Ed 
Right now there are more than 430 active listings across the Austin metro whose descriptions mention a guest house, a casita, or guest quarters. I pulled that number straight from our MLS feed this week, and honestly it surprised me a little. So the “extra little house out back” is not some rare unicorn anymore. It has quietly become one of the most searched-for features I deal with, and the homes below are all for sale as I write this.
Here is why I think guest-house properties are having a real moment, and it is not just a vibe. The Pew Research Center found that a record 64 million Americans, right around 20% of the country, live in multigenerational households. Add in the folks who work from home and want an office that is not the corner of a bedroom, the parents who moved a college kid back in, and the buyers running the numbers on rental income where the rules allow it. A second dwelling is not a luxury anymore. For a lot of people it is the whole reason they are buying.
I own a few short-term rentals myself, so I look at these the way an investor does and the way a dad does at the same time. Some of these casitas are pure income plays. Some are for keeping your mother-in-law close but not too close (a little separation of church and state, if you know what I mean). Below are ten of them, cheapest to priciest, and I tried to grab a spread across the metro so there is something here whether you want East Austin or the Hill Country. Every detail comes from the actual listing, and every home was active when I hit publish.
10 Austin-area homes with guest houses and casitas for sale
1. North Austin cottage with a detached casita, $470,000
8917 Glenn Ln, Austin 78753 is the kind of listing I point first-timers toward. The main home is a 2-bed, 2-bath cottage at about 1,361 square feet with Saltillo tile, a vaulted wood ceiling, and a fireplace. But the reason it made this list is the detached 200-square-foot casita out back, set on pier and beam with its own full bath, kitchen, and covered porch. Use it as an office, a guest suite, a spot for the in-laws, whatever you need. The sellers put a new roof and new PVC plumbing in during 2025, so you are not walking into a project. For under half a million in Austin with a second structure, that is not easy to find right now.
2. Unrestricted acre and a half in Leander, $550,000
24502 Long Hollow Trl, Leander 78641 sits on 1.5 fully fenced acres with no HOA, and that word “unrestricted” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. The main house is a 3-bed, 2-bath that was taken down to the foundation and framing and completely renovated in 2025, so it lives like new construction. The guest house is a 1-bed, 1-bath with a full kitchen and its own stackable washer and dryer, and here is the part I like: it has two separate doors and no access to the main house. That is real privacy, the kind that actually works for a long-term tenant or a grown kid. Oh, and there is a 6-car tandem garage plus a 2-car carport, so bring the boat.
3. Nearly 4 acres in Bastrop with a 2018 guest house, $560,000
Out at 278 Winfield Thicket Rd, Bastrop 78602 you get a 1,849-square-foot main home built in 2012 paired with a modern 850-square-foot guest house built in 2018, on almost 4 acres at the end of a cul-de-sac. It is outside the city limits, so no city taxes, and it feeds the smaller Smithville school district. The sellers added solar and a couple of rainwater catchment tanks for the garden, which tells you something about who has been living there. For the money this is one of the more genuinely turn-key multigen setups on the list, because that guest house is a real 2018 build, not a converted shed.
4. Round Rock guest house with its own address, $625,000
This one is my favorite technicality on the whole list. 1433 Windcrest Dr, Round Rock 78664 spreads across just over an acre on two separate lots, and the roughly 504-square-foot guest house sits on its own separately addressed lot with separate utilities, a private driveway, and a climate-controlled garage. It is fully permitted, which matters more than people realize. A guest house with its own address and its own meters is a different animal than a bonus room the seller is calling a casita. The main home is 2,382 square feet, fully updated, and there is even an RV hookup with water and a sewer dump. If a home-based business or a truly independent rental is the goal, start here.
5. Six minutes to the Domain with a designer casita, $628,000
9003 Hunters Trce, Austin 78758 is the investor pick. The main house is a fully renovated 4-bed, 2-bath (new roof, new windows, new HVAC), and the detached 300-square-foot guest house was designed and furnished by a designer with, per the listing, seven years of proven income behind it. Six minutes to the Domain is no joke for a rental, right. That is one of the strongest live-work-play submarkets in the city. No HOA, and the whole thing sits on solid rock, so foundation drama is off the table. This is the closest thing here to a turnkey house hack, and if that phrase is new to you, my house hacking guide walks through the math.
