Looking for a house to buy close to UT (78759,78731 any other neighborhoods I should consider?) (Austin: real estate, lease)

[sweetrai]

Greetings Austin Forumers,

I recently moved to the Austin area and have been living here since Jan. I've been lurking on the board for a while, but finally decided to post.

My husband and I are currently in the process of searching for a house. We've been looking for the last 3 months and we are still trying to get a feel for the different Austin Areas. So I'm coming here for help.

The biggest critierion is location. I would like to be no more than a 20 to 30 min (and 30 min commute is pushing it for me) from UT campus during rush hour. I also will have to commute some days to the Pickle Reserch Campus (PRC) and I would like to keep the PRC commute to less than 20-30 min commute in rush hour.

So, I guess ideally, I would like a 10 - 15 min non-rush hour commute to either location, and 20 -30 min commute in rush hour commute to either location.

Due to the commuting factor, we have focused on the Northwest Hills/cat Mountain area (78731) Great Hills (78759) area. (Although the northern parts of the 78759 zip code may be a little further than I would prefer with regards to commuting time.)

Here's the details of what we are looking for:

Musts:
Commute to either UT location not more than 30 min in rush hour (preferably with alternate routes )
4 bedroom house (or 3 bedroom with a dedicated office, the hubby works from home)
~2500 sq ft or greater (closer to 3000 sq ft would be better)
at least 2 baths
large closets in Master bedroom


Likes:
Pool with some yard space
Master bedroom upstairs, but one of the secondary bedroom downstairs
brick/masonary house


Here's the thing.

Our lease is up in December, and if we buy we would probably want to close in November. With regards to price, if we buy in November/December than our range is $300 - $420K. If we wait until June 2010 we will have saved some more and could go up to $500K. Although, we would prefer to be under $450K.

Okay, so the purpose of this long post was to ask if there are other areas other than the 78759 and 78731 that may be a good fit for us.

We have a real estate agent, but we have sort of been guiding the agent to the areas based on what we read here and from discussions with colleagues. The areas that has been suggusted to us by the real estate agent have all been further out than we would prefer (although in the agent's defense this is probably because at the beginning one of the items on the "must" list was a house in the 2800 - 3000 sq ft range). Our real estate agent has taken us to the Circle C neighborhood, but the commute time is why I am not considering this location. The real estate agent has also suggested Cedar Park, but several colleagues have told me that the commute to UT in rush hour can also be greater than 30 min so this area is also off the list.

I went to an open house in the Jester area, but the listing agent showing the house told me that the commute time would probably be greater than 30 min during rush hour. DH and I went to an open house in the Lost Creek neighborhood, and I think this area may also be okay. My only concern is the lake of alternate routes (seems like Mopac is the only way).

We heard alot about Mueller and drove through Mueller housing development, but we want a house with some backyard space (we grew up in Urban neighborhoods and we would like some yard ). We are open to areas on the East side, but we don't know which areas would be the better areas to look at other than Mueller redevelopment project.

Any and all advice is much appreciated.

Thanks.
Rai

[theloneranger]

Just locate conveniently to PRC and take the shuttle to Main Campus.

A lot of faculty do it because there's a lack of parking at the main campus, but there's plenty of parking at Pickle.

[TexasHorseLady]

The reason your agent is showing you houses further out is that your requirements eliminate a great deal of the close-in houses, which tend to be less like the houses you'll find in the further out areas (which is what you're describing) and would be smaller, unlikely to have a pool with a larger yard, and unlikely to have large closets in the master. You might be able to find some remodels with those specs close in, but they're also likely to be more expensive than your price range.

However, you might find something in 78731, which you already know. There are also some neighborhoods south of the river (Barton Hills, Zilker, Travis Heights, etc.) that would be a relatively easy commute, but the houses are likely to be older and if remodeled, again, might be out of your price range (though there are some that would come in under it, I don't know if they'd have your other requirements, most particularly the pool with yard).

Areas 1A and 1B are other possibilities - again, pricey, but there are actually several in the MLS that meet your basic criteria (except for the pool).

[gpurcell]

With that budget, why wouldn't you be looking close in, like Hyde Park or North University? Go look at some of the properties in your price range and see what you think about them.

[sweetrai]

Uggh, I need to get the hang of this. I just wrote a response to all the comments, but I wasn't signed in or something so everything was lost.


