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Where to live in Austin

6,774 Views | 36 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by I bleed maroon
Vade281
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Looking to buy a house (new is an option). Work is near the Domain. 20-30 commute is about the most I'd want to do. Things important to me are 3+/2+ with an office. Would love to have a media room but probably not in the price range of 300-450k. Any thoughts on neighborhoods or new communities? Schools will have to be good but not a high priority for the next 5 years.
tamc93
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Vade281 said:

Looking to buy a house (new is an option). Work is near the Domain. 20-30 commute is about the most I'd want to do. Things important to me are 3+/2+ with an office. Would love to have a media room but probably not in the price range of 300-450k. Any thoughts on neighborhoods or new communities? Schools will have to be good but not a high priority for the next 5 years.
The highlighted items may conflict with each other, especially the commute. Focusing more on the school districts that could be in reach of the 20-30 minute commute and possibly hit the price point (also consider a 4/2 with the office/or use the extra bedroom for it).

Leander ISD
Round Rock ISD
Georgetown ISD
Liberty Hill ISD
FJB, FPA, and FAZ
Vade281
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So far in my search Bratton Hill and Preston Village seem okay for commute. I don't know the schools in that area but I don't have kids yet so it's not a deal breaker.
tailgatetimer10
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Cedar Park or west round Rock.

Leave earlier in the morning if possible, and commute won't be bad at all either.
Vade281
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I tend to leave the house a little after 7. I'll have some flexibility when I end up at the office.
tailgatetimer10
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Mopac and 183 back up near their respective "bends" North of where they intersect. I'm a 183 driver, so I can't speak to mopac, but it starts to back up at around 630. While it's not terrible, it's slightly annoying.

I looked at Preston village about 7 years ago when I bought my house.. that area needed quite a bit of development still. I'm very happy that I bought closer to the 183 side
tamc93
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Vade281 said:

So far in my search Bratton Hill and Preston Village seem okay for commute. I don't know the schools in that area but I don't have kids yet so it's not a deal breaker.
I do not know much about those developments (one appears to be a condominium lot development), but they appear to be in RR ISD and Travis County (eg. future COA).

Also, since it appears you are younger, you would probably appreciate being "closer" to town vs the suburbs.
FJB, FPA, and FAZ
Vade281
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I'm 34 so the town isn't that important to me for the weekday night life. I've been living in The Colony (DFW) for the last decade so I'm not much of a bar life guy. Mostly sand volleyball and gaming. Girlfriend will be following me eventually. I might use this as a last opportunity to live downtown though, lol, but still would get a house in the very near future.

https://www.taylormorrison.com/tx/austin/austin/bratton-hill
https://www.pulte.com/homes/texas/the-austin-area/austin/preston-village-87490

The school ratings for these two neighborhoods seem better than average. The absolute highest I'd go is 500k with a ~150k downpayment after I sell my current house.
bodaciousbood14
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Wife and I just signed a contract to build a house in Blackhawk in Pflugerville. Just north of the 45/130 intersection. Can't speak to the traffic yet but my wife works at the Dell campus on Parmer and that's only a little closer than the Domain. You could just zip down 45 and hit MoPac in around 30 minutes. Schools are 8/9 range too.
Mike Elko
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Some free advice: Live as close to work location as humanly possible. I've dealt with both extremes and closer's always better.
Aggieangler93
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Something in the Brushy Creek/Avery Ranch area may be doable for that budget. Mopac would get you there, or McNeil road with no toll, most mornings, in under 20 mins, if you left by 7:00AM. You may not find new construction for that cost.

I live in BC/AR area (RRISD schools and Williamson County, not in a city) and work near Mopac and Far West (just South of the Domain by a few miles). My commute most days, without bad rain and not at 7:45AM traffic, is about 20 mins. If I am travelling during non-traffic hours, I am 12 mins one way door to door. On bad days, that ~10 miles takes me an hour. Such is Austin.

If you can leave later, around 9AM, is it almost always 15 mins or so. I often work from home for an hour or so, and leave for the office later.

I choose to trade away the higher tax, higher crime, higher homeless population in Austin, for a slightly longer commute to work, and live in a safer place in a better school attendance zone. Of course, I don't really venture South of Mopac and 2222 except for maybe once a month or so, so I could care less how far away I am from downtown Austin. I am also not a bar rat, as I had my fill of random hours spent drinking at the Chicken in college. YMMV, as will everyone's, based on what they value more in life.

