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Old 05-05-2008, 12:08 PM
 
97 posts, read 431,824 times
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Hi everyone. My wife & I will be heading down to Austin to do some house shopping on May 17 & 18. We've got a laundry list of potential questions, but I wanted to survey the "experts" here to see what they think are the top 3-to-5 questions that should be asked (and answered) before considering the purchase of a home in Austin. For purposes of this list, I'd like to skip the REALLY obvious ones like: 1) what are the taxes; 2) how's the school system; and is there a HOA, since we'll probably have general answers to these questions before we even get there.

During this trip, we're looking at houses in the following areas: River Place, Steiner Ranch, Lake Travis, Bee Cave, and a couple in Eanes (pardon any mispellings or goofs here since I'm just going from my Monday morning memory)

Thanks in advance for you help.
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Old 05-05-2008, 12:56 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,269 posts, read 35,637,527 times
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Maybe ask:
How long a commute to where I work?
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Old 05-05-2008, 01:12 PM
 
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If it's in a new development, I'd ask if they allow sales to investors and if so what percentage of sales have been to investors.
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Old 05-05-2008, 02:02 PM
 
4 posts, read 37,508 times
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Flood Insurance?
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Old 05-05-2008, 02:08 PM
 
Location: Madison, WI
1,741 posts, read 5,397,692 times
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Could you list the questions you've already come up with? I'm going to be in Austin the 17-21!
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Old 05-05-2008, 02:39 PM
 
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If you see any green areas surrounding you, ask what is going to be built there? Of course if they know and its a negative, they will pretend not to know, or worse they will lie and say 'It's greenbelt'. If they don't know they will also say the same thing. The best way if you are really serious about a place, is to go to the City of Austin zoning offices and talk to a representative in person and look at a map of the surroundings to find out what projects have been approved or what's been proposed.
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Old 05-05-2008, 02:47 PM
 
97 posts, read 431,824 times
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Default My short list of questions

Here are several of the questions we've come up with (in no particular order):

1) Is listed property tax based on current (especially if in Leander) appraisal? Homestead exemption? Is person living there currently getting any special discount on tax that I won't get (over X age, or certain disability I think gets a discount).

2) What is commute time in "standard" v. "rush-hour" traffic?

3) If the property doesn't have a 3-car garage, will HOA allow a storage/utility shed? If so, what is application/approval process?

4) What are annual water bills?

5) Could a pool be built on this property in the future? (Apparently some locations that are very close to the bedrock just can't have pools built on them w/out EXTREEM cost) We don't want a pool right now, but would like to know we could get one in the future if we wanted.

6) How far away are the schools? Are new ones being built? If so, where?

7) Flood zone? (I don't think this is the case with most of the places we're looking at since most are in "hill country", but worth checking)

Those are the main ones I can think of right now... I know there are probably a bunch more that my wife has in her head, but these are the only ones I remember talking about recently.
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Old 05-05-2008, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Austin TX
1,207 posts, read 6,280,234 times
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1. Are HOA fees monthly or annual and what do they cover?

2. Is property in a MUD district? How is the MUD rated? Have the MUD portion of the property taxes gone up or down over the last few years.

3. How far is the property from key services (shopping, schools, churches, doctors, etc.)

4. What are the neighbors like? What community social events are sponsored on an annual basis?
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Old 05-05-2008, 04:09 PM
 
Location: Madison, WI
1,741 posts, read 5,397,692 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by three_fish View Post

Those are the main ones I can think of right now... I know there are probably a bunch more that my wife has in her head, but these are the only ones I remember talking about recently.
Thanks ThreeFish (and others). I'll be watching this thread with great interest!
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Old 05-05-2008, 07:03 PM
 
Location: Lettuce Land
681 posts, read 2,913,185 times
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How many days has the property been on the market? If over XX days, why?

How many other nearby properties are on the market? Average number of days?

How many neighbors are homeowners versus renters?

Is the neighborhood currently appreciating or depreciating?

Has the seller had and reacted to a recent Home Inspection?
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