Leander Pro's / Con's? (Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park: short sales, foreclosures, HOA)

[mamacatnv]

Looking at Leander - any opinions - Pro's, Con's etc

[ForeverTexan]

I live in Leander, but can only really comment about living in the Fairways at Crystal Falls, the Taylor Morrison section. Do you know where you may want to live?

We've noticed that our current neighbors and future neighbors (people building) are moving from Cedar Park (quite a few moving/moved from there for some reason, but haven't asked why), Avery Ranch, Ranch at Brushy Creek, Austin or from out of state. It is very quiet at night where we live - I honestly haven't slept this well in years.

We moved to Leander 13 months ago from west Round Rock and everyone (especially Leander businesses) so far have been extremely nice and helpful. There is a lot of future growth planned for Leander - the Crystal Falls area and especially Ronald Reagan.

You might be interested in this:
Demographer

Also, do a online search for Hill Country News Leander Crime Reports

If you have specific questions, I will attempt to answer them.

[mamacatnv]

We are focusing on housing within the boundaries of Leander High School due to its IB program. We relocated to the Marble Falls area for my job 9 months ago and we don't like it. It is too rural. Our DD is in Llano schools and while we like the school its just to small and rural to be able to offer the challenging courses DD is looking for as well as its just a bit too country for us. We spend every weekend hauling into Austin to shop, sight see etc. Its clickish, churchy and heavily retired. There is next to nothing for our teenager to do.

My Hubs is working in Austin and has a 75 minute commute. Leander is attrative for a lot of reasons. Closer to civilization, affordable housing (under 200K) less of a commute for Hubs and a reasonable commute for me.

Is there any areas one should avoid? Neighborhoods with bad reputations?
What about poor building quality or neighborhoods with known problems?
Neighborhoods with over the top out of control HOA's?
I have read of foundation issues in various areas of Texas but not sure if this area is an area of concern.

Ideally we want a single story home, under 15 years old with a gas kitchen.
We see a lot of communities with pools, club houses etc. are these worth the extra HOA fee's? Also we are seeing some pretty high property taxes, do the rates vary throughout the city?
Some of Cedar Park also feeds into Leander High so we are looking at that also.

We had lived in the same neighborhood in the same house for 20 years, this whole relocation process is new to us but we are very glad we did not immediatlely buy out here in the hill country.

Another thing we noticed was when we first got here housing was still declining in value, it seems to now have stablized. Leander seems to have inventory spattered with short sales and foreclosures but not overwhelmingly so.
Are there a lot of pockets of vacant/abandoned housing?

Thanks so much for any and all input. This is not an easy process

[llkltk]

If you want to live far from Austin and don't utilize the city, then Leander might be for you. If you like city life and don't want to deal with tolls and traffic, then I would consider moving closer to town.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by mamacatnv

Looking at Leander - any opinions - Pro's, Con's etc

The pros and cons will be relative to your needs moreso than any shortcomings or benefits if Leander itself. For most, as you discovered in Llano, it comes down to commute, amenities, schools and the house itself (size/age/price).

If you can find most of what you seek in Leander ISD, then it will probably be a good fit for you. There is no reason to avoid Leander if it doesn't present a distinct disadvantage to your commute or lifestyle. There may be specific schools attendance zones you'd find more preferable than oters, but that's easy enough to research.

That entire 183A corridor is smack in the growth path of Austin Metro Area, so if there might be any disadvantage, it's going to be the growth that will no doubt happen in the coming decades. The growth will bring its own pros and cons.

Good luck,

Steve

[neddy]

Just fyi, you don't have to live in Leander hs to go to the IB program. Anyone in the Leander ISD can transfer in if they get in the program.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by neddy

Just fyi, you don't have to live in Leander hs to go to the IB program. Anyone in the Leander ISD can transfer in if they get in the program.

If neddy is correct, you could get Hubs closer in by looking at areas of Cedar Park(Buttercup Creek or Forest Oaks area, for example) and even western sections of Avery Ranch(Austin). Having easy access to 183A will make Hubby's commute 'easy' for the first half and 'good luck as he gets closer to town' for the second.
Good luck with the search!

[sxrckr]

The biggest drawback is distance from town, IMO. I can't think of any other major ones. Generally a nice area.

[mamacatnv]

Originally Posted by neddy

Just fyi, you don't have to live in Leander hs to go to the IB program. Anyone in the Leander ISD can transfer in if they get in the program.

I spoke with the administrator about this. Yes, a child in any part of the district can enter the IB program at Leander but if at any time during their high school career they decide that IB is not for them they must return to their "home" zoned high school. Since this will be the 2nd move in a year for our DD we decided that we don't want to take the risk that should she decide to drop out of the IB program she would have to start over at yet another school.
We feel that Leander HS offers what we are looking for in terms of AP and IB plus it offers affordable housing and is a bit off the beaten path but not so far removed that it will take us an hour to find a decent grocery store or Costco.
Last summer I was trying to make freezer jam, I had to drive all the way to Bee Caves to buy pectin, that is when I began to understand what rural living was really all about

Any comments on neighborhoods to avoid? Builders of sub divisions who have amassed a bad reputation due to shoddy construction or soil issues?

Thank you all so much, I really appreciate all the input

[Idlewile]

We have friends in Leander (we live and work in NW Austin) so we are up there a fair amount.

Biggest Pro: you get a lot of nice, new house, in a nice delvelopment for not much money.
Biggest Con: I feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere once I actually make it up there. With no major highway access close by, it feels - to me - Austin might as well be 100 miles away.