@loneranger: Parking is not an issue.I already have a parking permit and haven't had any trouble (yet) parking on the main campus. I am looking at the 78759 zip code because it is close to PRC. Do you have any suggestions for other areas close to PRC and the main campus that I should look at. I thought about Jester, but ruled that out. Not sure about Jollyville.

@texashorselady:funny enough, a pool wasn't even on our list until we saw the houses in the Circle C area. Plus, since it is getting hot we (ok I should say me, hubby is ambivalent) think it would be good to have a pool. However, I will not rule out a house without a pool, but a house without some backyard space will get ruled out. A house with a pool and no yard space is ok, but we would prefer house with pool and a little yard space. With regards to closet space, if the bedroom can be remodeled/reconfigured so that we can enlargen the closet space, then that is okay, especially for a house that is in the upper end of our price range. For a house in the lower end, it is less of an issue because we can always sell and move in 5 years. But if a house is $500K, I am looking at it as if it may be my first (and last) house that i buy so there has to be the potential to have the closet space.

@gpurcell:not sure why we didn't look at Hyde park. Probably the houses in that area did not meet our critieria with regards to space or price. Is there an area called North University?


@everyone: Thanks for the advice. The hardest thing I have found as a newcomer to Austin is trying to match the neighborhoods with zip codes. Lately, when I searched in Austinhomesearch.com I've been using the 78731 and 78759 zip codes, but I feel like I am missing out on a whole range or areas that may be suitable, but not in those zips.

Okay, so I will search:
Barton Hills, Zilker, Travis Heights (MLS zone 7) Do anyone know the zip code for these areas:
Great Hills (78759)
Northwest Hills/cat Mountain (78731)
North University (Allandale???) (78757)
Hyde Park (78751)

I'm also going to look at 78746 (lost creek).

Are there any other neighborhoods?

Does anyone have any suggestions on the East Austin Neighborhoods.

Is there a website that list all the austin neighborhoods, zip codes and MLS area?

[homeinatx]

East Side - 78722 - though houses will be mostly older and smaller. Wilshire Woods would probably be your best for a bigger house. If you like modernist houses, check out the Agave development.

[centralaustinite]

Barton Hills, Zilker, and Travis Heights are all 78704


Good luck

[austin-steve]

I think you're going to have to decide what is most important to you, and compromise on the things that are not top priority. Much of your criteria is mutually exclusive for Austin. Closer in homes are more expensive and smaller, $200-$350 per sqft. Further out home are bigger and you drive further, but get more home for your money at $100-$150 per sqft for nicer areas.

I'll also offer something that has been researched quite a bit not only in real estate purchases but in all consumer purchases, and that I've personally observed over the years. That is, the more you deliberate and consider vast arrays of options and criteria, the less likely you are to be happy with the final outcome.

In short, home buyers who stick to the big three criteria only - Price, Location, Condition/Size - and allow the most important of those three to be the determining factor over all else, report higher satisfaction levels than those who deliberate and allow micro-factors, such as the color of the kitchen paint, or whether the house has red brick or not, to rule in and rule out candidate properties.

You're basically all over the map with your efforts, and seeking any and all opinions. That's fine in the early stage, but you'd serve yourself well to just simplify what it is you want and let go of what you can't have.

Do you want a short drive or a big house? If you get a short drive AND a big house, it will be a crappy, run down old house that will produce an ugly inspection report. Is that ok? If not, accept a longer commute and enjoy your nicer, cheaper home in Circle C or Great Hills.

Personally, I think you'll find the best combination of what you want in an area you've already found - Lost Creek. Also check Travis Country. These are easy commutes to UT and you'll find bigger, older homes.

Good luck,

steve

[BentBow]

Barton Hills. Zilker, West 6th Area/Tarrytown.

[TexasHorseLady]

Steve's right, in that you need to do a bit further analysis of your list of wants/needs. Which is to say, you need to divide those things up into two separate lists, wants and needs, and then prioritize within those two lists (with the needs list obviously trumping the wants list).

That'll make it much easier for us (and, more importantly, your agent) to help you find likely neighborhoods.

You might want to look at the SoCo area, too. Older houses, many redone, some new builds, hot area. Possibly some larger lots - depends.