Austin recon trip report - long!

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The toll road should really help, I am thinking, but your realtor may be a little optimistic.

Anyway, I think Gerogetown is probably a good choice anyway. It has more character than Round Rock or Cedar Park (which are closer to Arboretum). What street are you looking at a house on? I think I know about half the people in that area back in the day...Esperada, Sequoia Trail, Serenada Drive, Granada, Sinuso....

Edit: You do know Serenada is right next to the municipal airport, right? It is not too bad, but a few of the houses (more so in Sanaloma) are in flight paths.

hi Trainwreck,
Thanks for the additional feedback on the commute. We decided that having some acreage was our most important priority, and if that meant a longer commute for him (within reason!), so be it. Of course, there's no guarantee that he'll be working that particular job forever, and we are intending to stay in Georgetown for a good long while.

Our new house is on Serenada Drive, a few lots in from ?Williams, I think is the street. I did see the nearby airport on the map. Our agent said it was only small planes flying in and out of there, and she knew of no expansion plans. I hope that's true, because a few small planes flying overhead is no big deal. But big commercial jets night and day would not be so great.

[Spookmeister]

The commute from Georgetown will still be in the 40-45 minutes on a good day even with the toll road. I drive that area fairly often and have spoken to the guys that are doing the construction to get their opinion on what traffic will be like once completed. They should know since they're already testing some completed sections and based on their tests and traffic projections they're saying 40 minutes is realistic during normal rush hour, 30 at other times.
The airport will expand to accomodate more private flights. Plans are in the works for a control tower which means that as soon as it's complete, the little private jets that are currently forced to to go to Bergstrom will opt for Georgetown. It's cheaper for them in terms of fuel and landing fees and also close enough to drive into Austin for business travellers.
We really wanted to live there when we first moved here but from what I saw of the development in the northern sector of the Austin area, I knew it wouldn't be long before the commute became a pain.

[Trainwreck20]

Well, I don't know who 'runs' the airport these days, but there is a long history of 'lies and misrepresentations'. The airport expanded the runway so it could be a 'backup' runway for emergencies only, and the next thing ya know there were turbo-props flying in. The previous owner (or major owner) had quite a reputation and pretty much got his way. The airport is hands down the busiest/most convienent/best facilities non-major airport in central Texas.

However, I am not trying to scare you. The vast majority of aircraft are of the small variety. It seems that most of the issues come up with little planes plunking down in someones yard/trees over on the north side of the airport (Sanaloma (sp?) area). For whatever reason, there never seemed to be an issue on the Serenada drive area. I think the most used runway kind of runs kind of parallel to Serenada drive. There is a second runway that points right about Sequoia Tr. East that seems to be much less used. This also sounds like it will be away from your prospective house.

Anyway, I highly recommend getting involved in local politics, at least in a minor way (HOAs, etc). The town has lots of options open to it, but don't let em run you over. The Serenaga neighborhood is full of educated people who should be able to keep the city/airport from riding roughshod over the area.

[Spookmeister]

Georgetown is soon going to have serious competition for the general aviation aircraft dollars from Taylor airport, with it's proximity to the 130 tollroad, which is about six miles west on 79 from the Taylor airport. They only need a tower right now.

[laguna1995]

Congrats on finding a place so quickly! It is nice to hear that you liked TX, it gives the rest of of Cali residents some reassurance that we can find somewhere that will be better for us than what we have now. What size home and yard were you able to get? I am sure it it tons larger than here!!

You mentioned that you visited some LA transplants in Cedar Park/Brushy Creek. What did you think of the scenery in that area. Was it green and landscaped like like Lakeway seemed? Any hills? One of the things we love here in OC is all of the trees, hills and foliage everywhere and we would really like to live somewhere that has the same type of thing.

Nice to hear that the real estate transaction is going smoothly from so far away. We will be doing the same thing and hope it isn't as much of a pain as it is in CA. So how soon are you going to be moving?

