Moving to Austin in August...Help! (McKinney, San Marcos: real estate, apartment, rental homes)

[CaseyRyan]

Hi, my boyfriend and I are going to be moving to Austin in August as he has been accepted to a PhD program at UT. While he is starting his PhD, I'll be working to gain residency, then going to grad school as well. All of my mother's family lives in San Marcos/Wimberley, but they seem to know nothing about neighborhoods or commutes in Austin. We would like to find a nice-ish 3/2 house to rent with 2-car garage in a safe, quiet neighborhood for under $1300/month...that also doesn't have a nightmare commute to UT. Does such a beast exist??? I have read the other threads that are related to this, but we really have no clue whatsoever about any specific areas or anything Austin-related, for that matter. If anyone can help at all, in any way, it would be very greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!!

[rhino85]

I'm not sure how far/close to UT you are looking to live for $1300 per month-nice, 3/2/2??? I live out North and like it, but not too close to UT. I would say your best bet for what you are looking for would be North, South, East maybe. You will not find that central or west, i promise! Austin is just not what it used to be in terms of price. I will say I am not a real estate agent, but do enjoy looking at real estate and rentals. Good luck.

[CaseyRyan]

I've been looking on craigslist and at this point, NW and SW look like they have some nice rentals...but some of the suburbs, like Roundrock, Leander, Parmer, Pflugerville, Kyle, Buda, etc. have even better rental homes...but I really have no idea what the commute is like from these places to UT...

[rhino85]

I would not live in the surrounding areas if you are going to UT daily! I would go for SW or NW, both nice parts of town and still a commute, just not near as much! Not to mention...you are moving to Austin-live in Austin. Austin is not the same as other Texas cities, and for good reason, we were the last to have the crappy burb sprawl. Good luck.

[jread]

You won't find a rent house for that price anywhere near UT. You'd be lucky to find an apartment for that price within a close distance. Now, if you don't mind doing some driving and dealing with traffic, then you may be able to pull it off.

[Mike78613]

I saw homes that Lennar sells off hwy183; very close to McKinney Falls state park. Homes starting out in the $130's

[austin-steve]

Save yourself a lot of time and effort by calling a campus area apartment locator that also leases homes from the MLS. There are many. They know the market nad which further neighborhoods have access to the UT Shuttle, which is probably your best option.

Your choices are basically small and close, or comfy and far. Close and expensive is another option, but it sounds like you don't want that.

You might check area 3 in the Cameron/Berkman area, which has a UT Shuttle. A close commute would be area 9 (SE Austin north of Ben White). You should also check the Metro Bus lines in South Austin, which came up to downtown and connect to the UT area.

A locater will know all this and more and be able to help you at no cost to you. PM me if you want some names.

Steve

[CaseyRyan]

What is the MLS? Are locators free?

[dura]

MLS is Multiple Listing Service such as realtor.com and a number of other sites provide and most seem to be free to search.

[TexasHorseLady]

The MLS is the database that real estate agents use as one of the tools to promote listings. It is possible to search it for basic information (but only basic information) through, as said, Realtor.com or various real estate brokerage sites or austinhomesearch.com.