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Once again you're spouting off about something you don't know about. Mueller is divided into two seperate school tracks. The one you cited is the "better" --- but far from good track. The other is Blanton >Pierce >Reagan. Like I said, among the worst schools in Austin.
Please reference aquitaine's post and the second mention of "northeast Austin". I also work within the Reagan feeder pattern and may know more than you think. So please refrain from assuming that I know nothing of AISD.
Mueller resident here. Mrs. Aquitaine and I are mid-30s, no kids, and also moved here from NYC. I am in tech. We built last year and moved in September of 2015.
Glad to hear you're visiting before September. The heat is the only thing I don't like about Texas (Mrs. A loves it) but I do find it both manageable and worth it. Onto your questions:
Other than 'million dollar row' on Camacho (which seemed to be one of the first couple phases), the top end here is currently about 800k -- a 3000-ish 5 bedroom house on Antone built in 2008 just went under contract yesterday and I think asking was 775. Most of what you'll find is in the 450-650 range -- @1300 square foot condos and townhouses on the lower side of that, 2200-2600 sq ft garden and yard homes on the higher side.
Build quality from production builders all over Austin is in the toilet right now because of demand. There are decent builders but they can't hang on to decent subs. As a reference, we first owned (and our in-laws built out on Lakeway with) Standard Pacific back in 2011/2012 and they had a great experience. They were one of the first to build in their subdivision. In Mueller in 2015/16, there are horror stories about StanPac (now CalAtlantic) and Streetman (owned by CalAtlantic) -- builds taking 16-18 months instead of 7-9 and huge quality issues. Having said that, CalAtlantic is a big company with a lot of resources, so if you were going to be here to supervise as often as possible (a Very Good Idea) you would probably be fine.
We went with a smaller, local builder called Wes Peoples. They have a few new houses going up on Camacho right now that are just getting underway. I think they are all in the 700s. Ours was one of the first few houses they did in Mueller so we had the added, uh, joy of being the first build of a new plan. We found it stressful, but after hearing about some of the StanPac stories, honestly we are pretty happy ... but that took a lot of work on our part and we were already living here during the build. Our super 'retired' about a month prior to completion (probably got canned) and that caused a number of problems and we often have to write several times to get their attention for warranty issues, but they always take it on the chin and take care of us at the end of the day. Wes himself met me at his office on New Years' Day 2015 and told me to call him anytime, which was pretty cool - being a business owner myself I haven't actually done that but we do CC him whenever we feel like we're getting lost in the shuffle.
The way new builds work in phases out here, there are probably a bunch available right now and throughout the Summer. Resales don't stay on the market long but there are several advantages:
- The older sections of the neighborhood (West/North) are more convenient and closer to things you'll want to walk to -- that will change as the Tower District gets built out but that won't be until late 2017/2018 at the earliest
- Older sections have actual trees that weren't put in last year
- Everything west of Berkman Dr is zoned to what passes for 'good' schools here: Maplewood, Kealing (good magnet, meh regular), and McCallum. All the new builds are East of Berkman and zoned to Blanton (meh), Garcia (yikes) and Reagan (holy moly) ... BUT there is finally some motion on the 'Imagine Northeast Austin' committee(s) to build a school here, as we have up to 10 acres set aside North of Zach Scott and East of Berkman for one. Unclear whether it will be elementary or K-8 or something else and it won't make a bond election until 2017 at the earliest. Longer-time residents than me will have to tell you how long it takes AISD to build a school but there's an outside chance that by 2020 we'll have something here. Doesn't change Reagan, though the other thing to keep in mind is that we are very close to the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy (LASA) which is basically AISD's gifted program. No pressure.
If you've seen the last season of South Park, it's SoDoSoPa. There is definitely a sentiment that Mueller residents (also called 'Muellerfolk' which I can't say without gagging) are better than everybody else because we have built the mecca for high density, environmentally friendly, mixed-use development. And you know what, if you like those things, they did do a pretty damn fine job with them. Not so much Stepford...think more Park Slope.
People actually born in Austin and still living here are unicorns. Everybody is a transplant. More California than NYC but still a decent share of East coasters. Haven't met that many in Mueller yet but we haven't been here that long.
Based on my totally scientific study of People I See While Walking Around, pretty diverse. Partly due to the fact that the appeal is broad if not deep (there are plenty of folks you couldn't pay to live here, but the folks who want to seem to be from all over) and partly due to the affordable housing program, which has many great attributes while also being the primary reason you can get into Mueller for $170 or $450 but nothing at $200-$375.
It is pretty competitive. There is a reason we met with the builder on New Years' Day. Some things never even hit the MLS (check out 'Mueller Silent Market'). With the next phase opening up there seems to be a little more supply than usual, but a lot of it is on the higher end. Austin in general is tough, though, but you knew that already. Come prepared to buy and if you decide to build new, rent nearby so you can stay on top of it..
Fabulous post. (& d*mn funny)
OP, where will your husband's work be?
(other parts of town might also be a good fit.... possibly with a higher percentage of Asians if that's a data point.... depending on where his job is located)
The schools issue is a touchy one here. Many Mueller residents are pro-public-anything. For instance, there's nothing that says the 10 acres set aside for a school has to be public. It could be public AISD, it could be charter, or it could be private. If you breathe a word of 'charter' or 'private' around here you will get a lot of funny looks. So I keep my trap shut on the Facebook page but folks are still pretty nice in person.
