macanna

Hallo everyone - this is my first posting and would really appreciate some info re Austin.

My husband and I are nearing retirement and have decided to possibly buy a property in the U.S. in order to travel within the country. We are considering Texas (Austin) as we have been told that the people are very friendly and that it is a very, very diverse state.

Has anyone else made the move to Austin - what are the property prices like/rentals/climate/cost of living and ease of travel from there.

Any info really appreciated.

canny lass

The Hill Country is the only place I would suggest, we looked at Largo Vista as a possible retirement area and The Hills of Lakeway. Wouldn't want to live in the downtown area too many collage students and traffic is a nightmare. Weather is HOT in the summer and you get Roaches big enough to put saddles on, Tarantulas, Scorpions and Mosquito's. The winter is perfect not too cold, with lovely warm days. Regards June

dbj1000

Macanna, you do understand that there's no retirement visa in the US, so you would not be able to settle full-time in Austin even if you buy a home? The best you would be able to do is to spend 6 months of each year in the US unless you already have a Green Card or are a USC.

Texas Brit

I'm in Austin. We've been here about a year. Good mix of a big city vibe and small city pace of living and less stress. I am a big city person; living in NYC and LA for the last ten years and London before I left England, so I am used to big city amenities. But we are not short of them here. Austin is a liberal city (the "Berkeley" of Texas) and, of course, has a huge music scene (the "Live Music Capitol of the World"). It's also very pretty -- tons of trees and lakes everywhere, very green.

I live very close to downtown, next to a big park. Actually traffic, if you are downtown and are sticking in the downtown area, is a breeze (I know traffic --7 years in LA). Traffic is actually far worse when you get out towards the edge of downtown and the suburbs.

Regarding the other post -- those Country bugs must be worse than our City bugs as it is not really a problem for us.

But, are you sure you really just want to jump in like this? You really ought to spend some time here and in other part of the US before you make the leap. Also, Austin is not really a big retirement city. If you have the money, how about somewhere like Southern Cal. Or even Florida, I suppose (lots of brits, lots of retirees to hang out with, lots of sun). Not my cup of tea, but you are in a different situation.

Good luck.

macanna

Thank you for your thoughtful reply - much appreciated.
Florida not our cup of tea either, we would like the ' real America'. The music scene in Austin would be a big draw for my husband but not the saddled up roaches!

The other area we had thought about was around Savannah but think that might be too 'sweaty' a climate.

A friend worked in Texas and recommended the state to us as being very gregarious and friendly.
We like space as we live in the country at the moment. Our plan would be to still keep our house in the country here and spend some time in the StatesEurope (before its too late!) . We are early retirees so not too decrepit as yet.

Is there any area in the Austin area/or hill country where we could look for property on the internet.
Thanks again and will keep the bugs in mind.....

NC Penguin

The 'real America' is outside the (big) cities and tourist destinations to be honest.

Have you visited many parts of the US before deciding upon Austin as your retirement destination? The US is so vast and regions of the country have different "personalities", so to speak.

Have you and your other half decided how you're going to cope with only being able to live in the US up to 6 months a year maximum? Plus the travel between the UK (I assume you presently live in the UK) and US?




NC Penguin

Manc

You know, W said something like that once,
"I go to my Ranch in Crawford to be around Real Americans"

Apparently Americans around the rest of the country are pretend Americans.

NC Penguin

I've got a feeling W was referring to his family...




NC Penguin

Texas Brit

For real estate listings, have a look at www.realtor.com and do a "map search."

The music scene is a real draw here.

In spite what the Chamber of Commerce would have you believe, however, this is not really too much of a tourist town (although we have our fair share).

The Hill Country really is pretty, but in a subtle way. Not full of dramatic scenery -- more rolling hills and wildflowers (and billions of deer). The wildflowers are great right now.

http://www.pbase.com/richo/txwildflowers

Neathborn

It's been a few years since I was last in Texas (2001), but I used to go to UT Austin (though I lived in San Marcos at the time, which is 30 miles south of Austin). It is hot in the summer and not unusual for temperatures to reach 100 F+, but as someone else mentioned, the winter is very mild and pleasant. Property prices in Austin have risen a lot in the last few years, like many areas in the states. The airport isn't a major hub -- you'd probably travel via Houston or Dallas if you were going overseas. The people are very friendly and, yes, Texas is a diverse state -- lots of settlers from Germany, even a town with an Alsatian heritage near San Antonio, and of course, there is a lot of Mexican cultural influence, particulary in the south of the state. The cockroaches are large, but unless you are out in the country, you probably won't come across tarantulas or scorpions.

Sarah

and I thought he went to his ranch in crawford to avoid doing any work! Silly me he went to be around real americans!

snowbunny

I live on the edge of the city with open fields less than a mile away. There aren't any cockroaches that size; they tend to only get that big in Eastern parts of Texas which receive more rainfall.

