Living in 78745 (Austin, Crockett, Bowie: condos, home, buying)

[TheDubbery]

Thanks for all of the replies folks. It's very helpful.

We are definitely mindful of a house being a lemon. However, I think I still remain more sketched out by the immediate area. That being said, I think we will still move forward in hopes that the area turns around a little bit in the next couple of years (i.e. a few more restaurants/bars/shopping rather than pawn shops etc.).

[buffettjr]

Originally Posted by TheDubbery

Thinking about buying a flipped house very close to William Cannon and S. 1st. What are y'alls thoughts about the area?

Do you see the property increasing in value?

How will the area be affected by this new SACNP?

Thanks!

Of course it will increase in value; Austin has a rapidly growing population. All housing in Austin will increase in value for the foreseeable future. As a general rule, the closer you can buy to downtown, the greater the appreciation you will see, especially as traffic worsens exponentially with population growth and/or as fuel prices rise.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by TheDubbery

Thanks for all of the replies folks. It's very helpful.

We are definitely mindful of a house being a lemon. However, I think I still remain more sketched out by the immediate area. That being said, I think we will still move forward in hopes that the area turns around a little bit in the next couple of years (i.e. a few more restaurants/bars/shopping rather than pawn shops etc.).

It should improve but don't expect any miracles. I was there for 9 years in which my area saw Hobby Lobby turn over to a Sprouts and Bill Miller BBQ move down to South Park Meadows. I realized that my neighborhood with the six lane (8 lane at some intersections) W. Cannon would never be bike/pedestrian friendly, so I ended up moving to an area with "better bones" for that kind of thing, and where the nearest arterial is two lanes.

Some may see it as a negative, but I feel the opposite in that most of the homes in '45 are smaller and perfect for 1-2 people. This zip also has easy transit access to DT. South 1st and Congress have multiple routes so you never have to wait long.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by ppp38

78745 is within 6-9 miles to DT, it will appreciate given its proximity to the central core. Its closer to downtown than Crestview and University Hills. The S. 1st/William Cannon intersection where OP wants to move is only 5 miles to DT. Personally, I don't like 78745 but the houses there are cheap in comparison to the rest of the city and will likely appreciate.

Eh, it depends on what you mean by "Downtown". To the edge of downtown, maybe. If you measure to the Capitol, then crestview is still (slightly) closer. I prefer that measure in that it more accurately reflects the historical multi-centered nature of Austin, where UT has been about as important and almost as big as downtown.

[Moonlady]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

I'd more more concerned about a "flipped" house and the quality of the work. Lots of Pigs wearing lipstick out there. Buyer beware.

The area is still a bit rough around the edges in places but eventually location will trump all downsides.

Steve

Boy do I agree with this. We bought a house that was flipped and it sure looked pretty but there were tons of hidden issues. Lipstick on a pig was the exact phrase we used. Seems like most of the flippers were more concerned with making it look attractive than fixing structural and functional issues. Buyer beware is good advice.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by buffettjr

Of course it will increase in value; Austin has a rapidly growing population. All housing in Austin will increase in value for the foreseeable future. As a general rule, the closer you can buy to downtown, the greater the appreciation you will see, especially as traffic worsens exponentially with population growth and/or as fuel prices rise.

If you bought it three years ago and reno'd it yourself, you could expect to see appreciation; but paying a flipped price in today's market might mean it's already at the top of the heap(for the next few years anyway).

And what does this mean?...
"as traffic worsens exponentially with population growth"
Will everyone have multiple vehicles? Or are you using the internet definition of exponentially as scientifically defined as "a whole bunch" ?

[tibbar]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

The area may be appreciating, but Zillow is pretty much the worst place to go for accurate property values, and even moreso in a nondisclosure state. Heck, even THEY say that 50% accuracy is what they consider to be excellent.

I wish the city valued my home like Zillow. City says it is $9000 higher in value than Zillow says.

[buffettjr]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

If you bought it three years ago and reno'd it yourself, you could expect to see appreciation; but paying a flipped price in today's market might mean it's already at the top of the heap(for the next few years anyway).

And what does this mean?...
"as traffic worsens exponentially with population growth"
Will everyone have multiple vehicles? Or are you using the internet definition of exponentially as scientifically defined as "a whole bunch" ?

No, I mean literally exponential. Once streets hit their capacity and become clogged, they become a bottle neck, and you get more traffic time per car than you used to. When a street is empty and you go from one car to two cars, nothing really happens. You doubled the number of cars but didn't really impact traffic times at all. The more clogged the street gets, the more impact each additional car has.

I don't understand the comment that you're paying at the top of the market right now when we are facing increasing population and increasing jobs. More jobs and more people equals higher home prices in a localized market (barring anything extraordinary like the collapse of financial markets). You can buy a flipped house right now and pay top dollar for it, as people did last year and the year before, and you will still see price appreciation because we have more jobs moving here and more people moving here.

[sojourner77]

The downside is that people moving here are getting diminishing returns for what they are spending. More people, more jobs driving up the price of existing houses - houses that were the same 10 years ago, but are now 2-3X more expensive because of Schwab, Apple, Facebook, Google, and HID. This is occurring most noticeably near the Arboreteum/183 area (adjacent to Rundberg/Lamar). New arrivals working at these places are getting screwed because their employers are locating near areas with old, crappy housing stock and poor schools. It's a raw deal for these transplants. There are place in Austin with better schools, better, newer houses, closer to downtown that should be chosen over the already saturated areas that incentivized corporations are currently locating. More incentives are needed for corporations to relocate south of the river, so that the newer housing stock and proximity to downtown will be made available to the transplants coming from other places. They shouldn't have to settle for north Austin.

[SAGA77039]

I just bought a place between manchaca and s. 1st off William cannon. We have been there less then a month and it seems ok. We have seen a lot of neighbors walking their dogs or taking a stroll down our street and they have been really nice.

We did have a situation where someone across the street asked us what we paid, my wife told her, which I didnt really think was ok, and the neighbor huff and puffed when we told her how much and said "You must be from california!" turned around and stormed off. weird.