Old houses, walkable, central, but with GREAT schools (Austin, Plano: renter, HOA)

[aroy3]

Hi there, my husband has been interviewing recently and one of those companies is in Austin. I have an 18 month old, 11 year old, and a 13 year old. So, I need an area that has great schools, elementary through high school. But, I do not want to end up in suburbia in a "Plano-type" setting. I'm making the best comparison I can here. My husband was raised in Plano, so I've visited it many times. They have great schools, but I really dislike how commercial that city is. Retail store after retail store, crammed between HOA neighborhoods. Ugh. I want to live in a unique area of town with lots of neat old houses. Also, I want our commutes to be as short as possible. I would like to keep my commute, from home to office, around 30 minutes. Also, I would really love to live in an area that is very pedestrian friendly. And, I am really looking for a very family-friendly area. I don't want to live in a part of town with a large transient, renter population (ie., students coming and going).

Anyway, that's a lot of rambling questions. I'll sum it up:

1. Exemplary or recognized schools through all grades (or known to be good by the locals. I know that standarized testing can be a bit misleading)
2. Old, well-maintained homes (No HOA neighborhoods)
3. Pedestrian friendly, very walkable
4. Central, commute within 30 minutes (accounting for traffic, as much as can be)
5. Family-friendly part of town

Thanks so much!

[AustinTraveler]

Housing budget? Also, where will your jobs be?

[TexasHorseLady]

AustinTraveler asked the two key questions we'll need answers to to give you any useful recommendations.

[aroy3]

Yes, I suppose those are definitely key questions. Our budget is $300,000 max. And, as for the location of my husband's potential job, I'm not absolutely sure. I will get back to you on that very soon. I will be teaching eventually, but I haven't applied yet. So, I could end up anywhere. What I was thinking, and forgot to mention, was getting into a location no more than 30 minutes from the downtown area. I think, but need to verify, that is where his potential job is. So...what I'm looking for is all those things mentioned in the original post, just focusing on an area within a 30 minute radius (approximately) of downtown and a $300K max budget. Thanks for your time!

[Jennibc]

$300K max? Not a chance. We looked and looked and our budget was higher than yours. Sorry.

[centralaustinite]

You have to make some compromises, you can get what you want in Hyde Park or Rosedale for example but the high school will be McCallum (which is excellent in reality but doesn't have as strong of a rep as Anderson for example) but it would be impossible at less than 300K.

Allandale, meets your criteria pretty well but will be hard to do at your price range. You could get a 3/2 in Crestivew in your price range . . . you need a top flight realtor who "gets" your concerns.

You might also investigate the academic magnets in AISD at the both the middle and high school level as well as the transfer system . . . that would put more areas within your reach. Maybe French Place? Wilshire Woods?

good luck

[mark311]

Yes, before I settled on a cookie-cutter HOA suburb, I would have loved to find something like you are describing. If you raised your price range to $550K, you could find it in Central Austin. Or you could come close in Allandale (North Central), but would have to settle for a $300K, 1600 square foot home possible with a one car garage or carport. Your #2 and #3 wants are the hard things to find here in your price range.

You can check out listings by following the link below:

http://www.austinhomesearch.com/Search/Residential.aspx

[lemonlime22]

[crickets chirping]

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

So, actually....what is Austin? Just a bunch of rich folks who want to keep the riff-raff out?

I'm laughing because before we moved here I used to think we were going to find all that the OP was mentioning at 200k max, preferably 150k. LOL The minute someone showed me a teeny, tiny, little, itty, bitty "fixeruper" for about 400k I knew I was lookin in the wrong direction.

Thankfully, luckily, we're pretty happy where we set down. Family friendly, walkable for sure, (best sidewalks around) quiet, no complaints about the schools or the people there so far, (everyone I've met seems to care about what they're doing), all in all, not a bad deal!

[achtungpv]

Everyone forgot to add that it's near impossible to find teaching jobs in Austin without personal contacts so plan on being unemployed for a couple of years before you land a gig.