Austin move looking for info & advice Please (San Antonio, Round Rock: for sale, house prices) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

wr_uk · 03-23-2008, 03:13 PM

Hi

We are looking to move from the Seattle area to Austin in the near future and wanted to get some feed back on specifics.

We initially looked at San Antonio .... came down and had a look around a couple of years ago but we've since realized that Austin would present far better opportunities in terms of the kind of work I do.

Location/House size/price
Job/commute
Schools/Shops
Recreation.. parks etc.

First thing would be location.... I'm a 3d Artist working for an online games developer.. so moving to Austin I would need to find a job. I've researched the area online and found where the clusters of companies are (See attached). There seems to be 2 clusters, downtown and then north of Austin. Going off house prices I think for me north of austin (around IBM/uni of texas area) would be a good place to work.

For me any commute longer than 30 mins is a real pain!! whether by car/bus or train.

I noticed that there will soon be Capital MetroRail linking downtown with Leander so we maybe looking at a location for home to be near to one of the stops. What are the other transportation links like?

Dream would be to ride to work everyday but we just don't have to money to live closer to the city.

House prices - I think we are looking to spend around $140,000-180,000 preferably a 4 bedroom house, In a good neighborhood, closed to school as we have a 1 year old, close to amenities and preferably close to parks recreational stuff as we are out door people.

What are the chances of us finding something in a decent location in this price range.

When we looked at new house builds in San Antonio we looked at a couple .. one of which is KB homes... the show home were really impressive and were reasonable priced for what you actually got. However since that time we have discovered one or two websites with postings about how badly they have been treated by KB homes and how badly the actual houses have been built. Does anybody have any recomendations on new house build companies?

Also can anybody recomend any other websites where we can find out demographic, transportation, house prices, recreational info?

Any help advice will be very much appriciated.

Thanks

Wayne

We hope to get down and have a look around later this year.

wr_uk · 03-23-2008, 03:42 PM

Yeah... had a look at just about all 3D companies in Austin.... I work remotely for a UK company at the moment. This is good for the as I'm earning good money and I'm not having to commute so I have low outgoings. Once we've saved up enough or a fantastic job opportunity comes up then we will make the jump. I eventually what to work for a US company on next gen titles. Hopefully we will make the jump this year or next year at the latest

neddy · 03-23-2008, 04:48 PM

Right now Mr. works at IBM and we live out in Leander. We liked the schools out here cause we have 2 boys and the houses are better priced than elsewhere in the metro area. I have plenty of family that lives in Lakeway,South Austin, Buda and also central Austin. My mom was born and raised here so I have spent lots of time here before we moved here last year from the San Antonio area. This area (Leander) its pretty easy to get outside and have something to do. You are pretty close to lots of lakes and lots of parks. Seems like a pretty good family area and lots of new things coming in. We also bought up here in hopes that the red line from Cap Metro would prove good for Mr. as it stops right at IBM area so that would be a dream for him. Lots of new houses being built in the area for the prices that you mentioned, just remember our property taxes!

llkltk · 03-23-2008, 06:07 PM

Hi. Retro Studios (Nintendo) is in North Austin. I know the Lead Artist there. I could ask him if he is hiring if you are interested in finding out. Let me know. Good luck.

wr_uk · 03-23-2008, 09:08 PM

Hi ... although we aren't intending imeadiatley .... that would be great if you can ask him if and when they are hiring!! ...the more contacts the better... if he is willing to pass his details to me as well that would be good then I can forward some of my work on to him when we make the jump!.

Also how do the property taxes work there?.... Is tax calculated as a percentage based on the value of your home? or is it a flat rate for that area?

wr_uk · 03-24-2008, 09:42 PM

Can anybody point me in the right direction to get info on property tax..... I'm just trying to find an average for around the Austin area and how they are calculated.

malignantpoodle · 03-24-2008, 10:19 PM

140k-180k for a 4 bedroom in a nice part of town is pushing it. The median home cost in Austin is around 170k, and the average home is not 4 bedroom nor in the locations you're referring to.

Property tax is extremely high here, some of the highest in the nation. It depends on district and county (Austin is in 3 counties), but the property tax can be up to 1%/monthly.

You can check here for a basic idea;
Travis Central Appraisal District - Appraisal Roll Information

jread · 03-25-2008, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wr_uk

I think we are looking to spend around $140,000-180,000 preferably a 4 bedroom house, In a good neighborhood, closed to school as we have a 1 year old, close to amenities and preferably close to parks recreational stuff as we are out door people.

That does not exist. You will either have to look for a house that is a little smaller, is closer to a lower-performing school and/or is in a crappy suburban area that is nowhere near parks/recreation. Sorry.

If you were willing to go with a 3-bedroom/2-bath cookie cutter somewhere in Williamson County it would probably be doable, but it still would require getting in the car and driving to really do anything.

TexasHorseLady · 03-25-2008, 05:04 PM

The University of Texas isn't in North Austin, first - it's in Central Austin. If you're actually talking about North Austin, proper, you should be able to find something like that in the Round Rock ISD - in fact, a quick MLS search on just the number of bedrooms you want and your higher price in RRISD turned up 58 homes for sale.

Downtown or in the UT area (they're very close to each other), that's not likely to happen.

You could move into the Leander school district, as Neddy mentions above, and there's the same number as in the RRISD for about the same prices.

texastea · 03-25-2008, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wr_uk

House prices - I think we are looking to spend around $140,000-180,000 preferably a 4 bedroom house, In a good neighborhood, closed to school as we have a 1 year old, close to amenities and preferably close to parks recreational stuff as we are out door people.

What are the chances of us finding something in a decent location in this price range.

You might want to check into Leander. That price range is typical, the schools are really good and most neighborhoods have parks. Its affordable now, but when things are more built out (commuter rail up and running, homes built in the TOD, planned parks and roads completed, etc.), prices will probably take a jump.