r/Austin • u/AutoModerator • 21h ago
FAQ Weekly Real Estate / Housing and Moving to Austin Post
This is a weekly Tuesday post for question/answers regarding properties in Austin or surrounding areas along with moving to Austin questions. The following are examples of items that should be asked in here (but not limited to just these):
Housing / Real Estate Questions
- Ask where to live
- What neighborhood is right for you
- Advice on apartments / asking about specific apartment reviews
- General thoughts/views on the housing market
- Questions about real estate prices/going up/general home buying advice
- Advice on realtors
- General property questions rants/complaints about pricing
- "Is this neighborhood safe" questions / crime related questions
- Tax / Mortgage related questions
- Questions on developments / bidding processes
- Have a place to rent / looking for a roommate
- Commute times from specific locations
- General housing repair questions / upgrade questions / solar / etc
- Questions regarding contractors for housing repairs, upgrades
- Memes regarding housing
- How specific schools are in an area / general school questions
- Questions regarding utilities
- Questions regarding apartment services
Moving to Austin Questions
- Is it safe?
- Are there jobs for me?
- Is it a good idea to move?
- Is X salary good enough?
- How is Austin for my background?
- Generic should I move there?
- Do I need a car?
- Is X or Y transport sufficient?
Over the last year, we have seen a major uptick in prices in the area, along with a steady flow of new people coming into Austin. Use this weekly post to ask your questions, try to get advice, etc on an upcoming move or questions about real estate in Austin.
Many apartment questions have always been removed on here, and we always suggest people to contact an apartment locator. Those rules still stand. But, you are welcome to ask those questions on here if you still feel the need for it.
Along with that, any new open ended question on Austin properties and real estate will be removed and asked to move to here (based on mod discretion). Many of the questions being asked have been asked many times before, which is why we would rather compile these posts into one place for people to ask and get their answers.
If you are having issues as a tenant in Austin, we highly recommend reaching out to the Austin Tenants Council here: https://www.trla.org/atc/. They may be able to help you resolve issues related to renting property in Austin.
We also recommend searching older "Weekly Real Estate" posts as well, to find answers on previous week's questions.
As always, there is a whole section on moving to Austin in our FAQ page:
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u/Practical-Neat-8432 21h ago
Landscaping work keeps me busy all over town and i see new build signs everywhere now, even far north where it used to be empty fields. my boss says half our new clients moved here in last two years
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u/AutoModerator 21h ago
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u/Virco-The-Penguin-8 19h ago
Hi all, I was wondering if I could get feedback on our situation and how you might proceed if you were in our shoes. This is a LONG one. Please read the details because there's a lot in there.
My wife and I have lived in our home in north Austin for years. My wife started suspecting that we had mold, first based on some paranoia and deep-seated fears around mold, and then later based on actual symptoms: itchy eyes, puffiness and dark circles under my eyes, SIBO, and mood issues. A year ago, we had a mold inspector come who did air samples, and only found elevated mold levels and actual mold in our bedroom closet and HVAC closet, but didn't see a big issue. However he didn’t go into our attic, check ducts, or search in wall cavities.
My wife’s symptoms continued, and I was certain more had to be going on. We had a second inspector with a great reputation come a year later. He did go into our attic and generally looked more thoroughly than the first guy did. He didn't do air samples, but found mold and/or high moisture in numerous areas throughout our house, including our air ducts, supply plenum, in several wall cavities, throughout the HVAC closet, in the attic, etc. he also found suspiciously high moisture behind the tile in one of the showers as well as a few other high-moisture areas that he said warranted further investigation.
We haven't gotten a remediation protocol yet because it's another investment and we think we may already know enough to know that this is TOO MUCH WORK. Here's why:
-the ducts need to be fully replaced
-the HVAC closet likely needs to be gutted, and that may impact the adjoining closet wall
-we have basically no attic insulation, so need all new insulation
-we have no attic decking, making it hard for anyone to do work up there. We would likely need to built another access point to the attic to even be able to install a dehumidifier (several contractors didn’t even want to bid on the project because of the complexity).
-dealing with the mold under the kitchen sink *could* involve tearing out the cabinets (our cabinets are very old and would not be able to put back in if this happened)
On top of this, our house is from the early 70s with basically no updates. As far as we know, though we aren't certain:
-the original cast iron pipes are still there
-the original aluminum wiring is still there
-we have no gutters
-we have popcorn ceilings that would need to be removed in order to small particle clean
-our back patio is not in good shape--it slants slightly toward the house, and there's a large gap between the patio and house
-our windows are original from the 70s
This has been our home of 11 years and where we've raised our child. We love our street and love our neighbors. There's a lot of good about this house: gorgeous lines, beautiful sunlight, a wonderful layout, a nice street. It's the longest either of us have ever lived anywhere in our lives and we can't wrap our heads around living somewhere else, and YET...I'm not sure that it makes sense to try and remediate this house with its known and suspected problems. Our fears are:
-opening up walls will reveal even more going on than Sean could see (but it's also possible that wouldn't happen)
-it could be a very long and stressful process with LOTS of decisions to make along the way
-remediating would cost a ton (we're thinking over $100k once you add in build-back and popcorn ceiling removal) based on some estimates we’ve seen, conversations with a realtor, and a bid we got just to do the hvac work.
-remediation could reveal bigger problems, like pipe issues
-at the end of the day, we would STILL have old windows, a patio that needs to be fixed for water management, old pipes, and old wiring
Rather than remediating, we are strongly considering selling to an investor (yes, who of course knows about the mold), and looking for a different house with more updates and where we don't have to feel like we can never catch up on maintenance (because we never could with our house. It was a rental for a long time before we bought it.) We have a good amount of equity in our house, though we of course wouldn't be able to sell it for what we could if we didn't have mold. We also are privileged to have the financial help from a family member who is willing to either help with remediation or with a down payment on a different home.
My questions for you: would you choose to sell and look for something in better shape (we would stay in Austin) rather than go down the complex road of remediation, or would you work with this house? It’s a good time to be a buyer in Austin, I know. But that makes me anxious as well since I feel pressure to sell our current place as soon as possible to ensure a good return.
I'd appreciate any insight/advice. Please withhold judgment on our deferred maintenance. There was a lot we didn't know and were financially limited.
TLDR: there’s a lot of mold in our house and we can’t decide whether to invest in remediation and remodeling or try to use our equity to get something that’s in better shape.