Moving from small-town in Kansas to Austin?! (Stanton: for sale, real estate)

[HealthNut12]

Hi everyone,
I have spent the past few days reading all about Texas on this website--(so glad that I found this forum!).In May I am finishing up Dental Hygiene school and getting married, and my fiance and I are wanting to take off on our own and try a new state. Austin seems to be full of opportunity for young couples (We're 23 and 24). By what I have been reading, we could hopefully find jobs (Fiance has been working for a natural gas company,hoping to find something similar in Texas). We also are big fans of outdoor/recreation/fitness (Fiance is a big lake/ski person, I am a fan of running/exercise in general). We both come from small towns, so city life will be brand new to both of us. I am looking on all of these threads and seeing all of the neighborhoods to live in, and it's a bit overwhelming! Where would one suggest we live for: affordability, access to the lake, shopping/dining within 15-30 minutes, hiking/biking trails, not too crazy of traffic (if that's possible), but also close enough to downtown to enjoy it!? Probably sounds very broad, but I am just starting my search, and would love for any insight! Thank you!

[centralaustinite]

What's your price range? Rent or buy?

[WillysB]

I'll leave the locale suggestions to other posters but want to say go to the Texas Travel website and get your travel guide NOW. IT'S FREE ! ! !

Get it now so by time you get here you'll know where you are.

Welcome home

[HealthNut12]

We would love to buy- especially if we found the right area, I would say around or under $130k to be safe, but then feel like renting for the first few months may be the smarter thing until we both know we have set and stable jobs...still unsure. We don't have to have anything huge or super nice, but something comfortable for two people.

[tibbar]

I moved here from SW Kansas (Stanton County). You are going to love not having personal property taxes and tax on food. You aren't going to like the high taxes on a home when you buy.

I would look in 78745 zip code we rented a house on Cockburn years ago and it was located well for everything we needed. You can look things up on Real Estate, Homes for Sale - Zillow

[SaladoSam]

I like the Small Planet Guide for checking out the rentals in Austin. Includes some info on various neighborhoods.

[mark311]

I would highly recommend to rent for about 6 months first. Then you can check out areas to buy. You'll be looking at places that are about 30 minutes or more from downtown in that price range to buy, but you can be closer if you rent. We rented in the Arboretum area when we first moved here and it was a nice safe area to get familiarized with Austin. Then we moved out into the suburbs where we could afford to buy.

[CaseyRyan]

My boyfriend and I just moved to Austin from Lawrence, KS. Welcome! We have chosen to rent and learn, first-hand, about the neighborhoods and what each area has to offer before we buy. We are currently living in the Olympic Heights subdivision in South Austin ($1150/month for a 3/2/2 built in 2005) and we really like the area more so than we do North Austin. The commute to UT (in my bf's experience) is also better coming from the South than from the North. We can get pretty much anywhere we want to go in relatively little time (coming from small town Kansas -- my hometown had 1000 people -- you'll need to adjust your definition of "short drive") We can get to North Austin in about 30 min, the lake in about 40 and there are tons of greenbelts, parks, etc. available all over austin. Anyway, I wish you luck and from one Kansan to another, welcome to Austin!

[HealthNut12]

Thanks for all of your responses-- this has been very helpful!! Now I'm hoping we can find jobs in or around Austin, that would be wonderful. I feel that renting would be smarter to start with, and any ideas on nice rentals would be appreciated! Also, if anyone knows any dentists looking for dental hygienists,or goes to a great dentist that I could shoot a resume to, please let me know!! Thanks again!

[HealthNut12]

Originally Posted by CaseyRyan

My boyfriend and I just moved to Austin from Lawrence, KS. Welcome! We have chosen to rent and learn, first-hand, about the neighborhoods and what each area has to offer before we buy. We are currently living in the Olympic Heights subdivision in South Austin ($1150/month for a 3/2/2 built in 2005) and we really like the area more so than we do North Austin. The commute to UT (in my bf's experience) is also better coming from the South than from the North. We can get pretty much anywhere we want to go in relatively little time (coming from small town Kansas -- my hometown had 1000 people -- you'll need to adjust your definition of "short drive") We can get to North Austin in about 30 min, the lake in about 40 and there are tons of greenbelts, parks, etc. available all over austin. Anyway, I wish you luck and from one Kansan to another, welcome to Austin!

It's nice to see another young couple from Kansas--Rock Chalk Jayhawk! I will definately have to check out South Austin- I also am considering going back to school to take some additional classes, so your post was really helpful. My town is about 2500, so yes short drives will be something to adjust to, but the lifestyle will be so much nicer!! Any other advice or ideas you have would be great!Thanks!