Olympic Heights in SW Austin/Manchaca or other 'hoods? (Dallas: sale, rentals)

[monsmith]

We've got about a year before we buy a house, but I'm looking into neighborhoods to get a feel of what we want. We want to stay in the SW area.

My #1 criteria is good schools, both elementary & jr high. I'm looking at Baranoff, Mills, Kiker, Patton and possibly Cowan. The problem is we can't afford many of the neighborhoods in these school districts right now (Villages/Western/Legend Oaks, Shady Hollow, Westcreek). Ideally, we'd be under 200K and the closer to 175 the better.

So...I found Olympic Heights off Manchaca, those kiddos go to Baranoff, and there are several homes under 200K. It seems it's the only subdivision off Manchaca in this school district. I'm not thrilled with the houses or the lots, but I'd rather live south than have to move up to RR (no offense!). The biggest positives are the price, the schools and the fact they are relatively new homes from a decent builder so they *hopefully* won't take as much work as an older home.

Any insight on this subdivision? Any idea of the likelihood they will remain in this school district? Any other neighborhood suggestions I just don't know about? Any input on any of these schools? Thanks!

[achtungpv]

Owning is overrated. I'd rather rent where I want to live than settle for what I can afford where I don't want to live.

Maybe I'm just bitter for dropping $10K on my foundation and $8K on a new AC in the last 3 months but I definitely think renting should never be looked down upon as a viable and, in many cases, a good financial option.

[llkltk]

Owning is overrated?? We get a fat check every year from the IRS because we own. Overrated, far from it. Renting is the worse, no sense of ownership or accomplishment, you can't paint, make it your own, etc.

[jentaylor]

We looked at a couple of rentals in Olympic Heights when were down in August and we didn't like the subdivision at all. Have you looked over in Grand Oaks - it is also off of Manchaca but the homes and neighborhood seem a little better. We ended up renting a house in 78735, in a little pocket subdivision right off Lamar (but we don't have kids, so I didnt take schools into consideration).

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Owning is overrated?? We get a fat check every year from the IRS because we own. Overrated, far from it. Renting is the worse, no sense of ownership or accomplishment, you can't paint, make it your own, etc.

Yes, it does sometimes make better sense to rent.

If you buy a $250K house with a 30 YR/5% fixed you will spend $483K if you don't make extra payments. Assuming a steady 3% appreciation per year, after 30 years, your house is valued at $589K. Don't forget, at a 2% tax rate (assuming an annual 3% increase in appraised value), you will also pay $237K in property taxes over 30 years. Your $250K house has actually cost you $720K. You are $131K in the hole not including insurance, maintenance, and HOA dues. Oops, forgot about that "fat check." A $250K mortgage will get you an income tax savings of $58K over 30 years. Now, you're just in the hole $73K.

Most people only look at sale price minus purchase price to determine their "profit" so if you are one of those, you made a $339K profit before Realtor fees. Congratulations.

Now, if renting allows you to have more disposable income and you invest an extra $500/month, at an average return of 8% per year (market average), you will have $503K in 30 years even though you "wasted" money renting. If that money was put in a 401K and you get an employer match, you could easily be over $1M. That doesn't account for a 401k investment being pre-tax unlike a mortgage payment.

Of course, there are multitudes of valid reasons for owning a home but there are plenty of valid financial reasons for renting. It should never be looked down upon and looking at just raw numbers I don't think a homeowner is necessarily more accomplished.

[monsmith]

I know owning can be overrated. We just sold our house in Dallas & walked away with $300.00 in our pocket...and I felt lucky for it. We put a lot of energy and money into that house making it our home & it broke my heart to say goodbye.

But, renting now just sucks! The house is fine & the landlord is a friend so it works for the both of us. But it's not "home." If it were mine, we would've already put in $$$ between painting, flooring and landscaping. But it's just too hard to justify making it our own when it's not, you know?

The rent is cheap so we're able to save up for a big down payment on a new home. Since we didn't make anything off our old house, it'll take a year or so. The killer for me is that we could affford a more expensive house in an area I like, but we couldn't qualify for it as I'm self employed.

For me, it's not just about the numbers. Our next house will be our home, not just an investment. You're right though, if this house was more what we wanted in a home, and not just a convenient necessity, I'd probably be able to feel more settled...