Best suburb of Austin? (Pflugerville, Bastrop: transplants, HOA fees, home)

[mark311]

Originally Posted by Austin97

There are neighborhoods like northwest hills that kind of have a town center. Anderson lane has a lot of local stores, but it still has big parking lots so it isnt really walkable. People dont hang out much.

Our downtown friends call central austin (allandale, hyde park, etc) the suburbs

I agree and think those are great places to live. I would live there myself if I could afford it. However, the Op made the statement below that I think ruled those places out. I don't think you can find a 4 bedroom home that is less than 10 years old for $400K in any of those areas.

"Right now, I have no time for hobbies but if I did, I like to hike and trail run, but realistically, playgrounds with the kids/dogs and shopping/restaurants with the wife. "Newer" to me means built in the last ten years (I want the modern amenities and high build quality). Great schools means the whole range...I have young kids and want to stay put through HS. Finally, I plan to buy, and my ceiling is about $450k, but preferably below 400k; we need 4+ bedrooms."

[tongpa-nyi]

For suburbs on the fringe of the metro area, I like Georgetown and the future version of Leander. Georgetown already has a lot going for it and Leander has a master plan for a rail-centric community center that should be a nice place to live once it's complete in a few years. Or... is that still be planned? I haven't seen an update on the status of that project in at least a year.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by tongpa-nyi

For suburbs on the fringe of the metro area, I like Georgetown and the future version of Leander. Georgetown already has a lot going for it and Leander has a master plan for a rail-centric community center that should be a nice place to live once it's complete in a few years. Or... is that still be planned? I haven't seen an update on the status of that project in at least a year.

rail-centric? I heard there was one line running from Leander to downtown that is $76/month . This is not a panacea for "suburbicitis", but in reality will take longer to get to any downtown destination than driving.

[JERiv]

I've seen some posts on Steiner Ranch. Not sure you want to go there, unless you want a very long commute. Very scenic, nice place, good amenities, but relatively far from the city.

I'd first figure out what area of the city you'll be working in, if possible. If you end up with a job in the eastern or southern part of the city, for example, you'll rue the day you bought in Steiner. Or vice-versa, if you get a job on the north side, you probably won't be happy you bought in SW Austin.

Your best bet is to come see the neighborhoods.

If commute, nice houses, large community, and schools are a huge priority for you and you won't be working in the northern parts of the city, your best bets are SW Austin (Circle C, VaWO). It's also pretty close to Zilker Park and Lady Bird lake/trails, Barton Springs/ city, has Wildflower Park and Veloway, so it's got some benefits. (Disclaimer: We bought in Circle C, and love it!)

If nice houses, large community, and schools are a big priority, and you won't be working on the southern parts of the city, your best bets are Steiner Ranch, or sections of NW Austin. Steiner itself is not very close to the city, which means more traffic, but has good schools. Not sure if feeder patterns are still great or not, so you'll want to check on those. Driving to Steiner is nice due to the views of the lake, but you get used to those views pretty quickly. Plus Steiner is freaking huge! 10-15 minute drive just to get out of Steiner.

The other area to look would be in the Eanes ISD (probably best schools around), which is in the western section of the city, across the river, surrounding 360. But that area is very (VERY)expensive.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Round Rock/Georgetown because of commute. Also, RR is not as green. Plus not all their schools are amazingly good in terms of feeder patterns.

Try to rent first. Take your time looking around. My family moved down in 2008, and we our sweet time looking around (around 1 year). We started looking in Round Rock, then looked at Steiner (a lot), and went on to look in NW Austin, Eanes, Mueller, and finally ended up in SW Austin. So give yourself some time to get used to the city and look around. You'll be glad you did.

Other than that, good luck!!

P.S. Last thing I'll say about Circle C. If they build the Alamo Drafthouse here, it will finally be heaven. :-D

[CAtoTX09]

Originally Posted by CT_trackstar

Newer homes, preferably without HOA, but that's not a dealbreaker.

I'm just curious what your reasons are for no HOA. I used to be fiercely anti-HOA (and still am to some degree) but have found that many in Texas are not the nazi-style HOAs typical of the west coast that slap you with a fine as soon as one weed sprouts up on your lawn or for putting up Christmas lights. Plus most cost only a few hundred dollars per year vs. $500/month in CA where I moved from.

My primary reason for wanting to avoid HOAs is that I'm an amateur radio operator but in looking for homes, we pulled some of the CC&Rs and many of them allow antennas up to a specified height.

I'd also second someone's recommendation to rent first. I'm really glad we decided to rent first in San Antonio, because we really don't care for it now that we've been here six months and are looking forward to moving to Austin.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by mark311

I agree and think those are great places to live. I would live there myself if I could afford it. However, the Op made the statement below that I think ruled those places out. I don't think you can find a 4 bedroom home that is less than 10 years old for $400K in any of those areas.

"Right now, I have no time for hobbies but if I did, I like to hike and trail run, but realistically, playgrounds with the kids/dogs and shopping/restaurants with the wife. "Newer" to me means built in the last ten years (I want the modern amenities and high build quality). Great schools means the whole range...I have young kids and want to stay put through HS. Finally, I plan to buy, and my ceiling is about $450k, but preferably below 400k; we need 4+ bedrooms."

You can buy a small house (1500 sq ft) in allandale, hyde park, crestview for around 200K. Then spend about 200K expanding it at about 100/sq ft. This will easily get you to 2500 sq ft, plus remodeling the existing structure.

[Astrolaura]

Originally Posted by CAtoTX09

My primary reason for wanting to avoid HOAs is that I'm an amateur radio operator but in looking for homes, we pulled some of the CC&Rs and many of them allow antennas up to a specified height.

Delurking to say thank you for posting this! For us an HOA is still a deal breaker but it's nice to know there are reasonable ones out there.

The main reason that an HOA is a deal breaker for us is that DH is a ham and we have yet to find an HOA that will let him put a 90' tower in the yard, or a cluster of taller antennas/towers in the yard. lol It's also the reason we're looking outside Austin city limits. Austin has a 40' restriction on antennas/towers. And when I say "yard" I mean property, big property, 3+ acres.

[jobert]

Originally Posted by Austin97

You can buy a small house (1500 sq ft) in allandale, hyde park, crestview for around 200K.

That one set off the B.S. alarm.

[TopSecretAdam]

Maybe you dont really want to live in a community then. Land is cheap all around the outskirts of Austin, and there are some people willing to sell land even cheaper. Is building an option?

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by jobert

That one set off the B.S. alarm.

A quick search of those subdivisions in the MLS this morning turns up 7 properties that are below $225,000. Since the OP specified "newer home", and all but one of those were built in 1967 or before, and the one that wasn't was built in 1986, whether or not remodeling any of those (with a CLOSE eye to how the renovation fits into the neighborhood, one would hope) would work depends on if "remodeled and updated" constitutes "newer".