Pflugerville vs. Steiner Ranch - Need advice (Austin, Round Rock: sales, real estate)

[luzababy]

Hello!

I currently live in the NW part of Austin. As much as I would like to continue to live here, it's become too expensive for me. I'm currently searching for a home and found a community in Pflugerville - Falcon Pointe. The homes being built are perfect for us and under $350K. The toll roads are close and convenient; with a drive to Austin, it only takes 15 minutes. The downside is not only is it new construction, but there isn't much of a scenery like Steiner. I also don't know if houses appreciate there as they would in Steiner Ranch and if houses sell quickly once it's put on the market.

As for Steiner, the scenery if fantastic, but the cost of living is becoming like Austin. To build, we are looking at close to $400k. I've also searched for used homes and everything I may have been interested in purchasing is pending. The downside at Steiner is the commute to Austin. We drove there yesterday and came back home (at 1:30p), near Steck and Mopac, and it took us close to 30 minutes.

My question is: could anyone give me some feedback on the resale value (est.) of homes in Pflugerville and if the community is family oriented. Does it usually take 30+ min from Steiner to Austin. Thanks!

[GreenPlastic]

Resale in Pflugerville, especially at that price point, will be much tougher. The schools in Steiner Ranch are considerably better too if you have kids...

[jwb123]

I just read in the paper today that the price point on homes went up in PF by 9.7% and that home sales increased by 22.3%.

Comparitively, in the NW area of Austin... sales were down by 21%, while the median sales price was up by 7.5%.

I don't know if Steiner Ranch is in the RRISD, but PFISD is comparable in quality. Of course, as with anywhere - it depends on what school your neighborhood feeds into.

I like PF enough, but my main issue is that it's basically a big open field of cookie cutter homes... and that's all it is. There is very few businesses in PF, and thus, your property taxes will be higher, and you will be driving elsewhere for all your needs.

I would say that you can probably find comparable priced homes (both new and resale) a few blocks over in Round Rock (the east side of Round Rock), with lower property taxes and easier accessibility to shopping, restaurants, etc...

Round Rock home sales are up by 15.8% and a change in the median sales price is up by 5.9%. All of these statistics are for the month of Feb, and compared to the slump the area was seeing months prior.

As for being family friendly, etc - I think yes, absolutely the area is extremely family friendly and you will have access to lots of close family activities. Of course, as I mentioned - you will likely be driving to RR for these. PF seems like a nice neighborhood, city... nice people, involved in their kids lives and activities etc.

And yes, due to the fact that PF used to be a large ranch owned by the PF family - it's basically like I said, a big field, which has been cleared of existing trees... so it is definitely lacking in scenary. I guess you just need to decide where that sits on your list of priorities.

Check out RR! We really enjoy it here. We are in the Forest Creek subdivision, and you can get both new and resale for way under $350k, with an excellent neighborhood school, still close to the toll roads, etc.

Good luck!

[GreenPlastic]

Steiner is Leander ISD and the particular schools the neighborhood is zoned for are better than the Pflug schools in my opinion.

[jwb123]

To the OP:

Here are the TEA Ratings for the Leander ISD, and the PF ISD. Additionally, here are the requirements for the ratings.

http://www.leanderisd.org/District_School_Info/AcctabilityRequire06.pdf (broken link)

Leander :
http://www.leanderisd.org/District_School_Info/TEA_ratings.html (broken link)

PF:
http://www.pflugervilleisd.net/about/testscores.html (broken link)


Personally, I used to get all tied up with the "Exemplary" ratings too. However, I think that the difference between "Exemplary" and "Recognized" is pretty small - and really, when you consider the two ratings, parent involvement is key. You can put a good student into an "Exemplary" school with little parent involvement, and a good student into a "Recognized" school with involved parents - and, while I don't have any statistics to back this up - my guess is the good student with the involved parents, in a recognized school will come out on top.

Also, these ratings come out every year - so obviously what's rated "Exemplary" one year might come down to "Recognized" the next - and then back up to "Exemplary"....

They are BOTH good school districts. Texas is known for it's good schools, and this area (Austin suburbs) even more so.

[luzababy]

Thank you for the replies. We may end up in Steiner Ranch only because of the more developed neighborhoods and different activities. I'm still torn on whether it's the right decision because PF now has the toll roads making it A LOT quicker to get into Austin.

[gigi927]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I just read in the paper today that the price point on homes went up in PF by 9.7% and that home sales increased by 22.3%.

