Addison home subdivision in austin (McKinney, Spring: renters, insurance, first time home buyer)

[McJ]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has checked this area out. It is off 183 and 71 right near the airport and McKinney Falls state park. The homes are amazing but I'm wondering why the price is so low (comparably speaking). Is it just because it's by the airport or is there another issue about that neighborhood? Anyone have any insight about that area?

Home | Live Addison | Austin, TX

[centralaustinite]

Del Valle school are not particularly strong and you are pretty far from grocery stores etc. The SE quadrant of Austin is the last and slowest to be developed.

Also, surprised to see new development so close to Onion Creek. Even if you are in the 500 year flood plain and not the 100 year flood plain, I'd get flood insurance.

[CptnRn]

It looks like the housing lots are carefully placed outside of the 500 year flood plain. The City would not allow them to build inside the flood plain.

Trulia Local - Visual analysis of local data

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

It looks like the housing lots are carefully placed outside of the 500 year flood plain. The City would not allow them to build inside the flood plain.

Trulia Local - Visual analysis of local data

Thank god! As a taxpayer I don't begrudge the current Onion Creek buyouts but I would hope that we don't have to do it again.

[sua2017]

If I had more than 250k to spend on housing, this area is the LAST place I would start looking for homes unless I was without kids AND the house was just too amazing. Del Valley schools are not a strong force bringing families into the area. And then if I had 250k to spend on housing without kids, I wouldn't be buying into a master planned community. Also I would assume this area will see the lowest home value gains, not a good investment.

[TexanAgain15]

We looked at houses over there and weren't wowed. It's somewhat close to downtown, but we didn't really care for any of the floorplans, and the upgrades for stuff that should be included (like tile instead of linoleum) really increased the price. It's not close to an HEB or anything like that. Also, the saleslady was overly chipper and just generally pushy and annoying.

[McJ]

I really liked the Buffington homes floor plans. But like you mentioned I don't like that it isn't close to an HEB or standard amenities. I really wanted to like them but the area is making it hard for me.

Originally Posted by TexanAgain15

We looked at houses over there and weren't wowed. It's somewhat close to downtown, but we didn't really care for any of the floorplans, and the upgrades for stuff that should be included (like tile instead of linoleum) really increased the price. It's not close to an HEB or anything like that. Also, the saleslady was overly chipper and just generally pushy and annoying.

[MovingOut2012]

As someone finally ready to enter the housing market, we did look at Addison today. We only looked at the Pacesetter model since we were looking at a different neighborhood where they were building.

What we liked:
1) We love the modern look of the homes. A little bit different from all the other cookie cutter houses around the area.
2) Pacesetter model was really nice with most of the items in their model home included in their base price. Lots of windows, something that you do not see in a home in that price point. I like a lot of light in a home.
2) I like the master planned community because of the hike and bike trails.
3) Commute would not be too bad for us as we leave for work pretty early in the morning. There are different routes that we can take to work in case 183 is backed up.
4) I like to be in South Austin, close to 78704 where we live now. We love the church that we go to.
5) Low taxes - 2.28%


Some cons:
1) Looks like it is right on the edge of the high risk flood plain area. If we buy, I would get flood insurance. Onion Creek flood still fresh in my mind.
2) Very close to the airport -hmm, would there be a lot of noise from those jets? Although we did not hear any today.
3) Far from amenities, no more last minute "I forgot something, let me go to grocery store" runs.

I know the area is far from amenities, but at that price point it is not too bad. Everything else around Austin is just out of our budget range. We do not want to spend most of our paycheck on a house. We were considering up North by Parmer- Harris branch area but did not like the feel of the area or the house plans were just ok. We were also looking at Austin's Colony where pricing can still be had below $200,000 but the neighborhood was less than desirable with prior homes built about 10 years ago and seems to be occupied by renters rather than home owners.

One of our most important criteria is distance from work. We want to be with a 15 mile radius, with less being better, given the hellish traffic in Austin. And we want to be in the city.

And since we have no kids, school district is not really a priority. I know for resale value it is important, but we are buying a house that we can enjoy and where we can relax after a day's work. And be finally able to invite family over

[xtrmnop]

Just recently looked at the Addison. Mainly the homes by Milestone because in all honestly I can't stand the other homes by the other builders. For the most part I really like their floorplans and they offer 11 at the moment (considering 4 of them) and to me the prices are great roughly around low 200s to 250s. I'm still living in SoCal but really want to move in ASAP before it starts getting out of control. (Been wanting to move to Austin for almost 2 years just hasn't happen quite yet) I'm a first time home buyer so having a brand new home really gives me that peace of mind. I could probably afford something above 300s but really don't want to be paying that much plus as the previous post mentioned the taxes are a much lower.

Me and my wife are not planning to have kids so schools is not that much of an issue and I do plan on living in this home for quite sometime. I've been pretty much been moving almost every year since I was married almost 5 years ago. So just done with moving.

I do have some concerns about how will the development of that area will be. I do think that the Easton Park master community is really going to boost that area but I really don't know. Also being near Dove Springs is another concern but there is a Golf Course and McKinney State park that is separating the area quite a bit.

To much the big plus is that it's pretty close to downtown and SoCo. There are multiple ways to get to the community. It's near the airport (wife's a flight attendant) and pretty didn't hear anything for the two hours I was out there.

But I feel that I should wait till Easton Park start cropping up some houses which probably not till the end of this year. So I'm afraid the prices will be above $300k by the time they start building in Easton Park.

[centralaustinite]

If you are a first time home buyer, you should really REALLY consider resale homes! That is where the smart money is. There is tremendous risk with new construction, number one, until the entire area, both the subdivision AND the surrounding area is built out, you will be competing with new homes when you sell. Imagine having to sell in five years, no one wants your old house because half a mile away they can buy new and the builders have much greater ability to drop prices if they need to (say something drastic happens to the whole global economy), you can be stuck! You won't see any appreciation.

If you buy a resale home in an upcoming area, you can see tremendous appreciation right away! You can build equity and have a home that is a financial cushion and not a financial risk! Plus the house itself is a known quantity -- get a good inspection. Amenities will be slow to come to SE Austin and they will come first to the already established areas.

New and shiny with the fresh carpet smell is not always the best long-term option, especially if you don't plan to spend 10+ years in the house.