Need Advice: Pflugerville vs. Cedar park - Home buying (Austin: sale, rentals)

[bonobo]

Hi

I have lived in Austin for 8 years in and out. Every time I visit I see tons of changes for the good. I'd like to invest in the greater Austin area. Need some suggestions/advice

My criteria
< 250K
3BR 2 BA minimum
1600sqft minimum
Good to great school districts
Monthly rent 1600$ min
New or 1-2 year old house

I am looking at a few options
Town homes vs. Single Family
Areas of interest
Falcon Pointe
Cedar park
Mayfield ranch or RRW
Terravista (prefer in RR)

I feel that Leander, Hutto and Manor are bit farther.

Any help would be great!

[centralaustinite]

Are looking to buy a house to live in or purchase a house for investment purposes and rent it out?

[AustinDude360]

You said invest...that's much different then buy.

Anyway, Cedar Park is generally going to have better schools and is considered a more convenient location due to amenities + train.

If you are investing...why would you look at brand new homes?

For rental property in Cedar Park - Silverado Ranch and Buttercup Creek would be to general areas to look at. Lower price per SF and the schools are good. Definitely check out near Lakeline if you are thinking of townhomes/lofts.

I would stay away from Manor. Consider Leander or P-Ville before thinking about Hutto or Manor.

[riaelise]

FYI, Cedar Park is an entire city, not a subdivision like the others you've named. I can offer my advice on Pflugerville. Of the areas listed, Falcon offers more bang for your limited budget. It tracks to some of the best Pflugerville schools, so it will more than likely hold its value. It is next to a very busy shopping mall and has easy access to toll and non-tolled roads. It is not as far out as Teravista or Mayfield Ranch (which is something you should think about). At $250k, you will probably get a small house (1600 sq ft) and you will probably be competing with plenty of others because Pflugerville is truly one of the last areas that are affordable and not undesirable (i.e. bad schools, totally horrible commute, lack of amenities).

That being said, having formerly lived in a new home subdivision, I cringe whenever I read about investor rentals.

[phone man]

Pflugerville is cheaper per square foot and closer to Austin if that makes a difference. Give me access to 35 and 130 over 183 any day of the week. I grew up in Austin and for some reason I have never been drawn to Cedar Park or Leander. I'm sure it's nice but in the 70s that was white trash cedar chopper land and that impression has always stuck with me. Kinda dumb, but I can't shake it.

[Austinitegirl]

I sold a 7 year-old home with stained (7 year-old) carpeting in a Pflugerville neighborhood down the street from Falcon Pointe that had WAY fewer amenities than Falcon Pointe last year for not much less than the price range you're looking in.

You're not going to find what you're looking for in Falcon Pointe unless you relax your house age range and/or price point. There are homes in Pflugerville that match your description, but you'll have to look at other neighborhoods.

Same with Round Rock. I almost laughed out loud seeing "Teravista" - not in a mean way, but just in a "I WISH there were homes for under $250K in Teravista" way. You can find homes in Round Rock using your parameters, but you'll have to pick different neighborhoods.

Have you tried Movoto? I think it's a much better site than Zillow and really helped me in my home search last year (after my Pville house sold in less than 4 days and I suddenly had to scramble to find something).

Also - as a side note - my husband and I moved to Hutto in our housing scramble last summer because we only needed a temporary (<3yr) place while we wrapped up a couple of job/life transitions and got our long-term house built.

I didn't want to eat into the profits from the sale of the Pville house, so I liked the fact that we could get into a home relatively cheaply, and I have really been pleasantly surprised at how much I like our Hutto neighborhood MORE than the Pville neighborhood we moved out of. The people are friendlier, the homes/lawns are better kept, they have SIDEWALKS (which our "high dollar" Pville neighborhood did not), and even though we moved about 7.5 miles farther NORTH, my commute to downtown Austin for work actually DECREASED because of the new neighborhoods easier access to the toll road.

Of course - we didn't have to consider schools because it's short term and we don't need to think about schools (yet), so I know that's a major issue for many people.

But - for what it's worth - many people are getting priced out of Round Rock and Pflugerville and moving their tax dollars to Hutto, so I suspect the school situation will change dramatically for the better within the next 3-5 years. They're building a brand new elementary school in our neighborhood, about 3 blocks from our house, so we're looking forward to the nice property value bump (and profit) that will give us when we sell in about 2 years.

Good luck!