SW, W, NW Austin? (Spring, Cedar Park: new home, neighborhoods, construction)

[audrey2]

I just returned from my third visit to Austin in three months. My husband and I will be relocating from the Carolinas in early August. I will be working near Exposition and 35th (Tarrytown?) and my husband can mostly work from our home. I have gained a good working knowledge of the layout of Austin and have looked at homes in Avery Ranch and surrounding areas, Cedar Park (Twin Creeks and Canyon Creek), Steiner Ranch, Belterra, and Circle C Ranch. We will put our house on the market soon and aren't sure what we'll get for it, but I think a good price range to start planning on for our new home in Austin would be 250,000 to 300,000 with a good possibility of being able to spend more.

Priorities for us are (in no particular order of importance):
1. Proximity to downtown (I don't want my commute to work to take more than 20 or 25 minutes.)
2. Good schools, even though we don't have kids just yet
3. Potential for considerable appreciation of property
4. Good quality home is a must!
5. Family community with amenities would definitely be a plus
6. Gorgeous views
7. I want new construction but my husband wants old--so that could get interesting...I have also gotten him to a point where he would be willing to consider building!

I mentioned some of the communities I'd seen, but they are all too far away from where I'd work. IF there aren't similar, affordable communities closer in, then I'd be willing to have an up to 30 minute commute in order to be able to meet most or all of our needs on our list above. Have I missed any communities closer in? I've heard of Barton Hills, but I wonder if those homes would be either too old or too expensive? I've also heard of Meridian, but I'm not sure how far that is from downtown. Has anyone else built and used Wilshire, Newmark, Bowen, or others that they'd recommend or not recommend? I wouldn't want to go with a builder that had all kinds of horror stories associated with it. So I guess if you've got horror (or positive) stories, let's hear em!

[liz_95]

I would recommend SW Austin. Although it is a little farther from the downtown area, the neighborhoods are fairly new, particularly the Circle C homes. These homes are definitely high quality. The greatest thing about SW Austin is it's family atmosphere. The area is very family friendly with many amenities like parks, swimming pools, etc. Since it is close to the hill country, it also has gorgeous views. If you want more information about SW Austin you could go to the local, community newspaper Oak Hill Gazette at oakhillgazette.com.

[tashina]

I'll pretty much agree with the above. I consider Circle C sort of middle to slightly above average tract housing. Somewhat nicer than that is the new housing in 78736 which is where we ended up and also 78735 on Lantana Ridge. Circle C is pretty flat and not much in the way of views.

Why move to the Hill Country and not have a view? We can see 20 miles or so from our porch and our lot premium was only $6k.

I prefer the 10-20 year old housing in 78749 to Circle C. More trees and more charm. For new, I'd go 78735 and 78736.

[lkm]

Circle C has great schools and has a great community feel to it. Lot's of stuff happening for kids, families, etc. We lived there in the late 80's, moved away for years and when we came back we went right back to Circle C.

[CLQ]

Does anyone have an idea how long the commute would be taking the train from Cedar Park to downtown? How long does it take from Cedar Park to downtown on the toll roads during rush hour?

[jhwest]

My realtor in Austin says her husband's commute from Cedar Park to downtown is between 45-60 minutes each way. Yuck!

[CLQ]

Originally Posted by jhwest

My realtor in Austin says her husband's commute from Cedar Park to downtown is between 45-60 minutes each way. Yuck!

Is this the commute time using the new toll road? That is was too long. I wonder if the new Metro train can cut the commute in half.

[audrey2]

If i'm not wrong, I think the commute to dt is shorter from SW austin than from areas in the nw, like say, cedar park and steiner ranch. I drove from the neighborhood where i'd really like to live (balterra) to the place where I'll work (just north of dt) and it only took 20 minutes! I'd be leaving the house around 7 am and leaving work around 3:30 pm. Would my commute be much longer than 20 minutes? That's what it was when I drove it during a light traffic time. Also, has anyone heard anything positive or negative about Balterra? It's off of 290 on the way to Dripping Springs. I agree that there is no need to move to Austin and not have a view of the hill country! I looked up those zip codes (above), and either the houses were too old and lacked charm or they were above our price range. We do not want to go over 350. Thanks for all your responses.

[Zzyzx]

Originally Posted by audrey2

I I'd be leaving the house around 7 am and leaving work around 3:30 pm. Would my commute be much longer than 20 minutes?

I live in the next subdivision (Highpointe) over. It takes me around 25 minutes with no traffic. There is a window you need to hit just before 6:45am before it starts to stack up. If you were to leave at 7:00am it would take 30-40 minutes on average.

Originally Posted by audrey2

Also, has anyone heard anything positive or negative about Balterra? It's off of 290 on the way to Dripping Springs. I agree that there is no need to move to Austin and not have a view of the hill country!

We actually had an offer placed on a beautiful house in Belterra. When we went to the home inspection I could hear the cars roaring on the highway. I said to my wife; "If I'm going to be all the way out here I don't want to hear the trucks day and night". Belterra does have new sections that are farther from the highway now, but the lot sizes are small. If you are willing to spend 350K you definitely have a lot of options.

[audrey2]

Is Highpointe closer to Dripping Springs than Balterra? I was actually looking forward to a much shorter commute. Are there neighborhoods like Balterra that are closer in? Balterra sent me flowers the other day, and I'm so easy it made me want to live there! No, it already was a favorite of mine, but the flowers didn't hurt, either! What do you think of property values appreciating nicely in some of the newer upscale developments like Balterra?