There is a new update to the Homestead Exemption Law. 

Starting January 1, 2022, homebuyers will be allowed to file for exemption in the year they purchased the property - previously homebuyers had to wait until the following calendar year to file. 

This is great news for homebuyers who can now have the opportunity to lower their property taxes! 

How does this affect prorations? 

Previously, prorations of taxes between the Buyer & Seller, and reserves needed for the Buyer's new escrow accounts, were estimated using the homestead exemption because it was in place until the end of the year. Now, a Seller can buy a new property and move their exemption to that new property immediately. 



Source: Patten Title Company 

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After nearly a year and a half of living with Covid-19, many households have gone through long-term lifestyle changes, such as career reorientation and cross-country moves. New opportunities brought out by the pandemic, especially the sudden popularity of remote work, triggered many of these circumstances.

Such a dramatic evolution in work models has affected the real estate market across the country. Now, investors must reconsider where to focus their efforts and which assets may be better for expanding and balancing their portfolios.

Institutional investors with assets greater than $50 billion have long invested primarily in gateway markets, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York; commercial properties in these cities typically offer…

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As is the tradition as we near the end of 2021, Eater asked a trusted group of friends, industry types, and local bloggers for their takes on the past culinary year in Austin. Given the insanity of this year, Eater has adapted the standard survey into one that reflects the new realities of takeout, restaurant shutters, and a shaky industry. All answers will be revealed before the year ends — cut, pasted, (mostly) unedited, and in no particular order. Question number one:

What were your regular go-to destinations in 2021? What newcomer on the scene excited you this year?

Raphael Brion, Texas editor, The Infatuation, and former editor of Eater
My regular go-to is the same every year. It’s Bufalina Due. The pizza’s great, the wines are adventurous,…

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Texas Education Agency (TEA) - tea.texas.gov

 A state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education. The TEA strives to improve outcomes for all public school students in the state.

• Mission, Leadership, Annual Reports, & Legal Structure

• Financial, Grant, & State Funding Information

• List of Texas Schools & Enrollment Guidance

• Curriculum, Subject Areas, & Educational Support Programs

• A·F Accountability Resources

• State Testing & TxCHSE Resources • Educator Databases

• Data & Reports

Texas Schools - txschools.gov

As an extension of TEA, TXschools.gov is a database that stores information by school and district. This resource provides analytical tools to create correlations, compare, and study the…

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Outdoors

Zilker Park, Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail

Spanning 351 acres in the heart of Austin is Zilker Park. It’s also the city’s oldest park, according to the city’s website. It was named after Andrew Jackson Zilker, who donated pieces of land to the city on multiple occasions beginning in 1917.

You can also hop on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, named after a former mayor and his wife. The trail is 10 miles long.

Barton Creek Greenbelt, Sculpture Falls

Austin has several greenbelts for hiking, but the most famous is the Barton Creek Greenbelt. It’s an ideal spot for swimming as well.

You can start at the trailhead off MoPac — this will give you access to both Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls — or from the…

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The pandemic has heightened our appreciation for where we live, with many reconsidering their hometowns. Coupled with the flexibility of remote work and international borders slowly opening up, now might be the time to consider that relocation you've long dreamed of. To determine the ideal places to call home, U.K. finance site money.co.uk studied the best cities to move around the world in its Relocation Report, released this week.

Austin came in first, thanks in part to its average temperature of 68.7 degrees and average monthly salary of £3,984 (or $5,378), as well as its internet speed of 87.5 Mbps. Next up was the most populous city in the world, Tokyo, for its plethora of restaurants and parks, as well as its high life expectancy at…

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Although home sales in the Austin metro area tapered off in October, the region remains on track for a record-breaking year, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

ABoR says home sales in the region slid 12.1 percent last month compared with October 2020. However, the median sale price in the area rose 24.7 percent year over year to an October record: $455,000. This is also a slight uptick from the September 2021 median home price of $450,000 in the Austin-Round Rock market. 

“We are beginning to see a glimpse into what buyers and sellers can expect in our housing market moving forward,” Susan Horton, president of ABoR, says in a news release. “More new listings are hitting the market, a trend that we have seen continuously for the past…

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AUSTIN, TX — Need a break from all the Thanksgiving turkey eating, football watching and dish washing? Here's one idea: Gather up the family and head out for an hour or two of holiday shopping at select stores in the Austin area.

While a majority of stores remain closed on Nov. 25, several will be open for shoppers looking for a moment of respite amid Turkey Day festivities or those hoping to get a jump start on their Black Friday shopping.

However, don't expect all of your favorite retailers to be open this year.

In June, retail giant Walmart announced it will close all stores on Thanksgiving Day this year, a move the company said is a "thank you" to store employees for their hard work through the coronavirus pandemic.

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The 145-acre Camelback property on Lake Austin, just west of the iconic Pennybacker Bridge, rises straight up a series of limestone cliffs to a densely forested ridge 380 feet above the water. It’s as close to a proper mountain as you can find in Central Texas. And what a mountain. From the top, you can see the sweeping semicircular curve of the Colorado River below, and off to the east, a gap in the hills frames the Oz-like cluster of high-rises in downtown Austin, ten or so miles away.

It’s here that property owner Jonathan Coon has built a four-story metal-frame viewing platform that rises above the treetops and affords lucky visitors one of the most commanding views in the state. The platform won’t be here for long, though: It exists…

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Zillow, the real estate website known for estimating house values, said on Tuesday that it would exit the business of rapidly buying and selling houses amid heavy losses and that it planned to let go about nearly 25 percent of its employees.

The announcement was a major strategic retreat and a black eye for Richard Barton, Zillow’s chief executive, who founded the company 16 years ago and has long talked about transitioning Zillow’s popular website into a marketplace. Last year, Mr. Barton predicted Zillow Offers, which made instant offers on homes in a practice known as iBuying, could generate $20 billion a year.

On Tuesday, Zillow, which said it has 8,000 employees, said the division had been the source of huge losses and had made the…

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