Considering moving from Boston. 34/male single. (Austin, Paradise: condo, homes, tech jobs)

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

OP, no you cannot get a downtown condo 2/2 1000 sq feet for $300-350K.

Uh, he didn't ask for a downtown condo. He asked for "10-15 minute drive to where "it is happening" ", which non-rush hour puts you at a pretty big radius from downtown.

[unihills]

Originally Posted by AustinDude360

If you can find a job up north or on the 360 you could afford what you like near the Domain or Lakeline area (commute wouldn't be too bad and Domain and Lakeline area could be considered "happening" for some). If you are looking at downtown...no way unless you are good with buying a fixer upper and taking out a 203K loan for rehab costs. A condo might work though just be prepared to make some strong offers.

Dude, if you want to keep putting a "the" in front of highway names, please consider taking a new username, because you are in no form or fashion an AustinDude. You might consider SoCalDude as an alternate.

[Aquitaine]

Particularly if you haven't spent a lot of time here yet, rent for a year. The 1000 square foot condo market is not going anywhere and you'll have a better idea both of the neighborhoods and whether you like it here at all.

[MovingOut2012]

Greenview on Barton Creek in South Lamar. Check it out. It starts at around $300,000. We rent in this area, 78704. Close to everything, a few miles to 6th Street(downtown Austin). South Lamar just before Ben White is a booming area with lots of new apartments built (and still being built) just within the 3 years that we moved here. In-n-Out burger being built right in front of it. New restaurants popping up around the area. We love this area, it's convenient to everything.

[rkd80]

Wow, thanks for the responses everyone! Great decision to post here, did not expect such a flood of useful data.

So if I were to distill the comments, it would be the following:

1) Running away from high house prices in Boston to Austin may not be the wisest move. Looks like Austin is red hot. Indeed Zillow confirms, you guys not only shrugged off the recession completely but are hyperbolic. Granted this is Austin average pricing, with great variance in neighborhood, but I get the idea.
2) Commute is already gridlocked, so if I want to escape Boston traffic - I am not going to.
3) I should probably visit and consider renting instead of just moving and hoping for the best.
4) Apparently Austin summer is the flip side of Boston winter? I can't imagine personally ever complaining about too much heat, after months of cold dreary snowy days how bad can the heat be?

My choice budget is going to put me further out that I anticipated...that is not great.

I am a single guy, would love to live somewhere trendy/cool and be able to meet women and make new friends. If I live in the burbs or buy some old fixer-upper then it might impact the social life.

Going to investigate the following hoods:
South Lamar
Hyde Park
Crestview


Few more questions for folks:

- Anyone have insight into the IT market? How are jobs looking for those in the software space. Where are most of the software companies?
- Any insight on the dating scene for us early/mid 30s people?

Thanks again! You guys rock.

[petro]

I'm from Boston originally. People here comparing the rising COL in Austin to Boston, really don't get just how expensive it is to live in Boston. A 2bd 1,000 sq ft condo in Boston or Cambridge will easily set you back 600k or more and come with a huge condo fee to match. OP can definitely get what he's looking for in that budget.

Regarding weather, I greatly prefer the summer heat to the oppressive NE winters. Most of the year, it's actually quite pleasant here, at least for me.

Regarding where to live, most of the tech jobs are in the NW Austin area. I would look for a condo in the Crestview, Brentwood, Allendale, Northloop neighborhoods. It will be easy to get to both work and entertainment districts downtown. All of these neighborhoods have lots of local coffee houses, restaurants, bars, et cetera, within walking/biking distance.

Best of luck with your new start!

[centralaustinite]

Any insight on the dating scene for us early/mid 30s people?

Way more men than women! And you are okay with tattoos, right?

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by petro

Regarding weather, I greatly prefer the summer heat to the oppressive NE winters. Most of the year, it's actually quite pleasant here, at least for me.

If nothing else, as the old saying goes, you don't have to shovel heat

[AustinDude360]

Originally Posted by rkd80

Wow, thanks for the responses everyone! Great decision to post here, did not expect such a flood of useful data.

So if I were to distill the comments, it would be the following:

1) Running away from high house prices in Boston to Austin may not be the wisest move. Looks like Austin is red hot. Indeed Zillow confirms, you guys not only shrugged off the recession completely but are hyperbolic. Granted this is Austin average pricing, with great variance in neighborhood, but I get the idea.
2) Commute is already gridlocked, so if I want to escape Boston traffic - I am not going to.
3) I should probably visit and consider renting instead of just moving and hoping for the best.
4) Apparently Austin summer is the flip side of Boston winter? I can't imagine personally ever complaining about too much heat, after months of cold dreary snowy days how bad can the heat be?

My choice budget is going to put me further out that I anticipated...that is not great.

I am a single guy, would love to live somewhere trendy/cool and be able to meet women and make new friends. If I live in the burbs or buy some old fixer-upper then it might impact the social life.

Going to investigate the following hoods:
South Lamar
Hyde Park
Crestview


Few more questions for folks:

- Anyone have insight into the IT market? How are jobs looking for those in the software space. Where are most of the software companies?
- Any insight on the dating scene for us early/mid 30s people?

Thanks again! You guys rock.

IT market is good and competitive if you have a solid programming background. What programs and language do you know. Any management experience? They are kinda everywhere, but a good number of are on 360.

Hyde Park is nice - though I don't think you can afford that area with your budget anymore. You can land a run down fixer upper...would recommend fixing it as investors are gutting homes there and then putting them up for sale at over $600K and selling them. There is one next to my work that an investor purchased, gutted, and looks really nice. It's listing at over $700K now. I think there is a pre-foreclosure in that area right now.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by rkd80

Few more questions for folks:

- Anyone have insight into the IT market? How are jobs looking for those in the software space. Where are most of the software companies?
- Any insight on the dating scene for us early/mid 30s people?

Thanks again! You guys rock.

dating scene is excellent lots of good looking girls, all concentrated in a small area. the biggest complaint is none of the guys want to marry. When the girls get in their late 20s the guys get all the power..

IT market is good, but more software than IT. Dell is always hiring but they are a meat grinder.

the big companies are google, paypal, visa, dell, IBM, general motors, home depot, national instruments etc.

smaller companies are those like retailmenot, bazaarvoice, sparefoot (pre ipo !), netspend, spiceworks etc etc

look at indeed.com (austin company!) to find jobs.


almost all tech jobs are north of the river so you definitely want to be north of the river. Many are downtown but many are along mopac or west of mopac east of 360 and south of 620. Some people have posted tech company maps on city-data or you can google them.

The population center of town is probably something like 38th and lamar.