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Hi all,
I discovered Oak Hill over the weekend. I believe the zip code is 78749. Parts of it seemed really cute... houses spread out and somewhat rustic and yet 10 minutes to downtown. I believe the Village of Western Oaks is down there too, but I'm not interested in sub-divisions.
What can you tell me about this area? Schools, house prices, how long it would take me to get to 2222 & Mopac in the morning, etc...
You can use realtor.com or austinhomesearch.com to look up homes in the area. It's wise to avoid the subdivisions particularly due to the HOAs. In order to avoid the HOAs, you will likely have to purchase an older home (early 1980s or earlier) or find a lot that you can build on.
If you are trying to avoid HOAs please be diligent in your research. You will find that real estate professionals may not be forthcoming about such details while providing a disclaimer on any advertising. You may also find that they try to bully you into buying such property by making false claims such as "they improve property values" as if perpetual liens on your property and unaccountable rule by others could ever accomplish that objective. You will also find that MLS is not friendly to searching for non-HOA property. The fact that no dues are listed just means that the listing agent did not disclose the information - not that there is not an HOA. Finally, the standard title policy will usually except any restrictive covenants from coverage (including those that create a mandatory HOA) and at best will only list the volume and page number at which they are recorded. So you will need to actively research the title history on the property and not rely on either the title company or the real estate professional for protection.
You may also want to monitor a group known as OHAN ("Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods") that is trying to promote the expansion of mandatory (aka involuntary) HOAs throughout the Oak Hill area. They try to give the appearance of representing a large number of people by claiming HOAs (for which membership of homeowners is involuntary) as members.
Last edited by IC_deLight; 02-16-2009 at 12:47 PM..
You can use realtor.com or austinhomesearch.com to look up homes in the area. It's wise to avoid the subdivisions particularly due to the HOAs. In order to avoid the HOAs, you will likely have to purchase an older home (early 1980s or earlier) or find a lot that you can build on. If you are trying to avoid HOAs please be diligent in your research. You will find that real estate professionals will often "overlook" such details while providing a disclaimer on any advertising. You will also find that MLS is not friendly to searching for non-HOA property. Finally, the title company will usually except any restrictive covenants from any type of coverage and at best will only list the volume and page number at which they are recorded. So you will need to actively research the title history on the property.
You may also want to monitor a group known as OHAN ("Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods") that is trying to promote the expansion of mandatory (aka involuntary) HOAs throughout the Oak Hill area. They try to give the appearance of representing a large number of people by claiming HOAs (for which membership of homeowners is involuntary) as members.
Right, thanks. I definitely am not buying (or looking at) an HOA house. I was more curious about the neighborhoods. Crime, schools, traffic... stuff like that.
You may also want to monitor a group known as OHAN ("Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods") that is trying to promote the expansion of mandatory (aka involuntary) HOAs throughout the Oak Hill area. They try to give the appearance of representing a large number of people by claiming HOAs (for which membership of homeowners is involuntary) as members.
Wait, you can't take a non-HOA house and make it an HOA against the owner's will, right? That doesn't seem legal.
The HOA industry folks actively work at making it easier to force people involuntarily into HOAs year after year. There are a couple of different ways it is being done.
Unfortunately this can be accomplished via a petition process set forth in Property Code 201 for this area. In the Houston area, this can also be accomplished via Texas Property Code 204.006. Even this legislative session (81st) there have been bills filed to make it easier to amend restrictive covenants without any limits on scope (i.e., to add impose an HOA without the consent of an owner). Of course if you are in an area where some party like a developer has reserved the power to control the restrictive covenants for some period of time or until some condition is met, then you may likewise be subjected to one long after you purchase. One of the newest gigs is for developers to modify these restrictive covenants after you buy to impose transfer fees payable to a management company or developer affiliated entity whenever you try to sell.
In this area the HOA despots have to rely upon Prop Code 201 which provides that individual owners can opt out if they follow the indicated procedures within the set timeframe. The onus ends up being upon the oppressed rather than the oppressors. Of course, one must monitor the legislative activity to see if the geographic bracketing of 204 will be removed in order to expand the reach of 204 to areas like Austin.
With Prop Code 204, homeowners cannot opt out - but 204 is presently geographically bracketed to apply mostly to the Houston area. It's pretty ugly. Here's a flowchart that the city of Houston uses to describe the processes. The city is looking to use private governments unaccountable to anyone to sterilize an area and also to offload responsibility for the provision of city services. The imposition of the HOA also ultimately makes it easier to reclaim entire subdivisions for re-development. Of course the homeowner is claimed to have "chosen" all of this. Check it out - note the exclamation point added by the city on the part about homeowners not being able to opt out.
http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/ComPlanning/Chapter204Chart.pdf (broken link)
Last edited by IC_deLight; 02-16-2009 at 08:43 PM..
Reason: clarification
Oak Hill is Great! It's where Sylvia and I have lived since 1997. We've lived in Beckett Meadows, South View Estates (two different homes) and now Granada Oaks.
