Dog lovers relocating from Chicago (Austin, Longview: appointed, to rent, HOA)

[tracyhaben]

Hi!

My husband and I would like to move to Austin this summer. After spending our entire lives (33 years) in the Chicago area, we're ready to be done with snow.

We took a scouting expedition to Austin a few weeks ago and checked out various neighborhoods. But I'm curious to know your thoughts.

First, a bit about us: As I said, we're 33. We have no kids, nor do we plan on having kids. We have three small dogs. We'd like a one-story home with a fenced back yard that would be big enough for the dogs to play and for a vegetable garden. We want to live in an established neighborhood with tall trees. We dislike chain stores and want an area with character. We're looking to spend $140,000-$170,000 for a house.

My commute right now is an hour both ways, so anything under that would be fine. We don't have jobs picked out yet, and I really don't care if we live near them or not.

I'm vegan, support animal rights and care about the environment.

We own a townhouse now that has an HOA -- and we hate it. So we'd like to move to a neighborhood that doesn't have an HOA.

We looked at Anderson Mill and liked it, but I worry that it's too far from downtown. We also looked at South Austin and liked a couple of the neighborhoods in there -- although some streets did look sketchy.

What are your thoughts about Cherry Creek and the area south of William Cannon, around Longview Park? And do those areas have HOAs?

Also, does Anderson Mill have an HOA?

Thanks for your help!

[centralaustinite]

Rent first! And maybe always. You can rent a central austin place with a yard and trees and no HOA.

[bmw88rider]

Your biggest problem will be getting what you want with that budget. Most of the places will have an HOA if it was built in the 80's or later. Keller Williams has a good site with the tax information and associations listed. If it has an associations fee it has an HOA. The problem is unlike chicago (I moved from there myself 8 years ago) there aren't a lot of classic neighborhoods that are affordable. Most of the affordable housing is in suburbia and don't really have much character.

I truly miss that feel about Chicago. Here it is mostly big box and chains until you get in the heart of the city and even downtown doesn't have much in the way of character. Definitely nothing like Oak Park or Evanston, Or Lincoln Park.

Also, You mentioned that you don't have jobs lined up. Keep in mind that even though there is a lower unemployment rate here than Chicago, it's only because we lost less jobs than there but there isn't a lot of job creation or a lot of new hiring. I'm not sure what industry you are in but here it is mainly focused on Tech and public sector jobs. just something to keep in mind.

If you are looking for the neighborhood feel and the culture of Chicago here you will be disappointed. I miss the city and would move back in a heartbeat but my Wife loves it here so I stay.

[AustinTraveler]

Definitely rent. Your budget is way too low to get what you're asking for. You have to figure in property taxes as well so your budget might be even lower.

If you really care about the environment please try and live close to work.

[tracyhaben]

Thanks for your replies. We really don't want to rent, as I view that as throwing $1,000 away every month.

Thanks for the info about Keller Williams. I'll check out the site.

We live in a suburb of Chicago right now that has no character whatsoever -- cookie-cutter developments and strip malls, so almost anything will be a welcome change.

I'm a copy editor for a marketing company. I'm paying $3,600 a year in property taxes right now on a townhouse I bought in 2001 for $120,000.

What about Anderson Mill, Cherry Creek or Southern Oaks? Those neighborhoods have prices within our budget.

[bmw88rider]

I know nothing about the south side so I can only speak about the anderson mill area. It's an area that is average at best. No crime issues with it but it's tired and most of the houses have that 70's feel to it because they were built then. It kind of reminds me of Oak lawn/forest park area in Chicagoland. It doesn't have an HOA so that is a plus for you. It is a little far away from trails and dog areas like Bull Run where you couldn't walk there. There aren't any community trails in that section. Milwood which is right across 183 is a little newer but keeps a lot of the same features you would want but it does have an HOA.

As far as taxes go, 3600 would be the bottom end with 4500 around the top for your price range.

If you decide to stay in your career, you would be working either downtown at one of the agencies there or one of the tech places like Dell. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of marketing jobs here in Austin as there are not a lot of company headquarters here. Mostly there are manufacturing and engineering/design centers in Austin with the headquarters in other states. With the influx of college students from UT, those copy jobs are very competitive and usually low paying.