NH to Austin (Dallas, Round Rock, Spring: for sale, rent, house)

[toyohtadude]

My wife and I are eventually going to make our way to Austin. If she had her way, we'd have left already. I'm trying to gather all the information I can.

What outlying areas are best to find a reasonably priced home with a couple or more acres? I'm thinking up to 30 miles outside of Austin Center. We've looked online out to Kyle.

We've been told to stay away from anything east of Austin. Any other areas to steer clear of? I should note that my daughter and her child will be coming with us. Our granddaughter will be three by the time we arrive.

Who knows a reputable real-estate agent who cares about a family's needs and isn't just trying to push the big money maker places for sale?

We'd be moving from a place with about 80k people which is just outside of another city with 120k people. We're quite familiar with Boston which is close to Austin in size and culture (big college town with traffic issues and crowds) so we expect the same from Austin. I mean, what city doesn't have traffic issues, homeless people begging, crowds, etc.... My wife grew up outside of Hartford, CT and is a city girl at heart and she's dying to get back to a larger city.

How is public transportation? I've heard it isn't the best and commuting can be rather aggressive but I learned to commute in DC and refined it in Boston so I can handle it. I'm guessing it's not a good idea to commute on the motorcycle? (Both my wife and I ride our own Yamaha FZ1 bikes).

As for jobs, I'll be taking mine with me for several months and hopefully as a permanent position but we have to see how it works out and how hard my boss can fight this up the ladder. My wife is a corporate accountant and typically, there's no issues getting in and counting someone's beans.

Basically, we're sick of 5 months of hibernation during winter, 98% humidity on the "good days" during the summer.... I'm sick of moving snow every few days and watching the bike sit in the garage for months. I'm getting too old for this crap! I love the heat when it's not humid so Austin fits. Being in IT, well, Austin has a lot to offer for technology should I need to find work there.

Thanks for reading and for any advice you can offer. Hope to have a cup of coffee with some of you sooner than later!

-Eric in NH.

[toyohtadude]

BTW, any of you also in the forum Tacomaworld (dot) com? Hence the name.... I love Tacos.

[love roses]

I wouldn't totally avoid the East side. There are only certain spots East near downtown to avoid. East of 35 thirty miles out has different topography and soil than West of 35. Motorcycles are really popular around here and I think would be alright for long rides/commutes. I would not say the same for scooters! If you know what area you will be working, It'll be easier for us to recommend towns/areas around the city.

[tazbigdog]

Lived in NH for a while, so Austin (IMHO) is better than Boston. Round Rock, Cedar Park and Leander are suggestions to start looking for a house. She is close enough (driving distance) to all the businesses and you'll be able to get a decent house in an affordable location.

Good luck!

Jeff

[BevoLJ]

Hello Eric,

I went to boarding school up near Lawrence and loved Nashua. We had local friends from there and visited it often. Beautiful area. You may not miss winters, but you will miss the autumns I promise! For a Texan those winters were very hard on me so I ended up running as fast as I could to LA for college. The SoCal weather was a welcome change!

Couple questions. What is your budget? And what sort of area are you looking for? You mentioned you'd like a couple acres. Is that in suburbia or a small town?

Austin is where many of the regions of Texas all come together so the various sides of town can be quite different. West and South West of Austin is the Texas Hill Country, while West and North West of Austin is the Highland Lakes and Hill Country. The Central Plains (think Dallas) comes down to the northern suburbs of Austin while the East Texas Pines comes just East of Austin and the Coastal Plains comes just south of Austin. All those areas can be quite different, and the towns can also be quite different. Like many of the Hill Country towns and those south of Austin are quite German and Czech.

As for you budget it will make a huge difference as some parts of town are more desirable than others, and in some areas two or more acres is easier to find than others. We live on two and a half acres and only like 5 miles (15 mins) from downtown, just west of Austin in the hills overlooking the city. In the western part of the city there are environmental issues as well as being very hilly so many of the properties are 1.5-2.5 acres, but also quite a bit more expensive.

A couple other things. Boston is a lot bigger than Austin. Like as a metro. And there are many things that Boston can offer that Austin can't even come close too. Like cultural things such as art and museums and such. It is defiantly not near as much of a 'Big City' as Boston. More of a Huge Small Town. lol. Though it does have lots of large crowds and traffic.

Public Transit doesn't really exist yet. There is commuter rail, but only from the northern suburbs. In town you can walk, bike or hop on a bus. The bus system is actually very good, and the central parts of town are all very walkable. There are plans for urban rail, but who know when or if that will ever happen. There is nothing remotely close to Boston's Subway in Austin though.

