Looking for a house to buy close to UT (78759,78731 any other neighborhoods I should consider?)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think you're going to have to decide what is most important to you, and compromise on the things that are not top priority.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady
Steve's right, in that you need to do a bit further analysis of your list of wants/needs. Which is to say, you need to divide those things up into two separate lists, wants and needs, and then prioritize within those two lists (with the needs list obviously trumping the wants list).
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady
That'll make it much easier for us (and, more importantly, your agent) to help you find likely neighborhoods.
You hit the nail on the head! Our main criteria was location and then size and price. So we are willing to pay a little more for a house in our ideal location or that has a good floorplan for us. I guess I should say that the floorplan is more important than the size for us.
I am going to take your suggestion, and this weekend my husband and I will sit down and really make a list of our wants/needs. And more importantly, we will prioritize the list. Right now, the list is in our heads and I don't think my list of priorities matches my husbands.
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin-steve
I'll also offer something that has been researched quite a bit not only in real estate purchases but in all consumer purchases, and that I've personally observed over the years. That is, the more you deliberate and consider vast arrays of options and criteria, the less likely you are to be happy with the final outcome.
steve
This is interesting. I find that I have more buyer's remorse when I don't thoroughly research a large purchase. It could be the analytical side of me (I'm an engineer). Even in the supermarket I compare ingredients and the unit price of new items. Thinking about it, I can't use the engineering argument. My husband is also an engineer and he doesn't microanalyze things.
We have found houses that we would be happy with, not ecstatic, but it would meet our purpose of providing a comfortable environment to live in with a short commute to campus. However, since we don't have to buy until December, we keep waiting. There's this thought of "what if next week (month, etc) a better house shows up on the MLS". I can't say there have been any houses that we would be terribly sad about if they were bought this month. Well, there was one house that we said could be our back-up house if it was still on the market. We recently found out it went under contract, and even then, we were not really disappointed. So in the meantime we continue to look, and as we do so we learn about other areas of Austin (mostly from this board).
I know it's supposed to be a good thing not to fall in love with a house since this allows you to negotiate from a stronger position, and we are trying to not get attached to any houses. But I want to find a house that would disappoint us if we didn't buy it.
I really like my real estate agent but it seems as if we were only focusing on the NW hills/Cat Mountain area and areas outside of my location criteria (ex. Cat Mountain, Cedar Park). I was worried that there may be other areas that can meet my location criteria that we were missing. Once I tell her about other communities, then this get added. So right now, I think I get updates about houses in the zip codes of 78759 & 78731. I recently asked my agent to add 78746.
From this discussion, I realize that we should talk to our real estate agent and ask her to send us a map with a circle around areas that will give me a 25 min or less rush hour commute to my job. Or at least a list of communities that she think would be good for us based on our "needs" list. I have a better idea of how far North I want to go, but I'm not too familiar with the South Austin boundaries or neighborhoods (except for Barton Creek Mall ).
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin-steve
Do you want a short drive or a big house? If you get a short drive AND a big house, it will be a crappy, run down old house that will produce an ugly inspection report. Is that ok?
It's funny you should ask this. Last month we were close to putting an offer on a house. Found a big house with a short drive that needed alot of work, AND in our ideal price range. We paid for our fathers to fly in to look at the place and even did a walk through with a contractor. All in all, hubby decided it was way too much work (contractor estimated $100K- $150K) so we decided not to do it. The good thing about this was that it was a learning experience and we realized that we don't want a real fixer upper. Cosmetic changes is okay (painting, sheetrocking over wood paneling, changing carpet, even a kitchen update) is okay, but no major structural stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin-steve
Personally, I think you'll find the best combination of what you want in an area you've already found - Lost Creek. Also check Travis Country. These are easy commutes to UT and you'll find bigger, older homes.
