Moving to Austin TX from Nashua NH (Cedar Park, Leander: real estate market, foreclosures)

[rninaustin]

Hi,
I would be moving to Austin TX and would like some info. Which parts of Austin TX has better school district? Is there diversity in North Western part of Austin TX? How is safety and crime?

Would it be better to rent or to buy a home in the 450K range. The real estate market seems to be thru the roof and is it still a good time to buy or wait for real estate to cool down, for a year or more?

Thanks in advance!

Robert

[ashbeeigh]

You won’t find a house at 450k unless it’s a 250k house that is in the middle of a bidding war, which is all the good ones....unless you’re paying cash, which you could be. Read over some of the recent threads to get an idea of what the market looks like. Northwest Austin is the hottest area of Austin, too. Schools are good to great no matter if it’s Leander, Austin usd or round rock isd.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by rninaustin

Hi,
I would be moving to Austin TX and would like some info. Which parts of Austin TX has better school district? Is there diversity in North Western part of Austin TX? How is safety and crime?

Would it be better to rent or to buy a home in the 450K range. The real estate market seems to be thru the roof and is it still a good time to buy or wait for real estate to cool down, for a year or more?

Thanks in advance!

Robert

It's difficult to gauge what will really happen. There's alot of contributors to the housing shortage.

-- Lack of sellers (reduces inventory)
-- Many building material suppliers offline due to the pandemic which pushed up the time to build homes (reduces inventory)
-- No foreclosures (reduces inventory)
-- Increase of jobs (increases buyers)
-- Influx of people moving from other states due to how the pandemic was handled (increases buyers)

You can rent but there is no gauruntee that prices will cool off to the levels they were pre-pandemic. I personally think the market will stablize and prices will stop increasing, but I don't expect a sharp drop in RE prices. They may come down slightly but the days of buying a starter home for $300k are pretty much over for Austin metro IMO. I believe any increase of supply at this point will just be met with more potential and willing buyers which wlll increase demand and keep prices at a new stable high. One of the main indicators of what the RE market will do is incoming jobs, and jobs are still starting and relocating here like crazy.

If you're talking about Austin proper, NW Austin - $450k is going to be a pre-pandemic $250k house which hardly existed even pre-pandemic.

It's more doable in Cedar Park / Leander but you're ganna end up with 2.3k sqft or less. One in Leander in my neighborhood with 1.9k sqft just went for $420k.

To get a decent home in the northern burbs now it seems one needs to be in the $500 - $600k ballpark.

[rninaustin]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

You won’t find a house at 450k unless it’s a 250k house that is in the middle of a bidding war, which is all the good ones....unless you’re paying cash, which you could be. Read over some of the recent threads to get an idea of what the market looks like. Northwest Austin is the hottest area of Austin, too. Schools are good to great no matter if it’s Leander, Austin usd or round rock isd.

WHat 450K for 250K house? Then whats the point in moving to Austin if there is no affordability? Is it true there are lot of tech companies moving and possibility of Austin becoming a tech hub? I thought it was just a marketing gimmick. Thanks for your info. tho

[rninaustin]

Thanks these are great points.. its a reality check more over. Is it really true that all of tech companies are moving towards Austin or is it juat a marketing gimmick. Ive lived in bay area 10 yrs ago and even then 1 mil house was not uncommon for 2k sq ft home... you think its a deal if there is a house avbl < 500k for over 2k sq ft...

Is it still a good idea for investing a home for future generation? One thing I dont see it becoming next silicon valley is that lack of sea coast, but who knows...

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by rninaustin

WHat 450K for 250K house? Then whats the point in moving to Austin if there is no affordability? Is it true there are lot of tech companies moving and possibility of Austin becoming a tech hub? I thought it was just a marketing gimmick. Thanks for your info. tho

semi-true. It won't ever replace places like San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, NYC, ect in terms of tech but it hits very hard in tech for its size. I more so see it as a peer city in the tech realm as we do have alot of corporations but compartively to its peers we're still in the weaker realm in terms of STEM and innovation. From my personal experience in the field, most projects are handed down to us from other locations.

Still plenty here though in terms of tech and its definitely no slouch in the arena.

