|
Pricing information on Austin Rentals and property for sale: Rental and for sale prices vary tremendously in Austin, as well as the occupancy rate, by area. The occupancy rate in central Austin is very high, (over 97%) while in the northern suburbs it is very low. (under 90%) If you are going to live in the northern suburbs, you should just move to Houston instead, and save money.
Downtown Austin is extremely expensive, with one bedrooms starting at around $1200 and two bedrooms starting at around $1500. We sometimes have units downtown for as cheap as $875, but it all depends on timming. Sales prices downtown are even more expensive with one bedroom lofts at most properties starting at over $300,000, and then you have to pay property taxes and homeowner association fees. That said, it is cheaper to rent downtown than it is to buy. We sometimes hear people say if they are going to spend $1000 on rent, they would just buy a place instead, but you have to compare apples to apples, and you can buy a place in Round Rock for $1000 per month, but not downtown Austin or really anywhere central.
Right outside of downtown, and within walking distance of downtown, prices come way down with one bedrooms available in the low $600 range, and two bedrooms under $750. Currently (11/09/05), the occupancy rate is this area is near 100%, so we have almost no choices unless you go to a higher price point. Cheaper units will come available after the 1st of January 06. The key in this area though is washer/dryer connections, and for these prices they will not have connections. To get W/D connections in these areas, prices go up to around $900 for a 1 bedroom, and just over $1000 on a 2 bedroom. The Central Austin neighborhoods of Travis Heights, Bouldin Creek, Barton Hills, Clarksville, Tarrytown, and Enfield are very similar to the prices just mentioned with the same W/D criteria being the big difference in pricing. In all of these central Austin neighborhoods it is a lot cheaper to rent than it is to buy. The reason is most landlords in central Austin bought at much lower prices than todays market, and therefore can rent for a lot less and still make money. Small two bedroom 1000 sq ft homes in central Austin are now selling for over $250,000.
South Central is a very eclectic area that many people consider to be true Austin. From shopping on South Congress, eating outside at Shady Grove or any of the dozens of local restraunts, swimming at Barton Springs, hiking or rock climbing in the Barton Creek Greenbelt, going to concerts at Auditorium Shores or Zilker Park, jogging or biking the Town lake Trail, being minutes to downtown, it is the best of Austin. Prices vary tremendously from super high end units to little one bedrooms for cheap. To get under $600 currently though, you have to go south of Oltorf Street. North of Oltorf to downtown is going super high end and apartments are disappearing because they are being converted in condos and being sold only. Also, this area is mainly houses and not many apartments. South of Oltorf on South Congress, South First Street, and South Lamar are becoming the new hip areas with coffee shops, restaurants and eclectic stores and boutiques. This area is still just minutes to downtown and still very reasonably priced.
Southwest, West and close in Northwest (Capital of Texas Hwy. south of US 183) are all nice hilly and woodsey areas. Prices in these areas vary tremendously based on age and quality of the units. Southwest is much closer to downtown and parkland such as Zilker and the Barton Creek Greenbelt and can be slightly more expensive than northwest, but with half the drivetime to downtown. Prices in all of the western areas start at low $600's for 1 bedrooms, and around $900 for 2 bedrooms, again prices vary by quality and age.
South and Southeast are very affordable and close to downtown. In Southeast Austin you can find one bedrooms in the mid $400's and 2 bedrooms in the mid $500's across the street from Town Lake and the Hike n Bike Trail, and also just minutes to downtown. Getting W/D connections is just slightly more expensive in these parts of town. Southeast Austin has a large student population because of the closeness to UT campus and downtown, while at the same time being very affordable. Southeast Austin also has many UT shuttle Routes to campus. South Austin is popular with students from Texas State University, because of the ability to live in Austin, but be an easy drive to San Marcos. (20 minutes or so)
North campus, west campus, Hyde Park and North Central areas are very overpriced for the quality. We do not deal with campus slumlords. We would rather show you nice clean properties that are of good value. There are also much cooler central neighborhoods with better quality, prices and location.
A lot of high density redevelopment is planned in areas such as west campus, so landlords refuse to do any repairs because they know the property will just be bulldozed soon anyway.
Northern suburbs of Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Leander, and just north Austin in general are very cheap to rent or buy. These areas are generic suburbia of freeways, strip shopping centers, chain restaurants, and extremely bad traffic. They have none of the qualities that make Austin great. We get people all of the time say to us that they moved to these areas from out of town or out of state a year ago without knowing anything of the Austin area, hate it, and want to move into the central city. If you like sitting in traffic for an hour, having to drive into Downtown or South Central Austin anytime you want to do something fun, like having lots of concrete and blacktop, and having no park land and trees, the northern areas of the city are for you.
What are the general qualifications for renting in Austin? Most landlords in Austin check 4 things when making a decision on renting to you:
Verifyable rental or mortgage history.
Gross income of 3 x rent amount per month, $600 apartment = $1800 gross income per month
More good than bad credit.
No felonies.
Deposits are on average very inexpensive, somewhere in the $200 to $400 range. No 1st month, last month, + month deposit in Austin.
Some properties do allow a co-signer if you do not meet all of the criteria. This is how most college students do it because of lack of income. Co-signing can be done thru fax. Co-signer must have good credit.
Moving here without a job? We have some properties that will make a decision based only on your credit, good credit means you are in.
Automatic denial if owe money to a past landlord or have eviction that has not been payed off.
-from Austin Cool apartment locators
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(458 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
