Neighborhoods near Applied Materials (Austin, Round Rock: property taxes, budget, house hunting)

[horsham07]

Hi everybody,

I am new to this site and very excited about such great forum to find out all about Austin. I dont know what to read first :-)
We are currently living in the UK and my husband just started a job with a company who's HQ's is in Austin. They are closing down the offices here in UK and will be moving over the whole company to Austin. We have no idea about Austin neighbourhoods and schools. We have 2 boys the oldest is 3 yrs and the other one 4 months. The company my husband is working for is Applied Materials.
Can anybody recommend nice family friendly commutable neighbourhoods closed to where this company is located. The zip code is 78724-1199 and our budget for a house will be $200 - $230K

Looking forward to hear from you all :-)

[Trainwreck20]

The area directly around AMAT can be fairly rough and the schools are not generally in the 'top performing' lists. My immediate thought with that budget is to look in Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hutto, or Georgetown right near the toll road, since AMAT is near the intersection of hwy 290 and Toll Road 130. OF course, you would then have to pay the toll . Anyway, you can get a very nice house in any of those places for 200k and they all have good schools. In Gtown, you would be able to get a larger lot, if that was something you are interested in.

If you want to stay in Austin, it gets a bit tougher to find a house that is in a nice neighborhood, is commutable, has decent schools, and is <230k. I have to ask, since you are comming from out of state, if you have considered property taxes in your budget? 2.5% is a good estimate (it may be higher or lower in actuality, but you have a homestead exemption and probably some tax deductions), which comes out to about $5k/yr or $420/month (just in taxes) on a 200k house.

The red circle in the pic is the approximate location of the main plant. The green roads are the toll roads and are generally pretty quick for getting about during rush hour.

[tazcaly]

Pflugerville has some great new homes in your price range and it is convenient to much of the area.

[horsham07]

Thanks everybody for the quick reply.

Looking at the map I also think that RR, Pflugerville and Gtown will be the best places to do the house hunting (renting at first). How much does the toll roads cost per year and how long is the traveling time to Applied Materials from the 3 above mentioned towns? Does anybody know what its like working for Applied Materials. They seems very friendly here in the UK and sounds like they look after their employess would like to know what their reputation are in Austin.

Where can I find photos of the places mentioned to get an idea to see what the area look like?

[txbreeze01]

We just signed the paperwork to start building in Blackhawk in Pflugerville. It is right next to the toll road.

[AustinGuy]

You can get some amazing deals on higher end brand new homes out in Blackhawk if you are willing to live out that way.

[Trainwreck20]

Here is a niffty calculator for toll fees. I do not travel the toll roads, so I cannot vouch for its accuracy. It looks like a trip from Hwy 79 (RR) to hwy 290 should be $2, and the return trip another $2. Starting and ending at Hwy 29 (N. end of Georgetown) is $3 each way.

Interactive: Toll road calculator | How much will your trip cost?

[horsham07]

Thanks everybody for your replies. I am really impressed by your friendliness and willingness to help somebody. This is by far the best forum I came across and sure hope that all the other people in Austin are just as great as you all here om this forum.
Cant wait to get there. 12 more months to go :-(