Work for a tech company in North Austin looking to buy in a neighborhood close to work that values creativity. (Victoria: real estate, buying a house)

[sheaday]

I watched a recent episode of House Hunters in which the couple was looking at Agave and the realtor said it was a 5 minute drive to downtown. It made me chuckle. This neighborhood isn't 8 minutes away either...well maybe at 3am and you're doing 50mph and hitting all the green lights.

Either way, Agave is interesting to say the least. We looked at a few houses in that neighborhood a few years ago. That area is a complete mixed bag. You have Agave, mixed in with stucco homes, newer SFHs, and then houses built for section 8. And then on 969 you have the corrections facility and industrial area.

That area will definitely grow in the coming years but buying an Agave home in that neighborhood is a major gamble.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

If it works for you, great. There is something to be said for buying a house just to live in . . . but any appreciation will be slight.

Non-existent. There will be no appreciation there for decades.

[centralaustinite]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Non-existent. There will be no appreciation there for decades.

I was trying to sugar-coat it! But you are right. As I said, you could pick virtually any house at random along any point during the drive out to Agave down MLK and it would appreciate better than Agave!

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

I was trying to sugar-coat it! But you are right. As I said, you could pick virtually any house at random along any point during the drive out to Agave down MLK and it would appreciate better than Agave!

Agreed - and, something of a shame. I think the concept wasn't terrible at all - a modern subdivision could do OK in the right place. Sendero Hills sure ain't that.

Anyone know anything about developer of Agave? I suspect bankruptcy but haven't seen anything definitive.

[veloman777]

This location looks like you need to use your car to do anything outside of the neighborhood.

[clarios]

Having been here for over a decade and this being our second house bought in Austin, we were well aware of what we were getting ourselves into. We've lived in Zilker Park, Hyde Park, East Austin, Lake Travis, and far north. We scooped up our house at a steal during the downturn with record low financing. Best decision we've ever made.

And the community out here is amazing. No out of towners at all. Mostly local musicians, venue owners, artists, photographers, UT professors, techies, entrepreneurs, and freelance designers/web developers. It is less than a 15 minute commute downtown and even less to UT (hence the fact the Director of the Longhorn Band and several other professors live here).

Our community is full of people who didn't want to live in a cookie cutter house in the suburbs or spend $350K for a house in central Austin with under 850 square feet that needs a remodel. Our neighbors have the following in common with us:

• Commited to sustainability
• desires to live in a creative community of true austinites
• values uniqueness over cookie cutter houses
• Needs easy access to UT, downtown, and the technology corridor (less than a 15 minute trip)
• likely is a part of or is a fan of the austin music community
• embraces the diversity of the east side and has read the Forbes article regarding it being a good idea to invest here

In addition, it truly isn't that far east. The new Organic HEB at Mueller is only 5-7 minutes down the road and several new hip restaurants are springing up closer to the hood (Justine's, lots of places along Manor). Aside from the amazing neighborhood (full of amazing kids), the view downtown and the sunsets are not to be missed. Pictures attached...

[steve78757]

Those pictures look beautiful. Seems like you've found a nice eclectic little community up on a hill, relatively close to town. It's all about how it feels to you and how you fit in with your neighbors. If you can manage the private school route you'll be fine.

[Austin97]

The posters posting about value I think would generally be right. But it is possible for an anchor community to get created that completely changes the area around it. This is obviously not the norm, but it is how gentrification starts. SOCO was a dump not too long ago and now prices are outrageous. One nice thing about Agave is that it is on a hill which makes for nice views. Also, there are no (or almost no) other modern communities in austin. It also is pretty close to downtown. OP said their personal experience is making a show downtown in 8 minutes (google says 20 minutes, but who knows). Finally based on what the poster wrote, it is a community of like minded creative people.

Gentrification starts with people who are willing to take the risk - the people who see something special about an area. Over time they create their own reality and those with less vision can safely move in at a higher price point.

One other thing is austin is planning another mixed use development at colony park, right across loyola lane from agave

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by Austin97

The posters posting about value I think would generally be right. But it is possible for an anchor community to get created that completely changes the area around it. This is obviously not the norm, but it is how gentrification starts. SOCO was a dump not too long ago and now prices are outrageous. One nice thing about Agave is that it is on a hill which makes for nice views. Also, there are no (or almost no) other modern communities in austin. It also is pretty close to downtown. OP said their personal experience is making a show downtown in 8 minutes (google says 20 minutes, but who knows). Finally based on what the poster wrote, it is a community of like minded creative people.

Gentrification starts with people who are willing to take the risk - the people who see something special about an area. Over time they create their own reality and those with less vision can safely move in at a higher price point.

One other thing is austin is planning another mixed use development at colony park, right across loyola lane from agave

All things are possible I suppose.

But I wouldn't hold out much hope here. It has too many negatives working against it (power lines, train, corrections facility, defunct developer, odd mix of very cheap housing in same subdivision, no amenities to speak of, manor school district, nearby water treatment facility, railroad tracts, no transit of any kind, nothing whatsoever to walk to - walkscore of 9. . .). Nice view notwithstanding, it has almost nothing in common with SoCo or the kinds of things that made SoCo so hot. And no, there is no route that gets you downtown in 8 minutes that doesn't involve a helicopter. 20 is more realistic not during rush hour.

There is nothing to really gentrify - it's greenfield development. Those crappy Sendero Hills Tuscan homes and the cheaper tract stuff aren't ever getting gentrified.

Anyway, interesting idea but the location was just a mess from the beginning and the economy collapsing I'm sure didn't help things. I just don't see this one making any significant progress in next decade - probably much longer.

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by Komeht

All things are possible I suppose.

But I wouldn't hold out much hope here. It has too many negatives working against it (power lines, train, corrections facility, defunct developer, odd mix of very cheap housing in same subdivision, no amenities to speak of, manor school district, nearby water treatment facility, railroad tracts, no transit of any kind, nothing whatsoever to walk to - walkscore of 9. . .). Nice view notwithstanding, it has almost nothing in common with SoCo or the kinds of things that made SoCo so hot. And no, there is no route that gets you downtown in 8 minutes that doesn't involve a helicopter. 20 is more realistic not during rush hour.

There is nothing to really gentrify - it's greenfield development. Those crappy Sendero Hills Tuscan homes and the cheaper tract stuff aren't ever getting gentrified.

Anyway, interesting idea but the location was just a mess from the beginning and the economy collapsing I'm sure didn't help things. I just don't see this one making any significant progress in next decade - probably much longer.

OK. Goodbye!