Neighborhood Question (Austin, Round Rock, Spring: HOA, homeowners insurance, houses)

[koalabebe]

My family is going to move to Austin this summer. We have two kids, 5 and 8. With internet searching, we still do not know what to choose in terms of kids' school and neighborhood. Our price range is around 500 K. There are some interesting results of house hunting. Very few houses with swimming pool in this price range. Why? Some of them are up the hill. Why? We live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's pretty flat and no swimming pool because of winter. Anyway, anyone can give us advice? Thanks!!!

[Derek ATX]

Most of Central Texas is rock just a few inches below the topsoil. Because of this pools are very expensive to install. In most places there are impervious cover regulations. This means that you can only build on a certain percentage of a lot and if your home takes up most or all of that space depending on your lot size, you can not put in a pool. In your price range I would look at SW Austin.

Derek

[Trainwreck20]

A bit of trivia - the pool itself does not count toward the impervious cover, but the decking around it does. I guess the pool does not accelerate run-off is all I can figure.

Also, pools add quite a bit to your homeowners insurance due to liability. I do know several people that are waiting to add a pool until their own kids are a bit older.

Derek is right, though, in that pools in any area west of the Balcones Fault will have to be put in through rock. There are several threads in the various subforums about cost, but the only one I know found that a 'nice' but not fancy pool ran ~$50k for them. Only a fraction of that (like 10 or 20%, maybe) can be recouped on resale, and in fact can narrow your market.

[S6Sputnik]

I would look in the Four Corners (2222 & 620) area!

[cub77cub]

Originally Posted by koalabebe

My family is going to move to Austin this summer. We have two kids, 5 and 8. With internet searching, we still do not know what to choose in terms of kids' school and neighborhood. Our price range is around 500 K. There are some interesting results of house hunting. Very few houses with swimming pool in this price range. Why? Some of them are up the hill. Why? We live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's pretty flat and no swimming pool because of winter. Anyway, anyone can give us advice? Thanks!!!

Many of the neighborhoods with HOA have nice community pools. The upside is you don't have to do the upkeep...and you don't have the neighborhood knocking on your door for your pool.

[atlanta hope]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Derek is right, though, in that pools in any area west of the Balcones Fault will have to be put in through rock.

Where is the Balcones fault? Just curious...

[koalabebe]

Thanks all for the tips and replies. My kids always want a swimming pool because both of my parents and in-laws have a pool in their backyard (Alabama). It does raise the issue that what the expense will be if we do own a pool.
Can anyone recommend good neighborhoods in Austin (for kids)? I came across several towns, such as Ceder Park, Round Rock, Dripping Springs, Northwest, Southwest, South Lake Travis, while searching for the house. There are some houses in my price level. However, there is not much information other than the house price, average age and average income. I would like some recommendation from someone who actually lives there or been there.................

[koalabebe]

Is it crowded (everyone in the community has to use the community pool)? Do you know any good community?

[Trainwreck20]

Where is the Balcones fault? Just curious...

Very generally speaking, it runs alongside I-35. Inner Space Caverns (Gerogetown) and Natural Bridge Caverns (San Marcos area) are both part of the fault. Btw, tt is a completely dormant fault..in fact, the central Texas area is in the lowest probablity area for an earth quake in North America (Balcones Fault - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Community pools can be crowded, as can city pools, but it all depends on your idea of crowded. Definitely not quiet time by the poolside...lots of yelling, playing kids in the summer. The city pool down the street from my house has about 1/4 reserved for lap swimming and about another 1/4 reserved for swimmers only (no floats or non-swimmers). The other half is for anybody. It does provide some relief from the chaos .

[koalabebe]

Originally Posted by Derek ATX

Most of Central Texas is rock just a few inches below the topsoil. Because of this pools are very expensive to install. In most places there are impervious cover regulations. This means that you can only build on a certain percentage of a lot and if your home takes up most or all of that space depending on your lot size, you can not put in a pool. In your price range I would look at SW Austin.

Derek

Why Southwest? It's a new development? Or for the swimming pool purpose?

Thanks!!!