No matter where you pick, there will be pros and cons of both. At one point since living in the same location, my office was at 620 and Parmer. Depending on the 2 lights I had to get through, I could be home in 3 minutes. Now that was the best of both worlds, but the job there dried up!
Class of '93 - proud Dad of a '22 grad and a '26 student!
BadMoonRisin
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bodaciousbood14 said:

Wife and I just signed a contract to build a house in Blackhawk in Pflugerville. Just north of the 45/130 intersection. Can't speak to the traffic yet but my wife works at the Dell campus on Parmer and that's only a little closer than the Domain. You could just zip down 45 and hit MoPac in around 30 minutes. Schools are 8/9 range too.
Howdy, neighbor. Southside Falcon Pointe here. We were all a little scared of the traffic that Costco would generate, but its not really that bad.
Vade281
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Blackhawk looks promising too. I'll take a look at the floor plans. Any recommended builders to go with?
Ragnar Danneskjoldd
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Near Walnut Creek is actually in Pflugerville ISD, parmer lane elementary is considered excellent. 10 minutes from the domain.
fig96
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tailgatetimer10 said:

Cedar Park or west round Rock.

Leave earlier in the morning if possible, and commute won't be bad at all either.
Second Cedar Park, that would be a pretty easy commute most days and you can get a whole lot of house for $300-400k.
AgGrad99
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Cedar Park, or neighborhoods up Parmer like Ranch at Brushy Creek, Avery Ranch, Davis Springs, or one of the many new 'hoods near 1431 and Parmer.
Vade281
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Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

Near Walnut Creek is actually in Pflugerville ISD, parmer lane elementary is considered excellent. 10 minutes from the domain.
Do you have more info on this? I'm having a hard time with a website.
bodaciousbood14
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BadMoonRisin said:

bodaciousbood14 said:

Wife and I just signed a contract to build a house in Blackhawk in Pflugerville. Just north of the 45/130 intersection. Can't speak to the traffic yet but my wife works at the Dell campus on Parmer and that's only a little closer than the Domain. You could just zip down 45 and hit MoPac in around 30 minutes. Schools are 8/9 range too.
Howdy, neighbor. Southside Falcon Pointe here. We were all a little scared of the traffic that Costco would generate, but its not really that bad.
Good to know! Looking forward to moving out there November-ish time frame.
jopatura
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Honestly if you have no kids now, I would buy as cheap and close as possible and save for the idea in mind that you'll move when you actually are ready for school. You'll find that your house desires change with kids. Plus if you job hop, there's no guarantee where you'll be in 5-6 years. You don't want to be stuck in Liberty Hill or Georgetown with a job opportunity in Downtown Austin.

The west side of Pflugerville around Heatherwilde & Grand Avenue generally have cheaper houses. Anything up and down Dessau will also have a decent commute and decent prices, but it may be a little more with an Austin address.
mrp_84
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I live in a Avery Ranch. Good luck finding a 3/2 with an office here for under 400k. There just aren't a lot of homes selling here now, and when they do they go quick with multiple offers. We are putting ours in the market within your price range in a few weeks but it's just a 3/2. Adding the office requirement probably bumps any homes to the top of your budget or out of you budget.

Our requirements for our next house is similar to yours and wanting to stay in AR, unfortunately there just isn't much there if you're wanting to stay under 400k. We are probably looking to move north or west into Cedar Park or Round Rock.

My wife works at the elementary school right by Preston Village. Good school, but should note it is Title 1 so 90% or more low income families. Nothing wrong with that, but it can be a turn off for some folks as it lowers the overall rating due to the kids not having the support at home in some cases. It is the STEAM Academy for RRISD so there's that. A lot of technology and buzz words but lacks some common sense in some areas.
marcosowns
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Vade281 said:

I'm 34 so the town isn't that important to me for the weekday night life. I've been living in The Colony (DFW) for the last decade so I'm not much of a bar life guy. Mostly sand volleyball and gaming. Girlfriend will be following me eventually. I might use this as a last opportunity to live downtown though, lol, but still would get a house in the very near future.

https://www.taylormorrison.com/tx/austin/austin/bratton-hill
https://www.pulte.com/homes/texas/the-austin-area/austin/preston-village-87490

