Best Austin Neighborhoods for us?? (Pflugerville: hardwood floors, real estate, rent)

[sweetbes]

We just recently accepted a job in Austin, and we'll be moving from DC in the next two months. We're pleasantly surprised to see the cost of real estate in Austin versus here ... (I know all about the property taxes and I'm expecting it to balance out with the lack of state tax). So, we don't have children and don't expect to in the next few years, so schools aren't an issue. We're looking for a relatively cool place to live, close to some interesting town center or downtown, with houses that still have character and perhaps have been flipped (I won't lie ... I'm looking for a beautiful kitchen with stainless steel appliances! ). We would buy a flipped home or a new home, but I have found that it's much easier to search online if I know of neighborhood names that might be what we're looking for. We're open to the Lake Travis area, or perhaps the downtown area (just not something with cookie cutter homes that is too overly suburban). That's a few years coming. Our price range is anywhere between 300-400k.

Thanks for your help!!!!

[llkltk]

Your price range would get you about 1500 square feet in Central Austin. It probably would need a good deal of work. Lake Travis would buy you a semi custom home for that price that would pretty much look like everyone else's home. Austin's pricing is deceiving. You really can't get much for 300-400k and live close in to the city. It's actually overpriced for Texas. I know people who just bought a home in Central Austin, it is old and they paid close to 400K for it and it needs a complete redo. For me, it's not worth it.

[sanmiguel]

Hyde Park or Hancock neighborhood. Your price range should get you about a 2/2 with 1200 square feet and already remodeled.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by sweetbes

We just recently accepted a job in Austin, and we'll be moving from DC in the next two months. We're pleasantly surprised to see the cost of real estate in Austin versus here ... (I know all about the property taxes and I'm expecting it to balance out with the lack of state tax). So, we don't have children and don't expect to in the next few years, so schools aren't an issue. We're looking for a relatively cool place to live, close to some interesting town center or downtown, with houses that still have character and perhaps have been flipped (I won't lie ... I'm looking for a beautiful kitchen with stainless steel appliances! ). We would buy a flipped home or a new home, but I have found that it's much easier to search online if I know of neighborhood names that might be what we're looking for. We're open to the Lake Travis area, or perhaps the downtown area (just not something with cookie cutter homes that is too overly suburban). That's a few years coming. Our price range is anywhere between 300-400k.

Thanks for your help!!!!

If you can wait another year our market may take a nice drop. Right now, downtown condos are running 300-400/sq ft. Closer in areas just north west and south seem to be around 300/sq ft. typically houses sizes are under 1500 sq ft.

The suburbs drop off in price pretty quickly down to under 80/sq ft

East of downtown is in the process of becoming gentrified and seems to be running around 200/sq ft.

[llkltk]

Not all suburbs drop off in price. SW Austin is booming. And runs about 120 per square foot. 80 per square foot, try Pflugerville.

[HappyTexan]

Rent for a year and wait for our housing bubble to burst.

[atxcio]

Not that there is anything wrong with Pflugerville, but it's almost exactly OPPOSITE of what the OP was asking for. No, I think what they want will be at least 200 sq/ft, which is doable in central Austin.

You could probably find something flipped in NW Hills or Allandale at that price. Probably around 1900-2100 sq ft. Lots of good places in NW Hills... Cat Mountain, Lakewood, etc.

Also Rosedale area would be nice, but might be just out of the price range.

Hyde Park has many smaller houses, and hasn't appreciated as quickly as places like Travis Heights or Tarrytown over the past couple of years. I was suprised that there still are 2 and 3 bedroom cottages available there under 350K... some might be quite tiny, though.

[Melissa78703]

Originally Posted by sweetbes

We just recently accepted a job in Austin, and we'll be moving from DC in the next two months. We're pleasantly surprised to see the cost of real estate in Austin versus here ... (I know all about the property taxes and I'm expecting it to balance out with the lack of state tax). So, we don't have children and don't expect to in the next few years, so schools aren't an issue. We're looking for a relatively cool place to live, close to some interesting town center or downtown, with houses that still have character and perhaps have been flipped (I won't lie ... I'm looking for a beautiful kitchen with stainless steel appliances! ). We would buy a flipped home or a new home, but I have found that it's much easier to search online if I know of neighborhood names that might be what we're looking for. We're open to the Lake Travis area, or perhaps the downtown area (just not something with cookie cutter homes that is too overly suburban). That's a few years coming. Our price range is anywhere between 300-400k.

Thanks for your help!!!!

You won't find a house for that price that's near the city center, but you'll find several beautiful condos which are quite huge, new, with wonderful kitchens. The way gas prices are rising, I'd choose to forego the house and live in town rather than risking a long drive into the city for job/entertainment.

[Cherokee Girl]

If you're looking for something that's cute, quaint and built around the late Fifties/early Sixties, try Crestview. It's an area that has been overlooked by many, and some smart folks have been buying homes there and flipping them. Don't know that you'll get your stainless steel kitchen, but hey, you can do that yourself - that's why God invented Home Depot, right? What you will get are hardwood floors, and probably a cute 2/2 with backyard perfect for having a barbecue. (And, this is really funny - a few of these homes actually have the bomb shelter bunkers built by families during the duck and cover phase of the Cold War!)

It's a neat neighborhood to walk in. Oh, and since you're moving here from DC, you might appreciate the Minimax. It is SO awesome.

http://media.www.dailytexanonline.co...-1712185.shtml

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Not that there is anything wrong with Pflugerville, but it's almost exactly OPPOSITE of what the OP was asking for. No, I think what they want will be at least 200 sq/ft, which is doable in central Austin.

You could probably find something flipped in NW Hills or Allandale at that price. Probably around 1900-2100 sq ft. Lots of good places in NW Hills... Cat Mountain, Lakewood, etc.

Also Rosedale area would be nice, but might be just out of the price range.

Hyde Park has many smaller houses, and hasn't appreciated as quickly as places like Travis Heights or Tarrytown over the past couple of years. I was suprised that there still are 2 and 3 bedroom cottages available there under 350K... some might be quite tiny, though.

I agree, I think hyde park is the closest area that would meet his criteria. The issue with hyde park is that as you get close to highland mall and the area north east of airport it is still pretty ugly. There are also a lot of renters/students.

I knew a few grad students who had purchased their houses for 120K or so just north of 51st st. those houses needed serious rehabbing. The students werent in a position to do it. I also know some high tech people around avenue G whose houses are pretty pricey as they had been rehabbed.