Relocating - Advice on Acreage Near Austin? (Round Rock, San Marcos: sale, rental)

[Driftwood1]

Agreed , we have a lot of bottom land and pasture by our creek which is great, but as soon as we go up on the hills it is indeed rocky, tricky terrain..

Cheers

[readymade]

I'm also thinking about moving to Austin. I've never been there. My husband & I are in a band, we're "artsy" (whatever that means), in our 30s, we have a dog & 3 cats, and we're planning to have a baby very soon. We currently live in SoCal and we just can't afford our mortgage anymore.

Ideally we're looking for a 1800+ sq ft house with lots of trees, PRIVATE (we rehearse w/ our band & work from home), a pool, and not more than 30 minutes (or so) away from the downtown area. I would need internet access & pizza delivery (so not too rural). I'm worried about those HOA places that seem to be everywhere because we are VERY MUCH NOT INTO the whole cookie-cutter, tract housing thing. i.e. we think a bright orange house would be great.

We'd LIKE to spend under $300K, if possible. But we'd go higher for something really great. We both like older houses with established trees.

I feel very nervous about moving to Texas (please, no offense anyone) because of how conservative I've heard it is. I also hear that Austin is really awesome and very liberal and not really like the rest of Texas. I'm originally from Boston and have never lived more than an hour or two away from the ocean (even though I'm not a beach person... it's just nice to know it's there). Has anyone had any issues regarding that themselves? Also, I know Austin is the "Music capitol of the world". Are we talkin' all kinds of music? My husband & I are in an experimental noise band, and I love jazz/lounge music... will we fit in somewhere?

We're planning a trip out there (for 2 or 3 days) to check it out at the end of August. Any suggestions on where we should look? And also where online should we look (other than realtor.com)?

[WhiteStar07]

You will love Austin. It's Tx's best kept secret (though I think the word is already out b/c Californians and celebs are flocking here It's a cool place to live, and if you're musicians, you will be welcomed and feel right at home. People here wear flip flops everywhere (even to Saks) and enjoy painting their cute homes all kinds of fun colors. I'm also pretty sure that Austin will be liberal enough for you. Texas has had that old stereotype for so long, and it's just not the case here. There's people from everywhere here, from all walks. It's an active city too... lots of healthnuts, bike riders, yoga fans, rowers, Harley riders, sailors, knitters, artists, etc. The area lakes are fun. There's good little (& big) grocery stores. The music scene is outstanding, and every genre of music is out there. I also encourage everyone to catch a concert at the Backyard (.net) on Hwy 71. I've been in the Austin area for the last 7 yrs. and just in the last few months, have seen everyone from The Shins to Modest Mouse to Willie Nelson play there. It's a blast. I'm about to relocate to Cali and am already grieving over having to leave my life here... the music, Tex-Mex food, great people, and gorgeous Hill Country scenery. Wah!
"On the First Thursday of each month shoppers, music lovers, and fun-seekers flock to South Congress Avenue. Merchants along historic South Congress from Live Oak to Riverside stay open til about 10pm on this day. Festivities get underway at 6pm with street vendors, musicians and other street performers, dining, and of course, shopping in the boutiques, specialty stores, and unique shops. It's also fun to just go do some people-watching. "
First Thursday would be a fun thing for y'all to do to get a good feel for Austin. Everyone's out walking around. Get some dinner at Guero's on South Congress. Moderator cut: advertising There's not much of the cookie cutter development deal until you get outside of Austin (for ex. Cedar Park, Round Rock)
Hope my long winded response helps

[texastea]

Originally Posted by readymade

I'm originally from Boston and have never lived more than an hour or two away from the ocean (even though I'm not a beach person... it's just nice to know it's there). Has anyone had any issues regarding that themselves?....

...Any suggestions on where we should look? And also where online should we look (other than realtor.com)?

I grew up near the Texas coast and have lived in Austin for 15 yrs...there's a well-worn path down to Padre

I like austinhomesearch.com...

[readymade]

Thanks WhiteStar07 & texastea! I appreciate your responses. Those are both great websites. You've got me so excited to visit and hopefully move there! I've read that I should try to stay west of Route 35. Preferably SouthWest. Would you agree?

However, that looks like it's all the HOA places: Circle C, Valley of West Oak (or something like that). Also, what's up with Dripping Springs? I saw some cute places out there (online) too.

[Phisch]

Moderator cut: advertising A lot of SW Austin is HOAs but it's my understanding that there are lots available. You should be able to look them up on good realtor sites. On the forums it was mentioned to me that building your own could cost $125/sqft but that's a very, very rough estimate. If you have equity in your home though, that might be an option too?

[Trainwreck20]

Ideally we're looking for a 1800+ sq ft house with lots of trees, PRIVATE (we rehearse w/ our band & work from home), a pool, and not more than 30 minutes (or so) away from the downtown area. I would need internet access & pizza delivery (so not too rural). I'm worried about those HOA places that seem to be everywhere because we are VERY MUCH NOT INTO the whole cookie-cutter, tract housing thing. i.e. we think a bright orange house would be great.

