Help with subdivisions/areas to live (Austin, Spring: for sale, new house, neighborhoods)

[aka tex]

We are considering a move to Austin and would be looking to buy a single family home. Would appreciate some suggestions for areas/neighborhoods that may meet many of the criteria I've listed below. Hopefully, I've provided enough information. Thanks in advance!

Budget is $650K to $750K. Criteria listed below in order of priority to us.

1) Strong public schools K-12. This is the most important thing to us. Not looking for district here, but specific neighborhoods in which the zoned elementary, middle, and high school are all considered strong

2) Commute - work will be in cedar park area and arboretum/great hills. Looking for an area in which commute to each is no more than 30 minutes.

3) Proximity to center of Austin after conditions 1 and 2 are met

4) 4 bedrooms

5) Would prefer a newer (last 15 years) house

6) Enjoy neighborhoods that are more wooded and don't have a "cookie-cutter" look/feel.

I realize there are many of these types of threads so apologies in advance. I did some searching of the forum, but don't have a good enough sense yet of where to start.

[cariadbach]

spicewood elementary/canyon vista ms/westwood hs school district (it's a very small area as I recently found out)

10 minutes to cedar park/arboretum

meets most criteria, except houses are generally older and not too close to city center - maybe 30 minutes out of rush hour.

quite a few houses have come on the market in the last week or so, I don't know exact prices but will be in your price range

[monkey2003]

We are in a similar situation. You should check out houses in the 78717 zip code. Some subdivision that comes to mind is Arbor Place, Highland Horizon, Avery Ranch, Northwood at Brushy Creek, Pearson Place at Brushy Creek, The Ranch at Brushy Creek, or any other area in the Brushy Creek Area.

You should also look at houses zoned to Anderson HS and Westwood HS. However these houses are generally much older.

This Link will help you with school ratings in the area.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by aka tex

Budget is $650K to $750K.

Originally Posted by monkey2003

We are in a similar situation. You should check out houses in the 78717 zip code.

There are 141 houses for sale in the 78717 zip code, and only 3 are 650K or more like the OP requested.

I don't think you're in a similar situation.


I would recommend being as close as possible to the arboreteum area, and take the easy reverse commute to Cedar Park. On the way out there you can observe and be relieved your are stuck in the traffic trying to get into Austin. Check out NW Hills, Bryker Woods, Spicewood Springs Road, Great Hills, anything off of Mesa, etc.

[tom331]

You should be fine. There is a house at Pickfair for sale. It asked for $689K and know drops to $599K. It was built at 2000 with nice canyon view and green belt at the back. The zip code is 78750. There is no cookie cutter houses in this area (Spicewood at Bullcreek).

[aka tex]

Thanks for all the feedback, very helpful so far! With regards to homes near the aboretum, are there specific subdivisions I should search for on austin home search that have the stronger schools?

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by aka tex

Thanks for all the feedback, very helpful so far! With regards to homes near the aboretum, are there specific subdivisions I should search for on austin home search that have the stronger schools?

With that budget, you might as well live in Eanes.

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

Use this site, and click around on the map. Cross-reference the boundaries with school rankings. Good luck.

[monkey2003]

Originally Posted by sojourner77

There are 141 houses for sale in the 78717 zip code, and only 3 are 650K or more like the OP requested.

I don't think you're in a similar situation.


I would recommend being as close as possible to the arboreteum area, and take the easy reverse commute to Cedar Park. On the way out there you can observe and be relieved your are stuck in the traffic trying to get into Austin. Check out NW Hills, Bryker Woods, Spicewood Springs Road, Great Hills, anything off of Mesa, etc.

Maybe your definition of "Budget" is different from mine. To me, that is the MAX the person is going to pay. I may not be in a similar situation in terms of "Budget", but the criteria was very similar to mine when I was searching for a house. The areas I listed matches all 6 of the person's request and right in between arboretum and cedar park. Most of the new built houses range from 400k-600k. Isn't that a good thing???

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by aka tex

We are considering a move to Austin and would be looking to buy a single family home. Would appreciate some suggestions for areas/neighborhoods that may meet many of the criteria I've listed below. Hopefully, I've provided enough information. Thanks in advance!

Budget is $650K to $750K. Criteria listed below in order of priority to us.

1) Strong public schools K-12. This is the most important thing to us. Not looking for district here, but specific neighborhoods in which the zoned elementary, middle, and high school are all considered strong

2) Commute - work will be in cedar park area and arboretum/great hills. Looking for an area in which commute to each is no more than 30 minutes.

3) Proximity to center of Austin after conditions 1 and 2 are met

4) 4 bedrooms

5) Would prefer a newer (last 15 years) house

6) Enjoy neighborhoods that are more wooded and don't have a "cookie-cutter" look/feel.

I realize there are many of these types of threads so apologies in advance. I did some searching of the forum, but don't have a good enough sense yet of where to start.

dominion at great hills. They are the houses along yaupon, feed into laurel mountain, canyon vista, westwood.

The housing stock is newer so it isnt wooded, but the subdivision is on a ridge with forest on both sides.

Prices ranges top out at 650k, but you can find the more expensive ones here and there.

north of spicewood springs/183 is the mountain (scotland weil etc) are also nice, but slightly less expensive. They also feed into laurel mountain/canyon vista

Around those areas are a few where the houses are only a few years old, although most are from the same era.

Off dk ranch road/texas plume various 5 acre properties are getting subdivided so you could build your own house.

along texas plume/dk ranch, the area is much more wooded but the houses are older. There are some very new houses in the area though where yaupon hits (old?) spicewood springs road on the north.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by sojourner77

With that budget, you might as well live in Eanes.

Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site

Use this site, and click around on the map. Cross-reference the boundaries with school rankings. Good luck.

eanes in that price range is going to either be really far away from cedar park or 1 million +