As for housing, I personally would 'not' move to Austin for affordability. If affordability is what one is searching for, there are better places. Austin generally is a better place in TX for nightlife, recreation, and events and tech. Austin is still more affordable than places like California, Washington state and D.C., NYC, Massachusetts and New Jersey where you can still get a better house for a bit less than you would in those states but Austin is not a bargain so to speak. The cost difference between those places and Austin however is still justifiable to make relocating worth while for those who choose to.

Originally Posted by rninaustin

Thanks these are great points.. its a reality check more over. Is it really true that all of tech companies are moving towards Austin or is it juat a marketing gimmick. Ive lived in bay area 10 yrs ago and even then 1 mil house was not uncommon for 2k sq ft home... you think its a deal if there is a house avbl < 500k for over 2k sq ft...

Is it still a good idea for investing a home for future generation? One thing I dont see it becoming next silicon valley is that lack of sea coast, but who knows...

Lived in the Pacific for awhile so I know how expensive it is out there. Austin is still much more affordable than SF is. You can also still make 'fairly' comparable salaries for similar respective roles, you might take a small hit but the amount in savings greatly overcomes that compared to the Bay area. As far as jobs moving here, some of it is marketing and some of it is true. The marketing part is the hype of being the next Silicon Valley, we won't be replacing the Bay Area... it just isn't happening, we will be a good contender though in terms of tech jobs. From what I've last read aproximately 150 companies are moving to or expanding in Austin area... so there's definitely a strong tech market here.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by rninaustin

WHat 450K for 250K house? Then whats the point in moving to Austin if there is no affordability? Is it true there are lot of tech companies moving and possibility of Austin becoming a tech hub? I thought it was just a marketing gimmick. Thanks for your info. tho

I don’t know. You tell me. It’s people moving here with cash from out of town pushing up the prices. If one of your main selling points in moving here is affordability, N4C hit the nail on the head. Have you ever been to Austin? Why Austin? (Apologies if you answered that in your first post it’s been a minute since I read it.) come and visit and see how crazy things are. I’ll add we have a poster here that got into a bidding war in a rental in far southwest Austin. Better buckle up for a wild ride.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by rninaustin

WHat 450K for 250K house? Then whats the point in moving to Austin if there is no affordability? Is it true there are lot of tech companies moving and possibility of Austin becoming a tech hub? I thought it was just a marketing gimmick. Thanks for your info. tho

Our CONDO was $212K seven years ago. Nearly identical unit just sold for $425K. This is as far north as you can go and stay in the city limits of Austin(LISD, btw).

[axorb]

Originally Posted by rninaustin

Thanks these are great points.. its a reality check more over. Is it really true that all of tech companies are moving towards Austin or is it juat a marketing gimmick. Ive lived in bay area 10 yrs ago and even then 1 mil house was not uncommon for 2k sq ft home... you think its a deal if there is a house avbl < 500k for over 2k sq ft...

Is it still a good idea for investing a home for future generation? One thing I dont see it becoming next silicon valley is that lack of sea coast, but who knows...

I would say yes if you are investing purely in terms of investment that you could someday pass on to your kids. And no tech moving here is not hype.

Indeed, Oracle and Dell have their headquarters here. Amazon is targeting to hire 2000 people by end of year. Facebook is also looking to double their presence. Tiktok is planning on opening an office. Wayfair just announced they will be opening a new office here and hiring 200 people. The list goes on and on...

However the housing situation is quite grim. People from California, Seattle and NYC are moving here in droves. Houses are unavailable and the ones are have bidding wars. My house was appraised for 330k in 2018, this year its 540k . Houses in round rock (30 minutes to downtown Austin) are selling for 60% over asking on average. If you are thinking that Austin is affordable , that was like 5 years ago and the boat has since sailed.

[rninaustin]

Its good to hear that tech giants are moving their way to Austin TX. The bad news is rising home prices. The 60% over asking price is crazy... if companies have give WFH during covid is one news, but over paying for uncertain future is another. We certainly cannot afford California especially with family of 4 unless the plan is to keep paying for 30 yr 1.5M mortgage which will never feel like attainable with 40% of CA taxes...