Looking to Move to Austin From Houston

[sxrckr]

OP, you don't want to live too far from work. Narrow down area and then go from there.

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

I would just go and look downtown. You will get a beater with that price range. Houses here are tons more expensive than Houston. Typically a 3500 sq ft house in Houston (Kingwood, Spring) Could cost lower 200s, where here you're looking at upper 200s, 300s and heck, 500s+ &1million + in some areas.

House prices in Houston are all over the place depending on area. A 3500 sq ft home may be low 200's in Spring, 400k in SugarLand, 700k in W Memorial, 1.5mil in West U Pl. and 2mil in the Villages or River Oaks. Yours is a huge (and largely incorrect) generalization.

[mark311]

It sounds like you need to make a couple weekend trips here to drive around since you're so close. Honestly, you'll probably think that anything in your price range is strip mall filled suburbia unless you're alright with areas with poor public schools and higher crime (for Austin). However, there is a lot of very safe sprawl with great public schools, parks, HOA's, and strip malls in your price range. But, it's worth your 3 hour drive to check it out for yourself.

[blueskies85]

Lots of neighborhoods in cities have these streets or intersections where all the stuff seems to be happening - I just don't want it to be a series of strip malls and sprawl.

The areas where all the stuff is happening is expensive. The cheapest "cool", walkable part of town is probably central east austin, but even there a 2000 SF house would be at least 400k. You can't get central for 180k and 2000 SF.

[centralaustinite]

Head straight out MLK to the east from downtown, probably once you pass Springdale Road, going east, everything will be in your price range. There are some hidden gems of houses out there. But most won't be for sale and there won't be much to walk to. But you'll be 5-10 minutes from downtown and UT.

Frankly, even in the burbs, you would be hard pressed to be close to much (grocery store, big box, etc) in your price range.

Have you thought of renting?

[riaelise]

Suburban life isn't all that bad...not speaking about you, OP, but is it like some sort of dictionary definition that suburbia is all minivans, strip malls, and big box stores? You don't know how many people post on here with the same thing.

If you plan on having kids, living in a "transitional" area (especially in the range of 120-180K) just wouldn't cut it for me. If you want to live in a walkable, obviously urban area in town, then you'll have to pony up more money than that. There are affordable areas in town but 120K absolutely will not get you good schools, walkability, and safety.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by nicemarmot

I'm really not looking for anything more than 2500 SF - single floor only. We just don't need more space than that. The house we live in now is about 1700 SF 3BR, 2B and cost $112,000.

I meant to comment on this before, but don't rule out two story homes as they are less expensive here compared to single story homes for the same square footage. Also, it sounds like you have a pretty good place in Houston. I would wait to move until you can afford at least a $250K home for your want list. As others stated, renting might be an option as well.

[clarksvillemom]

You'll find lots of mid century modern and "atomic ranch" houses in the area around 2222 and mopac, far west and mopac. But I would think at least 300k

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by clarksvillemom

You'll find lots of mid century modern and "atomic ranch" houses in the area around 2222 and mopac, far west and mopac. But I would think at least 300k

more like 600K!