Hi Mclovin,

Wow, lots of great advice and personal experiences. The answer to your question is a long one and I have access to all school statistics. That being said, a conversation with you would certainly help to determine where you would live and what you're looking for in a school. We have some fabulous inventory available that would certainly meet your housing needs.

Regarding your second question...the homes here tend to be fairly priced, according to the market comps, because there is a lot of competition, especially with new construction. But, we never know the motivation of the seller either so, anything is possible!

If you're not working with anyone at this time, or would like additional information, please don't hesitate to contact me. I look forward to it.

golfrealtor@yahoo.com

Sat May 10 2008, 09:41

Hey, there, McLovin. I do not envy your situation right now. Moving a high schooler can be very traumatic to them. And moving them from the beach.....? Westlake High had the highest SAT scores followed by Westwood High in Round Rock the year before last. Definitely check outhttp:// www.greatschools.net
Consider Lake Travis independent School Distrist - city of Bee Cave for the schools and low taxes and it's proximity to Lake Travis.

There are also some great private schools in this area. I have raised 5 "Little Women", ages 12 to 33 now, in private and public schools in Austin, New York and New Jersey. If I may offer a few suggestions, if you do make a move, do so during the school year or right before the start.. It'll make the transition much easier than moving mid-summer. The kids will make friends faster.

Good luck.

San Juanita Schafer, e-PRO, GRI
License # 0536747
KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY
512.423.1349

Tue Apr 8 2008, 20:46

It depends on what you mean by best school. People talk about Eanes, but parts of Round Rock school district are better -specifically Westwood High school is better than Westlake High. Westwood has the International Baccalaureate, as well as being ranked higher on Newsweek and US news. It is rigorous though. Still, rankings aren't perfect and Westlake high school is surely as good as Westwood to prepare you for college. Although the High School is better, the Eanes school district is stronger overall than Round Rock School District -so if you look for Round Rock, be sure you are getting Westwood High.

The character of the schools are pretty different, though. Westwood is far more ethnically diverse. The CEO of my company lives in Westlake, and when he moved here, his two sons commented frequently about how odd it felt to go to school that was uniformly white. A good friend also lives in Westlake hills, and feels that her kids will be the only non-white kids there, and she is bothered that there is little to no diversity as far as income goes -and there seems to be an undue interest in grades as opposed to learning -more rat race-y. Still, some people prefer a more uniformly wealthy area. And like I said, Westlake is a better school district, even if the High School isn't as good as Westwood.

I grew up in Lakeway, and Lake Travis schools are good, too. Oh yeah, and the sports programs are far better in Westlake, but music and the arts are stronger at Westwood.

Sun Apr 6 2008, 07:27

Hello,

No one mentioned Driftwood or Dripping Springs which is gorgeous - the gateway to the Texas Hill Country, where you can get land for very affordable prices, Exemplary Schools and we have a ton of inventory in your price range - many from custom builders. It is a buyer's market here. I've lived in Driftwood for 11 years and used to work in downtown Austin. It is only 25 minutes away. You get the best of both worlds. We have many California transplants here. My husband's family is in Orange County, I used to live in the bay area and many of our neighborhood friends are from southern California.

Sat Apr 5 2008, 09:59

I'm not a realtor, just a long time resident of Austin. Be careful, the rules in Texas are different. A million dollar house will cost you $30K in property taxes per year. While we would appreciate your donation to Texas schools, do yourself a favor and get a nice 400-500K house (which would be 1M in California) and invest the rest elsewhere (maybe a nice 100 acre ranch a couple hours out of town, you don;t pay tax on those). There are plenty to choose from here since houses over 400K are not moving all that well these days.

Sun Mar 30 2008, 16:46

Hey Mclovin,

I, myself, was born and raised in California. Santa Barbara to be exact. Nothing compares.
We moved to Austin a little over four years ago, and although it is a fine place to live (less traffic, nice people, good schools-depending on where you live) I would suggest you stay in California. Mainly because if your wife and kids don't want to leave the coast, you will NEVER hear the end of how much they miss the ocean.I know this first hand because I probably complain to my husband about how much I miss the ocean on a daily basis. I know, I'm lame.
Anyways, if you do decide to move to Austin, the Eanes school district is considered quite good. There are other school districts that are quite good. It depends on where you want to live. Do you want to be close to downtown or the lake? There are many areas where you can find what you described as your ideal.

Just so you know, quick jaunts (which are a car ride through a whole lotta ugly) to anywhere in Texas take on a whole new meaning as opposed to the idea of a quick jaunt in California.

Good luck.

