Buying New House in Austin - Neighbourhood with good Appreciation

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by nwcubsfan

This is exactly why we needed a master up. Our kids are 7 and 4 and I don't want them tumbling down the stairs in the middle of the night just because once of them wanted to crawl into bed with us. I was really surprised at how hard it was to find new construction floorplans with a MBR upstairs. We finally found one, but it took a lot of legwork. I am very happy with the location and the plan and hopefully the builder as well.

We still had a one story during the age our kids did this (crawl in bed, not tumble). It was a "pain" sometimes, and they hogged the bed, but I am almost teary eyed thinking about how much I would love it if they would do it just one more time, but alas, they are past that age and need. We can still get them to give us morning hugs, after they come down stairs now, but it is off to the great room to watch KRLU on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

If you can find a one story, when your kids are between 3 and 5-6 yrs old, you will have memories that may help the teenage years livable if you go down memory lane often enough.

[jwb123]

On the flipside, this area is the only one that I am familiar with that has the master down, plans. I don't remember those being built in WA...

These are great rules of thumb. RR is heavily dependent on Dell. In a downturn Dell can slah 1000 jobs in an instant wreaking havoc on the community.

Yes. If Dell was in the middle of a small town, it was the only employer and nothing else for miles around... and the people working at Dell were only skilled for one task. Think Flint, Michigan, Michael Moore, GM...

I agree with austin-steve's points about the home values, should a large layoff occur... and I have seen where areas (Like Lake Forest and Forest Creek) went down in price from 2002-2004... but, we do have access to all of Austin's other employers out here in the sticks of Round Rock, ya know It might be more of a commute, yes - but none the less, people take jobs where they need to vs not having one.

As for Round Rock appreciation... it's slow compared to what I am used to being from WA. Homes sit longer, but none the less, there is appreciation each year. Don't buy thinking you will cash in, a few years down the road, though.

[austin-steve]

but, we do have access to all of Austin's other employers out here in the sticks of Round Rock

If the other employers are hiring, but they probably won't be.

Round Rock was very hard hit from 2002 to 2005 when the tech sector and Dell slumped. Homes I was managing in Round Rock that rented for $1450 per month in 2000/2001 suddenly were sitting empty and couldn't be rented for more than $1100/mo. I was getting calls daily from owners in Round Rock looking for a Property Manager because their houses were not selling after 6 months to a year on the market. The rental market then became even more glutted with failed-sale turned rental homes, making it even worse. I managed an entire street of duplexes where over half our tenants were Dell employees in 2000. By 2003, every single one of them was gone and the rents had fallen from $995 for a 3 bedroom to $825, and we scraping the bottom of the barrel for renters.

While the rest of Austin also suffered during that time, Round Rock was notably worse in every way. I don't know of any reason it won't be that way again if the tech sector cycles through another hard downturn.

That's why we stay away from areas with concentrated employment as far as investing goes.

Steve

[jwb123]

Like I said, I do agree with you on the property value standpoint... but I don't agree that it will "wreck havoc on the community" as a whole. That's what I was addressing.

If the other employers are hiring, but they probably won't be

Ok, then that's an "Austin" issue, not just a Round Rock issue. Are you meaning should we get into a recession? If Dell is having problems (which they are, but they are still hiring) it shouldn't effect the other employers. From a technical industry stand point, the Austin area is doing extremely well.... obviously, should the country go into recession, that would be a different problem - but we would see that regardless of city limit lines.

EDIT : I just saw this line in your post....

While the rest of Austin also suffered during that time, Round Rock was notably worse in every way. I don't know of any reason it won't be that way again if the tech sector cycles through another hard downturn.

During that time period, the "tech sector" was experiencing a slump everywhere. The dot com thing had crashed in a big way, and people were out of work, en masse. It was basically the equivelant of a recession to any within the tech industry. Even hardware companies like AMD were feeling it. I think, since then, several more big tech employers have come into this area... and I would think things would look differently should a "tech only" recession occur.

I know you hate Round Rock!

[desu30]

I disagree with Austin_Steve too on this....

If you are an agent you should know that whole austin area was hard hit from 2002-2005....If you pull up houses in communities in West Austin like spicewood springs and river place even those houses depreciated by 40k-80k.....while Round Rock might have depreciated it might be 20-30k max....so which home owners are at loss if recession hits Austin-RoundRock areas....

By the way there are new 2 Samsung plants coming on in East Austin......

[gigi927]

Originally Posted by bill_d_2003

I disagree with Austin_Steve too on this....

If you are an agent you should know that whole austin area was hard hit from 2002-2005....If you pull up houses in communities in West Austin like spicewood springs and river place even those houses depreciated by 40k-80k.....while Round Rock might have depreciated it might be 20-30k max....so which home owners are at loss if recession hits Austin-RoundRock areas....

By the way there are new 2 Samsung plants coming on in East Austin......

bill_d, your comments jive with a lot of the stuff I hear from my neighbors in River Place who have lived here for 6+ years. They're saying that it's only been in the last two years that they are starting to be back in the black again after the downturn.

However, I think it's dangerous to say that b/c there was a higher $ depreciation in NW austin, that those homeowners were actually hit harder. I think that the percentages of depreciation of RR to NW Austin were probably similar. Remember, NW Austin (I am referring specifically to MLS area RN) has an average home price right now of over $480K, whereas I think RR's average home price is much lower - somewhere around $200K, I believe. So 20 to 30K in depreciation (10-15%) is roughly the same as $40-$80K in depreciation in NW Austin (<10%-20%)

[desu30]

I agree Gigi...% wise RR and RN will have same depreciation...

Thats what my point is... I meant if recession was to hit austin area....there are more chances that overall whole Austin area would depreciate not only RR as Austin-Steve meant...

[gigi927]

Gotcha, Bill!