As a resident, you will be required to think that Maplewood and Kealing and McCallum are the best ever even as you secretly pay to send your kids to private school. You are not without arguments in favor of this position, but most of the 'and they are good schools' comments tend to come from a place of 'look how bad they used to be' or else 'look how bad those poor sods East of Berkman have it.' So, with a low bar, they are good schools. I understand that Maplewood particularly has improved tons over the last several years, Kealing Magnet is legitimately A-OK (nobody says too much about Kealing Regular) and McCallum is super great if you want your child to be in the fine arts. I am a member of a resident acting company nearby so I do think that is pretty cool, but nobody at Anderson or Bowie is pining for our zoning.
This is a good example of what it's like to live here. There is kool aid and while you aren't required to drink it, you best not have a Ted Cruz lawn sign (though that is hardly unique to Mueller). Mueller used to be called the 'transit-oriented community' until Austin refused to spend a billion dollars on a train from here to the Highland Mall and then our neighborhood was dead set against Uber and Lyft staying in town because they're only oriented toward public transit to the highland mall and not transit regular people actually use to get anyplace.
It is a beautiful neighborhood with tons to do and it's the closest thing to NYC you'll find in Austin. Take my curmudgeonly grumbling with a grain of salt.
Please reference aquitaine's post and the second mention of "northeast Austin". I also work within the Reagan feeder pattern and may know more than you think. So please refrain from assuming that I know nothing of AISD.
Yet you gave entirely incorrect information, which is what I said. It has nothing to do with his post.
Once again you're spouting off about something you don't know about. Mueller is divided into two seperate school tracks. The one you cited is the "better" --- but far from good track. The other is Blanton >Pierce >Reagan. Like I said, among the worst schools in Austin.
And also pierce is now Bertha Sadler young women's academy. So. No. You do not know as much as you think. Kids who opt out of ywla/Ymla (Gus Garcia) will go to kealing.
We moved to Mueller from NYC a couple years ago and are so, so happy here. We're mid-30s, two kids under 3, had pretty much your exact same wish list for a home. We lived in the Mosaic at Mueller apartments for a few months to make sure this was the area we wanted to buy in. To your questions:
How is the quality of the builders? We bought a pre-owned house in the older area (built 2007) primarily because we wanted the Maplewood/Kealing/McCallum school track. It was built originally by David Weekley and we haven't had any major issues yet. As Aquitaine mentioned, the older section has the added benefit of being walkable to lots of amenities - the Thinkery children's museum, Sunday farmers market, Lake Park, pool/playground, and soon-to-be-built Alamo Drafthouse movie theater and a bunch of restaurants.
How are the residents/neighbors? The houses are Stepford, the people are not. In my corner of the neighborhood, the people are friendly but not nosy. In the past few months, we've gotten a good alley scene going with my preschooler and a few others in the 5-and-under set who like to ride bikes after school. A couple weeks ago we ended up meeting up with a neighbor kid and their family at the pool, went back and the kids played in the alley, we ordered tacos and drank beer and watched the sunset and it was all very idyllic. But we can then go a couple weeks without seeing neighbors and that's fine too. The people are liberal (lots of Bernie signs) and generally down-to-earth (less made-up and dressed-up than the outer 'burbs in what I've seen). Lots of people around here request no gifts for toddler birthday parties, for example.
Are there a lot of transplants? I haven't met anyone from Austin - we're from other cities in Texas, I've met some from the Northeast, Midwest and many from around Tx.
How diverse of a neighborhood is it? Good amount of diversity. An Asian person would not stick out. I've actually found it to be more diverse than my neighborhood in NYC, which looked diverse during the day with nannies/housekeepers/etc. but was pretty much 100% white people actually living there.
How difficult/competitive is it to buy in Mueller? Totally doable in your budget. You just have to be ready to move quickly because things generally don't stay on the market for too long (not anything like NYC craziness, though).
Also, like you, schools are a concern for us, but I also tend to think "good schools" is code for "white/rich." Maplewood is evenly split white, black, Latino. We're willing to give up the best test scores in exchange for a more diverse experience. I've heard mostly good things about Maplewood from people that go there, but we're also going to look into magnet and charter schools (Magnolia Montessori for All, Austin Discovery School, UT Elementary, Pease Elementary). But we're big believers in public education and private really isn't in the budget - we're spending all the budget on this dang mortgage. ;-)
I appreciate all the feedback - thanks all for responding. Please keep it coming!
I didn't realize how much of a raw nerve the school issue was. While I would love the absolute best for my special snowflake spawnchild, it seems that if we were to go the public school route and pursue Mueller, we'd have to go with a pre-owned home west of Berkman for the more desirable schools. From what I've seen, all new builds are east of Berkman and track into the lower scoring schools.
Were we to move in the next year, my husband would likely telecommute and work from home, so we're open to all neighborhoods as long as they have high walkability scores, close to downtown, and new(er) homes. I really would prefer a new build.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquitaine
If you've seen the last season of South Park, it's SoDoSoPa. There is definitely a sentiment that Mueller residents (also called 'Muellerfolk' which I can't say without gagging) are better than everybody else because we have built the mecca for high density, environmentally friendly, mixed-use development. And you know what, if you like those things, they did do a pretty damn fine job with them. Not so much Stepford...think more Park Slope.
This is a hilarious and helpful analogy. I don't know if I should be ashamed to admit that I loved living in Park Slope after reading this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coachtaylor
How difficult/competitive is it to buy in Mueller? Totally doable in your budget. You just have to be ready to move quickly because things generally don't stay on the market for too long (not anything like NYC craziness, though).
This is very comforting to know, thank you! My sister is house hunting in Westchester* for her family and are constantly getting into bidding wars for homes in the "white/rich" school districts (*NYC real estate bidding wars are spilling into the suburbs, per a recent NYT article). Her headaches with getting outbid, even when offering above listing, makes me anxious for our future home buying in a hot real estate market.
New build and high walkability really don't go together in Austin! Mueller is the exception that proves the rule. Resales are almost always the better bet for appreciation.
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