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Old 11-14-2012, 03:33 AM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,428,088 times
Reputation: 10759

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If your car is not capable of being driven to Austin, it's not worth shipping. But are you sure? Have a mechanic tell you what it would take to make it driveable to Austin.

Do not, do not, do not lease an apartment sight unseen. Do not. You can do some screening in advance, but don't make any commitments or pay any deposits until you have actually walked in and carefully examined the actual unit you will be renting.

Check out Value Place for a weekly rental hotel, about $200/wk for kitchenette studio until you can find a place and get set up. They have a couple of locations.

Keep receipts for everything... meals, gas, everything... while you are moving. Whatever your company doesn't reimburse you for is deductible on your income taxes for the year.
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Old 11-14-2012, 08:01 AM
 
912 posts, read 1,285,260 times
Reputation: 1143
Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD View Post
Do not, do not, do not lease an apartment sight unseen. Do not. You can do some screening in advance, but don't make any commitments or pay any deposits until you have actually walked in and carefully examined the actual unit you will be renting.
An illustration: I was apartment hunting and found a one bedroom unit in a smaller building completely in my price range in a part of town I thought would be great to live in. Checked the online reviews, pretty average. Checked the crime online, pretty average. Drove by - looked well maintained. Good apartments were hard to come by, so I put in an application and then a day later went to see it with the apartment's agent.

Oh my god.

I cannot even begin to describe the literal thousands of tiny roaches crawling on every wall and every surface of the apartment. I then made the mistake of opening the fridge. I didn't even make it to the bedroom to look - just turned back around and went outside to get some air. The agent tried to convince me that an exterminator would get it fixed before I moved in.

Ha. I did find a nice apartment elsewhere with all the same features but without infestations. Always go see a place before you rent it.
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Old 11-14-2012, 12:28 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 49,052,964 times
Reputation: 9478
Coming from Phoenix you may actually enjoy Austin summers it is cooler here but more humid.

Most of Austin is very safe to live in. //www.city-data.com/forum/austi...texas-3rd.html You can read in that thread which zip codes have the highest violent crime in Austin.

Trulia Crime Heat maps are a good reference in developing a feel for where the higher crime areas are in Austin, they show by color coding which areas have the highest crime. Keep in mind that Austin has the third lowest violent crime rates in the US , but he 28th highest property crime rates in cities over 500,000. So a lot of the areas shown as red in the crime heat maps are parking lots at apartment complexes and shopping centers, which have high numbers of petty theft crimes. //www.city-data.com/forum/austi...ps-austin.html

If you can tell us roughly what major cross streets your work place is near we can probably recommend some decent neighborhoods with apartment complexes for you to look at renting in. What is your budget for an apartment rental?

I'm wondering how you are going to move your stuff to Austin. Can you pare down to make it all fit in an economy car? If so Expedia Travel: Vacations, Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets & Airfares says that rental for one-way, 4 days (assuming you ill need it to drive around looking for an apartment) will cost you $600 + taxes. A mid sized SUV will cost $783 + taxes.

Expedia says you can fly to Austin from Phoenix on United for $120.

This website has car rentals in Austin for $23/day. KAYAK - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once

This Car2Go rental system may be helpful to you. They rent those little Smart Cars which we are seeing more and more of here in Austin. https://www.car2go.com/en/austin/# They are economical for short trips, but for all day or longer you are better off going with one of the regular car rental places. They charge $0.38 per minute = $22.80/hour.
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Old 11-14-2012, 12:38 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 49,052,964 times
Reputation: 9478
Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD View Post
If your car is not capable of being driven to Austin, it's not worth shipping. But are you sure? Have a mechanic tell you what it would take to make it driveable to Austin.

Do not, do not, do not lease an apartment sight unseen. Do not. You can do some screening in advance, but don't make any commitments or pay any deposits until you have actually walked in and carefully examined the actual unit you will be renting.

Check out Value Place for a weekly rental hotel, about $200/wk for kitchenette studio until you can find a place and get set up. They have a couple of locations.

Keep receipts for everything... meals, gas, everything... while you are moving. Whatever your company doesn't reimburse you for is deductible on your income taxes for the year.
That is good advice checking with a mechanic.

$200/week is amazing. I found this Value Place in NW Austin Extended Stay Austin, TX - Hymeadow, Value Place - extended stay hotels and apartments. it quotes $499 per week.

This one near Braker Lane, near a high crime area in N. Central Austin, quotes $239/week. Extended Stay Austin, TX - Braker Lane, Value Place - extended stay hotels and apartments.

Extended Stay in SW Austin runs $99/night Extended Stay Hotels - Select Hotel Rooms
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Old 11-14-2012, 12:52 PM
 
44 posts, read 45,365 times
Reputation: 32
Find out where in S. Austin your job will be. "S. Austin" could encompass a very large and disparate area.
Are you going to be close to the river? Zilker? Bouldin? South of Ben White? Close to 35?

Once you've established the exact location peeps on here can tell you how important a car will be
and which neighborhoods to look into.
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Old 11-15-2012, 07:45 AM
 
9 posts, read 11,139 times
Reputation: 10
Default Thank you thank you thank you!

You are on the mark completely! The company does have to pay gas mileage- and it's a 1000 miles- so why not let them.
I already had to live in an extenda stay in Dallas for 3 months- and it does really start to get old.
Craigslist is all we know here in Phoenix- but I will try the padmapper for sure- since so many people recommed it.
Thank you for having a level head! I think all the uncertainty of how much notice I have to move- and my lack of funds is just confusing what should be a pretty easy decision. Plus, relocating to a city you've never been to is hard as well.
I feel much better! Thanks!!
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Old 11-15-2012, 08:03 AM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,428,088 times
Reputation: 10759
Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn View Post
This one near Braker Lane, near a high crime area in N. Central Austin, quotes $239/week. Extended Stay Austin, TX - Braker Lane, Value Place - extended stay hotels and apartments.
Yes, this is the one I was thinking of. Their rate for some time has been $199/wk. Not sure if $239 is their new standard or if that's a temporary bump because of the room shortage right now due to the Formula 1 race this weekend. The $499 rates are due to that, totally not "everyday." Once the race is over they will go back down. They are popular with contractors working on the nearby Samsung factory, and software engineers in from Asia on temporary assignment, and people relocating for work. "Near high crime" means don't go out walking at night and don't leave valuables in car. Staying at the hotel is no problem.
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Old 11-19-2012, 04:17 AM
 
Location: Texas
3,576 posts, read 2,195,268 times
Reputation: 4129
Also contact a realtor to find a place for you in your price range near where your going to work. The realtor can find out all the questions you have, like crime rate, things that will be close by, etc. It cost you nothing the landlord pays their fee. Its the best way to move, it save you alot of worry and time.
Good luck!
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