Moving to Austin from O/S (Wells, Bee Cave: extended stay, apartments, lease)

[qwerty85]

Hello all,

Stumbled upon these forums after a bit of Austin Google Research.

I'm going to be moving to Austin from Australia in a few weeks time for work purposes. I've lived in the USA for a couple of years before in New York mainly but this will be my first time living in Austin. For a quick bit of background, I've just turned 30 and don't have a family that'll be moving with me.

So I had a few questions that I thought might get answered here;

1 - Besides AirBnb, are there any good short - term accomdation web-sites that are commonly used in Austin? I'm going to be working in the Bee Cave area, so initially I might want to stay somewhere close around there initially.

2 - Are there any particular Apartment / Rent web-sites people mainly use also? I'm probably going to want to stay in the Downtown Area long - term for going out / center of town etc. What are the chances of getting say a 1 bedder in Downtown for around $1500 - $1600 a month?

3 - Are there any other area's / regions people recommend to stay in that has a decent nightlife and traffic wise wouldn't be too bad to get to and from Bee Cave for a commute?

4 - Is there a particular Bank which is most common in Austin? e.g. has the most ATM's around town.

5 - Does anyone recommend a particular web-site or dealership to buy a car from in Austin? Would probably be looking for something small to drive initially.

6 - Also would anyone know of a Rent a Car group in Austin e.g. Enterprise, which specifically has GPS's for Cars you can rent? I know it can be different for each particular place.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[citizenman13]

1. Google extended stay hotels. Usually 400-600 weekly, depending on location and season. The closer to downtown, the more expensive.

2. Downtown 1500-1600 monthly, possible. You can get that or cheaper near UT, (university of Texas) or close to downtown. If you want to live right in downtown, the rents will double. Try the South Congress area. It's cool and cheaper than down town and almost in walking distance to downtown or near UT.

3. Don't know. I'm not familiar with Bee Cave

4. Citi Bank, Wells Fargo and Bank America all have ATM's everywhere.

5. If used, try car max. If new, go to the dealership of the maker you want.

6. Herz and Enterprise will both rent you a GPS or you can buy one at best buy or target or walmart for under 200 us dollars. I use my iphone GPS. Do you have a smart phone? If you don't have a car when you get here, look into the apps uber and lyft. They are the new fad and work very well in Austin. They are also cheap to use, cheaper than a taxi.

[ericsami]

Originally Posted by qwerty85

Hello all,

1 - Besides AirBnb, are there any good short - term accomdation web-sites that are commonly used in Austin? I'm going to be working in the Bee Cave area, so initially I might want to stay somewhere close around there initially.

many people still use CraigsList.

Originally Posted by qwerty85

2 - Are there any particular Apartment / Rent web-sites people mainly use also? I'm probably going to want to stay in the Downtown Area long - term for going out / center of town etc. What are the chances of getting say a 1 bedder in Downtown for around $1500 - $1600 a month?

again for budget people they use something like craigslist. if you want to deal with large apartment megaplexes websites like apartments.com have those large ones.

I think if you want to insist on living in a nice modern apartment downtown you will have to get a roomate. and getting a reliable roommate the first year is honestly rather difficult.
There are some "co-op" place where you are given sort of crappy room. but it is not your own one bedroom where you are in control of everything.

Originally Posted by qwerty85

3 - Are there any other area's / regions people recommend to stay in that has a decent nightlife and traffic wise wouldn't be too bad to get to and from Bee Cave for a commute?

Look! driving more than 5 miles in the morning or afternoon will quickly expose that Austin has traffic issues. That said the Traffic is not as bad when you are traveling west to East and vice versa. going North to South or South or North is much more awful.

Generally speaking there is not too much Night Life over at the Beecave Area ( I assume you mean west of Capital of Texas Highway 360). if I were you. I would get an apartment with a nice view close to my job (short lease if you think you wont be there for a long time). I don't think you will have the time to party more than two days a week.

Originally Posted by qwerty85

4 - Is there a particular Bank which is most common in Austin? e.g. has the most ATM's around town.

The three Mega Banks Chase, Bank ofAmerica, Wellsfargo are all over Austin with their ATMS.
and these days you can pretty much get 90% of what you need to do via their App or ATMs.
But those banks do require 1500 minimum balance or direct deposit form your job to avoid 10-20 bucks monthly fee.

if you don't have a lot of money; and if you pay fees all the time. overdraft, returned check ... go with one of the local credit unions. there is threads here about who prefers which one. honestly many of them are good. it just depends which one is closer to your location of choice.

Originally Posted by qwerty85

5 - Does anyone recommend a particular web-site or dealership to buy a car from in Austin? Would probably be looking for something small to drive initially.

Well if you don't do your research. and walk in to a dealership you will get killed.
I don't know about your price range and whether you want a new car or old one.
the insurance will likely be expensive because you are a new driver to U.S (if you are)

for new cars I would go to Autotrader.com and specifically check how many miles away from austin you want to search. here is something if a car has 6-10 miles and the title has not been registered it is considered a new car. anyway the nice thing about new car is you can go to another town be guaranteed that the car will be just fine.
you said something small a search for me showed that in Austin Hyandai Elantra goes for 16K. a search with 200 miles of Austin Brought up an Elantra worth 10.5 K. (But it is stick)
just put in all the parameters you want. keless entry, electric window, leather seats ...

do a search. read the fine print. contact the sellers via phone and or email only. get your walk out price in an email written.
walk out price. car price+ taxes (6.25%) + documatnary fee+ balh blah dealer made up fee + some kind of small title registration fee. normally a lot of dealers who are say in houston are willing to take a credit car reservation of 1000 bucks to hold the car for you for a week or two.

do not buy any maintenance package they are waste of money for new and frankly old cars.

if you take care of that new car. it will be really fine for atleast five years. and will be quite ok for ten years.

used cars:
It depends whether you are willing to swallow the pill that you might have to spend some pretty penny (1000-3000) the first year that you own the car. the two major issues that you might see buying a used car will be the AC no longer blows cold air or the Transmission is broken. if you get the right mechanic the AC can be fixed with 300-1000 depending on the car and the issue. and it can stay fixed for number of years. but the Transmission issue normally get more and more complicated any mechanics are not good at fixing it.

some large dealers like carmax will sell you warranty that is worth a year for large drivetrain issues. but honestly once you buy that warranty the car is basically as expensive as new car (if you were willing to travel outside Austin.)

Originally Posted by qwerty85

6 - Also would anyone know of a Rent a Car group in Austin e.g. Enterprise, which specifically has GPS's for Cars you can rent? I know it can be different for each particular place.

Forget the Car with GPS. Buy one at walmart or Target for a 100 bucks. it will last three to four years easily. it has free updates for the maps (hoook up to computer)

Originally Posted by qwerty85

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Welcome to Austin Mate.