I like the house you posted save a few things: the kitchen is too outdated for a $450k+ house. Who has a mini bar in a hallway on their second floor? Do they manually put the fake peacock's tail feathers up and down?
Help me! I don't know which beautiful, ENORMOUS house I should build and I can afford them all!
They are 150 a square foot for the most part. We are trying to stay around 3000 square feet. I get what you're saying.. but not sure it applies. I wouldn't really say they are beautiful. I'm struggling to find a plan that's subtle and not some faux McMansiony Tuscan Disneyworld hotel looking house. These are big to me because I have always lived in HCOL cities and never imagined myself in a 3000 square foot house but it's different here. Most of the suburban houses are pretty large and the nice charming city ones are crazy expensive. 600k for 1200 square feet and over our budget.
If you've got that kind of a budget in that area, you can afford a home that makes you feel like you're living in a dream world (with little to no work). Are you new to the area? I can absolutely guarantee that there is a better home/lot combo for you than the homes you have posted. Keep looking.
Also, don't immediately discount a property because it's not a full acre. A 1/2 acre lot situated on a hill or backing up to some sort of green space will give you just as much privacy. You really just have to see it.
What is your actual budget? Not $/sq ft, actual total budget including land and building. And why are you so set on the neighborhood you've chosen (that you mention on the MM thread)? I bet I could find you something else (possibly in a different part of Austin) that you didn't have to build. Is 3000sq ft a minimum or would you be happy with something slightly smaller? ETA: I love house hunting, but I have no reason to anymore since we plan to stay in this house for 20+ years.
"Why would you ruin perfectly good peanuts by adding candy corn? That's like saying hey, I have these awesome nachos, guess I better add some dryer lint." - Nonny
Sorry if I missed it but is there a reason you don't want to get a realtor?
We are working with a realtor for lots.. but I am working with builders on my own. Personal preference to not involve a realtor when we get quotes for the partner builders. We really had hoped to buy a lot and build and are early in the process to make sure we can even afford to stay in budget. I'm just trying to nail down 2-3 spec houses I like to get an accurate price per square footage and casually checking out existing houses to get ideas of what we could get if we buy.
Sorry if I missed it but is there a reason you don't want to get a realtor?
We are working with a realtor for lots.. but I am working with builders on my own. Personal preference to not involve a realtor when we get quotes for the partner builders. We really had hoped to buy a lot and build and are early in the process to make sure we can even afford to stay in budget. I'm just trying to nail down 2-3 spec houses I like to get an accurate price per square footage and casually checking out existing houses to get ideas of what we could get if we buy.
Sorry if I missed it but is there a reason you don't want to get a realtor?
We are working with a realtor for lots.. but I am working with builders on my own. Personal preference to not involve a realtor when we get quotes for the partner builders. We really had hoped to buy a lot and build and are early in the process to make sure we can even afford to stay in budget. I'm just trying to nail down 2-3 spec houses I like to get an accurate price per square footage and casually checking out existing houses to get ideas of what we could get if we buy.
This one is adorable! Is it in your desired location? Under budget, the land space you want, the size you'd like. Why not go see it?
The other homes are near a large lake which DH wants. I am not familar with this town. I'll drive over tomorrow and check it out.
Lol at wanting to be near the lake, just because the lake water levels are so ridiculously low and probably will be for years. But this house does look amazing. Definitely go see it and any others you'd even think about considering. I think you're getting hung up on the idea of building when there's a good chance you can find something you'll love without having to build for the same amount of money or less.
Well yah. But charming city neighborhoods comes at a premium! If we wanted to stay central like we are now in an apartment this is what we would be looking at:
$475k for under 900 square feet (2/1 bed bath) and any future kids would probably have to go to private school, making this house out of budget
So it seems like you're kind of all over the place on what you want, like you and your DH haven't actually written down what you want. I think you should sit down and write out what you want, and for each attribute think of the ideal, what would be acceptable, and what is undesirable or a dealbreaker. You say 2br/1ba and sending to private school is a no go. Would you be ok with 3br? 3br and a bonus room? 1200 sq ft? 2500 sq ft? You seem willing to accept a shitty commute (45min driving), but what's your ideal? You want good schools,but how good? How old are your kids and will high schools even be zoned similarly or have changed in quality in 10-15 years? Then sit down and figure out exactly what tradeoffs you have to make to stay in your price range. If you still want to build, the tradeoff will probably be that you're further from downtown, because there are simply fewer lots close in.