DH emailed me a house in the Travis Country area yesterday. Mapquest says it is about a (non-rush??)15 min commute. I would guess that may translate into 30 min in rush hour. So this area seems like it holds potential too. I do like the Lost Creek area. We really care about schools too much (no children yet), but I'm figuring it may be a more desireable neighborhood than the others I was looking at because of the school district. Plus my real estate agent said that we should keep in mind the schools for resale.
We paid for our fathers to fly in to look at the place and even did a walk through with a contractor. All in all, hubby decided it was way too much work (contractor estimated $100K- $150K) so we decided not to do it.
You don't need a committee of Dads to know what it will cost to rehab a house. There are some pretty reliable per sqft rules of thumb you can follow.
Figure $25 psf to remodel to a "designer" level just about any property. That would include granite counters, new cabinets, flooring, upgraded fixtures, plumbing and electrical.
One of my buyers is in the process of gutting out the kitchen at a house in Westlake, and redoing the house. Total rehab will be about $60K, which ended up being about $30 psf, but included moving some walls. These were really good buyers willing to consider the possibilities of each home and instead of ruling our good candidate properties.
If you're looking closer in, the houses will be older, and often drab and uninspiring. If you find a good one that needs a lot of work, just factor in the rehab costs and try to imagine the possibilities of moving a couple of walls and opening up the kitchen. Worst case, you can strip a home to the studs and redo it entirely for about $50-$80 per sqft.
You don't need a committee of Dads to know what it will cost to rehab a house. There are some pretty reliable per sqft rules of thumb you can follow.
Figure $25 psf to remodel to a "designer" level just about any property. That would include granite counters, new cabinets, flooring, upgraded fixtures, plumbing and electrical.
One of my buyers is in the process of gutting out the kitchen at a house in Westlake, and redoing the house. Total rehab will be about $60K, which ended up being about $30 psf, but included moving some walls. These were really good buyers willing to consider the possibilities of each home and instead of ruling our good candidate properties.
If you're looking closer in, the houses will be older, and often drab and uninspiring. If you find a good one that needs a lot of work, just factor in the rehab costs and try to imagine the possibilities of moving a couple of walls and opening up the kitchen. Worst case, you can strip a home to the studs and redo it entirely for about $50-$80 per sqft.
Steve
Steve, I think most people who live centrally understand that an older house is never 'cheap'. Most of us accept that as the price of a house with personality, charm and most importantly- proximity to the city and what it has to offer.
Steve, I think most people who live centrally understand that an older house is never 'cheap'. Most of us accept that as the price of a house with personality, charm and most importantly- proximity to the city and what it has to offer.
Actually, many buyers don't quite get that until they start looking at centrally located homes and realize that their tastes render everything under $300 psf unacceptable. Then of course they have a $450K price limit but won't settle for anything less than 1800 sqft. So the math just doesn't for many to live central.
Actually, many buyers don't quite get that until they start looking at centrally located homes and realize that their tastes render everything under $300 psf unacceptable. Then of course they have a $450K price limit but won't settle for anything less than 1800 sqft. So the math just doesn't for many to live central.
I just can't believe anyone could be that unaware of the market.
I just can't believe anyone could be that unaware of the market.
Oh God, the stories we can tell of things buyers and sellers are unaware of. And since we don't know what people don't know, we make assumptions about the common stuff and then get caught off guard by the most bizzarre issues. I think I could write a book of short case studies, some of which readers would swear must be made up lies, but they'd all be real true stories.
From this discussion, I realize that we should talk to our real estate agent and ask her to send us a map with a circle around areas that will give me a 25 min or less rush hour commute to my job. Or at least a list of communities that she think would be good for us based on our "needs" list. I have a better idea of how far North I want to go, but I'm not too familiar with the South Austin boundaries or neighborhoods (except for Barton Creek Mall ).
Rai
I recommend that you use austinhomelistings.com or trulia.com. Both of these sites let you search for properties using a map and you can enter your criteria and eyeball which ones are within the radius you are looking for. Here is a pic with a sample search
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thinking about it, I can't use the engineering argument. My husband is also an engineer and he doesn't microanalyze things. 
). 
