Steiner ranch - Buying house, Builders, middle and high school (Austin: HOA, how much)

[newaustinite]

We are considering buying a house in Steiner ranch and looking at houses in 650 - 750k range. New house and nice views are important for us.
Would like to get input on:

1. Santaluz section of Steiner ranch. Drees and highland are building there and positives/negatives on these builders?
Highland homes seemed to be priced little higher than Drees - Is it because of the quality of the construction? Who would you recommend?

2. How much negotiation room is there for houses in this price range in that area? Is there a lot of demand for the new houses in that area?

3. Purchasing a home in Santaluz section vs. Golf course community for that price range? Santaluz has some lots with nice views.

4. Reviews of middle and high schools? Is Vandegrift comparable to Westlake and West wood high schools in terms of scores and Advanced courses?

5. How is the resale market in that price range in Steiner vs. Austin?

6. I've read a lot about the traffic congestion. It doesn't effect us but would it effect the resale value of the house?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

[CarnivalGal]

I'm a Rancher! Santa Luz is nice, but honestly, I would not buy a new construction home in Steiner. The quality is not an issue, but you will get much more home for your money, and a better lot, by buying resale. Also, Santa Luz is at the very back of Steiner. That makes it terribly inconvenient to get anywhere outside of Steiner. You will easily double the length of your commute to things like the grocery store, etc. And forget trying to get in and out the same time as the schools. You will basically have to fight the traffic of everyone picking up / dropping off their kids, at every school and drive through all the school zones. May not seem like a big deal now, but it will drive you crazy after a while.

Middle and high schools are both rated exemplary. I would put Westlake HS at a slight advantage over Vandegrift simply because it has a proven history. Vandegrift is still new. However, I think it will emerge as just as good, since pretty much every school that feeds into it is also rated exemplary.

That said, we love, love, love Steiner. I would have never thought I'd like living in a master planned community, but I do. However, I would strongly advise buying a resale home closer to the front of the development.

[newaustinite]

Thank you for the response. Would you recommend a new home on the golf course community though?

[CarnivalGal]

The location of the golf course is probably favorable, but you will still get a lot more home for the money by buying resale. There are resales by the golf course too. You'll also find that you can get a much better lot with a resale (i.e. larger, better view). T

[hound 109]

I agree with most of what MM says. & I think Vandegrift will be on par (& probably higher academically & more diverse) than Westlake.

As someone who strongly considered Steiner, I'll say this. If i was spending 500K- 700K on a home I'd be in Riverplace (instead of Steiner). Same HS & closer to town (& also a golf course in the neighborhood). IMO it would hold value more.

That said....if you go with Steiner it's lovely.....but get the golf course (or ravine) lot. Deer & squirrels make better neighbors than Tech upper management dudes.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by hound 109

I agree with most of what MM says. & I think Vandegrift will be on par (& probably higher academically & more diverse) than Westlake.

As someone who strongly considered Steiner, I'll say this. If i was spending 500K- 700K on a home I'd be in Riverplace (instead of Steiner). Same HS & closer to town (& also a golf course in the neighborhood). IMO it would hold value more.

That said....if you go with Steiner it's lovely.....but get the golf course (or ravine) lot. Deer & squirrels make better neighbors than Tech upper management dudes.

We looked at River Place and decided against it for a couple of reasons. First, the HOA seemed ridiculous about certain things (like parking in your driveway overnight). Don't get me wrong, Steiner's is pretty strict too, but River Place's was just over the top. The other factor was the lack of public pools / activity centers. In order to use the one pool facility River Place has, you must join the country club. Steiner has 3 different pools, even more activity centers, more playgrounds, more tennis court, etc. and they are all included in our relatively low HOA dues. Some of these things may not be an issue for you if your kids are older, but we have younger ones, and we use these amenities a lot.

[newaustinite]

Thanks. How is the resale market in Steiner and also the quality of builders - drees and highland homes?

[austin-steve]

In general, no matter which neighborhood we're talking about, I almost always think it's a bad idea to purchase a home at the upper end of the average/median price range for that area/neighborhood. Very suseptible to strong downdrafts in pricing in weak markets.

If I was spending $650-$750K, I'd do so in a neighborhood where $750K is the median and/or average price so that you're in the middle of the value curve instead of the high end. At present, resell homes in that range in Austin are selling for $100K+ less, sometimes $200K less, than the same resell home would have fetched in 2006/2007, so it's a great market for buyers in that range looking for resell homes.

I'd check out the Westlake area (Eanes schools), Lakeway (Lake Travis Schools) or other established upper range areas before I'd spend $750K in Steiner, especially the back end and top range of Steiner.

Another option, to stay in Steiner at a median price point, is to spend less. $500K buys as much or better of a home than 95% of Americans need in Austin. $500K is equal to $1M+ in comparable/desirable cities in the country.

If you are not concerned about immediate depreciation (with new home for sure) or taking a possible hit if the market stays slack and you have to resell sooner than you thought, then go ahead and buy what you love, where you want, and don't worry about the financial side of it. I'm predisposed to provide advice that places resale value as the highest concern, but that's not everyone's top consideration.

Steve

[woodinvilleguy]

The other question I have for you is, have you toured the other areas around town? You may something you like in a different area. When we first moved here we were convinced we wanted to be in Stiener. After searching more, we found that for many reasons that Cedar Park was a better fit for us. Steiner is great but there are a lot of other great places too. For us the deciding factors were proximity to work, school quality (both were equal), more lax HOA, housing cost, and diversity. We found that Cedar Park felt more relaxed with a lot more diversity than Steiner. Steiner felt to much like Orange County to us.

[CarnivalGal]

You've received a lot of great advice. Like I said, we love Steiner. But the things I love about it may be the same things that other people hate about it. A lot has to do with personal preference and situation. For example, Westlake is beautiful and close to town. And the schools can't be beat. However, most of the area doesn't seem to have a real "neighborhood feel." There also seem to be a lot of older homeowners. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but if you are looking for an area where your kid can basically open the front door and find 4 of his friends to play with, or you want things like neighborhood pools then you may prefer an area like Steiner.

I will respectfully disagree about Cedar Park schools being as good as Steiner's. All of Steiner's schools (3 elementary, 1 middle, 1 high school) are all rated exemplary. The same can not be said for Cedar Park. I will concede, however, that Westlake schools (Eanes ISD) are probably slightly better than Steiner's.