You will be fine on your motorcycles. Austin has tons of motorcycles and scooters, so the cagers aren't as bad as most places. I almost never drive my car anymore. I got a scooter last year and use my car roughly twice a month. However I live only 10-15 mins from my office in downtown so it isn't much of a commute, and I rarely ever leave central Austin and NEVER use the highways. So I don't know how commuting from the burbs would be, but with as many motorcycles as are in Austin I think you will be fine. Oh, and a big plus is that motorcycles and scooters can park anywhere downtown for free. So no more paying for parking! And parking in Downtown Austin can be super hard to find and extremely expensive as it is a busy area all hours day or night. But with my scooter I always find great spots right next to where I need to be and the city lets us park for free. Also many establishments downtown and around central Austin have special areas for motorcycles and scooters to park right up front. It makes their establishments look busier so it is good for business.

Good luck!

[Roadking2003]

I can understand wanting to get away from those long cold winters, but just understand that Austin has long hot summers. I prefer the heat to cold weather, but some people don't.

Many parts of East Austin are fine and prices are much lower. West of Austin is the Hill Country where housing is much more expensive due to the nice views, etc. Bus service is good in central Austin, but not to where you would find cheaper housing.

I've lived in Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle and LA and Austin traffic isn't anywhere near as bad as those cities. But it does depend on where you are driving to and from.

The various parts of Austin (South, West, Round Rock, East, Central,, etc.) are quite different. I suggest that you rent for at least six months so you can decide where to locate. Round Rock is basically a bedroom suburb, but most of the cheaper housing will be either far north in Round Rock or south of Austin. The housing south of Austin is much closer to downtown than Round Rock.

[toyohtadude]

Thank you all for the awesome feedback! This is some great information.

The comparison to Boston was valuable to me BevoLJ and makes perfect sense. And Roadking2003's suggestion of renting is one of our stronger considerations.

We completely understand that while we will not have harsh winters, summer will bring a lot of heat but correct me if I am wrong, most of that heat is not accompanied by humidity? I can handle a lot of heat, love it when we have very hot/dry days here but if we go over 80 here with high humidity? OMG! Get me out of here!

As for budget, we're looking in the $250 to $300k range. I'm very handy with all aspects of home repair so something that is sound and needs cosmetic work isn't going to shake me. I'd rather have a larger place and work on it than a smaller place with the showroom shine. Does anyone live in an area where one can buy a place and have no problems putting other dwellings on it? I ask because I'd like to have enough property to put up more than one house without too much hassle from the city I'm in. I'd love to build on the property or even move onto it a couple of double-wides so my twins can have their own places (we want our granddaughters close by) and they are very open to the idea. Finding a town with this flexibility in zoning and permits would be great. Even if it takes sub-dividing our property to give them their own, that is fine with me. We're looking all around in the triangle mostly formed by Austin, Kyle and Johnson City. Being from New England, we're people who get along with anyone unless they give us a reason not to. Ethnic troubles are not a problem up here and everyone treats each other with respect. I'm hoping to find neighbors who are much the same but I know you cannot (often) pick your neighbors. LOL! At least we're not the "Loud Pipes" sort of sportbikers!

In the event my company decides the remote job isn't working out, I'm sure I can find a Server/SAN/VMware Engineer job somewhere in Austin or Round Rock.

Glad to hear that motorcycles are more accepted there! Here? We're treated almost worse than cages and are expected to pay the same share no matter the situation.

I've been through many of the threads and seen the comments, criticisms and complaints. But I've got a hunch about those that do not like it there..... Us? We're expecting most of what I've read for complaints so Austin will be "no surprise" to us and we look forward to making Austin a home just for what it is. You all are a helping hand a solidifying that decision.

Thanks and have a great day!

-Eric

[Jennibc]

On the humidity front, it's all relative. We moved from Newport, RI to Austin in June of 1999. When we got here, my husband and I felt like there was no humidity to speak of. However, my sister came down from Eastern WA state (arid climate) a few weeks later for a visit and complained about humidity!

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by toyohtadude

We'd be moving from a place with about 80k people which is just outside of another city with 120k people. We're quite familiar with Boston which is close to Austin in size and culture (big college town with traffic issues and crowds) so we expect the same from Austin. I mean, what city doesn't have traffic issues, homeless people begging, crowds, etc.... My wife grew up outside of Hartford, CT and is a city girl at heart and she's dying to get back to a larger city.

Well. . .Austin is nothing like Boston in size - Boston being 3 or 4 times as big and about a million times denser. Austin isn't really a big city yet - though it imitates one sometimes.

[CarnivalGal]

Just be aware that Austin is NOTHING like Boston. It may seem similar on paper, but it is not even close. Boston is much, much denser than Austin, so population may be similar, but Austinites are spread out over a much larger distance. Boston is about 90 square miles. Austin is about 290 square miles.

And there is only laughable public transportation, especially 30 miles out. There is one rail line, but the hours are limited and it goes from Leander to Downtown. That's it.

And I know you talk about humidity, but trust me when I say that the hottest day you have ever experienced in NH is still not as hot as a typical July in Austin. And where those temps are fairly limited in NH, they last for months at a time here.

If you have not been here yet, I strongly encourage you to visit. Now, while it's still damn near 100 degrees.

If you love it and still want to make the move, then I would suggest looking at Dripping Springs.