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I've been a long-time lurker, and I appreciate all the great and useful information shared on these forums. I'm really hopeful that you can help me too. Hubby & I are finally realizing our goal of moving to TX from metro NYC, and we can't wait! While I don't want to jinx anything, odds are very good that a transfer will finally be coming through for my hubby. If this finally happens, he will most likely be in the Austin area sometime in July. I'll hang back here in NY until I can get a seller for our townhouse (I hope this task won't take a year or more...).
So, he works in sales, and his territory is pretty much Austin proper. He's got a few outlier accounts in the RR/Plugerville area, along w/Kyle, Buda & Dripping Springs, although the vast majority of accounts is Austin. His prospective supervisor suggested we look in the South Austin area. Our realtor seems to be hinting that SW or West Austin would be better for us, but I don't feel terribly confident in her. She's not a bad realtor, but for someone who deals with relocations as often as she says she does, I find that when I ask questions pertaining to the area, commuting times (for me), etc - her answer is often "I don't know". My husband and I are pretty savvy when it comes to real estate, since we own several rental properties and have bought and sold personal residences repeatedly, so we know we can rely on our expertise there, but there is so much we don't know, and I'd love your input and advice!
OK - nitty gritty details:
* It's just us and a few kitties - no kids yet, and not 100% committed to that idea anyhow, but you never know.
* We currently live in a 3BR, 2.5 Ba home that is roughly 2,200 sq feet. Looking for something a little larger than that - let's say 2,500 - 3,500 sq ft. Hubby wants a media room, and he is committed to bringing his gym equipment that is housed in our basement now, so I'll need to commit a BR to the gym. 4BR w/media room would probably work - 1 BR for gym, and 1 BR for office, which leaves 1 guest BR, plus our master suite. Hubby also seems to be in love w/the 3 car garage, even though we only have 2 cars...
* We currently live in the typical HOA community in NY, where they command everything you can and can't do, and run the place without a modicum of common sense. I realize the TX HOA's aren't as crazy (or as expensive!) as what we are deaing with, but given our past experience, we'd like a little space between neighbors. What's the deal w/the houses being 10' apart? Or the backyards where if I fell out the back door, I'd hit the fence? That won't do. Backyards are more important than side yards to us, but if properly spaced and backing a greenbelt or golf course, I am confident that even .25 acre would work, but I guess half an acre up to a full acre would be more ideal.
* New vs used? I'm really torn on this one. We've done a ton of on-site research in Austin, Dallas and Houston, and every time, we get the same feeling. With all the new construction out there, not to mention the willingness of builders to drop the price significantly, it makes more sense to buy a new home, IF we can find the right lot. We aren't scared of buying a home that needs updating, as we are both quite handy {I even tile my own floors! }, but given that I will be commuting somewhere unknown in the future, I don't want to move out in the middle of nowhere in order to get some land, especially since I'm not looking to buy a ranch, you know?
* Also, something to consider is that the newer homes seem to come with significantly improved insulation/energy efficiency options, and we are both mindful of fixed costs and would like to keep them from being outrageous. Or course, if you saw my current heating bills in the winter - and we keep it at 65/55 (home/away) - well, it's one of the many reasons that we've had it with NY and their house poor mentality. Still, we would prefer to keep costs down, especially since we'll be maintaining two personal residences until our property in NY sells, and once I get down there, we'll be on 1 income until I find suitable work - I'm an Office Manager/High Level Executive Assistant, so I'm not industry specific.
* I think that everything is relative, so I want to ensure that everyone knows what my current commute is like. 55 miles one way, and it takes me roughly an hour each way most days, unless there is an accident or bad weather. Worst commute ever was 4.5 hours in the middle of a really bad snowstorm - one more thing about NY I won't be missing! However, I'd like to improve my quality of life, so I am hoping to keep the commute times down to 30-45 minutes one way.
* I'd prefer to keep the cost of the house in the $250K range, but we could go up higher than that if necessary. Open to foreclosures and short sales in order to get the "value" property, especially since I know that I'll have to take a beating in order to sell the NY property in this market...
* We'd like to have a home in a good school district for resale value - one of the many lessons we learned along the way in our real estate career. Also, we do like the idea of master planned communities and all the amenities offerred there, but are turned off by the small lots, unless we just haven't been exposed to a master planned community that offers larger lots - we aren't the only people out there who want space, right?
Did I cover everything? I hope so, but if not, please ask questions and I'll be happy to provide more details. If you have any other tidbits I'm not thinking of that should be on my punch list, please let me know!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this long winded post, and helping out two newcomers to the area who can not wait to join your wonderful town! We appreciate it more than you ever know.
Not sure where you can find a new house for $250K in a good school district in the SW on a decent size lot. You can find a decent older house that needs updating probably. There are a few neighborhoods that might offer something for you. The ones I would look at would be Shady Hollow, Villages of Western Oaks, and maybe out near Dripping Springs.
If you want NW, people say good things about Cedar Park but I don't really know anything about it.
