SW Austin or Cedar Park (Spring, West: foreclosures, to rent, new home)

[crna06]

I will be moving to Austin this Spring and the job I will have requires me to go to hospitals downtown as well as north Austin on different days. I am looking to live either SW Austin (Village at Western Oaks, Circle C etc) or Cedar Park. I like both areas because of the parks, hike/bike trails and closeness to hill country and lakes. Looking to spend under 250K on a house. My question is, in terms of commuting in traffic, is it better to be southwest or in the Cedar Park area? Some days I will be commuting to downtown and some days I will be in North Austin hospitals. Which end of town will give me less commuting headaches? Also, I generally don't commute in rush hour. Thanks for the input!

[sinking]

Sounds like Cedar Park is a better bet for you. I have plenty of rush hour experience on both 35 and 183 and commuting on 183 is much better. Sounds like you would be on Mopac rather than 35 if you were south but from what I hear that is no Sunday picnic at the park either.

[10scoachrick]

In addition to Cedar Park proper, parts of north-north Austin would be excellent for your commute to the northern hospitals and (especially in off-hours) downtown. If you are looking for new or newish, the western sections of Avery Ranch(less than a mile from 183/Research Blvd) offer new homes in your price range as well as re-sales that are only 1-5 years old. Might be an area to consider. Good luck with that snow this weekend!

[jobert]

If you are looking for new in SW Austin, 250K is near impossible, except maybe at Aviara in Oak Hill, which will get you a 1300sf house, probably. You can get a resale, but energy efficiency is hard to come by, and it was the turn-off for us on about 90% of the houses we looked at. Look at utilities, whatever you do. There's nothing worse than dropping 250K on a 2000sf resale, then getting hit with a $400 utility bill come August. Cedar Park will be cheaper for new construction, but is almost 2X the distance to downtown.

The best advice of all is to rent for the first year. Foreclosures are forecast to spike in 2011. I just want to be honest with you (as a homeowner, even if it means turning off a prospective homebuyer).

[RooCeleste]

Cedar Park wouldn't be bad at all during NON-rush hour traffic (can't speak to SW Austin - never lived there). When it isn't rush hour, I can be in downtown Austin from Parmer/Avery Ranch Blvd in about 15-20 minutes. Rush hour is an entirely different story...there you're looking at at least an hour to downtown, via any route you take.

I would concur with jobert's suggestion to rent for a while, though. The different areas of the Austin metro area have different flavors, and you will need to find the one that feels right to you.

[llkltk]

If you want to feel like you live in Austin, choose SW Austin. If you choose Cedar Park, it's like a totally different place. It is nice but it isn't Austin. Traffic will be about the same either way. I wouldn't take the advice of the other poster to rent. The economy needs buyers, interest rates are great, buy, buy, buy! Circle C and Western Oaks are great areas and you can find houses under 250K. Good luck.

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by jobert

If you are looking for new in SW Austin, 250K is near impossible, except maybe at Aviara in Oak Hill, which will get you a 1300sf house, probably. You can get a resale, but energy efficiency is hard to come by, and it was the turn-off for us on about 90% of the houses we looked at. Look at utilities, whatever you do. There's nothing worse than dropping 250K on a 2000sf resale, then getting hit with a $400 utility bill come August. Cedar Park will be cheaper for new construction, but is almost 2X the distance to downtown.

The best advice of all is to rent for the first year. Foreclosures are forecast to spike in 2011. I just want to be honest with you (as a homeowner, even if it means turning off a prospective homebuyer).

Ha! I live in a house larger than 2000 SF, and my August bill never hits more than 180. 400 is quite the exaggeration unless you are an eskimo and must live in an igloo!

[jobert]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Ha! I live in a house larger than 2000 SF, and my August bill never hits more than 180. 400 is quite the exaggeration unless you are an eskimo and must live in an igloo!

Did you pay 250K or less for an existing house?

That low of a price point for that size, and the age of the house is the tip off that there are other costs buried into the house (i.e. astronomical A/C bills). Generally the "great deals" are the ones that leak air live sieves, and waste energy.

[rickc007]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

In addition to Cedar Park proper, parts of north-north Austin would be excellent for your commute to the northern hospitals and (especially in off-hours) downtown. If you are looking for new or newish, the western sections of Avery Ranch(less than a mile from 183/Research Blvd) offer new homes in your price range as well as re-sales that are only 1-5 years old. Might be an area to consider. Good luck with that snow this weekend!

What 10scoachrick said.

It's right by the last exit off 183, before you have to start paying tolls

And, it's a nice area, as is most of Cedar Park

[CptnRn]

How far north do you have to go? I live in Legend Oaks just north of Circle C and commute regularly to North Austin, around 38th and Lamar during the middle of the day (lots of hospitals around there) it usually takes me about 25-30 minutes. Google maps says its about 17 miles.

I can commute to St. David's South Austin Hospital at Ben White Blvd and James Casey Blvd. in 11-15 minutes, 7.1 miles.

Google maps says commuting to those locations from Cedar Park are:

38th & Lamar, 17.1 miles, 21 minutes (30 minutes in traffic).

St. David's South Austin Hospital, 24.9 miles, 31 minutes (55 in traffic).

Those estimates for what it would take in traffic look really optimistic to me.