Lost in Austin (Georgetown, Taylor, Hutto: to rent, mortgage, loan)

[emccomb1]

This is my first time on this site. I love it and have already found a lot of help....thank you!!
My wife and I moved to Austin from NYC last April. We've been renting in the Arboretum area and are paying about $1000/month.
We're starting to look to buy but have questions before we do so.
My facts:
-We're only going to be in Austin for 2-3 years before we move back North.
-It appears rents are going up quicker than home prices (in Austin) and will continue to for the next couple years...is that what you're hearing/seeing?
-We can get a no interest loan from family, and maybe as a gift ($20k)
-We would eventually like to own homes to rent to others
-We are looking in the Wellsbranch area, $140-190K (1st time buyers)
-3/2, .1-.3 acre lot, 1200-1800 sq feet, 1 or 2 story
Please don't respond about the long distance renting, that portion will be worked out through other means. I just need help figuring out where the market will be in 2-3 yrs in Austin.
1. Assuming we are just going to buy and then sell in 2-3 yrs, is it worth it?
-Should we use the large down-payment we were offered now or when we move back to PA?
-Does a 3/1 arm make sense here? Or should we stick w/ a 20/30 yr mort?
2. Assuming we keep the home and then rent it when we move back:
-Use the down-payment now or when we move back, on a more expensive home w/ plans of staying there for a while (10-15 yrs)
-20/30 yr mortgage makes the most sense if we're keeping it, right?
-What rents can we expect in 2-3 yrs? If our mortgage/taxes are $1300-1600 can we expect to get in that range?
Sorry for the length and breadth of questions, anything will help.

[domino_1]

Two suggestions to look into.
Taylor Texas or Hutto Texas - prices are still resonable and growth rate is expanding rapidly

The other suggestion is close to 1st and Slaughter. My mom just bought a place there with the intentions of leaving in 2 years. This is an investment property for her as well. The area has really started booming. Stassney just north and the Southpark Meadows being converted to all retail has made the area explode. Right now there are not too many new subdivisions going up, so finding a newer home may be tough; but the area is coming along quickly. I can only imagine what it will look like in 2-3 years. Sorry to hear you are leaving us.

[Trainwreck20]

-It appears rents are going up quicker than home prices (in Austin) and will continue to for the next couple years...is that what you're hearing/seeing?

This is part of the 'correction' nationwide, and I expect that it will happen here to some degree as well. My BIL (a financial type guy) is predicting that across the country there should be a 3-4% per year average increase in rents over the next 5 years with a decrease in home prices. Don't know how that applies here exactly.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by emccomb1

This is my first time on this site. I love it and have already found a lot of help....thank you!!
My wife and I moved to Austin from NYC last April. We've been renting in the Arboretum area and are paying about $1000/month.
We're starting to look to buy but have questions before we do so.
My facts:
-We're only going to be in Austin for 2-3 years before we move back North.
-It appears rents are going up quicker than home prices (in Austin) and will continue to for the next couple years...is that what you're hearing/seeing?
-We can get a no interest loan from family, and maybe as a gift ($20k)
-We would eventually like to own homes to rent to others
-We are looking in the Wellsbranch area, $140-190K (1st time buyers)
-3/2, .1-.3 acre lot, 1200-1800 sq feet, 1 or 2 story
Please don't respond about the long distance renting, that portion will be worked out through other means. I just need help figuring out where the market will be in 2-3 yrs in Austin.
1. Assuming we are just going to buy and then sell in 2-3 yrs, is it worth it?
-Should we use the large down-payment we were offered now or when we move back to PA?
-Does a 3/1 arm make sense here? Or should we stick w/ a 20/30 yr mort?
2. Assuming we keep the home and then rent it when we move back:
-Use the down-payment now or when we move back, on a more expensive home w/ plans of staying there for a while (10-15 yrs)
-20/30 yr mortgage makes the most sense if we're keeping it, right?
-What rents can we expect in 2-3 yrs? If our mortgage/taxes are $1300-1600 can we expect to get in that range?
Sorry for the length and breadth of questions, anything will help.

id go as central as possible or stay along the rail line. Ive started looking at crestview, although the houses are more in the 250k range. If you can swing it I think that will become an awesome investment as the area around the crestview station is really going to boom.

[TexasHorseLady]

Georgetown is another possibility - it's growing like a weed!

That being said, just about everybody's crystal ball is on the fritz right now, waiting for things to shake out.