"Austin Weird" (Cleveland, Atlanta: travel, work, house)

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by fil

You lost me at the zip codes...

So is it all condos in 78704 and 78745?

Not remotely. A lot of the NEW development in those zips consists of condos, but both zips are dominated by stand-alone houses. The 04 has the best mix of neighborhoods and businesses of any part of town, hence it's the most desired place in Austin and prices have risen there faster than anywhere else in the Austin area. It's changing rapidly due to the fact that at least 60% of 78704 was (as recently as 1990) fairly run-down and not very appealing to the average person. But the low prices that came with the run-down look of the area, combined with its close proximity to downtown, nice terrain, creeks with trails, and other amenities, have all led to a boom that hasn't let up, nor will it.

Seems as though the trendiness is constantly pushing its way south with people fixing up old houses, building new interesting condo projects, and opening new local businesses with an "Austin Weird" theme. Meanwhile, much of the "Make Austin more like Dallas" movement seems focused toward the North and Northwest parts of town, although older established areas within 3-4 miles of downtown are fairly consistent in maintaining and enhancing the good aspects of development.

And when I say "good" aspects of development, I realize I'm bringing my own bias. I don't think Lakeline Mall is "good development, Austin style" but everyone is free to pick and choose their lifestyle and location. The closer you get to central or south Austin, the more you'll get the real feel of the city. This is not to say that other areas aren't wonderful (or horrible) in their own unique ways. Predicting someone's taste in location is almost as hard as predicting their taste in movies. But we're all doing our best on this forum to help each other discover whatever version of Eden we seek and hopefully we do it without judgment.

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

The 04 has the best mix of neighborhoods and businesses of any part of town, hence it's the most desired place in Austin and prices have risen there faster than anywhere else in the Austin area.

If it were the most desirable zip code in Austin, then demand would make its residential land value the highest in the city limits of Austin. This is not the case.

As much as I love the SoCo areas of 04 (mainly Travis heights) they have the educational liability of feeding into Travis High. The western side of '04 has the good fortune of sharing Austin High with the most desired place in Austin; 78703.

[fil]

Yes, I thought 78703 was the most desired zip in town, but homes and land were much smaller for the dollar.

[fil]

Originally Posted by b. frank

Fil,
You can't rely on generic online house searches to show you available properties. The only useful ones are those that require you to "sign-up" and then you might be provided with good MLS listings of available properties because an actual person (realtor) will refine your search and provide you with listings that match your search parameters. There are definitely single-family homes in both zip codes - not just condos.

Homecity is this way and I didn't see much besides condo properties.
Most of the homes available seemed small or fixer uppers.

Besides Homecity, austinhomesearch, remax, and the Almanac, do you suggest any other good search sites?

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by fil

Yes, I thought 78703 was the most desired zip in town, but homes and land were much smaller for the dollar.

That is probably a true statement; just as it would similarly apply when comparing Beverly Hills to Compton or any other area to a "less desirable" area.

[Jazzedforhim]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Leslie attends anything in Austin that is free, and lives on the street. Gets a lot of exposure, ran for mayor, etc...

Leslie Cochran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And there is the other political person-of-uncertain-gender:

http://www.jennifergale.com/

Other Austin weird things:

- Hippy Hollow (Google it, don't think I can post the link)
- Alex Jones
- Spamarama (annual spam festival)
- Eeyore's birthday (annual hippie festival, although slim on the hippies now)
- Disc Golf
- O'Henry Punoff
- Palmer Auditiorium (oh wait, that's gone... but some remnants on performing arts center) & City Coliseum
- 290/71/360/S Mopac/SW Pkway/S Lamar "interchange" in South Austin
- Mike Judge, Bruce Sterling, "Onward Through the Fog", Slacker, Timbuk 2, Max Nofziger, homeless taking hostages on town lake, Lord English, and a bazillion other items of historical Austin wierdness

Ok, I'm a little late coming in on this conversation...but THAT is truly weird!

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by Biscuits

If it were the most desirable zip code in Austin, then demand would make its residential land value the highest in the city limits of Austin. This is not the case.

Excellent point. There are two forms of "most desired" and we each focused on different versions of them.

You won't find thousands of people trying to move to Pemberton Heights or Brykerwood because it's simply out of the price range for most people. But if you judge strictly on prices, then you're correct in correcting me.

My basis for stating that 78704 was the "most desired" was not average prices but rather the imbalance between supply and demand. At any given time in the last few years, there are vastly more people looking to buy in the 04 than there are places for sale. So prices are rising rapidly. It's in high demand for people who want "that Austin feel" at a below-Clarksville price.

See what I mean with this distinction? Pemberton, Bryker, Tarrytown and Clarksville are all out of reach for most people, but there are lots of hidden gems waiting to be fixed up south of Town Lake. Pemberton is so extreme that houses there probably take longer to sell because they're gorgeous mansions in one of the nation's best neighborhoods. People look at those $2 million price tags and say "let's look at something in the $300K to $500k range" and that takes them to 78704. For those who need cheaper housing, it's the zips outside of central Austin, with the exception of the more adventurous parts of inner-east Austin.

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

Excellent point. There are two forms of "most desired" and we each focused on different versions of them.

You won't find thousands of people trying to move to Pemberton Heights or Brykerwood because it's simply out of the price range for most people. But if you judge strictly on prices, then you're correct in correcting me.

My basis for stating that 78704 was the "most desired" was not average prices but rather the imbalance between supply and demand. At any given time in the last few years, there are vastly more people looking to buy in the 04 than there are places for sale. So prices are rising rapidly. It's in high demand for people who want "that Austin feel" at a below-Clarksville price.

See what I mean with this distinction? Pemberton, Bryker, Tarrytown and Clarksville are all out of reach for most people, but there are lots of hidden gems waiting to be fixed up south of Town Lake. Pemberton is so extreme that houses there probably take longer to sell because they're gorgeous mansions in one of the nation's best neighborhoods. People look at those $2 million price tags and say "let's look at something in the $300K to $500k range" and that takes them to 78704. For those who need cheaper housing, it's the zips outside of central Austin, with the exception of the more adventurous parts of inner-east Austin.

I see how you are looking at "most desired" and I do support anyone's decision to include 78704 in their home search. It is a great part of town that is only getting better.

Anecdotally, homes I see for sale in Tarrytown seem to move fairly quickly. Possibly a Realtor could chime in with statistics to back-up your statement regarding average length of time to sell a home in 78704 vs. 78703.

It does seem that expensive homes should take longer to sell but I gave up trying to understand what passes for expensive nowadays.

[fil]

Austin newbie, so is 78703 considered the vanguard part of town?
According to this: http://www.city-data.com/zips/78703.html

The AGI was 3 times the state average and the Estimated median house/condo value was 4 times the Texas average--impressive.

Are the houses fixer uppers like Tarrytown?

When we were looking, the wife and I did not want to do a ton of remodeling to live in 1200 sq ft home--we're in 4000 now--and there was nothing on the market that large late in the year in that zip.

I'm surprised that crime is not bad in either zip. Why so? Both zips are in the heart of the city.

[love roses]

typically, the East side of 35 is the bad area. Austin crime isn'tthat bad in the main areas of town.