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Austin’s Colony – Secluded Country Living 27 Minutes From Downtown Austin.

By Garreth Wilcock

Real Estate Agent with Sherlock Homes Frisco TREC #574729

November 06, 2009 06:38 AM

East Austin: Austin's Colony: Have you ever imagined owning your own slice of country living, while still only being 27 minutes from Downtown Austin?

At Austin’s Colony, you need can get a bit of both. This small but expanding neighborhood features houses at affordable prices in lush, rural settings. What makes this neighborhood so great is that it’s still a hop, skip and a jump to many major highways and Austin’s urban areas, as well as Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Located east of the hustle and bustle of the city, the neighborhood of Austin’s Colony is a secluded neighborhood, perfect for those looking to live in a rural environment abundant with parks, rivers and equestrian trails without sacrificing any amenities.

This neighborhood is very secluded, perfect for quiet living; in one direction you will find the beautiful Colorado River Park, perfect for picnics and swimming. (Thanks to the river bank backing up to the neighborhood, you will be able to enjoy the water in peace without noisy through-traffic.)

So what’s the latest news around Austin’s Colony is, you might ask? Currently, a brand new, state-of-the art middle school is being constructed and will be open in the Fall of 2010. Also, an updated neighborhood center is currently in the planning stages, according to the Austin’s Colony Home Owners Association

Garreth Wilcock is an East Austin Realtor. Search Austin Homes at his website, or contact on 512 215 4785 for more details on Austin's Colony.

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Anonymous

C Foreman

This description needs "serious" corrections. For one, the description does not disclose (nor do the local homebuilders and realtors selling homes in Austin's Colony disclose) that this is in an ETJ, unprotected zoning/regs area and that a 2,000 acre Gravel Pit operation (including carciogen silica dust, air quality, groundwater, noise, aesthetics and resulting plummeted home values) has been approved by the City and County (and the builders, etc knew the gravel pit was coming, as well, as far back as 2005 and directed staff at sales meetings not to disclose this to potential homebuyers). Also, if anyone watches Fox 7 Local news, there is only one single small 2-lane county road in the neighborhood that allows access out of the neighborhood and is,according to neighbors and the news, "the worse gridlock/congested road in all of Austin". Landlocked in the morning, there is a mile backup that takes over an hour "just" to get "out" of the neighborhood in the morning. The builders were told in 2007 to disclose this to potential homebuyers, as well- and do not. So to say "20 minutes" to city is more like 1.5-2 hrs in any given morning. There are also NO grocery stores, restaurants or ANYTHING out here as this review states, but a Texaco Station and gas station snacks, for over 10++ miles. Minimum. So if you are unemployed and do not have to worry about traffic and would not mind a 2,000 acre quarry/gravel pit right up against your home (would be <50 ft from my new home in here I just bought, unknowingly of that, < 3 yrs ago, and do not mind your health, safety, quality of life, and inability to ever move out of our sell your home (and lose all potential of future equity in it) being a total wash, and loss, yes, believe these fake reviews, Key word search Austin's Colony, Hornsby Bend, Gravel Pit, Quarry, or TXI or look at any public City/County records and you'll get the "facts". There's a reason the home prices here dropped over 40% in the last year, alone when other Austin areas have mainatained or raised in value. Any home builder or realtor not stating the facts or disclosing the facts about this area are violating disclosure laws and should revisit the Depeptive Trade Practices Act/real estate laws.

Aug 26, 2010 03:13 AM

Garreth Wilcock

Sherlock Homes Frisco - Frisco, TX

Sherlock Homes Frisco

Hey C Foreman, it sounds like you feel burned by your home buying experience out there, and feel that you weren't given the facts when you bought. It's certainly useful to the public to get both sides of the story, so I appreciate your comments here, and I've amended the factual aspects that I could verify.

I can't speak to the drive-time - I admit I've never driven it at rush hour in the morning - I simply relied on google maps estimate in this case, which I updated to 27 minutes from 20. Your experience is more reliable for sure.