The school ratings for these two neighborhoods seem better than average. The absolute highest I'd go is 500k with a ~150k downpayment after I sell my current house.
I bought in the Preston Village neighborhood at the end of 2018. Given how close it is to 35 it's pretty quiet over here and getting to the domain would take me about 10 minutes using the toll road; add about 5 minutes not using the toll road. The schools are okay, nothing stellar per se, but definitely above average. The elementary school was constructed less than 5 years ago which is nice. The zoning to the middle school and high school will probably change in the future. Fun fact, Pulte has raised the "starting price" by $70k since I first came to check out the neighborhood in October 2018. I ran comps very recently and it seems people are actually paying at least that much more for houses here now, pretty nuts.
Ragnar Danneskjoldd
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Vade281 said:

Ragnar Danneskjoldd said:

Near Walnut Creek is actually in Pflugerville ISD, parmer lane elementary is considered excellent. 10 minutes from the domain.
Do you have more info on this? I'm having a hard time with a website.
Anything north of braker on swearingen is pflugerville ISD. Houses mostly built in the 1960's, but the further north you go the cheaper they get.

Some nicer newer areas. In general, its a pretty quiet place to live. Also have like 8 breweries with 2 miles.
bodaciousbood14
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Vade281 said:

Blackhawk looks promising too. I'll take a look at the floor plans. Any recommended builders to go with?
We're building with Wilshire. Plan is an Inwood 2 though they have several plans we considered heavily before finally settling on the Inwood 2. The Wilshire model home in Siena further north is an Inwood 2 if you want to check out a finished one.
Vade281
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Breweries....I'm in! Actually of all the Blackhawk homes have something to offer in my price range. I like the builders just have to research who people like using. Everyone offers something affordable with the options I like. I've never built a house before so that'll be something new.
Vade281
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I looked at traffic patterns for a lot of the blackhawk homes and it's like 30-60 minutes to where I need to go for work at 7am. That's such a wild swing lol. I think I'm going to follow the advice of just buying/moving to a place with the intention of moving once I have kids. Who knows where I'll be career and family wise by then. Thanks for all the suggestions! Buying a used home is going to be a nightmare for sure lol. I may end up building after that headache.
tailgatetimer10
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You can't trust Google or traffic apps here. Mine days it could take 1.25 hours, reality it's. 45 minutes
Bob_Ag
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A lot of options available to you depending on budget.

I grew up in Pflugerville, live in Round Rock, and do real estate work all over town. Blackhawk is not a bad option and there are lots of good builders in there, but there are some opportunities closer. Someone mentioned Preston Village right off Grand Avenue, Pearson Ranch, Avery Ranch, Heritage Oaks, etc. Pulte is actually one of the very few with active new construction in this sector of the metro.

There's also a strong trend for revitalization of older neighborhoods in the area with some really impressive remodeling. Neighborhoods off Wells Branch harbor a lot of employees that work in the domain area and then North you will find a lot cool older neighborhoods like Cat Hollow, Brushy Creek, Deer Run, etc.

My email is in my profile, let me know if I can help or if you just need some more info.
Jones12
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I have a house in commons at Rowe lane right next to Blackhawk that I'm about to put on the market. 3 beds + office. 12-13ft ceilings throughout and a ton of upgrades. I built it December 2016. Takes me about 25 mins to get to the domain

Let me know if you're interested.
Vade281
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Jones12 said:

I have a house in commons at Rowe lane right next to Blackhawk that I'm about to put on the market. 3 beds + office. 12-13ft ceilings throughout and a ton of upgrades. I built it December 2016. Takes me about 25 mins to get to the domain

Let me know if you're interested.
Sure. I'd like to know more.
Martin Cash
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Start with a map of the city limits of Austin, then start looking outside the lines.
Jones12
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Send me an email

Shjones@southernshingles.com
Vade281
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I sent an email.
Jones12
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Didn't get it. May want to check the spelling?
Vade281
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Jones12 said:

Didn't get it. May want to check the spelling?
I copy pasted it... hmmm
deddog
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AustinAg2012 said:

Some free advice: Live as close to work location as humanly possible. I've dealt with both extremes and closer's always better.
Except if you switch jobs.
Find a house that works for you, and then learn to live with traffic.
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