Leander - Sarita Valley vs Gehan Homes vs Parkside MayField Ranch (Austin: violent crime, custom home)

[SFOtoAustin]

I have planned to relocate to Austin from California bay area. I found Cedar Park, Round Rock and Leander communities are closer to North Austin for commute.
In terms picking the right community for new homes (around 400-450k and 3000-3500sft) with good school, Round Rock and Cedar Park are pretty full and left with Leander as the only option.

I identified the homes closer Ronald Reagan Blvd has better school rating within LISD. I liked the homes in Sarita Valley (but it's expensive). Gehan homes, Park side @ Mayfield Ranch and Caballo Ranch as other options.
Though Gehan Homes and Park side @May Field Ranch are less expensive, but later one has higher property tax.

I need suggestion from this forum for deciding on the community with good schools. If any other communities which are better or comparable, please let me know.

As a note, I later found the Sarita Valley has zoned for multi family and chimerical property around it, not sure whether there any impact due to these factors.

Any thoughts that will be helpful for me to make a right decision

Thanks in Advance.

[AustinTx78660]

You can also check out Pflugerville, some nice neighborhoods in the NE corner there with homes in your price range, close the the 130 and 45 toll roads (15 minutes to the Domain) and similar builders.

[janineg]

How about Pearson Place in Avery Ranch?
Those schools should be better than the ones you listed, and Avery Ranch isn't nearly so rural feeling as, say Parkside. It's a bit closer to Austin, too.

[SFOtoAustin]

Originally Posted by AustinTx78660

You can also check out Pflugerville, some nice neighborhoods in the NE corner there with homes in your price range, close the the 130 and 45 toll roads (15 minutes to the Domain) and similar builders.

Thanks for your response, I always been told by different threads that East of I35 is not safe, so i didnt check those area. Also I believe the schools are not great. But i will still check it out

[SFOtoAustin]

Originally Posted by janineg

How about Pearson Place in Avery Ranch? Texas Custom Homes | Austin TX Custom Homes | Central TX Custom Homes | Grand Haven Homes
Those schools should be better than the ones you listed, and Avery Ranch isn't nearly so rural feeling as, say Parkside. It's a bit closer to Austin, too.

Thank for your response.
Infact I am interested in this area, but the availability of the grand haven homes are limited and the pulte homes are smaller in size, So I am looking for other options.
If you say there are some options that I can get a home in this area, I would be happy.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by SFOtoAustin

Thanks for your response, I always been told by different threads that East of I35 is not safe, so i didnt check those area. Also I believe the schools are not great. But i will still check it out

Do NOT trust those threads. The respondents don't know what the heck they're talking about! There is very low violent crime in Pflugerville and zero murders. I've lived here for a decade so I can tell you first hand the negativity is unwarranted. The school district over all is a 7 but there are individual school tracks at are higher. For example my daughter would be zoned to a 10 elementary, 9 middle and 8 high school. Check out the neighborhoods by the toll road..lots of new development.

[RooCeleste]

Can't speak to the neighborhoods you mention specifically but we live in the 1431/Parmer (also Ronald Reagan) area and it is a super nice, fast growing area. Traffic will increase when the new Walmart opens and the other corners develop -- that's a given. But that's the price you pay for living close to shopping.

We built a new Gehan (Harvard model) almost exactly 5 years ago and could not have been more pleased with the final product. Granted, we were one of the first builds in the neighborhood so we got more effort put into our home and nicer products installed than the later builds, and their attitude toward customer service was horrid, but the house is fabulous! It is very well-built with no major issues (knock on wood!) and our inspector said during the framing/electrical stages that it was one of the best built homes he'd seen from a production builder. If you build, you'll probably have to really stay on top of them daily, but that's the case with any builder and the end result will be worth it.

Good luck with your home search!

[SFOtoAustin]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Do NOT trust those threads. The respondents don't know what the heck they're talking about! There is very low violent crime in Pflugerville and zero murders. I've lived here for a decade so I can tell you first hand the negativity is unwarranted. The school district over all is a 7 but there are individual school tracks at are higher. For example my daughter would be zoned to a 10 elementary, 9 middle and 8 high school. Check out the neighborhoods by the toll road..lots of new development.

Thanks for your feedback. I see the homes are very in-expensive in that area and I will surely check out the communities. Any suggested neighborhood?

[SFOtoAustin]

Originally Posted by RooCeleste

Can't speak to the neighborhoods you mention specifically but we live in the 1431/Parmer (also Ronald Reagan) area and it is a super nice, fast growing area. Traffic will increase when the new Walmart opens and the other corners develop -- that's a given. But that's the price you pay for living close to shopping.

We built a new Gehan (Harvard model) almost exactly 5 years ago and could not have been more pleased with the final product. Granted, we were one of the first builds in the neighborhood so we got more effort put into our home and nicer products installed than the later builds, and their attitude toward customer service was horrid, but the house is fabulous! It is very well-built with no major issues (knock on wood!) and our inspector said during the framing/electrical stages that it was one of the best built homes he'd seen from a production builder. If you build, you'll probably have to really stay on top of them daily, but that's the case with any builder and the end result will be worth it.

Good luck with your home search!

Thank you, I will check out the Gehan home during my next visit.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by SFOtoAustin

Thanks for your feedback. I see the homes are very in-expensive in that area and I will surely check out the communities. Any suggested neighborhood?

I would recommend mine but it lacks amenities other than a park

Take a look at Avalon, Blackhawk, Falcon Pointe, Commons at Rowe Lane. All are masterplanned and have easy access to the toll road. There is a huge shopping mall/center right outside and there will soon be a water park (that may or may not work for you...but we're all excited!!) There's a small public splash pad for the kiddies in Falcon Pointe. The schools that handle that area are Murchison and Rowe Lane for elementary and Kelly Lane for middle. These have always been good schools for as long as I've been here and are pretty consistent in terms of ratings.

I will give you some negatives so that you have a total picture:

The trees in the master planned communities don't have established trees. They've grown some in the past decade but they still aren't majestic oaks. That may bother you. There are other places in Pflugerville that have large trees but these neighborhoods have low inventory and are not masterplanned.

Keep in mind that the nice, zippity fast roadway outside of your home is a toll road. Taking the toll road will set you back some money, but you really can't put a pricetag on convenience...(wait, actually TxDOT did!) You can travel to Austin on a free road, but it's just a pain in the neck to do. Trust me.

Property theft is a problem that plagues mostly all of the Central Tx neighborhoods. My area has no violent crime to speak of, but there have been thefts. The good news is that these neighborhoods have strong neighborhood watches that regularly keep residents abreast of unusual activity. Also a plus, the Pflugerville Chief of Police and the Mayor live in these neighborhoods, lol. The Pflugerville Police Dept. is very proactive and responsive and they show up in minutes. They don't make you feel bad if you called them and there ended up being no problem.