needs. In this case, a Buyer’s Agent, such as myself, Melanie Lehmberg, is a great resource to find other available real estate.

I often know of real estate that has been withdrawn from the market, may be listed soon, or could be purchased. It’s simply a matter of timing.

For example, a seller may feel the property would show better if they waited for the grass to green up in the Spring. Perhaps they want to clean up the land, but there is a waiting list for their contractor to remove a dead tree or to repair a fence. In other cases, the seller could be trying to find time to clean out a second home and hasn’t had a chance to declutter and have the carpets cleaned. They would rather take care of these things before the home or land is photographed, and are delaying the listing.

In these situations, the home or land owner would be happy to allow a showing of the property to a willing, qualified buyer who can look beyond the clutter or wouldn’t mind taking care of the cleanup themselves.

Don’t be discouraged if the property you want isn’t available today. Bookmark this page and check it often, as new listings are being added every every week. Also, if you are in the market to buy real estate in the near future, contact me, Melanie Lehmberg, and I will also be looking for properties for you that may be available soon.

Thank you for visiting my website! I look forward to hearing from you!

What Buyers Don’t Understand about Fredericksburg, TX, Real Estate

As a real estate agent, I am a little surprised at how often visitors to Fredericksburg misunderstand how real estate listings work in our area.

Because CC Herber Co., Real Estate is located on Main Street in the heart of the shopping district, many visitors to Fredericksburg look in our front window at the flyers we have displayed of our company’s listings for homes and land. They will then walk into the office and ask for a flyer with all of our listings and grab a copy of our current newspaper ads, a few real estate magazines, and are ready to bolt out the door on to their next stop.

Then they mention that the are going to stop at ALL THE REAL ESTATE OFFICES in town, to see their listings.

I try to stop them long enough to explain, this simply IS NOT NECESSARY!

All of the real estate brokerage offices in our area belong to the same Board of Realtors. As we each get listings, and with the owner’s permission, we enter those listings in the local MLS. As Board members, we all have access to the same data, which is updated many times daily.

The big name national real estate websites also get their information from our MLS, but it is not always as up to date as the information you can get from a local real estate office. Old listing sometimes linger long after they are sold and price changes may not make it through cyberspace to update the old information.

The real estate magazines are great to read to get an idea of the market, but they are never up to date. Between the times ads are submitted, the magazine goes to print, and when they are distributed, some listings have been sold, and new ones have come on the market.

So how do you find the most up to date information on homes and property for sale in Fredericksburg, Texas? Find a local real estate agent!

As a Fredericksburg real estate agent, I have not only access to the current listings, but I may also know of properties about to come on the market or those that could be available.

Say your dream home was on a huge piece of land and is over budget? Well, that land owner may be willing to sell the home and less land.

Is another home only 2 bedrooms and you need room for company? As a real estate agent, I know that many of our listings have a guest house.

How about needing more land? I may know if a neighbor to a listing would be willing to sell his property.

There can be a lot of flexibility in Texas Hill Country real estate!

I am Melanie Lehmberg, a real estate agent, with CC Herber Co., Real Estate, and I am here to help you buy or sell your home or land in Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, or the surrounding Texas Hill Country!

How to Buy Real Estate In Fredericksburg, Texas!

If you are considering buying a home or land in Fredericksburg, Texas or the surrounding area of Gillespie County, here are a few tips to help you in your search.

Start your search for homes or land on the internet.
Decide on your time frame for purchasing property.
Get prequalified for a loan, unless you are paying cash.
Find a local real estate agent.

As a real estate agent, I know that most of you will begin your search for Fredericksburg properties on the internet. Websites are a great place to start to gather information on the area and many people want to start the process months or even a year before they plan to purchase a home or property.

Unlike a city, there are very few subdivisions that people would request by name in Gillespie County. In a small town like Fredericksburg, there are a wide variety of homes, many custom built. They also vary greatly in style and age. We have restored Sunday Houses and Pioneer homes that date back to the late 1800’s, 1930’s and 1940’s Craftsman style homes, one story ranch homes from the 1970’s and 1980’s, and newer Hill Country style limestone houses to name a few.

As far as your time frame, take the time to begin a conversation with a real estate agent a few months or weeks before you plan to buy. Not only can they send you links to listings as they become available, they may know of listings about to come on the market that you may be interested in seeing.

If you are financing a home, you may already have a relationship with a bank or mortgage lender. Meet with them and begin the pre-qualification process so you will be ready to make an offer when you find the right home. If you are looking for farm and ranch property, you may want to meet with a lender who specializes in rural real estate loans.

Finally, I suggest you find a local real estate agent, such as myself, especially if looking for a home on acreage.

When looking for land, there are so many factors that a local real estate agent can help you understand including:

Deed Restrictions (even on rural properties!)
Access
Water Wells
Septic systems
Soils
Oak Wilt

A local Realtor can also put you in touch with the local contacts to help you with:

Septic system permits
Water well testing, drilling or repair
Fencing
Ag Exemptions
Local contractors and services

I am Melanie Lehmberg, a real estate broker in Fredericksburg, Texas. I look forward to helping buyers find the right property in Fredericksburg, Texas or the surrounding Texas Hill Country!