Steiner Ranch...a closer look (Austin, West: HOA fees, condo, how much)

[IrishMiss]

Hi all,
I'm from Ireland and I'm planning to move to the us in the near future. I really like the look of Steiner Ranch and as I have not visited it before I have some questions. I have done some research so I'm aware of house prices and amenities. As we both will be working primarily from home commuting is not an issue.

1. Are the majority of residents families with kids? If so what age profile are the majority of couples and kids? or is there a good mix?

2. Is there a good community feel? Are the people friendly and welcoming? I dont want to live somewhere where there is a snobbish attitude.

3. I have read about high taxes and HOA fees. How much are these fees and what do you get for your fee?

Hope you can give me some insight

Thanks

[LakeTravisAlum]

Welcome to Texas!

I can answer your first two questions for you:

1. Yes, the majority of the people that live in Steiner are families with kids. The entire neighborhood is very, very family oriented. There's also a good mix in the ages of adults with kids - some younger families and some older families.

2. Yes, Steiner has a good community feel!! With all of the amenities inside of the neighborhood, you're bound to run into your neighbors. Also, the new Randall's they're building will be a haven for Steiner residents.

Despite what people think or say on this board, Steiner does not have a snobbish attitude at all. The people are very friendly and really want to get to know you.

Hope that helped!

[EzPeterson]

Steiner is a nice, master planned, community. If that's the environment you're looking for, it can be a nice place to live. Personally, I felt a bit isolated when I lived out there and really came to hate the stop and go on 620 to get anywhere.

It's a very attractive neighborhood for somewhat younger families with kids, so you end up with quite a few early 30's couples with 2 kids. As for community feel, it's pretty decent. Not great, but OK. You can find a holier than thou types, but not to an extreme.

Taxes and HOA's are on the higher end. Pretty sure the tax rate is somewhere in the 2.4% range (one of the realtors on the board may hop in and give you some more precise numbers), and the HOA's can be pretty high. Anywhere from $700-$1640 per year, depending on which "neighborhood" you're in. It does have quite a few parks and 3 pools, along with a lake club that has ramp access to Lake Austin. If you're a boater, that can be pretty nice when the other ramps are busy!

All in all, it's a decent neighborhood, how much you enjoy it will come down to your personal preference - it was a bit too homogenous for my taste, but everyone is different, and there are tons of other neighborhoods out there as well!

[IrishMiss]

Great thanks for your help
I'm glad there is a mixture of ages in the community and that it is friendly.

I will not be commuting at rush hour times so the traffic doesn't really bother me. I've read on here that the commute to downtown can be 45 minutes to an hour.......that is not bad where I come from.lol

Am I right in thinking that the HOA fees include use of the amenities so you don't have to pay for use of the pools etc ?

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by IrishMiss

Great thanks for your help
I'm glad there is a mixture of ages in the community and that it is friendly.

I will not be commuting at rush hour times so the traffic doesn't really bother me. I've read on here that the commute to downtown can be 45 minutes to an hour.......that is not bad where I come from.lol

Am I right in thinking that the HOA fees include use of the amenities so you don't have to pay for use of the pools etc ?

HOAs vary, so you would actually want to read a copy of the covenants, but yes, generally the HOA fee you pay covers for ALL common areas, including parks and pools.

[FalconheadWest]

I'm sure Steiner residents would jump for joy if their taxes were only 2.4%. They just went UP to 2.83% and some change... one of the higher tax places in the area.

[EzPeterson]

Ouch. I remember them being high.

[IrishMiss]

We dont have anything like HOA tax in Ireland so I have nothing to compare it too. Mind you we don't have much public pools, parks, playgrounds etc in communities either.
Does anyone who lives in Steiner (or know people who do ) feel that the taxes are worth it to live where they do?

[Aquitaine]

This is just semantics but the HOA fees are not a tax - it's not a government entity. It is a private entity that administers certain collective interests of the area, and what those interests are determine the fees. A larger HOA will typically have smaller fees than a more "exclusive" HOA (like the various gated communities around Austin).

Typically your HOA fee will give you access to the local amenities (pools, parks, clubhouse, whatever they have) and covers maintenance for the "common areas" though the definition of "common area" varies wildly. Some areas have more "condo" style HOAs where you may have a detached, single family home that the HOA says is a condo and so they take care of your lawn (though it probably isn't "your" lawn then).

It can get pretty complicated. I don't know Steiner Ranch but as one of the larger planned communities I would expect that their rules and what you get for your fees are pretty straightforward. HOAs are common in the suburbs in a lot of places around the US, though you'll still find plenty of decent areas without them.

The tax/non-tax issue matters because you may be able to deduct part of what you pay in property taxes from your Federal income tax (usually around 1/3) -- so if you owed $20,000 for the year in Federal income tax and paid $7500 in Austin property taxes, your Fed tax bill would go down by $2500. (this can change depending on your tax situation and I am not a tax lawyer, though!). HOA fees are not deductible from anything that I'm aware of and do not impact your taxes.

[Trainwreck20]

The taxes may be 'high' in Steiner, but they are not low anywhere around here. Texas funds public schools via property tax (as well as other programs, but schools are the big dollar item), but does not have a state income tax. There still is a federal income tax, though.

Anyway, most of Austin and surrounding areas are in the 2 - 3 percent property tax range. Typically, the higher the land value in a city (and taxes tend not to vary much within a city), the lower the property tax can be and still get the same revenue. Westlake, for example, has one of the lowest tax rates but one of the highest property values. Where I live in in Austin proper, the taxes are 2.37%, so if you skipped Steiner to get lower taxes, you are saving 0.46 percentage points, or about 16% on your taxes. Significant, yes, but deal breaker? It depends.

The main difference is the school districts - AISD is 1.24, LISD is 1.5. You don't have the City of Austin Taxes (0.48), but you do have WCID 17 taxes, which is some kind of services taxing district (waste, water, etc) that is 0.58. A couple of minor differences, but those are the two biggest ones.

The houses in Steiner are reasonably priced, typically, on a $/sf basis, but they have a lot of square feet. That makes taxes (as well as utilities) run a bit steeper than a smaller house in a different taxing district.

For more tax info and appraisal values (which do not necessarily reflect market value!), go to www.TravisCAD.org. This only covers Travis County, btw.

HOAs fees vary from 'zero' in a lot of places, up to thousands. The higher dollar ones like Steiner offer a lot of amenities, but you ARE paying for them. We pay $240/yr, but that does not include a pool - but we do have a free city pool in the neighborhood.

I personally like Steiner, but since I do not work out of the house, the commute is a killer. With a family and working out of the home, it would be a very nice place to be. If you a looking to save a lot of money, then it is a bit more iffy - they are nice houses and a nice area, but taxes/utilities will add up, both due to rate and total house.