As for home prices dropping 40% in the last year, that's not something that the MLS data I'm looking at is showing for resale homes:

2008 single family home MLS sales in Austin's Colony Subdivision: median price per square foot of sold homes: $65.45/sqft

2009 single family home MLS sales in Austin's Colony Subdivision: median price per square foot of sold homes: $69.37/sqft

This isn't the most scientific approach, but it gives a broad view of the market. I was in an appraisal class last month and the instructor who has completed over 13,000 appraisals said this: buying a new home is like buying a new car - the moment it's paid for it's worth less than the sales price.

If you're comparing the price for a new home in 2008 to the value of the same home in 2009, then I would expect to see a reduction in most neighborhoods with new construction still underway in the current market. (the ones in the MLS have an average list price/sqft of $89.97/sqft so there is a big drop from new to resale) This drop is higher than normal in my opinion for the reason below:

What I do see: there are 138 foreclosed listings sold between 1/1/2003 and 1/1/2010 from 595 sales. When foreclosed homes are a signifcant part of the market, then this has a downward impact on pricing. In 2009 the market was 39% foreclosed homes.

The high foreclosure rate may in part be to 100% financing available in this part of the ETJ. This means that a purchaser has no equity (in fact negative equity if you consider closing costs rolled into the home purchase) at first. So someone buying a new home with 100% financing will have to wait for a combination of two things to build equity:

reduction of principle through payments
appreciation of home values

With any home anywhere, based on average appreciation, and given the high transaction costs of selling real estate, it's going to take several years to break even on a sale. And if you're in an area with multiple foreclosures, and depreciating values, you're going to be upside down.

That might not be any comfort, and it's certainly not going to be the builder who tells you that. The builder's sales representative has allegiance to the builder's best interest, which is selling homes. As for disclosure of the gravel mine, Andrew at Meritage did actually disclose the fact to me when I was there. He didn't couch it in the same terms as the Austin Chronicle, but he mentioned it, and I advise buyers to do their own research into anything a builder mentions.

I know that none of this may make you feel any better about your current situation - I know I'd be distraught if a gravel pit was built next to a home I had bought. There's not much I can do at this point to improve your situation I imagine, aside from point out the things that people buying a new home should be aware of here in the comments.

I helped a client buy a new home in Austin's Colony and the advice I gave was:

You may have to live here for 5-10 years after construction is complete to sell your home equitably
Get involved in the HOA and be an active participant in the community (c.f. Ryan Metz in the Chronicle article)
The market is dominated by foreclosed homes right now, which will have to turn around before you sell
Check out the commute (she did)
Research the gravel pit

I'm sorry that you weren't given the same advice.

Aug 26, 2010 04:24 AM

Anonymous

I live in Austin's Colony as well, and I think it deserves a good review. As far as the commute goes, yes it is absolutely horrible between the hours of 630am and 730am. I leave for work at 7:50am, and there is no congestion whatsoever. It takes me 35 minutes to get to the middle of downtown, as with any other time during the day. To get to North or South Austin, Highway 130 is a minute away and gets you to Parmer Lane in 30 minutes. Highways 130 and 71 are also very close.

Aside from the traffic, the neighborhood is beautiful and diverse. The swimming pool is nice though simple, and there are multiple parks to visit and play in. The big park by the river was an excellent bonus, we only found it after we bought the house. There are a lot of trees in the neighborhood, and the yard sizes are just right for single family or starter homes. There are multiple sizes and designs of homes, so they are not all the same.

Also, the recent announcement of world-renown Formula 1 Racing coming to Austin in 2012 will boost building around Austin's Colony. The enormous track will be built 10 minutes East of the airport, which puts it just South of Austin's Colony. I expect to see major growth in the area.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/5/10824.html

Sep 10, 2010 04:34 AM

Anonymous

Please tell me more about "updated neighborhood center is currently in the planning stages" Where can I find "the Austin’s Colony Home Owners Association" citation?

Thanks!!

May 17, 2011 07:43 AM

Anonymous

Garreth

Hey Mo:

http://austinscolony.org/ has details of the HOA and they'd be an excellent resource to find the latest on the plans for the center.

May 17, 2011 10:14 AM