We'd LIKE to spend under $300K, if possible. But we'd go higher for something really great. We both like older houses with established trees.

• 1800 sq ft (small house, can be older)
• Trees (mature)
• Private (assume acreage?)
• Pool
• 30 minutes to downtown (assume non-rush hour)
• No tract housing
• <$300k

This is your list, as I see it. There are a couple of isses or limiting conditions that I see off-hand:
30 minutes and acreage (also no tract housing).
It will be very limiting to find any kind of privacy withing 30 minutes of downtown, even during non-peak traffic hours. You can pretty much eliminate everything out to Cedar Park (NW), Round rock, Pflugerville, and west Austin (steiner/Avery Ranch), all of downtown. Really, what I see you have left is one of two big choices:

• Go East of Austin toward Elgin or Bastrop (or maybe out past Hutto).
• Head SW of Austin toward Dripping Springs/Driftwood.

East is cheaper, but not as scenic. Also, schools typically aren't rated as good, but if you are at the starting end, they may be much better in 5 years. In some areas out here you might still be able to get 20 acres or more and a house for well under the 300k. You will, however, not be able to get pizze, probably .

SW is much pricier, in general, and you would be looking at getting maybe a couple acres. Houses tend not to be as small as 1800 sf, so it will be difficult to find one for that price. Also, a little more south, there is Ruby Ranch, but not sure on what the prices are like out there. Circle C and villages of Western oaks are tract housing on small lots, so no privacy there.

Oh, and issues no. 2, the pool...skip it. It will cut your choices down to about nothing, since there are so few pools. A good median pool can easily cost 50k around here, so not many are built.

If you are willing to waffle a little on the 30 minutes, I would highly recommend a couple other areas:
Bastrop: Piney woods and not outrageously priced yet. May make it in 30 mintues, dunno. Schools improving, but not as good as west.
Georgetown: Far enough away to be its own city. You can get acreage and a large house for under 300k. Has a conservative reputation, but not as bad as it sounds. Good schools.
Leander: Similar to Georgetown, but growing more rapidly now. Probably a little more of the CA crowd moving there, so maybe moving toward a little less conservative?

[Driftwood1]

I concur with all the above Trainwreck , if the buyer had ALOT of time to look/wait they might find a smaller (1800sq ft) house on about 5 acres in the driftwood/Dripping/Buda area, but the odds of one popping up with a pool area are very slim if at all.. We are actually looking a bit at Bastrop as well, just from a speculation standpoint, I think there's huge potential there..

Also, 90% of our area (driftwood/Dripping/Buda) will be 35-45 min to downtown commute, and within 5 years I predict 1hr to 1hr20..

I sure wish there had been a site like this when we were looking to move here in 99.. It took us 8 months to find our place. If you have unusual and/or very specific requirements, you will simply need more time to find it..

Cheers

[readymade]

That is all great advice, thanks. I'm pasting it all into a notepad. Hee hee... I'm already falling in love with Texas because y'all think 1800 sq ft is "small". It seems HUGE to me! I saw some houses that were 3000 sq ft online, and I almost died! Our house is just under 1400. Yeah.

We're pretty flexible on most of what I wrote, except for the no tract housing & pizza delivery. We definitely want privacy, too, but that mostly means we don't want the house next to us to be able to see right into our house or backyard. Plus we sing stupid songs at the top of our lungs at times and don't want to irritate our neighbors. As for the 30 min commute, it's not so much the commute downtown that I'm worried about so much as a shorter commute to stuff like a good movie theater, restaurants, grocery stores, doctors, etc... I'd like that stuff to be within 15 minutes.

Here is another question: Any thoughts where we should stay when we visit to check out Austin? Somewhere that's $100/night but not a pit? i.e safe. I think I'd like it to be downtown because it seems central and we definitely want to check out 6th street.

Thanks so much you guys!!

[Driftwood1]

Speaking specifically for our area. (Driftwood)

Movie Theatre is about 20 min away

Restaurants.. The Salt Lick is 3 min away Most everytrhing else is 10-20 min away depending on where you are. We often go in to all the new restaurants in the Circle C/Escarpment area, takes us 15 min to get there

We FINALLY after 7 years of waiting got a new HEBplus grocery, 9 min away!!

We can get Dominos, but the drivers do grimace a bit, its again 10 min drive for them.

There is a new (5-6 years old?) Seton SW medical center .. 15 min drive. With doctors buildings as well. There is also to be another new one built in Kyle.

Hope this helps.. it is all coming this way now, most of the shopping and box store stuff is staying over near I35.

Hope this helps,
Cheers





"stuff like a good movie theater, restaurants, grocery stores, doctors, "