Neighborhood suggestions for Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Round Rock (Austin, Jollyville: for sale, rentals)

[calel]

Hi all,

I'm about to start my house search as a first time homebuyer and trying to find the right house in a good area that is close to work. My workplace is pretty much equidistant to Cedar Park, Pflugerville, and Round Rock.

My budget of 150k doesn't give me a lot of leeway, but I'm just looking for a modest sized house of about 1500-2000 sq.ft and 3 beds/2 baths.

I've been poking around the MLS listings and found a few neighborhoods in Pflugerville with cute, relatively new houses: Sarah's Creek, Heatherwilde, Windermere, and Highland Park.

In Cedar Park, the few neighborhoods with affordable houses are Town Center, Forest Oaks, Carriage Hills, and Gann Ranch.

I just started exploring Round Rock, so I don't have any idea about its offerings yet.

As for Austin proper, I might look around Gracy Farms for a few gems, as that would put me nice and close to the Domain and future metrorail station, but anything closer to Lamar and Rundberg looks a bit seedy. I currently rent a place in Jollyville, but I'm not overly thrilled by the neighbors (looooots of rentals) and poorly built ranch-style houses.

Are any of those neighborhoods more/less desirable than the others? Are there any neighborhoods I overlooked that I should consider searching as well? I'm going to start doing some drives around neighborhoods this weekend to get an idea of how they look up close.

[Character]

Gracy Farms is a nice area, central location, older homes with some character; north of that is Scofield Farms - beautiful area, but probably above that price range, north of that is Wells Branch - probably a good neighborhood for you to check out. If you could find a home there in your price range it would be a wise investment. Homes in Wells branch seem to hold their value better than the homes east of hwy. 35 that you listed.
I also suggest you check out the community centers in these neighborhoods and ask for maps of the parks and walking trails. Take a walk or bike ride in the various neighborhoods you check out and chat with locals. They can often communicate the type of things you really want to know.
Have fun looking for you first home!

[calel]

Thank you! I totally forgot about Wells Branch and McNeil/Howard Lane makes a very easy commute.

[kasiem]

I saw a very nice home in Bent Tree in Round Rock for $99,000 for sale very cute 1600 or so 3/2. I can't emphasize the importance of knowing what your property taxes are going to be. Rates vary depending on Neighborhood and run anywhere from 2-3% of appraisal value.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by kasiem

I saw a very nice home in Bent Tree in Round Rock for $99,000 for sale very cute 1600 or so 3/2. I can't emphasize the importance of knowing what your property taxes are going to be. Rates vary depending on Neighborhood and run anywhere from 2-3% of appraisal value.

agreed......the majority of out-of-area buyers have no idea about this...can easily double the mortgage of a small house singlehandedly...

[kasiem]

yes, it can! We're getting ready to move and are weighing all of our options being here for the last 12 years or so. I also would look in The Woods in Round Rock for 'affordable' homes.

[texastea]

A lot of the affordable areas mentioned here are affordable because of the schools. Even if you don't mind the schools or think they're ok, it can really affect resale.

Look into areas in southeast Leander. The schools (Rouse HS, Wiley MS, Pleasant Hill & Blockhouse elementaries) are good and the home prices are still affordable. Also the toll runs right through it and makes commuting really fast.

[centraltex_sara]

Also check out Heritage Park in Cedar Park and Block House Creek in Leander.

[calel]

Yes, the taxes scare me. I think Pflugerville has the highest tax rates of the suburbs I'm considering and Austin has the lowest overall. Some of the MLS search sites show the current taxes on the listed houses, so I've been keeping those in mind.

[CPTXJim]

Other neighborhoods in Cedar Park that I think are affordable are Cypress Mill (look around Little Elm and 620) and Lakeline Oaks (little elm and Lakeline Blvd). Houses here cost around $200K with good schools and close shopping and easy access to the highways.