Austin is a very cool place to live. As mentioned, though, it's not a big retirement destination unless someone has lived here previously or has family here -- part of the charm (or the turnoff) is that the students at the university never get much older -- average age 18-22 There is always a healthy influx of newcomers, though the ****** Californians drove property values up. The unemployment rate is up though, so housing prices have calmed a bit. They are still well affordable compared to California or the UK.

Traffic is only unbearable during peak periods of about 7-9 am and 4-7 pm. We grew too fast to keep up with growth and state and federal funding for new roads has dried up. If you did live central, you would actually avoid a lot of the traffic commuting in from the burbs, have better access to shopping and even a fairly decent bus system around the University and downtown areas.

The music scene is great and there is none to compare to SXSW, a major festival held in mid-March. Despite the summer heat, people live an outdoors lifestyle and are far more health-conscious than the norm for the US. There is something for everyone here.

I drive to Houston or Dallas to catch UK-bound flights. Cheaper and you can get nonstop flights.

The Hill Country is indeed beautiful, but to live in it you must live in the very wetern parts of the city. I live right on the edge.

Anything more please ask. I have lived in Austin 20 years and am a Texas native. I do have my friend's impressions of the place; no Brit has ever said they hated Austin, though there are plenty of complaints about the heat, even when it's 80 F! We have developed ways of life to cope with the heat of summer and if you are retired, you can always travel during some of that time. There is no state income tax, though the sales tax is a bit steep (8+%). Depending on whether or not you have an income flow or are spending savings, that might help you decide.

macanna

Well that decides it! SXSW here we come for our first visit to Austin. We will visit first as tourists as has been sensibly suggested.

Snowbunny - your post was very interesting re state income tax and sales tax and yes , we would have an income stream plus savings.

I had been thinking of possibly buying an apartment as close to the water as possible and using it when we are not there to stream some income. What areas should I be looking at?? Realtor.com seems to be a good place to look.
Our sales tax when buying in Spain was 8%.

There are direct flights Austin to Dublin, I believe, as we have been living for some years in Ireland.

Living in Ireland for the last 10 years we are used to living with a young population - we're kept on our toes and put in our pennies worth for good measure! and have a good laugh at the same time although now we can't smoke in the pubs. But it is very wet in the winter and that is what we are trying to escape.


Ageism I have no time for - one of my uncles is 83, he still goes racing, travelling, eats out and drives all over Ireland. As they say here 'there's not a bother on him'!
Would like to just be near a good hospital, have cafes to sit around, some good music (jazz or whatever) in the evenings and some good conversation plus some travelling now and then and that does fine for us.

Thanks to everyone, even the posters about W and his ranch!

g1ant

I think you have been misinformed on that one. There are no direct flights to Austin from the UK or the Republic of Ireland.
-

snowbunny

SXSW is almost a year off (you can see coverage and lineups from the past year at www.sxsw.com). The one thing I can say is that it is VERY intense. As in 24/7 intense. There are definitely people of all ages who attend, though. If you do it "right" you can be listening to music 16 hours a day plus, however, exhaustion is the rule even amongst the youngest poppets by the last day. There's a much more sane film festival; there is a decent sized film industry here, and of the "smaller" markets in the US, we get many of the more obscure films that the mainstream markets do not ever show.

Plenty of cafes to sit round and chat, late risers are the norm here but early risers are also welcome, there's restaurants open round the clock for people watching. There is a refreshing resistance to chains: www.keepaustinweird.com has more on this, but we have many unique businesses that are locally owned. The chain restaurants are in general banished to the 'burbs.

With respect to flights: I don't think there's a flight non-stop from Austin to Dublin. In fact, there are no non-stops from Houston or Dallas to Dublin; but there are non-stops to Chicago from Austin and from there non-stops to Dublin on Aer Lingus. You can get from Dallas to many cities in the country and world non-stop as it's American Airlines' hub. Off the top of my head, you can fly to LA, San Jose, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, St Louis, Atlanta and Memphis non-stop from Austin. There are probably a few more cities.

There are not nearly as many condominiums or townhomes for sale here as in Florida since this is not a typical retiree community. There are *some* close to the University, but that's not near the water and if you were to lease it it would be occupied when you'd want it. There are new developments going up all the time, and the first thing you should decide is how far you wish to be from Austin vs cost, as the cost drops the further you get from the city. There are specialists who deal with waterfront / view properties, such as Tosca Gruber. Do you primarily want a view, or something right on the water to dock a boat, for example? The farther out of town you are though the more probable it would be to let the property for the summer months as people who come to the Hill Country are looking to "get away from it all."

Good luck,
Amy