Here's an example of some different tradeoffs than the ones you've been presenting us with: www.ziprealty.com/property/5306-MEADOW-CREEK-CIR-AUSTIN-TX-78745/70980988/detail This house is older (but nicely updated), single story (which you said you wanted), and much closer to downtown (only 4 miles). It's also only $380k and not selling, so it will probably go for less. Oh, and have you owned a home in Texas before? You know that property taxes here are insane, right? So cheaper means lower property taxes too. Drawbacks to this house - it's right on the railroad line, though I don't think there's a ton of traffic on it. I'm not sure how good or bad schools are in that part of town, but with the cheaper house, private school might be an option.
So it seems like you're kind of all over the place on what you want, like you and your DH haven't actually written down what you want. I think you should sit down and write out what you want, and for each attribute think of the ideal, what would be acceptable, and what is undesirable or a dealbreaker. You say 2br/1ba and sending to private school is a no go. Would you be ok with 3br? 3br and a bonus room? 1200 sq ft? 2500 sq ft? You seem willing to accept a shitty commute (45min driving), but what's your ideal? You want good schools,but how good? How old are your kids and will high schools even be zoned similarly or have changed in quality in 10-15 years? Then sit down and figure out exactly what tradeoffs you have to make to stay in your price range. If you still want to build, the tradeoff will probably be that you're further from downtown, because there are simply fewer lots close in.
I don't think we are really all over the place. - 2250-3500 sq feet. Ideal is around 3000 - Over 3 bed/ 3 bath - High rated school district (something comparable to Dripping Springs or Lake Travis, Eanes too but that's out of budget) - Within 45 min of downtown - preferably near Lake Travis - Lot at least .5 acre, 1 acre ideal - Age of house doesn't matter - Ideal price is 500k or under, if we find the perfect house or build we can go up from that but would prefer not to - Prefer houses that aren't too McMansion and prefer garage on the side - Prefer neighborhoods without the pool/clubhouse amenities
This helps - your preferences weren't coming across well in previous posts. But you've been looking at properties all over the map - do you have any other thoughts about location? Would you like to live close to the local schools, grocery stores, etc, or are you ok driving 15-30 minutes to get anywhere?
lilac- if you don't mind saying, which area are you in
I'm not in TX anymore, and when I was, I was in Dallas area. I just love real estate (& have a few friends in the Austin area) and I could just hear a lot of myself in your posts.
All I really hear that you know you want is 1 acre+ (is this for privacy purposes or for landscaping/outdoor fun purposes?) and you think you'll have to get about 3000sq ft (but never really said that's what you WANT). The homes you've posted have been ALL over the board with style. I think buying a lot without a very clear picture of what you want is very risky, and likely a recipe for disaster. At the very least, lots of stress. Starting with an HOA that has requirements that you don't love is also a rocky start. There's no sense in paying into a neighborhood that requires $$$ upgrades to a home that don't even appeal to you.
I really like the last home posted, but it's about as opposite as can be from the homes you initially posted. It's a lot more expensive to build than to purchase. Worth it, if you know exactly what you want, but that's not the case (yet) here. If you're looking for a large plot of land in a largely developed area, I think you're probably better off looking at what already exists.
I think you should call an agent to help you with a search of existing homes. It won't cost you anything. They can set up a portal just for you. It'll notify you when something comes on the market that fits your specific requirements. Our agent set it up for 6 months. If you don't find anything you love, a) you're not out anything and b) you'll have a better idea of what you do/don't want. I think it's a win-win for you.
Here's an example of some different tradeoffs than the ones you've been presenting us with: www.ziprealty.com/property/5306-MEADOW-CREEK-CIR-AUSTIN-TX-78745/70980988/detail This house is older (but nicely updated), single story (which you said you wanted), and much closer to downtown (only 4 miles). It's also only $380k and not selling, so it will probably go for less. Oh, and have you owned a home in Texas before? You know that property taxes here are insane, right? So cheaper means lower property taxes too. Drawbacks to this house - it's right on the railroad line, though I don't think there's a ton of traffic on it. I'm not sure how good or bad schools are in that part of town, but with the cheaper house, private school might be an option.
Schools are really bad and it's almost twice the cost of neighboring houses. We definitely want to do public school. I think if something sounds too good to be true and is sitting on the market that long in a central area of Austin, there are issues. To me being in a really nice community like Lakeway is more important than having a shorter commute. I also live a quarter mile to downtown and it takes 25 minutes to drive into downtown during rush hour. So it's possible to be close and deal with a nasty commute too.
Like I said, just some different tradeoffs to think about. We bought a house that had been sitting on the market for a long time - it was overpriced and not what most people were looking for. The price had come down and we negotiated down, and now we live on 5 acres in the middle of town (not Austin, a northern suburb). And you've just told me that a nice community is important, that's a good data point when searching. I'm also laughing at the thought of driving 1/4 mile for almost any reason instead of walking (though you didn't say your endpoint was there, I could see needing to get through) it's just that some people think it's a good idea to spend as long driving as it would take to walk).