Recommendations for possible neighborhoods (Austin, West Lake Hills: transplants, for sale, insurance)

[lilithfaire]

Hi. I have been reading this forum for a few weeks now and I have learned very much. My husband and I are in our early 30s and planning a move to Austin this summer. We currently live in Long Beach, CA, but are originally from New Orleans so we're looking forward to being closer to home and our families. We are first time homebuyers (we were priced out of anything decent in CA) and are looking to spend up to $250K on a 3-4 BR 2000 sqft home. I found out that the office I will be working at is on N. Capital of Tx in West Lake Hills, so I would like to find a neighborhood that would be affordable and spare me a nasty commute. Some other threads have mentioned that SW Austin is a nice area. What neighborhoods would ya'll suggest taking a look at?

Thanks!

[Trainwreck20]

I work in that same area you are talking about, and I commute from the Village at Western Oaks. It (right now) is a easy commute - 11 minutes if I live before 6:45 am and just under 30 minutes at peak rush hour. Going home is never more than 20 mintues, peak rush hour or not (if you move out there, I might give you my secret route home ).

Anyway, Legend Oaks and Western Oaks, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods, will probably have some homes that meet your criteria, but will 'just' be in your price range, I am guessing. Make sure you have considered taxes - 250k is ~$6,300/year (with HSE), or about $500 per month. Lots of transplants get quite a shock at that.

For a little less expensive, you can look off of Brodie. I don't know these neighborhoods as well, but there are some okay ones, and many should be improving over the next few years.

[lilithfaire]

Thanks for the information. We'll be in Austin looking at homes May 17-22, so I will definitely keep the ares you mentioned in mind. We can afford a bit more than $250K, but we're being conservative due to the property taxes and insurance costs you mentioned. We're getting preapproved next week and will probably be told we can afford more since we will be keeping our CA salaries when relocating.

Funny you should mention the Village at Western Oaks, I saw a home for sale in that neighborhood that we really liked. I believe it was on La Naranja Lane. Great to know about the commute. I definitely will want to know about your secret route home

-Lisa

[Trainwreck20]

This is an interesting link that takes you to a lot of the subdivisions/communities/etc. in the Oak Hill area.

http://www.ohan.org/nhoods.html

The road you are talking about is one that we often cross when taking a walk. I really like that 'older' part of the neighborhood due to the huge number of mature trees. We are in the newer section (on the other side of Davis) and have planted a few trees, so hopefully our section will someday be as shaded .