Anyone have info on Georgetown?? (Houston, Austin: for sale, real estate, rent)

[CravenClan]

Hi I am new to this forum.....I am a native southern californian, i have lived in the same "small" town for 20 years this year! But unfortuneatley it is not such a small town anymore, we have experienced HUGE changes, the shopping is good, for convenience, but the people not soooo good! My husbands' friend moved to Georgetown from Thousand Oaks area, CA, 3 years ago and loves it there! While i have lived here my whole life, my parents moved prior to here, every 2 years, all over the US (we lived in Houston when i was about 7).. I guess my issue with where we live, is the over crowdedness, traffic, and crappy people. We have contemplated moving in the past 2 years, first to Arizona (too hot), then to Utah, St. George (i chickened out) so here we are again.....I want a nice place, with some convenience or atleast close by, GOOD schools, happy people, neighbors that don't come home from work and rush into their house, never waving and closing their garages. Interaction with other moms, at the kids school, i have 4, but 3 are under the age of 4! Can anyone tell me anything about Georgetown? I looked at some houses online...I saw a few posts about Californians coming and buying a house in the $200k, not the $600k....what about $450k??? We live on 5 acres now, and my husband has worked super hard for our family, we are just ready for some change, and raise our kids together, and be around for them.....any thoughts are appraciated!

[love roses]

You must have been reading the snootiness factor thread. It's mostly about people moving from California and bringing the attitude with them. Austin is not pretentious and snobby, so it's pretty obvious when you see it. There are threads here about everything you posted, but I'll post some opinions. I don't think there is any area of town where people aren't out and about meeting their neighbors, sitting in the front yard/porch/driveway interacting with each other. That is something that is southern and happens in many places across Texas. Georgetown is a little further out from Austin, about 35 mins. It has good schools, recognized mostly. The worst schools are in Elgin. I love the San Gabriel park in Georgetown. The downtown is very nice, lots of boutiques, resturaunts, cafes, businesses. People are generally very friendly. I haven't gone to a park yet where parents keep their kids in little cliques and don't let them mingle with other kids (I used to see this in Denver somewhat, and it bugged the crud out of me). There are tons of playgroups around. You would be close to the new hospital, some big box stores and the outlets. I don't live in Georgetown, I live in Hutto, which is right next door, and lots of people here use doctors there, and go shopping and to the parks, etc...They have a farmers market and also market days on certain saturdays downtown.

[CravenClan]

Thanks for your response....There are a ton of attitude people here, and i think that they suck!! I am very down to earth, but unfortuneatley alot of people judge you by the look you have, car you drive or house you live in, and don't even give you a chance....I have lived here my entir adult life, and have no friends, my husband is my very best friend. It makes it hard our whole family is here, but i have to think about our future, and our kids future, and i want their lives to be filled with a ton of love, and life experience, things that they may not get to do here. California is so screwed up anyways....the people are right along with them. I think for us, good schools are super important. Georgetown looks beautiful, and then my dad said a friend of his moved to Fredricksburg??? I have not looked into that. i think we may plan a few trips there, to check it out...
Thanks again!!

[furnitureprincess]

Hi there. I don't know if you read my thread titled Round Rock vs. Georgetown, but I am in EXACTLY the same situation as you (and I have gotten some wonderful tips and advice from the people on this forum). I live in the South Bay here in Los Angeles and hate the people here. I have 4 close friends here and everybody else is a casual acquaintance. I even hate my neighbor . . . my husband and I are looking at moving to Georgetown, or thereabouts, hopefully by the end of the year. I want a change of pace from our CRAZY-BUSY life now. Our kids get no quality time with us, we are always tired from the fast pace we have to keep up here, all just to keep our heads above water. We are leaning towards GT because it seems to be the place where we can slow down and our kids can grow up with other neighborhood kids and go to great public schools. I am only hesitant about it due to its distance from downtown. We will be visiting in July and looking very closely around GT. From everything I have read, everything people have posted, there seems to be no reason we won't love it (aside from the hot and humid summers that are Texas). We will even be doing the "rush hour" drive on our visit to see how it really is.

The prospect of moving to something so vastly different than what I have known my entire 33 years in existence is both overwhelmingly exciting, but terribly nerve wracking at the same time. I have NO intentions of trying to change Austin into LA. I am moving away because I want no more of the LA lifestyle. I only worry that the people there will embrace us as much as we are ready to embrace them.

Take a visit (do it in the summer too so you can see what everybody is really talking about with the heat) and look around. They say the place "sneaks up on you" . . . quickly. Who knows maybe we'll be neighbors. Good luck!

[love roses]

People will embrace you if make yourself embraceable and from the sound of it, you will have no problems. Fredericksburg is more West, and is more German influenced. Great Peaches. Also a big tourist destination. There are so many towns here. You may end up narrowing it down due to your jobs, etc..July and August are the hottest months anywhere in Texas, so that may be the best time to see the hottest weather. Although we've been getting an unusually large amount of rain lately, so it may not be as hot as it is historically.

