Steiner Ranch? (Austin, Spring, Mercedes: mortgage, loan, real estate)

[lindseyrepp143]

Our family just moved here from Seattle, and my husband and I are contemplating buying a home in Steiner Ranch.
The home is new construction, major upgrades, and they actually accepted our (what we thought was a low) offer of $292k. I thought we'd be having reasonable monthly mortgage payments, but with taxes it pushes it up to around $2700/month.
We love the area of Steiner Ranch, and it's quite close to his work, but now we are getting cold feet.
Does anyone think that the area of Steiner Ranch will appreciate much over the years? Is this a good deal, or can we do better? Are property taxes as high everywhere else?

Thanks so much!

[AustinGuy]

Steiner is a nice area, so if you are planning on staying put for 5-10 years, I don't think you have too much to worry about.

The Steiner Ranch area did take a price hit from 2001-2004, but it seems to have recovered back to 2000 values and slighly above depending on the neighborhood inside Steiner.

Which builder are you purchasing the home from?

[gigi927]

We live in the neighborhood next door to Steiner Ranch (River Place) and I think anytime you can get a house in Steiner for under $300K, you're doing very well. It is a great community and the schools are fantastic.

For some, Steiner feels "far out" compared to downtown Austin and I think for that reason, homes out this way take a bit longer to sell than in other parts of town - and as a result sometimes sellers may take less $. But keep in mind that there is tons of development scheduled for 2222 and on the 620 as well. All sorts of condo and office/retail projects are slated between the 360 and the 620, and a new high school (which I suspect Steiner will feed into) is planned for right near the 3M building. The land is purchased, but the $ to build it has not been secured as of yet.

I think as AustinGuy said, if you are going to make this your home for a few years, you will not be sorry. Steiner is very desirable. Good luck with your move and feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about the new schools or development and stuff!

[lindseyrepp143]

Mercedes Homes. Everyone has been really great so far, however, this is our first home we're buying -- I wonder if it's obvious.

I considered posting a thread re: property taxes (Seattle vs. Austin) but decided against it. I could probably just do a thread search and get tons of information.

I guess I will say that we expected much cheaper home prices (which we got) but much much higher property taxes (which we didn't expect). In fact, when I told my best friend who does loan in AZ, he at first said his computer calculator must be broken because "that would mean you pay around 9k a year in taxes"....um yup! The argument is that there isn't any state income tax taken out so it evens itself out in the end. Is that right?

Austin has been extremely easy to fall into, and in so many ways it's like we've lived here for much longer than we have (a month! Heh)...people are so friendly, the weather MUCH more desirable than Seattle (we arrived during the icestorm and people said we brought the Seattle weather with us!), and there is a pace of life that we find really enjoyable. It'd be perfect with our friends and family around....we're trying to lure our friends to move here.

Thanks for the response AustinGuy and gigi!

[AustinGuy]

Hey gigi, I'm actually considering moving to either Steiner or River Place within the next year. I'm glad to hear you like it out that way.

I'm also considering Dripping Springs, but that seems too far away from everyone I know on the North/Northwest side of town.

[gigi927]

AustinGuy...feel free to send me a PM...I can give you more info if you need it on community activities in each place, yada yada. I am actually starting a bulletin board a la City Data specifically for River Place residents. We love it here. Dripping Springs was on our list when we moved, but it felt too far out for us (it's probably all perception, though!) And we liked the hillier topography better here. With the new River Place elementary they are building, it's going to be even more attractive, I think. RP is kind of a hidden jewel!

[AustinGuy]

Originally Posted by lindseyrepp143

I considered posting a thread re: property taxes (Seattle vs. Austin) but decided against it. I could probably just do a thread search and get tons of information.

Welcome to Austin! Yes, our property taxes are outrageous. Certain parts of town the property taxes are lower than others. I think the lowest is around 2.7% and the high goes up to 3.3% or so. Some of the realtors on this board can probably answer the question better though.

The property taxes are going to be dependent on what school district and county you are in.

I've said this on another thread, but I'll repeat it here. Many people coming from out of state are amazed by our housing prices, but it is difficult to make an apples to apples comparison when you are talking about such a big leap in property taxes. High property taxes are the main thing that keeps a lid on housing prices here in Texas. That and the large amount of buildable land of course.

Overall, I stlll think you'll come out ahead of Seattle. Seattle is a beautiful place though and filled with tons of great coffee!

[achtungpv]

Real estate in TX doesn't appreciate like the west coast...the high property taxes and the availability of cheap land for building contribute to that. Sure, there is going to be times when there's really good appreciation but I believe the historical average for TX is still less than 2% a year if I remember correctly.

[loosenup]

Steiner Ranch is a nice area. The price you mentioned seems very good to me. That neighborhood has good access to downtown and the lake both. It is also an area that is probably going to keep appreciating. My wife and I have friends that live there and they just love it.

Remember too that you don't have state income tax in Texas, that helps to offset the property taxes.

[nwcubsfan]

Eh, that whole "no state income tax" = "high property taxes" argument still doesn't wash with me. It's not a 1-to-1 relationship. In Washington State...no state income tax, kinda low property taxes, INSANELY HIGH GAS TAX!

It all works out in the wash (unless you live in a house in Washington and never drive anywhere).