Job in Lost Creek & 360 (Bowie, West: renting, mortgage, day care)

[Tim131]

Hi All,

We currently live in Bee Cave (Renting) and we want to buy a home within the next year or so. My job will be located On Lost Creek Blvd just off 360. If the west/lakeway/bee cave etc isn't an option - what part of town isn't a terrible terrible commute (so far everywhere is looking bad according to google maps traffic - is it accurate)

Even if we looked at just a bit south of Sunset Valley and all the way down to Manchaca - it's looking like a commute could be 45 minutes.

Is the North of East going to be the same or worse? anyone here with experience commuting to this part of town.

I don't want to spend 400k on a house, cos we make about $115k but I just don't feel comfortable having a 3k+ housing expense on top of day care, car payment and 401k/savings.

Any suggestions?

Just suck it up and commute 45+ minutes? is there other options out there??

Thanks

Edit - I should add - schooling is a factor, in about 2 years we will have a school aged child - I'm not from the USA so don't know how to the school selection within districts work but some of the houses south seem to have schools that are like 2/10 according to zillow... do we have to send them to that school? I know AISD isn't known for being the best but 2/10... I want to give my kid at least a chance at succeeding.

If we cannot put her in another school, and private it the only option then there is a legitimate discussion about getting a much higher mortgage payment so she can go to Lake Travis ISD.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Tim131

Hi All,
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Edit - I should add - schooling is a factor, in about 2 years we will have a school aged child - I'm not from the USA so don't know how to the school selection within districts work but some of the houses south seem to have schools that are like 2/10 according to zillow... do we have to send them to that school? I know AISD isn't known for being the best but 2/10... I want to give my kid at least a chance at succeeding.

If we cannot put her in another school, and private it the only option then there is a legitimate discussion about getting a much higher mortgage payment so she can go to Lake Travis ISD.

Circle C, according to Google Maps says anywhere from 16-35 minutes. Yep, it looks like you'd be stuck in some traffic at times, but it doesn't say 45 minutes. Do some searching on "Bowie" high school and you'll find some good info on the area. I think it would be a good fit, but that's just me. You may want to look a bit north of Circle C proper, near Mills Elementary, which is a fine school for your soon to be elementary aged little one.

[Tim131]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Circle C, according to Google Maps says anywhere from 16-35 minutes. Yep, it looks like you'd be stuck in some traffic at times, but it doesn't say 45 minutes. Do some searching on "Bowie" high school and you'll find some good info on the area. I think it would be a good fit, but that's just me. You may want to look a bit north of Circle C proper, near Mills Elementary, which is a fine school for your soon to be elementary aged little one.

Thank you for the response!

I searched for houses in the catchment area, certainly more affordable than the west!

Do you know if there are any exceptions to the catchment areas? Say I lived a mile or two away, if we were willing to drop the kiddo off.

Thanks again youve helped us focus the search!

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Tim131

Thank you for the response!

I searched for houses in the catchment area, certainly more affordable than the west!

Do you know if there are any exceptions to the catchment areas? Say I lived a mile or two away, if we were willing to drop the kiddo off.

Thanks again youve helped us focus the search!

Many schools are closed to transfer. Mills appears to be open, though. You'll want to check at see what schools are open and closed to transfer and be aware that they change year to year. https://www.austinisd.org/transfer

[austinaggie]

I’m confused. What exactly is your budget to buy a home?

[Trainwreck20]

Circle C or just north of there - Villages of Western Oaks, Legend Oaks, etc - would be my target area. Our kids go/went to Mills and there have been couple of people who lived east of MoPac (Sendera?) that transferred their kids in; however, you are talking about a not insignificant addition to your overall commute if you have to drive over there to drop kids and then head to work.

[Eddie512]

Do you have a realtor? You need one to help you out here.

Anywhere That feeds into Bowie will have good schools. If your budget is $400k, you may be able to afford circle c. There’s also Maple Run and Sendera directly across Mopac.