Advice on the age of home for first time home buyer (Austin: rent, how much)

[w2kno]

We are relocating to Austin and are looking to buy our first home. After some research and proximity to work, we are inclined towards Circle C (any advice here is greatly appreciated). We are currently looking at a 3 to 4 bedrooms house which we’ll probably downgrade to a smaller one in 15 years time. Looks like newer homes are pricer with higher property tax. With these in mind, any suggestions on the age of house (year built) we should be looking at? Thanks in advance.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by w2kno

We are relocating to Austin and are looking to buy our first home. After some research and proximity to work, we are inclined towards Circle C (any advice here is greatly appreciated). We are currently looking at a 3 to 4 bedrooms house which we’ll probably downgrade to a smaller one in 15 years time. Looks like newer homes are pricer with higher property tax. With these in mind, any suggestions on the age of house (year built) we should be looking at? Thanks in advance.

The Property Tax you pay is 100% disconnected, and not related to the age of the home. It's a factor of the Appraised Value, which is usually a bit lower than actual market value. The tax rate (which is multiplied against the appraised value to arrive at your tax payment) ) is exactly the same for all homes in Circle C, regardless of age.

Therefore, pick your home based on other factors.

Good luck, and welcome to Austin.
Steve

[achtungpv]

Depends on how handy you are and how much free time you have IMHO.

A new home that you have built will require basically no remodeling and minimal upkeep, hopefully for a few years anyway. We did that with our first house and in the four years we lived there we only painted an accent wall in the dining room and kitchen.

Our "new" house was built in '86 and is a great, great floor plan. However, it had to be completely remodeled. Since July '06, I have gutted the kitchen and rebuilt it, painted every room, removed 1,500 sq ft of ceramic tile, carpeted, installed 14 6-panel doors, replaced all base boards and crown moulding, replaced all light fixtures/ceiling fans/outlets, switches, removed a wet bar and built a cabinet/bookshelves in its place, and removed about 15 20-year old crepe myrtles that were built on the property line in the back yard so I can built a picket fence next week. Today, I'm tiling the master bath after a complete remodel of it. The only items left will be to remodel the 2nd bath and put in a new front door.

Fortunately, I grew up in a family that had 18 rent houses so I've been doing remodeling my whole life. Unfortunately, my wife knew this and I've had to do it all myself other than the carpet and kitchen cabinets/counters.

Older homes are great but unless it's been recently remodeled, it is a TON of work!

[Mike78613]

Older homes to me are so much better built, they cost less (most of the time) and they are in established neighborhoods, which I really like!

If you do get older home, just update the windows, units, roof, bathrroms and kitchens ect. HGTV has been my best channel since we owned cable you learn a lot and keep up w/ the trends.

I purchased two new homes (Leander and Cedar Park), which they are good nice homes, but my pop's which lives in a older 1982 home just laughs at me when I need to replace something. Homes are not built like they were used too.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by Mike78613

Older homes to me are so much better built, they cost less (most of the time) and they are in established neighborhoods, which I really like!

If you do get older home, just update the windows, units, roof, bathrroms and kitchens ect. HGTV has been my best channel since we owned cable you learn a lot and keep up w/ the trends.

I purchased two new homes (Leander and Cedar Park), which they are good nice homes, but my pop's which lives in a older 1982 home just laughs at me when I need to replace something. Homes are not built like they were used too.

I read a disturbing article in the paper last year that stated that new homes have a "life expectancy" of only 30 years. That's pretty disturbing.

When we bought our house, a friend who is a contractor looked at it for us and he said it was far better built than any new house he's been in in the past 10 years. That pretty much sealed the deal for us.