Info request on SW Austin (moving from Atlanta) (Houston, Georgetown: sales, real estate)

[HMS Pinafore]

Hello:

This is my first post to this excellent board.

Our family is planning to relocate from Atlanta to Austin hopefully around the summer time this year. After some preliminary investigation we really, really like SW Austin particularly around the Lakeway area (620/71) as it reminds us of our current suburb of Alpharetta, GA. From the internet research I have done, the exemplary Lake Travis schools and demographics are right on par!

So far, so good! We checked out the Ridge at Alta Vista (Estates collection) and liked what we saw. The biggest attraction here was they are building walkout basements as many of the lots offer an elevation to include such. Those of you from the East Coast or even the Midwest know what a luxury it is to have a basement or “walk out terrace” as it’s sometimes referred to. For me I can’t imagine having to forgo this home design! Yes, I did read the all the “Basements in Texas” posts so no need to rehash that here. So it seems that we may have found our “relocation dream” where we can move to Austin and not-miss-a-beat. Of course being 1000 miles away, we really honestly haven’t done due diligence in neighborhood shopping.

So my question is 2 fold: are there any other builders in this area incorporating basements? Any experience dealing with or the buying experience with Toll Brothers at Alta Vista? My impression is that the sales reps seem a little complacent as if the downward trend in real estate has not affected them . . . maybe that’s true? Any comments on other areas that are similar to Lakeway we could have overlooked are welcome too.

Sorry for the long first post.

[TexasHorseLady]

My recommendation is, even if you're buying new, get an agent to represent you. The sales agents at the builder, after all, are representing the builder's interests, not yours, and you're not as likely to be able to get the best deal using them.

As for other builders in that area incorporating basements, I'm not sure - but my daughter lives over there (Apache Shores, not Lakeway) and I can certainly find out! (I've seen two basements in the Austin area in my 40 years of living here, by the way - if you don't count storm shelters! This must be a trend caused by people from basement country moving here and creating a demand.)

[SeanMcCormack]

I'm an agent here in town and the only basement that I've seen here in town was in an old mansion close to the UT school of law. There's so much bedrock here, it's tough to dig one out...

I know what you mean about complacent sales reps. I inquired about specials at another subdivision in South Austin and was curtly told that there were no need for specials because there was still high demand in the area.

[TexasHorseLady]

It occurred to me after I posted and went off to appointments that what you're calling a "walk-out basement" might be what we'd call having the first floor on the second level - a house with one floor built into the hillside (usually, but not always, with the bedrooms on that level and the living area/kitchen on the second floor which you walk into from ground level uphill). Now, THAT I've seen - is that what you were meaning?

[atxcio]

I was thinking the same thing; by walk-out basement I suspect the OP is referring to the first floor of a hillside lot, not actually excavated. Although it is effectively the same, it's not exactly like an east-coast basement because 1) here it will always be finished out, and 2) It will be included in the actual sq footage and bedrooms/living areas in the house... sometimes on the east coast that's all considered bonus area.

Unless the builder is actually calling it a basement? Or are they just nodding their heads when you call it that?

With a hillside lot like that, there are just a couple of issues to watch out for. Since the first floor doesn't exist under the entire house, there can be a somewhat large crawlspace which invites moisture problems. You need to ensure the lot is properly drained, gutters are working properly, and the crawlspace is well ventilated with a fan _or_ sealed with a dehumidifier.

That shouldn't discourage you from the house, though, hillside living is really neat -- just keep those things in mind and you can prevent a lot of future problems.

[10scoachrick]

Most of our Atlanta area basements are fully below grade at the front of the house and walk out to the back yard(grade slopes 8-10ft from front to back of house). I agree that drainage and water management are key in Atlanta while it sound like bedrock is the main obstacle in Austin.

[austin-steve]

Walk-out basements are available on some of the floorplans at HighPoint in Dripping. It has to be a backward sloping lot and you get windows and a door only on the back side.

The trick is, along with "Theater rooms" (which are really just decked and sheetrocked attic space with no windows and a few plugs) that the incremental cost to the builder to finish out those spaces is nowhere near the average per square foot cost of the main house. So, if you get an 800 sqft walk-out basement and are paying full price for that additional space, you're paying too much.

Steve

[texastea]

Just a little more info on the Texas basement thing:

Here's a house being marketed with a "basement"

Listing Details (http://www.austinhomesearch.com/Search/Details.aspx?li=470994&or=1&cp=1# - broken link)

Several years ago when this builder in Bella Vista was marketing its floorplans/lots, they called their bonus room on the bottom floor in the hillside a "Texas Basement." Its the same thing as a walk-out basement in Atlanta (my best friend there has one.)

[achtungpv]

I don't know if I'd trust local builders to build a basement correctly. Heck, builders in places basements are common can't do it right some of the time and water/moisture issues result.

[HMS Pinafore]

Hello again:

Thanks for all the responses. Yes 10scoachrick nailed the basement definition I was referring to. I think others may have confused my earlier explanation with a split level home, which is not the case. A daylight basement is a complete floor that equals the 1st floor sqft, minus the garage space. When done correctly you see a standard two story home from the steet view but looking at the back of the house you see 3 stories. Most new home buyers in Atlanta leave these unfinsihed then decide later what and how much to finish off; from a complete mother-in-law suite to just a single media room as an example.
Many of the lots at the Ridge at Altavista have a slight grade (front to back) or have been escavated to easily lend a basement installation and they do! My wife did some research and found that a seperate company located in Georgetown, TX is the sole contractor for the basement installations for this Toll Brothers community. They even have a website that explains their dry-proofing process and such: Keystone Concrete Placement and Keystone Structural Concrete - Houston Concrete Company. She spoke to one of the managers who claimed lack of basements in Texas is generally lack of knowledge and skilled labor for doing it compared to the East coast. Like in the "Texas Basements" thread on this form, if you can put in a swimming pool why not a basement?