Best Master Planned Communities? (Austin, Cedar Park: foreclosure, HOA, homes)

[docrondc]

Hi:

My family and I are looking into relocating to Austin. We are looking for a master planned community with lots of activities for children (our 4 year old)

Looking for a community with lots of greenery, hilly, near lake(s), hiking, biking, swimming or waterpark, great family community and great school system.

Also, around $200 - $250K and within 30/40 minutes of Austin (downtown)..

Any ideas??

Thanks,
Ron

[hts]

Does Steiner Ranch have any homes in that price range? How about Circle C?

[texastea]

It may not be "the best" master planned community, but iif you want a larger home, t has a lot of what you want within your price range: The Ranch at Cypress Creek...the section closest to Deer Creek Ranch.

Also try Avery Ranch. Its further from Lake Travis, but it has its own small lake.

Steiner Ranch is the closest to the lake and has everything you want. I found 5 homes 250,000 and under on austinhomesearch.com...

Good luck!

[llkltk]

No, not in that price range. I would try Pflugerville, RR or Cedar Park. You won't find that price anywhere in Austin proper. Especially Circle C and Steiner. They are well over 275K and that's just for a small resale ranch. You should try the suburbs of Austin, maybe Brushy Creek or Falcon Pointe.

[jwb123]

Teravista - Welcome to Teravista

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by docrondc

Hi:

My family and I are looking into relocating to Austin. We are looking for a master planned community with lots of activities for children (our 4 year old)

Looking for a community with lots of greenery, hilly, near lake(s), hiking, biking, swimming or waterpark, great family community and great school system.

Also, around $200 - $250K and within 30/40 minutes of Austin (downtown)..

Any ideas??

Thanks,
Ron

Are you relocating from out-of-state?
Are you aware of the private fining engaged in by these MPCs?
Are you aware that the HOA can foreclose on your home for trivial amounts?
Are you aware that many of these HOAs will not be controlled by the homeowners for decades, if ever?
Are you aware that many of these MPCs have "private utilities" that you will pay through the nose for?
Are you aware that many of these HOAs have adopted a "priority of payment" policy that is unlawful in many states? In particular, they recharacterize your assessment payments to apply to management company fees, fines, etc. In this manner they can literally extort money from you under threat of foreclosure - it doesn't matter that you dispute the "debt" or that this "debt" arose solely from an alleged accusation from someone that "reported or observed" something. Fox News did a story on this unscrupulous practice in the Austin area.

If you are coming from out-of-state, you might be surprised at Texas laws regarding HOAs. There is a Texas senator that owns a large number of management companies and he works hard to ensure that the laws favor his management companies - not the homeowners.

If you choose to invest in one of these places, at least consider investing as little money as possible. That way you don't become a target for the management company because of the large amount of equity in your home.

[pvaustin]

Originally Posted by hts

Does Steiner Ranch have any homes in that price range? How about Circle C?

Steiner: very few. may be some resales (5 yrs and older ) with sq footage less than 2000. Even those might not go below 240K.

[andicooks]

We currently live north of Boston and want to relocate. My husband works for a CA based company but works from home. We can live just about anywhere. Our criteria is less than a 3 hour plane ride to San Fran area, housing less than 550,000, a great school for our 10 year old, warmer climate that the NE....any ideas?

[hts]

Phoenix perhaps?

Originally Posted by andicooks

We currently live north of Boston and want to relocate. My husband works for a CA based company but works from home. We can live just about anywhere. Our criteria is less than a 3 hour plane ride to San Fran area, housing less than 550,000, a great school for our 10 year old, warmer climate that the NE....any ideas?

[hts]

Getting back to the OP's original question, it does sound like there might be a chance for them to find something acceptable in Steiner Ranch.

As an Austin outsider, I know what they're going through, as I too am looking to understand the lay of the land and feel like a top-down approach is best. Everyone wants to provide the very best for their family of course. At first I thought Steiner Ranch would be a good place for us (and it could be). And then I discovered River Place and thought maybe this is it. And then I discovered Flintrock Falls. And then Spanish Oaks. When I discovered Spanish Oaks, I knew that this was more then I wanted to spend, and so we backed it down a notch and now we're focusing almost exclusively on FF (at least until we get out there to visit and have a chance to see each one of these fine communities in person).

It would be very nice if some bored realtor out there took the time to rack-and-stack the various master planned communities in Austin by geo and school district (hint, hint).