Question On Cost Of Living In Austin

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buffedhorninkc

First Time Poster
I graduated from UT back in the early '80's (back when you could get in with a minimum of an 800 on the SAT if you were in the top 25% of your class. Heard things are a bit tougher these days.) and haven't been in Austin since about '88 or '89. Moved to LA for quite a few years then to KC. Has the cost of living in Austin just gone thru the roof? From what I've been reading and hearing it sounds like rent and home prices are rivaling what you see on either coast. Exaggerated or on target? If this is so I sure hope those low salaries they were offering in Austin are keeping up with the cost of living increase.
 
Housing prices have increase rapidly in Austin, but I still don't think they compare to the coasts. Apartment prices have fallen lately and you can get very good deals throughout the city.
 
I agree lhorns2. I'm looking into moving back to Austin from Houston, and I've noticed that apartment prices are comparable and often cheaper than rent in Houston. Generally, buying a house in Austin is more expensive than most anywhere else in Texas, but housing is definitely cheaper than LA, San Fran, Boston or NYC.
 
You can get decent homes in North Austin still for $120-$130. Right now many apartment complexes are struggling to fill so you could get some good deals. A few months ago one complex up north was offering 6 months free with a 12 month lease.
 
dead horse,
if you don't mind frequent visits from coroners and lots of yellow tape around your neighbors trees, $120-$130 is very realistic. if you prefer a neighborhood with little-no gunshots per year, expect to pay a min. $170.
 
That's funny. I live across the street from Cool River in North Austin. I live next door to a Chiropractor on one side, and an Engineer on the other (all UT graduates as are my wife and I). House down the street listed for $144K a few months ago but since the economy sag it has dropped to $122 and sold last week. I have yet to see plice tape or ahve any problems in my neighborhood (knock on wood).

If you want to drop $170K on a house that's your perogative. But I guarantee you can find a nice house in a nice established neighborhood for less. If you can't then you didn't look hard enough. Just my opinion.
 
that's because technically, if you live where I think you do, you're in Round Rock (if you're not, cross Parmer and you would be). Round Rock is not North Austin. Round Rock is north of Austin. You pay RR school taxes, no?

If you want to live in Round Rock, then yes, those prices are legit. If you want to live in Austin inside of a 45 min. commute to campus/downtown, $170 is the minimum, unless you find a foreclosure.

Didn't mean to get into a pissing match with you. I've lived in Austin 27 years, just bought my first house 4 mos. ago so I have a pretty good feel for the prices right now. 2k SF house in the last subdivision in SW Austin and paid near $200k. And we offered much much less than the asking price. This city is just expensive.
 
I am in the city of Austin and pay Austin ISD school taxes. I am in the 78759 zip code.

I bought my house 6 years ago while still in college. The prices in my neighborhood got up to the $160's but now they are anywhere from $122-$145 with an occasional $155.

I love it up north though. I don't have any problems getting downtown in the morning and face only a 25 minute commute on a bad day each way.
 
if by chance the original poster is still monitoring this thread....your price will not only depend on location, but quality of house. This is obvious, but will drastically change your price. By "quality" I'm referring to age of house, upkeep, appliances, original builder, etc.

What square footage? New or old? Does builder matter to you? yard? Appliances? All of these things play into your price.

To generally answer your question, Austin is no where near SF, NY etc. Not even close. Overall there are hundreds of deals to be found right now. My wife and I bought in August at the height of the layoffs in Austin and were able to get a house still in development that the builder expected to have sold by then. Thousands in extras and upgrades at no cost. If you're looking for a previously owned house, people are having huge difficulties getting what they are asking. To give you an idea, the average time a house was on the market 2 years ago was about 3 days. When we bought it was like 90 days. I would be willing to bet it's higher now.
 
Texas Horn,

I live north of Parmer. I pay Round Rock ISD taxes. I live in a neighnborhood with a median price range of 150K.

I do not live in Round Rock, it does not take me 45+ minutes to get to campus (even during rush hour), nor have I heard one gunshot since moving up here.

You make me laugh. Get your ducks in a row before running your mouth.

Why must people that live in the southern part of Austin rip north Austin? I'll take tract homes over mobile home parks anyday.
 
I'm pretty sure Texas Horn is in the Legacy Oaks/CircleC/Sendara area. Median home price is probably mid $200s. We are about to buy in Legacy Oaks and I have yet to see a trailer home anywhere. Everyone I know (including our realtor and mortgage broker) looking fo a house is looking South. I thinks that says a little about the neighborhood quality up North.
 
Funny, my wife is a mortgage broker, I have been in the real estate business in some form or fashion for years, and I have buddies in the homebuilding/construction business.

The only reason why you think those neighborhoods are superior is because of the price range. You are paying for the dirt, of which the value is overinflated because of the misconception that somehow south Austin is a nicer place to live than north Austin.

Oh, and if you haven't found mobile homes in south Austin, you haven't looked hard enough. I've seen plenty.
 
