Sell me on Austin and surrounding area (Houston, San Antonio: 2013, houses)

[CampingMom]

Good evening!

We have good friends that relocated to Austin this past spring. They are telling us that we would love the area! Hubby has friends that moved there back in the late 70's and love it very much. We will be empty nesters next Fall as our youngest will be starting college. We will be in our early 50's by then and a lot of good years ahead with work and health. Looking to leave Upstate NY and cold winters with feet of snow behind. We live in the Hudson Valley, while beautiful we are being priced out. Plus way too many Democrats have moved in here and are making us twitch.

I am putting out feelers come spring for my line of work. I dispatch school buses as well as train new drivers. I do have my CDL class B with airbrake and passenger endorsements. So I need to know what public school districts to look into as well as private contractors for school transportation. Hubby was a ready mix concrete dispatcher here for 21 years. His company sold out and the new one let everyone go-he left right before that happened. He worked four years for a cheapskate. Guy cut everyone's salary down to under $10hr and told them it was NYS government's job to house and feed them, not his problem. He's job hunting now as the guy pulled up stakes here and let hubby's transfill department go-he was filling oxygen tanks for medical facilities and patients.

So here's what we are looking for. A non-HOA(possible if they aren't too wild with their ideas). A little further out as city life isn't for us as we like hunting, camping, fishing and just being outdoors. But we know as we get older, having conveniences closer will be a necessity. So if we can find a place that's a happy medium that'd be great. Looking to spend up to $250k, a 3bd, 2b house. Preferable one level-again that age factor. We definitively will NOT move until jobs are lined up, our house is paid for so we can keep going here until we find something then go.

Ready, set go! Sell me on the area! The Austin Chamber sent me a relocation book, along with a voter registration-guess they know it'll be a yes move before we do!

Thanks for all your help!

[centralaustinite]

How big of a lot? $250K won't get you much in the Austin area; it would be a small house in an suburban development kinda packed in (10 feet between houses). I would suggest looking at the Hill Country around San Antonio, not Austin. Have you considered Nashville?

[CptnRn]

Not many people are going to be very enthusiastic about "selling you" to move here. There are already way to many people moving here, its gotten way too crowded and development of our transportation corridors are way behind the growth, so traffic is horrible.

Austin is also mostly democratic in its voting trends, lots of old hippies and liberals here. Austin has voted strongly democratic in 4 of the last 5 presidential elections.

Your $250k won't buy much in Austin. I just sold a 1300SF, 3Bdrm, 2bath house with small yard, 9 miles from downtown, that I bought in 1981 for $240,000 last Oct.

Median household income in 2013 was $32,297.

[mesmer]

No. Don't move here.

[CampingMom]

So Austin has then become our equivalent to what my area is-grid locked roads, houses on top of each other that are cookie cutter throw ups that are over priced and too close together. Nope that's not what we need to go to. What our area used to be was farming-up until the late 80's we had over 55 farms in our county alone. Now we have 8. All sold out for McMansions of 500K and up. Median income here in 82K-but most of them commute to NYC from here 1 1/2 hours by train. Locals don't make anywhere near that-like us who are under 40K now.

What about a suburb of Austin-within say a hour? Is that possible on a 250K house? If not, we'll keep looking. My family are all native to NC/VA, but all of the North East are taking those areas over. We just want to head into retirement years being able to live in a lower cost area when we are done with our careers. Hubby wants to be near enough we can still go camping near the coast and he can salt water fish. Sigh. It's a good thing we are putting it out of a year, it's going to take a lot of researching. Add to that those before us are not as nice and made people not as welcoming to someone who is trying to start anew.

[zakas80]

Whereabouts in the HV? Been here three years from via Cornwall/Woodbury area. I hear good things about Georgetown area for retirement age but is probably more then 30 minutes to Austin on most days. I have young family and moved here for career opportunities but to me Austin doesn't seem like an ideal place to retire but maybe some of the far flung suburbs would suffice.

[TXEX06]

It's amazing and all your wildest dreams will come true!

[theone33]

And this is why Austin and Houston are full of people with outrageous housing prices.

[CampingMom]

Originally Posted by zakas80

Whereabouts in the HV? Been here three years from via Cornwall/Woodbury area. I hear good things about Georgetown area for retirement age but is probably more then 30 minutes to Austin on most days. I have young family and moved here for career opportunities but to me Austin doesn't seem like an ideal place to retire but maybe some of the far flung suburbs would suffice.

Other side of the river-Fishkill area. Not looking to retire yet-I'll be just hitting 50 come October. So I have at least another 15 years or so until I can retire. That's why we are looking for a place to settle down for one last move for good. Something that gives us what we need as a working couple that will be empty nesters and something for when we no long want to be a part of the rat race. Chance to still work part time even then, but more freedom to do what we want and when.

[Huckleberry3911948]

well if you like california, you will like it.
its nothing like the texas i knew as a kid.
last time in town, everyone wore shorts, tennis shoes, tank top and often had frizzed hair, i thought i was at a richard simmons convention.
here is the good news.
last time i was there women doing nude demonstrations at the airport protesting TSA.
also they have fantastic aquatic gardens there if you like plants and gardening.