Anyone in Austin?

NicoleO · #1 (**permalink**) 04-21-2005, 05:06 PM

Well, my husbands company was looking to relocate to Dallas, but they are decided on Austin. We could be moving as soon as the end of the summer. Any advice on where in Austin to be? Where are the good school districts? Is it worth the extra $$$ to live on one of the lakes? If so, which are best? We will be visiting the area in July and I want to already have some areas narrowed down so that we can drive through the neighborhoods while we are there. We are looking to spend no more than 375K on a house. Although I would perfer to stay in the 250-275 range if we can. Dh is the house spend-a-holic lol, where as I like having the extra money every month.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nicole
Feel free to PM me.

ImAnne · #2 (**permalink**) 05-18-2005, 02:19 PM

We live in Austin and love it! We live right by Lake Travis and it's really pretty. It's very expensive to live on the lake, but our neighborhood (Steiner Ranch) is right next to the lake and many of the homesites have lake views. I would stay away from I-35 because the traffic is horrible. But, on the west part of the city it's not bad at all. In our neighborhood you can get anything from the low $200's-$2 million, so you'd definitely be able to find something you like:-) You can look at the website for it. www.steinerranch.com I taught in the elementary schools here and they are very good. Leander, Round Rock and Eanes are the best districts, although Lake Travis I.S.D. is also good. Good luck!

Pomzie · #3 (**permalink**) 05-19-2005, 04:57 PM

We live in Round Rock, which is 20 min north of Austin. Love it here! Just 5 min from a golf course and the elementary school my 9 year old goes to just scored the highest TAKS scores for our district. There are several neighborhoods near by that are in your price range, and the golf course too. PM me if you want more info. Great place to raise a family here in Texas!

karaintx · #4 (**permalink**) 06-15-2005, 08:53 AM

Hey Nicole!! You know that I am outside of Austin, I really don't know alot about the area. It is so beautiful to live!! I think that the whole area is great!! PM or email me when you are heading this way!!

#5 (**permalink**) 06-27-2005, 03:53 PM

Live in Lake Travis area. Teach at an Elementary for LTISD. One of the best places to live in Austin area. Beautiful here. Originally from southern NM but you will love it here.

Good luck and let us know where you are moving to.

#6 (**permalink**) 06-28-2005, 08:45 AM

Hi There,
We just moved to Austin from Massachusetts about 6 weeks ago. We looked at Steiner Ranch... its beautiful. It was a toss up for us between there and Cedar Park. We chose Cedar Park. Great Neighborhoods, lots of shopping close by, great schools etc. We were told to stay on the West side of I-35. I'm not sure how much this helped, but I would definitely look into all the places that were mentioned (they are all nice.). IN some ways I wish we would have gotten more of a lake view, but we are 5 mins. from the lake here so its not too bad and we have a nice view of the hills.

Amy
mom to
Tori 8.23.99
Katelyn 7.30.01
Allison 5.21.04

Texas Red · #7 (**permalink**) 07-05-2005, 07:36 AM

We just bought a house out in Jonestown, on Lake Travis. Where you buy is dependent on how long you want to sit in traffic during rush hour. (I find the hour long one way commute to be worth being well outside of the metro area.) Westlake is close to downtown Austin and has a great school district. If proximity isn't an issue, then look further out as other posters suggested. Stay as far away from I35 as possible!

NicoleO · #8 (**permalink**) 08-06-2005, 05:29 PM

Well, we looked at Steiner Ranch and a bunch of there communities, (River Place, Deer Creek, and some others I don't remember the name). It was a close call between Steiner and Avery Ranch . But we ended up choosing Avery Ranch because I fell in love with the way the whole community is connected by walking / biking trails and you never have to get on a main road, including the pool and schools. We are headed out this week to find a place to buy in Avery that we can rent out in a year or two. Then in about a year from now, we are going to start the process of building in Avery. I'm not sure who with yet. I have it down to either Drees, Meritage, or Partners in Building. But we have to looks some more first.
We will be moving the last week in August. I am so excited. Every time I go it's wonderful.
I also got on waiting lists for Moms day out programs for Ellie, however I am like 27th on the list!! I think I will try to find something for her to do like gymnastics just to get her on some sort of schedule.
Thanks for all the info it was so helpful knowing all that stuff on our first trip out.

#9 (**permalink**) 08-06-2005, 10:13 PM

Hiya im moving to Cedar Park area very soon, soo excited!

Christy a sahm of 2 soon to be 3

NicoleO · #10 (**permalink**) 10-09-2005, 06:48 AM

Well after seeing 15 houses in one day and being so sold on Avery, we ended up in Round Rock in Behren's Ranch. We fell in love with the house and our street of about 28 houses has 55-60 kids! I hate that we are so far away from central market & wholefoods, but i love our neighborhood. Now I am looking for a good moms day out program. I think starting in January, we will be sending our then 3 year old to the international school. Does anyone know of any moms day out that have openings?