I don't think you will find anything in SW Austin that is four bedroom, game room, and decent sized lot for 250. We're looking in this area for the same thing and were willing to go as low as .19 acre and couldn't find anything under 300K. Shady Hollow has some of the largest lots down in this area but again, for the four bedroom, game room requirement you are still looking at closer to 300K.
Does it make sense for your husband to rent until you sell the townhouse so that you can afford to go a little higher?
One more thing, if your realtor is saying things like "I don't know" rather than "I don't know, but I will find out for you," fire her and hire another realtor. Because we were relocated we went through a relocation company but still were able to pick our own realtor.
Looking at your requirements, starting at half an acre, there's a few out there, from Cedar Park/Leander to Georgetown to Round Rock to Pflugerville to Dripping Springs (interestingly, not a one popped up on the MLS right now SW), but you may have to either adjust your requirements or raise your price point.
If you drop down to 1/3 of an acre, you get a lot more options, in the same areas mentioned above, mostly Georgetown/Round Rock/Pflugerville.
Thanks for all your help - I appreciate the info and will certainly look into all these areas.
It seems like a lot of you are recommending SW - is there any reason to stay away from the West or South?
$250K isn't my bottom line per se. I'm just really frugal, but I am also realistic, and I can raise the price point to at least $300K if need be.
Renting is always an option, but one I'd like to stay away from if at all possible. This will be a big enough transition for our family, and I think it would be best for my husband to get him settled into our home, rather than a short term rental. Plus, I have four kitties, so as a landlord myself, I'm sure finding suitable housing that would allow four kitties would be a task in and of itself. Not to mention that one of my furry babies does not react well to change at all. About a year ago, I had the opportunity to sell some furniture I knew I wouldn't be taking with me when we moved, so I sold it. What I didn't realize is that those pieces were considered to be hiding spots to this one kitty, and she rewarded me by developing a spraying problem - she ruined a significant portion of the grout in my foyer and kitchen. I tried so many different things to re-train her, but the only thing that helps is prescription "Kitty prozac", which she'll be on for the rest of her life. So, if she did that when I sold some furniture, can you imagine her reaction to moving 3x in one year? It's a good thing she's really cute!!
I'm usually not this lenient w/realtors, but I have a bit of a soft spot for this one. She was nice enough to take us out home shopping last year when we were in town, even though she completely understood that we hadn't finalized Austin as our new town, and that we would not be buying for at least another year. I spoke to a few other realtors before my trip, and it was obvious that they had no interest in dealing with me, so I sort of feel the need to reward her for being flexible and understanding that we could be prospective future clients. It figures too - I have realtors in Dallas and Houston as well, and those two were just amazing, well informed, helpful realtors! I even found the dream home w/in 20 minutes commuting time of Dallas - 2900 sq feet, an acre of land, 3 car garage, brand new home w/some amazing interior features, all for $275K! Now, if we can just transplant that home into Dripping Springs...
I wouldn't particularly recommend SW, especially since NOTHING turns up close to your specs there on the MLS right now, but some posters on here are passionately in love with it (or defensive about it, depending, because they don't want it to be considered suburbs even though long-time Austinites definitely consider it so - long discussion on other threads ), but it's no more suburbs than the areas where the hits for your requirements are popping up, and less so than most of them that are actually towns in their own right (Round Rock, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Hutto, Kyle, Cedar Park, Leander, were all towns before the Austin Monster got there and ate most of them - hasn't made it to Georgetown quite yet, or Dripping Springs quite yet, either), and they're still trying hard to maintain that separate identity in the face of an influx of people who don't remember them as such.
So those may be the reasons that some are recommending SW, plus it's closer to the majority of the outliers that you mentioned your husband would be traveling to than some of the northern areas.
What's the average % of purchase price I need for closing costs, assuming I escrow T & I? I understand TX is still failry high on the list, but nothing beats the rip off pricing on NY, where it feels like closing costs are always 10% of purchase price....
When I first saw your post, I was thinking "Dripping all the way, until I saw the price point you were looking for. Dripping Springs meets everything you are looking for but the overall price point will be higher.
If you are interested in Master Planned communities with a bit more room, Sawyer Ranch fits the bill. Belterra and HighPointe are also nice but the lots are on the smaller size. Unfortunately, the house you are looking for would probably run about $300 - $400 or more. We were looking for 3500 sq ft+ and our price range bottomed out at $400 with most homes falling into the upper 400s.
Hidden Ranch is an area within the town of Dripping Springs that is very nice and had a lot of nicer smaller (about 2500 sq ft) homes for sale. They looked real nice but were too small for us. I cannot remember the prices they were going for. The area is a collection of 1+ acre lots and its fairly quiet and the people we met were friendly.
Lennar has a subdivision called Ledge Stone that has houses in your size and price range, but I found their lots to be very small. I think 1/4 acre would be considered large. I did like the floor plans they had on their site.
Good luck with your search. I'd recommend opening up your price range a little bit and see what THL can find for you.
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}, but given that I will be commuting somewhere unknown in the future, I don't want to move out in the middle of nowhere in order to get some land, especially since I'm not looking to buy a ranch, you know? 
but I am also realistic, and I can raise the price point to at least $300K if need be.