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by Spookmeister

The commute from Georgetown will still be in the 40-45 minutes on a good day even with the toll road. ...They should know since they're already testing some completed sections and based on their tests and traffic projections they're saying 40 minutes is realistic during normal rush hour, 30 at other times.
The airport will expand to accomodate more private flights.

Hi Spook,

Ouch! on that 40 minute toll road commute! The SO will not be pleased about that. When we were there, we drove from his work (near intersection of Mopac and the 183) up the 35 to Georgetown. We accidently drove way past our exit and had to turn around, but it seemed like a very short drive - maybe 15 minutes. Now, this was in the middle of the day, so traffic was certainly lighter than rush hour. So we were hoping our agent's estimate of commute time was accurate. Maybe she just doesn't have to drive that way in rush hour, so she was guessing.

Thanks also to you and Trainwreck for the airport info. Sounds like it won't affect us too much. Small planes are ok, I just don't want to be in the situation of living near a small airport that's anything like BUR.

[iguanas4]

Originally Posted by laguna1995

Congrats on finding a place so quickly!... What size home and yard were you able to get? I am sure it it tons larger than here!!

You mentioned that you visited some LA transplants in Cedar Park/Brushy Creek. What did you think of the scenery in that area. Was it green and landscaped like like Lakeway seemed?

Thanks Laguna!
The house we're buying is on 2.8 acres of land and almost 3000 sq. ft. It needs work (a LOT - we're finding out from the various inspectors), but still with that much land it seems like a bargain to us. We should be able to either get the seller to pay for some of the repairs, or else knock a substantial amount off the selling price.

By contrast, our house here in LA is 600 sq. ft. smaller, and on a tiny 8600 sq. ft. lot! Our house here is older, but in better condition for sure (after the previous owner and we did some work to it). We should be able to sell this house for more than twice what we're paying for the Georgetown house. Seems a bit immoral or something, but that's the way it is.

Re: Brushy Creek area: I have to say I didn't get a very good look around. We drove straight to their house and then somewhere else. The part I saw seemed a tiny bit hilly, and we did drive over a big creek (Brushy Creek, I bet!) to get there. I was not overly impressed with the scenery there, but I just saw a very small area. Our friends' house is in a brand new subdivision, they are still building many houses there. New subdivisions are not our thing, but theirs wasn't bad. At least there were some mature trees, and most (all?) of the homes backed to a "greenbelt." Their greenbelt was not yet finished, but I think it will be cool when it's done. I thought the parts of Lakeway we drove through (established neighborhoods) were much more attractive and reminded me the most of nice SoCal neighborhoods. YMMV of course!

There was a lack of greenery and landscaping in much of the areas we drove through. But it was explained that Austin is in a very bad drought, and there are lawn watering restrictions. They said it's normally much greener overall. I didn't see too much elaborate landscaping like what many people have here.

Good luck with your real estate transactions! I'm wishing right now we could be there to speak in person with the inspectors since they are finding some problems. But I think it will be ok - our agent is working to get contractors out there to determine exactly what needs to be fixed and how much it will cost.

Are you looking for new construction or existing? Our friends in Brushy Creek bought their new house almost entirely long distance! She was telling me how she had to pick out the counter tops, finish colors, etc. without benefit of samples! Crazy - I would be pulling out my hair. They are very happy with how it turned out, though.

Not sure when we're moving. If all goes well, we should close on the new house in mid or late Sept. Our house here will be on the market in a week or so (still finishing some painting, etc.). I guess we'll wait to move until we've sold this one, or are in escrow anyway. Hopefully we can sell quickly! I'm sure this end of the real estate stuff will be the most painful by far. It drives me crazy to have all those agents and buyers stomping through my house. It is kind of amusing to see how some of them get freaked by the iguana(s) though.

[toobsox]

I live 5 minutes from Serenada. If you are living on Serenada near Williams Drive, you don't need to worry about the airport. The airport is on the opposite side of the neighborhood (closer to the freeway).