Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-03-2007, 05:25 PM
 
10 posts, read 26,320 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

My husband and I are looking at relocating to the Austin area. He works on the northwest side of town, but also travels to San Antonio often. We live in the Houston area right now. Anyway, we are looking at possibly buying land or finding a older home to fix up. We have 4 children and want to make sure we are in a good school district. We are not sure rather being on the northwest side of town is best or trying to find something in between Austin and San Antonio would be better? I guess it depends on if we can find the right mix of good school district and affordable home.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-03-2007, 07:39 PM
 
Location: SW Austin & Wimberley
6,333 posts, read 18,049,590 times
Reputation: 5532
What is your price range? That may narrow it down. NW Austin will be much more expensive than what you could find further south of Austin.
Steve
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2007, 08:07 PM
 
10 posts, read 26,320 times
Reputation: 11
We would like to stay under $180,000. We would prefer to be on an acre or more. If there was a house or mobile home on it, we could either fix up the house or live in the mobile home until we can build our own home on the land. But if we purchase land only, we would like to stay under $30,000. I realize there are a lot of "if's" involved so it is making it more difficult. And again, the schools are a big factor.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2007, 08:33 PM
 
Location: Texas Hill Country
2,392 posts, read 9,648,843 times
Reputation: 806
Well if you moved out in the Leander area or even Liberty Hill depending how far out you wanted to go you could jump on 29 to 281 and go to SA that way. Lots less traffic but takes a little while longer to get to SA but the price tag you mentioned I have not seen in this area so thats why I mention Liberty Hill and I here they have a pretty good small district. IF you stay south of Austin between the cities if he works in the NW 90% of the time he might have a pretty long drive to get to work and back. I am in Leander and it takes me about 1 hour to get to Buda south of Austin where most of the cousins are. Dh works at IBM on the NW side so it takes about 20 mins to drive there so we live over on this side.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2007, 09:50 PM
 
Location: SW Austin
314 posts, read 1,230,058 times
Reputation: 94
Default NE Austin

Mattering on how often he travels, you may want to look in Pflugerville - he can take the new toll roads when he travels to SA. You will not be able to get much for under $180K west of 35. If your range changes after you start looking, I would suggest Cedar Park.

I know when we moved from Houston our max price was $175K, but we got sticker shock when we started looking in Austin. Our price range went up to $250K almost immediately (electricity and taxes are much less in Austin). Just know what you can get for $175K in Austin is very different from $175K in Houston.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2007, 10:02 PM
 
Location: Austin TX
1,590 posts, read 4,574,446 times
Reputation: 458
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenkirk View Post
Mattering on how often he travels, you may want to look in Pflugerville - he can take the new toll roads when he travels to SA. You will not be able to get much for under $180K west of 35. If your range changes after you start looking, I would suggest Cedar Park.

I know when we moved from Houston our max price was $175K, but we got sticker shock when we started looking in Austin. Our price range went up to $250K almost immediately (electricity and taxes are much less in Austin). Just know what you can get for $175K in Austin is very different from $175K in Houston.
X2 it is true. The California transplants have caused some house price inflation in ATX
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-03-2007, 10:24 PM
 
10 posts, read 26,320 times
Reputation: 11
Thanks for the info.

What about Wimberley or Dripping Springs? They look like they would be about halfway between Austin and SA. And by looking online the schools look pretty good. Any thoughts?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-04-2007, 06:51 AM
 
Location: SW Austin & Wimberley
6,333 posts, read 18,049,590 times
Reputation: 5532
I suggest going to Google Maps and routing out the different commutes between your frequent destinations. Dripping to NW Austin will be a very long drive daily, depending on time of day. Add 20 minutes coming from Wimberley. You won't find what you want in you price range in Dripping or Wimberly either.

I agree with checking out Pflugerville or going way further out past Leander. That said, factor the additional daily cost of a long commute and compute it into your cost of living to determine whether a higher price range closer in would work out better than paying daily tolls and driving longer distances.

Steve
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-04-2007, 06:59 AM
 
Location: Texas Hill Country
2,392 posts, read 9,648,843 times
Reputation: 806
I think the Wimberly ISD is a good system but they are in some money trouble with the state and the state has threatened them to shut them down and bus all the kids.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-04-2007, 08:25 AM
 
1,035 posts, read 4,464,669 times
Reputation: 201
Quote:
Originally Posted by austin-steve View Post
I agree with checking out Pflugerville or going way further out past Leander.
Steve
Steve, isn't it more expensive "past Leander" ? When you go north of Leander you get into Liberty Hill (good schools) and Georgetown, and both areas are nice with mini-ranches or large-lot neighborhoods. Not many trailers at all.

There may be a trailer or fixer-upper in the area around Nameless Rd. The schools would be good (Leander ISD) but the area, not so nice.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:54 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top