Need some advise to buy a house in Austin (Round Rock: foreclosures, mortgage)

[whma11]

Hello,

I moved here 7 months ago and work at I 35 and E parmer Ln. I have some disagreement with my gf while finding a house in Austin. I know finding a place can be stressful, and I am kinda unhappy because of house search. it is not easy to find a good location and is a new build. I do not want to have over $2000 monthly payment since I want to have some saving too. I want to have a kid next year.
I like Cader Park, but it will costs too much. I think Round Rock is good but not sure where to find.
To keep a long story short, I want something closer but is in a okay / good neighborhood. Have a park around and a good element school. For the price, I am thinking around 230k or 1500 monthly payment for a new home which has 3 beds and 2 baths, but I want to close to work or not driving 45 - 60 mins to commute. Would someone give me some advise where to look? Should I look for townhouse or resale home instead?

Thanks,

[JT-3]

Welcome to the forum. Are you pre-approved for a mortgage and have a realtor? I wasted plenty of time searching before the pre-approval, that narrowed the hunt.

[riaelise]

Why not pflugerville? There are a number of nice neighborhoods with good schools.

[centralaustinite]

YES! Look at resale houses. You are foolish to only consider new built, especially in your price range!

Focus on qualifying for a mortgage first, then search for a house.

[scm53]

There is a new development at 183 and Crystal Falls Pkwy - Crystal Crossing - that nails your requirements. Hits everything - about 25 min commute.

Go take a look.

[BriansZ]

As others said, interview some realtors and find a lender. I don't know how much you're putting down, but interest and taxes make a big difference in the monthly payment. In some places a $200k house has $6k/yr taxes. That alone is $500/mo. assuming that you're going to roll that into your monthly payment.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by scm53

There is a new development at 183 and Crystal Falls Pkwy - Crystal Crossing - that nails your requirements. Hits everything - about 25 min commute.

Go take a look.

Not a horrible choice IF there is a reason to live in Leander vs closer. That's right at 25 miles and the only way to do it in 25 minutes is going to be by toll road; so we add $7/day for fuel and $9/day in tolls. Yikes...let's get him closer!

[Austin97]

1) dont buy your house with your gf
2) dont have a kid with your gf
3) if you arent married her opinion doesnt matter
4) get married before doing the above

Once you take her out of the equation live where you want to live.

[Jimmyp25]

Originally Posted by Austin97

1) dont buy your house with your gf
2) dont have a kid with your gf
3) if you arent married her opinion doesnt matter
4) get married before doing the above

Once you take her out of the equation live where you want to live.

thats a little harsh there..I would say buy the house first.. then get married then have the kid...

[cp102]

Look at resale houses and you can find a home in Cedar Park. I prefer resale because you normally don't have to add all the finishing touches, most people upgrade their homes. One I had purchased has the most beautiful lights and fans, they upgraded to lights that were $400 plus throughout the home, it was a foreclosure so we got a very good deal. We had to paint, clean carpets, put 3 tiles on the roof and that was it. We saved 40,000 compared to similar homes in the neighborhood. At that time the neighborhood wasn't selling very well. So the house sat for 6 months, people were putting in offers about 25,000 less than the 150.000 they were asking thinking it needed many repairs. For 3 tiles off the roof they wanted to put a new roof, dirty carpet, replace all the carpet, paint, and in one place on the ceiling there was what looked like a crack that had been repaired, I knew by looking at whoever did put alot of plaster and never sanded that part down, the ceiling slopes at different angles. Sure enough I sanded it and its perfect. So I would look at foreclosures too. Get a reputable agent and let them know what your willing to spend and that your willing to look at resale. Many times people want to move fast and are willing to negotiate.

Yes finding a home is stressful, you need to take a breath, take a week and just look at places like realtor.com, zillow, trulia, kw.com...just to name a few there are many and get an idea of the places that are offered in the different areas and see if the homes match your criteria. How big of a house are you looking for sq feet. How big of a yard? If your expectations are bigger rather than being close the you need to look further out. Are you working in Northern Austin?

Hug your girlfriend and just take a break together and just sit and look at homes on the web. I found the stressful part is driving to and from with an agent. We use to just take a drive and look around and get a feel for the neighborhood, look at the parks, are there children playing, are people walking around, normally you will see people walking, jogging if they feel its a safe community, are the yards maintained, where are schools located then check to see if its a good school. etc Thats my 2 cents. I wish you loads of luck, but take your time finding a home is a huge imvestment not one you want to do quick.