6. East Austin with a detached guest house and a low tax rate, $675,000
3506 Pennsylvania Ave, Austin 78721 puts you in the thick of East Austin with a 1.8% tax rate, which around here is worth pausing on. The main home is a 4-bed, 3-bath, and the detached 1-bed, 1-bath guest house is pitched for an office, a creative studio, or a short-term rental for added income. You are minutes from Mueller, the Morris Williams golf course, and about every new brewery and taco spot that keeps opening on that side of town. This is a lifestyle-and-income combo in a part of Austin that has not stopped appreciating, and the second unit gives you options no matter which way life goes.
7. Unrestricted Kyle home with a guest house and a pool, $750,000
6625 E Post Rd, Kyle 78640 is another unrestricted property, and it leans into the “so many possibilities” energy. You have a 4-bedroom main home with a study and an updated chef’s kitchen, a separate 1-bedroom guest house with its own patio, bathroom, and kitchenette, and a pool tying it all together. The primary bedroom opens right out to the water. So whether you are hosting family half the year or renting the guest quarters, the layout keeps everybody in their own corner. Kyle has quietly become one of the better value plays south of Austin, and a pool plus a guest house at this number is a lot of house.
8. Steiner Ranch casita backing to greenbelt, $799,000
2813 University Club Dr, Austin 78732 is inside the gated University of Texas Golf Club section of Steiner Ranch, and it is a one-story with a detached guest casita that has a full bedroom and bath. It backs to greenbelt with more greenspace across the street, so no immediate neighbors front or back, which in a master-planned community is genuinely rare. This is the multigen or work-from-home buyer who still wants the pools, the pickleball, the 20-plus miles of trails, and Vandegrift schools. And a detached casita in Steiner means the guests get their own front door while you get yours.
9. New-construction Georgetown home with a real 2-bed guest house, $995,000
2102 S Church St, Georgetown 78626 is billed as the only new construction in Old Town Georgetown with a full 2-bedroom guest house, and I believe it. The main home is a single-story Craftsman, all bedrooms on one level, built with reclaimed cedar beams from the house that stood on the corner for 80 years. The guest house is connected by a covered breezeway and is a purpose-built second home, 2 beds, 1 bath, full kitchen, private entrance. Not a converted garage. You are a mile from the Square, on a corner lot with two driveways, an RV hookup, and an EV charger. For the buyer who wants parents to have their own front door in a walkable historic town, this is about as good as it gets.
10. Spicewood riverfront compound with a 3-bed guest house, $1,225,000
I saved the one I would move into for last. 25400 Cove Dr, Spicewood 78669 is a Pedernales River waterfront property with two full homes on it: a 2-bed, 2-bath main residence and a 3-bed, 2-bath guest house built in 2018. You get about 130 feet of waterfront, a private swim area, and a 35-by-30 boat dock. The listing is upfront that it throws off strong short-term rental income when the owners are not in residence, and both homes got new roofs in 2024. I know the Spicewood and Lake Travis corridor about as well as I know anything, and a turn-key riverfront compound with a second full house does not come up often. This is the “buy it with a partner or run it as an income property” play, and it is a good one.
The part nobody wants to talk about: ADU and STR rules
Ok, here is where I have to be the guy who slows the party down. A guest house you can live in and a guest house you can legally rent by the night are two very different things, and the line usually runs right along the city limit. Inside the City of Austin, accessory dwelling units are allowed, but short-term rental rules are strict and have been fought over in court for years, right. Out in the unincorporated county, on a lot marked unrestricted with no HOA, you generally have a lot more freedom. That is exactly why the Leander, Kyle, and Bastrop listings above make a point of saying “unrestricted.”
So before you buy anything on this list with an income plan attached, verify three things: the city or county rules for that exact address, the HOA if there is one, and whether the guest house is permitted with its own utilities or just a nicely finished room. I dig into all of this in our complete guide to ADUs and guest houses in Austin. Daniel Kahneman’s whole point in Thinking, Fast and Slow is that we fall in love with the story before we check the facts, and nowhere is that more expensive than assuming you can Airbnb the casita. (I have talked myself into a property on pure story before, so I am not lecturing from some mountaintop here.) Check first. Then fall in love.
Frequently Asked Questions
Want a custom guest-house search?
These ten will sell, and new ones hit the market every week, so a static list only gets you so far. If you tell me your budget, whether you care about STR rules, and how much land you want, I will build you a live saved search that pings you the second a qualifying guest-house or casita property comes on. I have been doing this in Central Texas for a long time, and I run my own rentals out here, so I am happy to talk through which of these actually pencils out as income versus which is just a great place for grandma. Reach out through my agent page and lets figure out what you are really looking for. At Neuhaus Realty Group, this Hill Country and West Austin corner is exactly what we do.
