Moving to Austin - UT accessibility desired (West: real estate, apartments)

[zillerkaz]

Hello,

I am moving to Austin in August with my soon to be fiancee. She will be attending UT for her masters and I will be working in one of two situations. Looking for suggestions on where to live based on the two scenarios.

I am pretty open on rent prices though would prefer an apartment or townhouse/condo. We'll be there at least 2-3 years and depending on the stay, may purchase a home within that time period. If I must give a figure, We're looking for something with a garage and preferably 2 bedrooms (though one is workable) with a max monthly apartment rent of $1500 though lower is better since we're saving for a down. She won't be working more than 20 hours a week while attending UT (I'll foregoe considering her salary for now) - So salary in the mid 70's.

Once she is done, probably in the low 100's combined so looking for home suggestions here too (good schools a plus for future family) that won't break the bank.

Scenario A: My existing employer allows me to telecommute. Prefer nearest proximity to UT or downtown with easy access to UT via shuttle (If metro actually helps here, by all means suggest but I heard the metro wasn't great)?

Scenario B: I work in the riata area for a large tech company. I'll need to drive to work of course so what's the best compromise for a living situation, given her need to be near UT. Is there any "ideal" location to look so I won't go batty over the commute? I am from socal so used to traffic but the last few years have been blessed with a 20 minute commute.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

ps: Is it normal for every listing to be from a real estate agent? You kind of find your own apartments in CA but in Austin it seems like EVERY listing is actually a third party (So if you have any suggestion on someone I should deal with, suggest away)!

[thesonofgray]

Garage will be hard, since I don't know of any central apartments that have garages. If that is a must, you'll have to live around the Arboretum area, which will be a super easy commute for you but not for your fiancee.

Boy would I love to telecommute.

Edit: By garage, I mean individual 1 or 2 car garage, which is what I assume you want. There are plenty of "mid-rises" in the central parts of town that have parking garages.

[TexasHorseLady]

If you're looking for a house, duplex, or condo for lease, most of them will be listed with agents and on the MLS. You can check out Austin Home Search (http://www.austinhomesearch.com/Static/homeset.aspx - broken link)and search for them there.

If you're looking for apartments, you'll likely want to use an apartment locator service.

Given your scenario, you might want to split the commute and live somewhere like Northwest Hills (lots of grad students there, and it would be between your two necessities if you work in the Riata area). As for garage, do you mean an enclosed garage for just your apartment or do you mean covered parking? The latter will be relatively easy to find with an apartment, the former, not so much. You'd be more likely to find that with a condo than with an apartment.

Try searching by zip code 78759 and 78731.

[Tondo1984]

we live in mosaic at mueller, paying less1350 for a 2 bedroom place north of campus, but also certainly easy to get north, since you are going opposite of the traffic. It's only one exit from campus (the AIrport road exit), but my husband works off mopac and it's really easy to get htere too- since everyone is coming the opposite way.

It's super nice too.... Mosaic at Mueller Austin Apartments | Apartments in Austin Texas

DEFINITELY try to get a view away from the pool though- we look onto th park and it's super quite and much prettier.

mosaic at mueller is the name.

[CptnRn]

The UT shuttle busses are good, there is one that runs from the area near Far West Blvd. West of Mopac where there are quite a few apartments, good access to grocery stores and recreation and would give you an easy commute to the Riata area.

System-Wide Shuttle Route Map | Parking & Transportation Services (PTS) | The University of Texas at Austin (http://www.utexas.edu/parking/transportation/shuttle/austin-bus.html - broken link)