Where is Austin should young empty nesters move? (Round Rock, Spring: houses, tech job)

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by riaelise

Yes, you can live centrally for less than $400K.

304 West 55th Street, Austin TX - Trulia

i love this.
but again, small lot for a pool. (.14 of an acre)

i mean, you could squeeze one on there, but no room for anything else.
maybe that's what the OP wants anyway.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by mcr38

Sorry for double posting. I thought I deleted the first. Thank you for the ideas. It sounds like I will have to get lucky to find a house in my price range with the details I want. Could any of you comment on the following places:
Leander, Dripping Springs, Steiner Ranch

I work in inner city development and so proximity to the city is important but I want to love where I live. I want this house to be the last.

You shouldnt have too much trouble finding what you are looking for.

As someone else mentioned greathills/northwest hills would do it or allandale/brentwood

We are in great hills and are about 15 minutes to downtown with no traffic. Our house is probably 550K, 2800 sq ft, built in 2001 and has a pool.

Northwest hills is a bit older and I think you can still get good deals over there with pools. Northwest hills is about 10 minutes from downtown with no traffic.

550k is a reasonable budget, in the worst case you could do mueller which is 5 minutes from downtown.

use redfin's map based search with your criteria and it will pull a lot of listings up

[wizard's sleeve]

The problem with great hills is that you are paying for the schools. The OP would have to sacrifice something to buy there - either overpay by 100K, or accept a smaller house or one that needs 100K in renovation. Onion Creek is 10 minutes from downtown with no traffic too, and doesn't carry the good-school-$100K-premium, so your value is better as an empty nester.

[wizard's sleeve]

Brentwood is good if you need proximity to Apple, Dell, National Instruments or whatever tech company is in that area. The high price tag and poor housing product are a result of these tech jobs in close proximity. It sounds like the OP considers this of extreme importance - important enough to pay an extra 100K for the privelege, like other Apple employees who have bought there within the last 3 years.

But hey, Lanier is a horrible school, so hitting ONE requirement of the OP's isn't bad, right?

Let's keep shamelessLy promoting our OWN neighborhoods, and ignore what the OP wants, right?

[petro]

Onion Creek is 10 minutes from downtown with no traffic too, and doesn't carry the good-school-$100K-premium, so your value is better as an empty nester.

Onion Creek is not "10 minutes from downtown" in any amount of traffic. It's easily twice that with zero traffic, but Austin is not a city without traffic, is it? That drive would be far longer on any typical day. I'd say an hour or more during commute times.

The OP is looking for a *central* neighborhood with a short commute to downtown. That eliminates anything south of the DT area as that commute would be a soul-crusher.

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by petro

Onion Creek is not "10 minutes from downtown" in any amount of traffic. It's easily twice that with zero traffic, but Austin is not a city without traffic, is it? That drive would be far longer on any typical day. I'd say an hour or more during commute times.

The OP is looking for a *central* neighborhood with a short commute to downtown. That eliminates anything south of the DT area as that commute would be a soul-crusher.

two years ago I would drive to work every day from william cannon and pleasant valley (dove springs).
my shift started at 10:00 am.
I would leave at 9:50 and make it to the capitol by 10:00 almost every morning.
(this is because the traffic had died down by then)

going home at 6 was a different story tho. that would take 30 minutes.

you're talking about one more exit south.

[petro]

13 miles to the capital in the worst traffic congestion of Austin. That's easily going to be an hour, or more. Why would we recommend this, when there are central neighborhoods that fit the OPs criteria and don't involve making the dreaded north/south commute?

[AguaDulce]

Originally Posted by petro

13 miles to the capital in the worst traffic congestion of Austin. That's easily going to be an hour, or more. Why would we recommend this, when there are central neighborhoods that fit the OPs criteria and don't involve making the dreaded north/south commute?

That pic says 22 minutes.

There's an alternative called Congress Ave if there's a wreck on the highway.

Saying that it takes an hour or more is a little dramatic.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by petro

She does not live in Austin and does not know these neighborhoods, therefore she is not assisting the OP. That is derailing the conversation when the comments go on for 3+ pages.

3 plus pages? I see only 2 pages.."page 2 of 2."

I never claimed to know the area. I asked questions about the house in question and whether the price shown on Zillow was realistic.

[wizard's sleeve]

Originally Posted by petro

Onion Creek is not "10 minutes from downtown" in any amount of traffic. It's easily twice that with zero traffic, .

REALLY? It takes you 20 minutes to drive 11.4 miles with a STRAIGHT SHOT down a highway with a 70 MPH speed limit in NO traffic?

And why did you post the longest route you could find? anti-South Austin agenda much?