First time homebuyer - Buy new or existing? Brodie Springs? (Austin: new home, neighborhood) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

davevt98 · 08-19-2009, 06:22 AM

My wife and I are currently in the market for a home in the south/southwest part of Austin. We like Shady Hollow a lot. We started to look into new homes since we have been looking for about 6 months and all the homes we have liked have some issue which caused us to rethink.

We saw the Brodie Springs development about a year ago and walked through one of the houses. It was gorgeous but were asking 500K+. We went back to the area again and noticed that they began offering lower price floor plans which are closer to our budget of 350K.

These houses are built by Taylor Morrison and also have homes built by Grand Haven homes. Grand Haven seems like a new builder (less than 3 years old) and I have not found much information about them.

Do you think we should pursue this new home strategy or buy an existing home? The Brodie Springs area is very nice and the homesites tend to be bigger than typical plots.

Have you heard anything good or bad about either builder? Thanks

llkltk · 08-19-2009, 08:28 AM

You might want to look at sections in Circle C and Meridian. Slightly higher appreciation. My parents checked out Brodie Springs and didn't like the area compared to the west side of Mopac.

davevt98 · 08-19-2009, 08:34 AM

We don't really like Circle C. Many of the houses seem to be built on top of one another. I have looked at Meridian but think it may be too far. Thanks for the advice.

llkltk · 08-19-2009, 01:42 PM

Where do you work? Meridian is a 15 minute drive to the city on the weekend, during rush hour, it's about 25 minutes. Consider schooling also if you have kids. If you aren't worried about appreciation then Brodie should be fine for you.

davevt98 · 08-19-2009, 02:50 PM

Why would you say that appreciation will be a factor? It seems as though it is in a very good area with good schools. They are very high end homes with large plots. What is negative about this that I am not considering?

Jennibc · 08-19-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davevt98

Why would you say that appreciation will be a factor? It seems as though it is in a very good area with good schools. They are very high end homes with large plots. What is negative about this that I am not considering?

That big ugly intersection at Brodie and Slaughter. Additionally Brodie is not wide enough for all of the traffic coming out of the new developments down there. There is still no definitive word on extending 45 south of there and if it doesn't happen soon gridlock will be even worse. We almost bought a house down in Shady Hollow but after doing "practice runs" during rush hour to get out of the neighborhood, we pulled out of the contract. I imagine that there are many other people that won't move to that part of town because of the traffic issue. One of our new neighbors (here in circle c) sold his house down in that area to get away from that traffic mess.

davevt98 · 08-19-2009, 03:55 PM

Interesting. I agree that traffic is bad. However, Brodie Springs is close to the intersection it should be as bad as coming from farther south. We'll have to do a few practice runs before we go forward with anything. Luckily, I leave fairly early and come back after 6pm so there shouldn't be as much traffic as a 9-5er.

llkltk · 08-19-2009, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jennibc

That big ugly intersection at Brodie and Slaughter. Additionally Brodie is not wide enough for all of the traffic coming out of the new developments down there. There is still no definitive word on extending 45 south of there and if it doesn't happen soon gridlock will be even worse. We almost bought a house down in Shady Hollow but after doing "practice runs" during rush hour to get out of the neighborhood, we pulled out of the contract. I imagine that there are many other people that won't move to that part of town because of the traffic issue. One of our new neighbors (here in circle c) sold his house down in that area to get away from that traffic mess.

Amen to that! I was hestitant on giving the OP the whole story since he seems easily offended.

davevt98 · 08-20-2009, 07:37 AM

I would not be offended. I just want to know the truth. Everyone has an opinion and I wouldn't be posting here if I didn't want to hear it - good or bad.

Aside from a traffic disaster, is there anything else I should be concerned about in this location?

Jennibc · 08-20-2009, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davevt98

I would not be offended. I just want to know the truth. Everyone has an opinion and I wouldn't be posting here if I didn't want to hear it - good or bad.

Aside from a traffic disaster, is there anything else I should be concerned about in this location?

I didn't read your posts as being offended at all.

The traffic was the only thing that dissuaded us from that area. While the traffic might not bother you it bothers enough people that houses sit on the market there longer than they do in other parts of SW Austin. I think ultimately it will affect housing values especially if it gets worse. I believe the schools in that area are just fine.