Looking for a Condo (Austin, Round Rock: real estate, apartment complex, condos)

[mk256]

Hi. I am possibly being relocated by my company from Long Island to Austin soon. If I do accept the relo, I would be working between the N. Mopac and 183 near W. Breaker and would also attend UT for my Master's.

I'm a mid 20s/single guy with no kids for the foreseeable future, and I don't need or want a house. However, I have enough cash handy for a down payment and would prefer to own; a 1 bed condo or townhome would be ideal. School district is irrelevant to me (except in the sense that it could affect future property values), and I don't feel the need to be in a trendy area downtown (although I wouldn't necessarily mind). I can handle NYC life, but also like the quiet(er) suburban style. I would like to keep my budget around 150-200k.

I've been researching places online, and there are two developments in particular that caught my eye: Montevista Condos and Alicante Townhomes. I think I also saw a few decent condos in Round Rock, which seems like a nice little area. The areas downtown are more expensive for what I would be getting, and the commute to work could be bad.

At first glance, Montevista seems great; nice-looking apartments inside and out, nice pool, great views, reasonably close to work and school, reasonably close to downtown, safe area and right in my price range. However, researching this property has been difficult, mainly because it was an apartment complex until recently. Most of the (mixed) reviews are from disgruntled former tenants that lived there before/during the condo renovations and then were kicked out. I also read this thread: http://www.city-data.com/forum/austi...ta-condos.html. From what I can gather, my main concern is the thin walls (how bad are they and did the condo renovations deal with this?). Apparently, they were originally built as condos before being apartments, so the noise isolation shouldn't be that bad, right? Also, is the construction complete (it seems to be)? Did the renovations rile up the ground and disturb scorpion nests that will get revenge on me in my sleep (pretty terrifying for a lifelong Long Islander)? Has anyone heard about these recently?

The Alicante townhomes look similarly nice, except they're not converted apartments, are 3 stories and the development is not in flux (pros). Unfortunately, they're a bit farther away, the apartment may not be quite as nice inside and the views may not be quite as spectacular (cons). There is little information about these online. Anyone know anything about this development?

If I do move down there, I plan to get a real estate agent, but you guys seem to know what you're talking about so I figured I'd try to pick your brains. Do you have any other suggestions for where to look during my visit there this week?

Any information would be appreciated!

[TexasHorseLady]

Would you consider a detached condo? There are some nice ones on 183 just a little ways north of the area that you mention. That would solve the thin wall problem. That would be The Cottages at Lake Creek. I had a client who looked at both Alicante and The Cottages and opted for the latter, because it had many of the advantages of a house with those of a condo, as well. So far, he's been quite happy there.

Alicante is qutie nice inside (at least, the ones I've seen), but if you're working in the area of Mopac/183, the drive might be a bit of a bear at rush hour, whether you go Mopac to 2222 or up 183 to 620 and across.

I've not seen Montevista personally (have seen Alicante), so I can't speak to it.

[orbius]

Friendly piece of advice. Get the condo scoured over by an engineer before you buy and have this engineer or a specialist do a STC(sound transmission class) test between the condo of an adjoining unit. Do not take the realtors word, do not just assume it will be 'ok'. It probably wont, the builders have their hands around the city governments throat and even the basic STC restrictions in the international building code that the city adopted were omitted.

So basically there is no building code for noise concerns in Austin.

Also keep in mind about not only the potential of noise from clomping feet above you. But also consider the potential of about a dozen A/C units that might be on the roof of a condo.