Living Central, considering a change. Advice welcome! (Austin, West: real estate market, rentals)

[mackenziep]

Currently living in a single family home on W.38th St. We love the house - nice and solid, built in 1917, never been "remuddled". We've spent a good chunk of change on infrastructure in the past few years - new roof, new HVAC, new plumbing (inc. a tankless hot water heater). Our mortgage is nice and affordable. The main problems? No storage, no place for a washer AND dryer (we have a combo and it is less than ideal), and no place for cat litter for our indoor cats.

Option 1 is to add on. We can afford this. We're just worried that the neighborhood is going to become completely overrun by student rentals. We don't know if we have the sustained energy to become neighborhood activists.

Option 2 is to try and find something in Northwest Hills (Far West area). Houses in our price range seem really tatty, and we'd be maxed out by the mortgage such that improvements would be a stretch.

Option 3 is to consider something outside the box for us. We looked at a property in East Oak Hill and the spouse and I thought it was kind of creepy and too suburban.

Basically, we need about 1,000 more square feet and we want to live in a school district with an exemplary elementary school. Is there something else we should be considering?

[Exiled Texan]

Can you add on to your current place?

[mackenziep]

Yup. We already have the plans drawn up. See Option 1, though - we're concerned about the direction the neighborhood is taking

[EzPeterson]

Creepy is what creepy sees.

I've always just gone suburban and taken that space over. Those people want to be led anyway.

[Exiled Texan]

Option 1. Fight for your hood!

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by mackenziep

Option 1 is to add on. We can afford this. We're just worried that the neighborhood is going to become completely overrun by student rentals. We don't know if we have the sustained energy to become neighborhood activists.

I'd want to give you advice, but your premise doesn't make sense.

Since you live central, you already know that the price per square foot in central Austin is becoming more and more expensive. So, it wouldn't make sense that there would be more student rentals, while the current real estate market is all about selling remodeled homes at a premium between $599-700k as the primary price point in Hyde Park. So, why would an owner sell or rent his/her home at far below market value as a student rental?

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by mackenziep

Yup. We already have the plans drawn up. See Option 1, though - we're concerned about the direction the neighborhood is taking

Why do central austinites complain about the direction the hood is taking? I mean, you chose to live near campus. I say that they have a right to put up those structures. I'm tired of the whining.

[ImOnFiya]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Why do central austinites complain about the direction the hood is taking? I mean, you chose to live near campus. I say that they have a right to put up those structures. I'm tired of the whining.

It doesn't make sense...especially with the white hot real estate market. The "direction" the neighborhood is taking is toward fewer student rentals, not more. The conversation the neighborhood is having is about affordability, not whether homeownership is under attack.

[atxcio]

I'd stay and remodel, simply because it is a terrible time to be a buyer in Austin. Why put yourself in that position?

If the neighborhood changes start to bother you, then maybe consider a 4th option and sell then rent for awhile. Hopefully things cool off or stabilize. Or just wait, I don't think the neighborhood changes you describe (if they happen) will affect your resale value much, since the bulk of the value is surely in the land.

[Trainwreck20]

Actually, have some friends in the area that have really been upset at the number of student rentals. As I understand it, houses are bought, expanded, and then rented out to 6 or more different students. It isn't exactly that area, but very close. Apparently, you can turn a nifty profit, and the 'covert student dorm' or whatever the locals call it are increasing. Let me see if I can find one of their web pages protesting it....

Eh, here is one...a bit dramatic, but I understand it is becoming more than just a minor irritation:
http://stopstealthdorms.com/background/