Looking at Austin - can live anywhere - have (Pflugerville: new home, neighborhoods)

[Jimbo43]

Hello,

Myself, wife and son (5 year old) maybe moving to Austin. We can live anywhere provided we can get to the
airport in 45 minutes. Budget wise a fairly new (20 years or newer house), 5 bed, 3000+sqft house will work in the 300K-400K range. We love the outdoors ala hiking, biking, etc and good food, etc. Want good schools all the way to High School. Can pay more for the House but we prefer to live below our means as much as possible. Any ideas on where to start looking? Any recommended zipcodes? Any advice would be great! since we could live on any side of town it makes it hard to narrow down the best place to start looking. Thanks in advance!

[centralaustinite]

That is BIG house, especially for that price range. Circle C, maybe?

[scm53]

Avaña or Greyrock Ridge. Hit all your buttons.

[austin-steve]

SW Austin, even as far out as Belterra/Dripping, though that will be stretching the 45 minutes to airport.

You are incorrect in stating "since we could live on any side of town". Your "45 to the airport" rules out a LOT of possibilities for you, mainly anything in NW Austin past 360/183 unless your trip to and from the airport will be super early AM or PM when traffic is dead. Otherwise, budgeting only 45 minutes to airport from anywhere west of Mopac, and/or north of Ben White/Hwy 71 is dicey. There are old threads all about the airport travel time which you can search and find.

That said, travel time is somewhat mitigated by the incredible ease of use of the Austin airport. You can literally be dropped at the curb and sitting at your gate in less than 15 minutes.

I would look in the 78749, 78739, 78737 zipcodes for starters. Inventory is very limited right now though, especially in the configuration you stated, as that's bigger than standard housing stock in good areas in your price range.

Good luck!

Steve

[Raskolnikov]

Southwest Austin is perfect for you. Circle C, Western Oaks, Legend Oaks, Meridian.. It's easy access to the airport, great schools, and houses in that price range. If you could live in a smaller house, I would look closer in at the neighborhoods called Travis Country or Barton Hills.

[10scoachrick]

Do the schools preclude living near the giant metro park off Pecan in Pf-ville or even Blackhawk(for a new(er) build)? That's the only reason I can think of NOT to include those areas so close to the toll road...

Looks like even some of the brand new homes are in the $110-120/sq ft range, so fitting the budget requirements would not be a problem. Saw some very nice homes in Blackhawk in their target range.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Do the schools preclude living near the giant metro park off Pecan in Pf-ville or even Blackhawk(for a new(er) build)? That's the only reason I can think of NOT to include those areas so close to the toll road...

Looks like even some of the brand new homes are in the $110-120/sq ft range, so fitting the budget requirements would not be a problem. Saw some very nice homes in Blackhawk in their target range.

I agree with Coach. If he's wanting "good" schools, 3500 sq. ft. (for 350-400K) & a 20-25 min. drive to the airport, I'd be looking at Pville, Hutto, or E. RR.

If UNDER 3100 sq. ft. he might find the same in SW Austin neighborhoods mentioned above.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by hound 109

I agree with Coach. If he's wanting "good" schools, 3500 sq. ft. (for 350-400K) & a 20-25 min. drive to the airport, I'd be looking at Pville, Hutto, or E. RR.

If UNDER 3100 sq. ft. he might find the same in SW Austin neighborhoods mentioned above.

New construction 5BR, 3,000 sq. ft. homes are available right now for under $400K in SW Austin.

[jdvaus]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Do the schools preclude living near the giant metro park off Pecan in Pf-ville or even Blackhawk(for a new(er) build)? That's the only reason I can think of NOT to include those areas so close to the toll road...

Looks like even some of the brand new homes are in the $110-120/sq ft range, so fitting the budget requirements would not be a problem. Saw some very nice homes in Blackhawk in their target range.

+1 for Pflugerville. I have friends who raised their kids in the area, attending the school district (ISD). SW Austin, and Circle C are decent choices though I've no references to their schools. I assume the OP will be doing their homework on the are ISDs.

You should also keep in mind that the best road from Pf-ville to the airport is via Toll Road SH-130. Some people are adverse to taking toll roads, but if you don't mind the toll (*), it will get you to ABIA within 45 mins comfortably.

(*) Currently, it would be about $6 or for the 23 miles from Pf-ville to the Airport.

[riaelise]

Yeah, the schools in the North and Northeast in Pflugerville are definitely doing better performance wise...at least according to Greatschools. 8s, 9s, and 10s. The current school track for my daughter would be 10 - 9- 8. You can get a big house in that price range and have money left over and have good access to many options retail wise. There is a toll road nearby that is very convenient.

The large homes are moving very quickly in my neighborhood even...despite not being master planned.