Knowing what you like, you'd probably be interested in the Scenic Brook area (behind the "Y" in Oak Hill), where there are older track homes that are still affordable ($200's +/-), and old enough now (1970s, 1980s) to have some character. You'll also find diverse demographic living there. The school track there is good too, Oak Hill Elementary -> Small Middle -> Bowie High, so you have a mix of young families and older original home owners.
Also there is Maple Run (west of Brodie, south of Wm Cannon), not exactly in Oak Hill, but close enough, with older homes that are starting to be renovated and resold to younger people. Schools aren't as good, but are OK up until Crockett High.
The older section of Western Oaks is really neat too, with a lot of 1970s rancher style homes, though those get more expensive than Scenic Brook.
Lots of restaurants (though nothing fancy) and hangouts. When we want something decent to eat and a somewhat better atmosphere, we head to the Satellite Bistro at Escarpment and Slaughter outside Circle C. Usually though, Flores Mexican food or Green Mesquite BBQ is where we go for quick, non-fancy grub.
The main downside at present is the bottleneck on 290. It will take you 30 minutes +/- to get to 2222 in the morning, but you have to budget about 45 minutes just in case, because it's not always consistent or predictable. Coming home you get the bottleneck off 290 into 1 lane, which is supposed to be fixed soon so that there are two lanes all the way through, but I personally thinkk that's just going to cause the stop light to back up onto the offramp.
Oak Hill is really great. We live in the 'New' Villages of Western Oaks area. They are newer homes (most build since 2001), I guess a little less 'character' but all very nice. Our section is just off Davis Lane west of Mopac, north of Circle C. Lots of young families, a community feel, lots of trees, and a lot of diversity. As Steve said, the schools are all considered very good to excellent/ exemplary. Patton Elementary is considered very good, Mills Elementary is also considered very good, and then there's Small Middle which is also considered one of the best in Austin. Then from there, it feeds into either Bowie or Austin High depending on how far north you live. No matter which elementary or middle school you go to (they are building a new one as well), there's nothing at all to worry about in the schools department. You do have the option of having either more or less racial diversity, though. (Patton would have slightly more diversity than Mills).
There are tons of parks and hiking trails, as well as opportunities for cycling all around. There's the Veloway which is close by, Dick Nichols Park, the trails around Western Oaks. Also, Circle C Metro Park is just down Escarpment and is one of the best parks in the city IMO. Their trails are fantastic.
We lived Central for a long time. We briefly considered moving north but decided we lived southwest Austin/ Oak Hill better due to it's closeness to downtown, and more green spaces/ trees everywhere. There is less urban sprawl down here (right now). And the shopping and restaurants that have been built have been done with a lot more attention to preserving huge trees and green spaces.
I kind of disagree with Steve about the travel time. I guess it depends on where you live, but we can be at 2222 and Mopac in about 13 minutes with moderate traffic. With heavy traffic I guess it would be longer. With no traffic you could do it in 10 minutes.
What else do you want to know?
Neighborhoods you should look at: the older section of Western Oaks (south of William Cannon all the way from Escarpment to Brush Country), some great trees huge yards and 'character. Also check the new villages of Western Oaks, which is south of that and just on the border of Circle C, if you want a new house. I would recommend looking into Granada Oaks, and Circle C, and also Westcreek.
Steve, I didn't know you guys lived in Oak Hill! I was under the impression that you lived further out... like Bee Caves or Dripping Springs or something, heh.
I was sort of hoping to avoid 290 completely and just take side streets (or something) to Mopac.
I'm really liking what I'm hearing about Oak Hill! I might have to take a drive down there this weekend and check it out further. We were only there for about 10 minutes and drove down a couple of streets (Reynolds Dr being one of them). We were surprised at how spread out the houses were! It felt like being in the "country" (reminded me a bit of New Hampshire or western Mass). I looked up the area on goodschools.net, and you're right... the schools got great marks.
Even though I love where we are now (78741), I'm worried about having a kid and "hoping" that the school system gets better by the time they're school age.
Definitely look at Western Oaks (the old section, just off William Cannon, with huge trees). The houses are 1970's but many are updated and most importantly, have large yards. Also look at Villages of Western Oaks, down between Davis and Escarpment, for new houses. They are great because of the proximinity to the new HEB/ Central Market hybrid store which is at Escarpment and Slaughter. That store is such a perk, it's great. If you want even bigger yards and more trees, go down further out, to Granada Oaks. Again the houses are older (1970s) but some of the yards are gigantic. Also you should know that Oak Hill is planning to build a "town center" somewhere down off 71 around 1826. I think it will make Oak Hill even better but it remains to be seen. They could definitely mess it up depending on what they decide.
Also you should know that Oak Hill is planning to build a "town center" somewhere down off 71 around 1826. I think it will make Oak Hill even better but it remains to be seen. They could definitely mess it up depending on what they decide.
Is this the place right at the Y where they just opened a new Starbucks? It looks like they are doing some major work there, but all you can see from the road is the Starbucks at the top of the hill.
If this is the place, I am not sure how good a location it will be unless there is a good back way into it. The only opening I can see is the new road they have coming off 290 right before 290 joins 71 heading east.
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