Hutto (Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown: foreclose, HOA, lofts)

[love roses]

Originally Posted by austin62006

i dont think anyone answered before but if anyone knows can you let me know?

They just finished a new animal hospital there and also are doing expansions on the high school.

[austin62006]

it's south of the highschool on 685...just before the creek and riverfront sub. It's still in the process of being built but just was wondering if anyone knew what it was...

[girlyJJ]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

, which is that commuting costs should be factored into the total cost of home ownership when buying a home, and that most people who chase "cheap prices" out into the outskirts are in fact not saving anything at all. It's simply a fact I was sharing, and it can be proven with some simple math. Take it or leave it.

Steve

Steve cracks me up. Of course he tells his clients to consider commuting cost when looking at a less expensive home. The less expensive home would cut into his commision. That's so funny.

And you know another thing that cracks me up? When realators tell the buyers what buyers are looking for! I know what I'm looking for, and if I'm looking for it, I'm sure that other people are too.

[girlyJJ]

They are building a veterinary clinic.

[girlyJJ]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Mapquest says that Hutto is 28 miles away from DT Austin if you take 130/290, not 20 miles. Austin is currently in compliance with Federal Air Quality standards (many other Texas cities are not). And I can't speak for other Austin surubanites but homeless and drugs are not huge problem in my particular neighborhood. You can't judge Austin by a few blocks of the downtown area.........Now traffic we have that but that just means you have to be prudent about where you decided to live and work.

A co-worker of mine is like you. One of those snotty people that are going to knock anyone who live outside of Austin proper. He loves his trendy austin neighborhood, but now admits that he can't take a walk in his neighborhood at night. and now that he has small children, he now has to consider if he can afford to stay where he is with the impending cost of private school.

[girlyJJ]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

I think those figures are incorrect. There is no way that the Avg hh income in Hutto is $100K/yr. Cross check and verify your numbers. If $100K were correct, the average priced home would be $300K. Home prices in a given area will reliably inform us of avg and median incomes. Hutto is a starter home community, with a smattering of more expensive homes (above $200K).

Steve

Acually, those numbers are out-dated. Somewhere recently I saw numbers that were closer to 120,000. I can't remember where, I think that it was in the monthly paper that comes in the mail, the one that covers Georgetown, Taylor & Hutto.
Not everyone wants to live beyond their means. I laughed when the mortgage co. told us that we were approved for 300K home.

[love roses]

Actually, after seeing my husband's W2 yesterday I have to agree. If he made 100k then I'm positive that there are quite a few other families out here doing the same, as we're just a one income house. I know lots of people that are 2 income families.

[austin-steve]

Steve cracks me up. Of course he tells his clients to consider commuting cost when looking at a less expensive home. The less expensive home would cut into his commision.

You are highly uninformed about our industry if you believe that.

Again, all I did was share some facts. Not saying that living further out isn't a good idea. Just that people should look at more than the gross sales price when deciding how much a house really costs.

This is an accepted and understood practice in the auto world (check Edmonds.com Total Cost of Ownership ratings), and houses are no different for someone who wants to know what a house really costs once all variables are factored in.

Steve

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by girlyJJ

A co-worker of mine is like you. One of those snotty people that are going to knock anyone who live outside of Austin proper. He loves his trendy austin neighborhood, but now admits that he can't take a walk in his neighborhood at night. and now that he has small children, he now has to consider if he can afford to stay where he is with the impending cost of private school.

Austin is a safe city and the stats back that up. The whole "trendy" thing is an overblown stereotype. Half the folks in my south Austin neighborhood are bubbas who have probably never paid more than $1.50 for a cup of coffee in their life.

If you really think Austin is such a bad city compared to the outlying surburbs then why have Austin homes appreciated in value this past year while most of the surrounding suburbs have lost value, Hutto included?

Williamson County home values in decline, appraisers say (http://impactnews.com/georgetown-hutto-taylor/recent-news/4341-williamson-county-home-values-in-decline-appraisers-say - broken link)

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

I have a theory about why the property values are going up in the city. I think that people with lot's of money are buying up land and homes, turning them around into something they weren't.

It's like what happenend in the late 70's, early 80's. My parents bought a piece of land on a man made lake in the 50's. My Father built the house himself. It was a very small home but suited us just fine. The payoff being it was on the water. It was down a dusty old, dirt road. Most everyone around there had small homes because the lot's were very small.

Then, around the same time, (late 70's, early 80's) people were buying these small homes and paying good. Many times they demolished the small homes and built HUGE homes on these tiny little lot's. (lakefront property)

So my theory is anytime neighborhood's get old, or the homes in that neighborhood are foreclosed they can be sold, and turned into something new and shiny. Then, property values go up. Same thing happening in Austin?

Anyways...I remember when this thread started and I got defensive too about Steve and his case against rural, suburbia. I don't know if it's real or imagined but I got defensive. I realize now I was stressing and was defensive about many things.

Oh well, maybe none of this makes sense. It probably won't make sense to me either when I read it tomorrow, cuz I'm not re-reading tonight. I'm going to sleep.

I too laughed when they told us what we were qualified for when purchasing a home. I even spent some time looking at those 200K homes and even higher. That was a trip. I became rather delusional. I'm happily back down to earth now and I'm so thankful our real estate person didn't listen to me all the time or I do believe we would be in trouble. I laugh about it now thank goodness. I'll just be glad when we all get there. Soon now, in June.

Well, off to bed. I'm going to try and sleep now but we just watched Six Pounds with Will Smith and I'm emotionally distressed. I wish I wouldn't have watched it...I can't shake it. ARGH!