Georgetown (Austin, Cedar Park, West: houses, neighborhoods, middle schools)

[jd411]

We are looking to move from South Austin to the Cedar Park area. However, I recently began looking at Georgetown a bit as I hear its got more of a small town feel to it, rather than a suburb feel. Also, I'm assuming your dollar stretches a bit more up there for housing.

Can anyone tell me some good neighborhoods in Georgetown to live? Budget is approximately $250K - $300K and if possible, we'd like to be zoned to the highest rated schools.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by jd411

We are looking to move from South Austin to the Cedar Park area. However, I recently began looking at Georgetown a bit as I hear its got more of a small town feel to it, rather than a suburb feel. Also, I'm assuming your dollar stretches a bit more up there for housing.

Can anyone tell me some good neighborhoods in Georgetown to live? Budget is approximately $250K - $300K and if possible, we'd like to be zoned to the highest rated schools.

You should drive up to "Georgetown Village" and check out the part of the neighborhood West of Shell Road. It feeds into an exemplary Elementary school in the neighborhood. The middle schools and High Schools are a bit tougher to really rate just like most of the other areas around Austin. The nice thing about Georgetown Village that a lot of people love is that it doesn't have an HOA, but still has a city pool ($1 entry) in the neighborhood and city owned parks. It's a great neighborhood to own a boat and it's right by Lake Georgetown.

[Gingersnap92]

Where is your job?

[Trainwreck20]

There aren't a whole lot of different schools there and I am not familiar with the ones that are, so can't help you there (they are just in the process of 'populating' a second high school).

I don't know what the prices are for Serenada, but if you don't mind a bit older home and a 'curbless' neighborhood, it might be in your price range. Most of the houses in the old area of Serenade are from the 70s (newer areas are pretty much 80s) and are on (by today's standards) slightly larger lots. Not sure on the price range, but the house I pretty much grew up in (which was in an area adjacent to Serenada) is currently appraised at just under 300k. It is on 5 acres, is ~3,200 sf with a 3 car garage. It is nice to see that the horse barn and workshop my dad built account for about $20,000 of that value .

The houses in Serenda proper are probably right around that range, but small lots. A quick wcad search shows appraised values pretty much from the upper 100s into the mid and upper 200s for Sequoia Tr E. and W (two random roads in Serenada). I pulled up a few records, and almost all are at or above 1 acre.

Anyway, I really liked that area, and still do. There is a small airport nearby, but it isn't that loud.

[TexasHorseLady]

Both Serenada and Georgetown Village are good choices in that price range, depending on what you're looking for. Could you tell us a bit more about that beyond price range?

[jd411]

I work in North Austin at the Riata Corporate Park, so the commute I wouldn't think would be that bad.

We're looking for newer developments where we don't have to do much to the home in terms of improvements/updates.

In terms of house size, something around 2,500 square feet, 4 bedrooms is what we're looking for. We're flexible on the lot size.

[EzPeterson]

Georgetown to Riata is going to be quite a pain. The I35 bottleneck at Hester's Crossing can definitely stack up going both directions. You do always have the toll road option, but that might loop you a ways around.

Personally, I'd opt for the Cedar Park route and have that extra time to spend with the family. Cedar Park to Riata is going to have 3 or 4 routes you can choose from, leaving you options if there's a wreck, etc. 250-300 is going to give you quite a few options in some nice school areas around there.

Of course, if you have "non traditional" work hours, this is a moot point.

[TexasHorseLady]

Okay, Georgetown Village or Villages of Berry Creek are possibilities. Parkview Estates, some parts of Berry Creek, Villages of Berry Creek are some others.

[TexasHorseLady]

If I were going to Riata Corporate Park, I'd be more inclined to take Ronald Reagan/Parmer to 620/45 and over to 183 than I35, especially if I lived west of I35 in Georgetown.

If you're looking in Georgetown, I'd make my bottom of the range a bit lower than 250 - there's some nice houses of the size you're looking for available for less than 250.

[EzPeterson]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

If I were going to Riata Corporate Park, I'd be more inclined to take Ronald Reagan/Parmer to 620/45 and over to 183 than I35, especially if I lived west of I35 in Georgetown.

If you're looking in Georgetown, I'd make my bottom of the range a bit lower than 250 - there's some nice houses of the size you're looking for available for less than 250.

Coming down Reagan/Parmer will work until they get all those schools built just off Reagan, north of 1431, who knows what traffic is going to do with hundreds of parents and buses trying to get in there. Maybe SB on Reagan won't be bad? Heck, you can skip the 183 headache and just take Parmer all the way down to the back way into Riata. G-Town will definitely stretch the housing dollar further, I'd suggest a couple of commute test drives to see if the extra house is worth it.