Comparitively, in the NW area of Austin... sales were down by 21%, while the median sales price was up by 7.5%.

Just a couple of comments on these stats, which I also saw in the newspaper.

First, they didn't say how they defined "NW area of Austin" except to say south of the 620...Steiner Ranch is in the MLS area "RN" which is a limited subset of NW Austin. That stat could be factoring in other neighborhoods east of RN (probably area NW) and therefore, could be misleading (to the positive or negative) as to the specific area Steiner is in.

Second, it's really not a good comparison to look at median home sales price and % of sales increase when comparing PF and RN/Steiner. Why? it comes down to supply and demand in two highly different communities at different stages in the real estate cycle. Pflugerville is a newer, less established community that is experiencing rapid growth and tons of new construction. RN/Steiner is an older, more established community as a whole (from a construction perspective). There is very little new construction in RN, and overall supply is more limited as a result. Luzababy, that's why everything you're finding seems to be already pending. So sure, Pflugerville is absolutely going to have a higher sales growth because it's still a community on the left side of the bell curve.

Median home sales price is also a bit dangerous to look at. Yes, Pflugerville is probably increasing at a very high rate - again, due to rapid growth. But let's look at 2006 home sales prices in both communities:

Average home sales price in PF in 2006 was $156,298
Average home sales price in RN in 2006 was $488,020
source: Alamo Title Co. Austin 2006 residential stats report

Again, Pflugerville growing rapidly and average prices rising. But look at the baseline they're starting from - very low. House for house, a house in RN is 3times more valuable than in Pflugerville.

Now Luzababy - I am not saying if you buy a house in Pflugerville that it won't appreciate. It probably will, and might appreciate in any given year at a higher rate than a home in Steiner. But if you buy in Steiner, you are buying a home in an area that is already high demand, low supply and that has consistent history of 7-9% appreciation in the last 3 years.

It's always a smarter real estate choice to buy less house in the best real estate location possible, than to buy more house in a less desirable location. Not everything boils down to numbers- lots of lifestyle factors (like commute) to consider too, but just something to keep in mind. Good luck!

[jwb123]

PF is new and less established? I don't "know" one way or another - we just moved here... but my sister lived there 10 years ago.

that has consistent history of 7-9% appreciation in the last 3 years.

What's your source on this? NOT being snotty, I mean that sincerely, and I am very interested to read about that for my personal education!

It's my understanding, from the reading I have done, and talking to the various real estate agents and sales people in the new home places - that *most* of the area (North Austin Suburbs - extending to Georgetown) are not really getting much appreciation because of the vast amount of building and construction going up - pretty much all over! Pretty consistantly people told me that to not expect real appreciation, or equity on a house investment in this area for the next 6 years.

Average home sales price in PF in 2006 was $156,298
Average home sales price in RN in 2006 was $488,020

She also said she was looking for a home under $350k.

Hey, I am not fighting for PF! Like I said, I don't particularly prefer it. I am just responding based on what it sounds like the OP might be looking for - reducing her mortgage, scaling back. Which totally makes sense. I am not sure she can achieve that in Steiner Ranch.

The "smarter real estate choice" is to stay within a resonable budget and not make yourself "house poor". It sounds like, in her mind she's telling herself, I need to address this - but her heart is still in Steiner...

[Trainwreck20]

My question is: could anyone give me some feedback on the resale value (est.) of homes in Pflugerville and if the community is family oriented. Does it usually take 30+ min from Steiner to Austin. Thanks!

• No idea on resale value of homes in Pflugerville personally, but if you want to go to the tax appraiser website, you can see the last 5 years of the tax basis. Note that this is not equal to actual value, but gives you a good idea of appreciation.
  
• Most of Pfugerville is young families, if that is what you mean by family oriented (as opposed to family disoriented ). Of course, it depends on where you buy, but due to the lower prices, it tends to attract younger couples who have not built up the equity to afford the more expensive areas.
  
• Yes, Steiner is almost always 30 minutes from downtown Austin (or anything further east, too).

[jwb123]

I just googled Falcon Pointe, and I see that it's off of Kelly Lane. That is a really nice area - across the toll roads from where I am in Forest Creek. They are getting ready to open a Kelly Lane exit on the toll roads, so that will make things even more convenient.

I have driven by where those 3 schools are... it's a really cute community. It's also kind of set apart from the rest of Pflugerville in the cookie cutter thing... and not really the "starter homes" you might see in other areas of PF, closer to 35.