[CravenClan]

Hi furnitureprincess, Funny we are the same age....I have lived in Cali most my life, when i was little we traveled, moving about every 2 years throughout the US, and out of the country too, we lived in Houston when i was about 7. It is hard to remember then though!

We have contemplated moving in the past, always for the same reasons, too busy, too materialistic, not nice people, too expensive, etc....but we always get scared. Arizona, TOO HOT!! and then we went to St, Geoprge Utah, it was beautiful, slower paced, but i was worried about the religion thing, and being the outcast, not so much for me, but for my kids.

Where in LA do you live, what made you think of Georgetown Roundrock are, have you been there a lot, what do you think. I want to plan a trip there, and from what i read, i better get there in August, so i can see what we are in for!!

It would probably be next summer, we have a house that is for sale, and i already enrolled my son in kindergarten (private-nonrefundable). Plus that would give us time over the next year to make a lot of trips and really check it out. I want agood size house, and a great neighborhood, with good schools....The shopping sounds kinda like what we are used too...i asked about Starbucks, here they are on every corner, i drink the Green Tea, and love it!!

I know out here people are very judgemental, and that worries me, i guess because i know no different. They think if you have nice things you are a "B" or stuck up, and really i am a super nice down to earth person....I love my kids, and want the best for them and my husband...We have been self employed, he is a concrete contractor, and we just nee a slow down and career change...

Thanks for your thoughts!! They are appreciated

[brenda9417]

Wow, I'm so sorry for both of you--not having friendly neighbors or liking people where you live. I live in the Avery Ranch/Brushy Creek area of Austin and worked in Georgetown for years (right on the square downtown). I love my neighbors, we have block parties and hang out with each other in the evening. Even though I don't live in Georgetown, I did work there and can honestly say it's an okay place to be. It's a quaint, quite town filled with a lot of very nice people. They still have the Farmer's Market on the square in front of the courthouse, and have a Poppy Festival there too. The town has a very "small town" feel to it, but it's growing fast. In the last two years there have been two major shopping center built and a huge Outlet Mall opened last year right outside of Georgetown.

One thing you should be aware of if you are moving here to retire is the property tax issue. Texas doesn't have a state income tax, nor do they tax groceries, but they do tax your real estate. You will pay two or three different tax rates, that add up to $$$. Georgetown is in the Georgetown Independent School District (you will pay a tax to them) and is also in Williamson County (you will pay a tax to them also). I live in Williamson County in the Round Rock Independent School District and pay $5500 per year in property taxes on a modest 2300 sq ft home! That's $458.00 per month for property taxes over and above your mortgage. (see: City of Georgetown, Texas ::)

Homes here are cheap compared to the rest of the nation. Go to REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale to search the MLS for current listings in Georgetown. Cimmaron Hills, Churchill Farms, Sun City (if you're over 50), and the Woods of Fountainwoods are some of neighborhoods to consider.

Good luck with whereever you decide to move. I hope you find wonderful neighbors and great new friends. But remember--to have a friend you have to be a friend.

[CravenClan]

Hi Brenda,

Thanks for the info, i guess that is alot in taxes, is that all over the Austin area? How far is Austin from RR or GT? Does RR pay the same thing??

I guess since we are younger, we are looking for a "family" atmosphere...we have 4 kidos, 3 are 4 and under!

About the neighbors, we live on 5 acres, so we don't really know any, BUT we did rent for the year it took us to build, and we hated the typical Cali tract living.....super close together, no one comes out of their houses, everyone is so busy here trying to buy a nicer car or $400 jeans, that they could care less about friends, neighbors or get togethers.... It is sad, but i guess a really fast pace of life, deals you that hand....

Any info you have on nice areas, i like a big house 4000+ sq. feet, with GREAT schools and happy friendly people, all opinions are WELCOMED!!!!!

Thanks again!

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by furnitureprincess

(aside from the hot and humid summers that are Texas). We will even be doing the "rush hour" drive on our visit to see how it really is.

I think this is a common misconception. If you look at our humidity it really isnt too bad compared to various cities in california. However we definitely are hotter. As a point of reference 55% is the border going from comfortable to uncomfortable humidty.

Average Relative Humidity(%)

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by CravenClan

Hi Brenda,

Thanks for the info, i guess that is alot in taxes, is that all over the Austin area? How far is Austin from RR or GT? Does RR pay the same thing??

I guess since we are younger, we are looking for a "family" atmosphere...we have 4 kidos, 3 are 4 and under!

About the neighbors, we live on 5 acres, so we don't really know any, BUT we did rent for the year it took us to build, and we hated the typical Cali tract living.....super close together, no one comes out of their houses, everyone is so busy here trying to buy a nicer car or $400 jeans, that they could care less about friends, neighbors or get togethers.... It is sad, but i guess a really fast pace of life, deals you that hand....

Any info you have on nice areas, i like a big house 4000+ sq. feet, with GREAT schools and happy friendly people, all opinions are WELCOMED!!!!!

Thanks again!

In my neighborhood when someone has a baby, all the neighbors cook a meal for each day of the week for the first two weeks. We have bbq's together, everyone sits out in front of their house while the kids play almost every day. We rotate between everyones pools etc. It is really a great community