Sun Mar 23 2008, 17:07

I would recommend either Tarrytown or Westlake for the types of houses you're looking for. Schools for both areas are top notch...Eanes ISD is great (the best ranked overall in austin)....I live in an older original 1920s and 30s "suburb" called Hyde Park that is a phenomenal place to live (two kids ages 7 and 11). Houses top out at the numbers you mention however.

Sam Archer

Sun Mar 23 2008, 13:28

Hello,

My husband and I are Real Estate agents and live in the LTISD school district. We have one child in elementary and one who will be in elementary next year. We also have an older daughter who went to Lakeway Elementary, Lake Travis Middle and High. We love living in the area and the main reason is because of the schools!

Thu Mar 20 2008, 11:44

Lmao! Did you Google "steering"?

So you’re an 80's Rocker? Do you have any 80's video's of you on you tube that we can check out?

This has been the funniest posting I’ve answered in a long time. Sounds like you will be living in Lakeway, Lago Vista, or Dripping Springs McLovin. Talk with Janae Oliver; she is our specialist in that area. She lives in Dripping Springs with her kids. I would tell you that you need to plan on spending more than that, but she will show you why! You have the answer on list to sales ratio so I think you are all set.

On another note:
Will you keep us posted as to what you decide and who you decide to go with? It would be nice to hear the end of the story for the many people we help everyday.

Cheers...

Tue Mar 18 2008, 16:24

I live in EANES ISD with my wife and three sons ages 10 to 17. We moved into the district for the education system when the oldest was entering elementary school. We are very happy with our decision. Westlake High School can prepare your kids for the rigors of college.

The area has homes which meet your criteria.

Mon Mar 17 2008, 16:15

You've got some great answers here as a starting point, and I would add that an awesome resource to get the hard data on schools is http://www.greatschools.net which is what Sperling's uses as their data point for http://bestplaces.net, both of which are great sites to visit before moving.

Austin has an amazing public school system- I was in the Eanes ISD for elementary school and Lake Travis ISD for middle through high school, both of which were areas my parents bought in specifically for our education. Since Texas is a property tax state, we allocate a great deal of money toward the school systems making all of the area school districts well funded so there's not a *major* quality separation from district to district, especially with the "Robin Hood Act" that has shifted money between districts for years, ensuring none fall behind.

Welcome to Austin!

Lani Anglin-Rosales, native Austinite
Asset Director (not a Realtor)
http://SinglePointeRealty.com

Mon Mar 17 2008, 09:20

It sounds like schools are a hot button for you, and the one to go for is the Lake Travis ISD. It has historically been second to the Eanes ISD in the Westlake area. Now however, they are neck and neck, and in some cases even better. For example, my son goes to an exemplary rated elementary here in Lake Travis. Lake front and properties near the lake will always be hot, and there are great opportunities to remodel older homes that are desirable pieces of land, but may have no been updated yet. Lakeway, and the surrounding South shore areas, began in the early 70's, some before, The closer to the lake, and the older, the better. You can definitely still get aggressive with Sellers, as there are a ton of homes on the market- but if they are priced right, it will be tight. The average home in Austin sell for 95.5% of list price. The higher the price, the fewer the sales, the more aggressive we can be.

Call me if you would like to discuss, and no, meeting your criteria is not steering, as long as those criteria are not discriminatory or violate Fair Housing Laws. We have a Code of Ethics to follow- I use it.

Mark Martin
Broker
512-694-9601
markmartingmac@gmail.com

Sun Mar 16 2008, 17:40

I am a little confused on that as well. To me steering would be not showing people of a certain race some houses for sale. So if someone says show me everything that meet these criteria and I intentionally leave some out based on their ethnicity that would be steering. But we have to be able to recommend areas or real estate would be very difficult. In addition to Westlake you might like Highland Hills. It also has large lots, good schools and is close to town. I actually have a pre mls listing that should be coming up soon in that area if you are interested.

Ki Gray
www.escapesomewhere.com
512-740-7762

Sun Mar 16 2008, 15:25

I would look in old Westlake. The lots are pretty large (over an acre). The high school is consistently rated as one of the top in the area. I think 3-5% below is pretty reasonable. In some cases you could go lower depending on the property.
Ki
http://www.escapesomewhere.com/

Sun Mar 16 2008, 13:39

Welcome to Texas !, however as professional real estate agents per the laws in the State of Texas we can't make comments in regards to areas. However a professional real estate agent can forward MLS listings that can allow you to preveiw homes for your selections.

The laws of Texas state that is is considered to be "steering"

Sun Mar 16 2008, 13:38