Bone,

I've lived in Austin, NORTH AUSTIN, for 25 of my 27 years here. Lived south for 2. I didn't come from Dallas or Houston, go to UT and decide to stay (no offense to the many people who have). Go across the street into Scofield Farms and find yourself a house for less than $150k and report back. Unpainted will be glad to support that claim.

I don't give a rip where you or anyone else in this town lives. Where did this region BS smack come from and why are you such a hostile little ***? There are many fine homes in North Austin. My claim, if you'll scroll up, while home-searching, we found it difficult to locate the type of home we were looking for in the areas we liked for less than $170k, which, if you'll read between the lines a bit, is a compliment to North Austin. I grew up in North Austin, and preferred to live South (away from the parents!)

Trailer park? you obviously have not spent much time in my neighborhood. it's so suburbia, it's ridiculous.

In reply to:
Click to expand...
 
let me make my point more clear:

go toThe Link and choose MLS area N. Nearly every home under $160k is in either Round Rock or Pflugerville. Under 2N (east of MoPac, South of Parmer, North of 183) you can't find a house for sub $145. There is one for $145.

Most of these homes are 5-10 years old (you WILL find 3 or less year old houses but not many; save the responses). For a 1600+ 3 BR house that was built w/in the last 3-4 years, expect to pay $170+. Since you are a real estate guru Bone, go ahead and prove me wrong.
 
buffed:

See what you started! Another 'North or South Austin' cat fight.

You cannot generalize on NAustin -v- SAustin. Both have great places, both have not so great. For every point there will be a counterpoint.

We looked north and south when we bought a few years ago. We had a great house picked out in both areas, but decided on south due to the proximity to our jobs.
 
a lot of this is based upon what you consider "north" Austin, and "south" Austin. For some reason, all the students consider east Riverside "south" Austin. Granted, it's south of campus, but it's also waaay east. I started a thread about office space in "central" Austin, and someone considered that pretty bizzare. Yeah, there was a time when it would be considered north, but there was also a time when there was nothing but trees north of what is now 183. So, for purposes of this discussion, the vague "north" and "south" directions should go away. Lets start adding East and West to these to be a little more clear.
 
TexHorn,

You are correct. Even though I reside within the city limits of Austin, I live in Round Rock because you say that I do. I also live in a crime-riddled area because the market value of my house is less than 170K. There is no way you can live outside of the ghetto unless you throw down that kind of cash.

Go take a gander on the north side of Dittmar Road east of Manchaca Road. If those aren't mobile homes and that's not south Austin, then (according to your Round Rock/North Austin line of thinking), your definition of south Austin is Hays County.
 
Look man, you don't have to resort to name calling. I just thought your comments regarding the minimum price you have to pay in Austin to live in a decent neighborhood, etc. were offensive and misleading. Dead Horse seemed to think the same, although he didn't overreact like I did. I am sure you didn't mean it the way it was presented.

Congrats on your new house. I'm sure you will enjoy it for many years to come.
 
I live in central Austin, so I am better than all of you....


just kidding...this has been entertaining though. Please continue the north - south debate.
 
Bone, I actually looked up North for houses in the 180s and could not find anything less than 10 years old. Either you lucked out or they are just not getting listed.
 
I'm with you Gate, we're superior to the rest of them
smile.gif
. Although, not too long ago, 45th and Mopac where I live would have been considered North Austin.
 
See, I had a different approach when i bought my house. I didn't want a house that wasn't AT LEAST 10 years old. I think the new homes are built like **** and the wood they use is crap. Just my opinion though.

I think getting to your dream home is a process. Start small and then 5-10 years later buy a bigger one, 5-10 more years buy your big daddy. This way you gain equity in your home and roll over all of your gains into your new home each time and avoid capital gains tax.

So when you have you daddy home, you aren't financing 90% of it and you have a good chunk of equity.

That's my plan anyway.
 
Good plan Dead. My wife and I got lucky and got this house about four years ago, when the market was heating up, but not yet crazy. It's small, only 1400 sqft, but built in 1954, which is what we were looking for. After living there and working on it, though, I'm not sure I want to trade up. We've become attached to it. But, twins on the way may change that plan.

Anyway, back to the North-South war. I was enjoying that from the sidelines.
 
In addition to the North-South war, there seems to be some hostility from those who live in Round Rock. Not just something I've noticed on this thread, but on random others as well.

RR seems to be a nice, growing city and is destined to become Austin's major 'burb. As an outsider looking in, is there any truth to there being animosity at all towards RR and vice versa?
 
West Campus kicks all of your asses.

I haven't heard any RR-Austin hostility. I'm not exactly in the market for houses, but my girlfriend has some family there, and I've noticed it to be a pretty nice place. I would guess that if Austin ever gets to be near the size of Dallas or Houston, Round Rock would be the Plano or Katy of the area.
 
I have no animosity for those in RR. I bought my house whle in college, otherwise i would have looked in round rock to buy.

the main thing that sucks is the commute into Austin.
 
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