Austin, TX, area job and housing markets?

Cristina

Cristina

O.G.
Oct 23, 2005
12,994
43
#1
BF and I are almost 100 percent sure that we're moving to Austin, TX, in June. We went back and forth last year about whether or not to do it, and we decided to stay at our jobs at least another year to gain more experience and have job stability on our resumes. We've now lived in South Florida for almost two years, and we're ready to get the heck out of here :lol:

For you Austinites, how is the job market? I am finding quite a lot of available jobs in public/media relations, both in the private and public sectors. How is the housing market, as well? We're thinking of renting for a year, then buying a home. How far is the Pflugerville/North Austin area from downtown? I know the traffic can be sticky in certain places. When we visited last year we really liked Pflugerville and Round Rock. How far is Hutto from Austin, as well?

We're excited about our possible move :nuts: My cousin relocated to Austin a couple of years ago and absolutely loves it. We're young, no children and we're not locked into a mortgage or any other obligations here in Florida - I think it's a great time for us to move and finally settle down somewhere we'll love.

Any help would be appreciated - TIA!
 
#2
My aunt and uncle used to live in Austin but they just moved to Boston 5 months ago. They had a really hard time selling their house. All I know about Austin is that some people get some sort of lizard in their house and it is illegal to kill them. The houses are pretty expensive too. Sorry..not much helpful advice. Good luck with the move!
 
#3
priiin said:
All I know about Austin is that some people get some sort of lizard in their house and it is illegal to kill them.
Click to expand...

:lol: This made me laugh out loud! Good thing I don't mind lizards. Roaches, on the other hand, are a completely different story.

The housing is actually very inexpensive compared to South Florida. Housing prices here have dropped, but between the insane amounts of crime, high property taxes and insurance, you're not really getting a bargain :rolleyes: We're looking for a safe area that's young professional-friendly. South Florida is nowhere near that!

Thanks for the GL wishes, priin! :heart:
 
#5
I'm from Dallas..but I go to Austin quite often..and if I had gotten transfer to work there I would. It's alot of a nicer city than Dallas...more of a college town than anything else. The housing market is more expensive there than it is here. I'm sure you'll love it though..it's a pretty cool city.
 
#6
I am so jealous....although I grew up in San Antonio and have lived in Houston and now Ft. Worth, nothing compares to Austin. I spent every weekend and holiday and every summer there. I have never had to opportunity to live there, however, my son will be going there for college this year. I just got back from a visit there last weekend. The traffic is horrendous, but if you can make your own hours or work from home, you are much better off.

Plugerville and Round Rock are very nice, however, again, traffic will suck every day for you.

I would definitely put up with traffic if it meant I could live there.
 
#7
Love Austin, almost moved there but opted for Houston instead(what a mistake)! Luckily, we only rented and we able to high-tail it out of there in 6 months. Austin is very WIERD, as they love to claim. But, if you have an open mind, you'll love it. GREAT restuarants too! Some gorgeous homes. GO FOR IT- Rent first though!
 
#8
My sister, after 40 years in southern calif, moved to Texas and ended up in Austin. She loves it there, and is a Realtor, after many years of doing PR for tech firms.
 
#9
Abbygirl, the traffic is horrendous :yucky: When we visited, we purposely drove during rush hour so BF and I could get an idea of what traffic is really like.

LOL Kam - BF and I are both a bit "weird", so we'll fit right in ;) We do plan to rent first for a year and sock money away - hopefully enough for a down payment on a home next year! When we saw homes that are $175,000 or less, in what looks like a great neighborhood in the suburbs, we went :nuts:

Irish, I got your PM, dear. Thank you! :heart:
 
#10
i want to move to Austin so bad :smile:. well, some days i do, other days i want to stay in Athens. from what i've heard, Austin is VERY similar to Athens, except Austin is bigger (both have large, party-centric, state universities, big indie music scenes, and lots of weird locals), so from my years in Athens, Austin would probably be AWESOME if all I've heard about it (from people that have lived both here and there) is true. good luck :smile:.

and i think that things like traffic are relative...if you've never lived in LA or Atlanta (the two cities in America with the worst traffic), you don't know what REAL traffic is...so i wouldn't let that deter you.
 
#11
Hi Cristina, well I can definitely relate to you - I'm from South FL (born and raised), and moved to San Antonio about 2 years ago. San Antonio is only about an hour from Austin, and I've visited Austin many times. There are definite cultural differences here, the most obvious is that people here are actually courteous in traffic! lol

Regarding the job market, I can't speak for Austin, but I work in advertising and I found a job the first week here. My impression is that Austin has many job openings for the marketing/advertising/PR fields.

Anyway, PM me if you have any more questions!
 
#12
Well, I went to college in Austin, and still travel back there every now and again. The job market there is good for some fields, bad for others--I tried to interview for Tech jobs there back in 02 when I graduated with my MA, and they were not hiring. The cost of living (esp. housing, is very expensive), and the traffic is completely killer now. There are many political/legal jobs to be had in Austin, also many involving UT. I still love visiting Austin, but I am kind of glad that I don't live there now, as it has grown into a huge, trafficky mess from Round Rock almost down to San Antonio. If you can work from home, it might be a pretty good place to move, then.
 
#13
Austin is awesome- if you want to know specifics Christina just pm me and I would be more than happy to help

Hutto Plugerville and Round Rock are not Austin though.
 
#14
^ I got your PM, J. I'm just slow when it comes to answering them :shame: So would those areas be considered suburbs of Austin? I guess I should say we're moving to the Austin "area". I looked on a map, and Hutto is somewhat far from the city. I think we should nix that from our housing search.

glitterglo, thank you for the info! I am glad you like the area, gives me hope! :nuts: I read a lot about people from Florida moving to Texas. I think there is a mass exodus of people moving from Florida to anywhere else :P
 
#15
^^ Yep, I have another friend who just recently moved to San Antonio from Miami as well. Housing is much more affordable, and it's still considered a modestly big city. I do know a couple of other people who live in Austin who are originally from Miami, so if you have questions on specific neighborhoods/areas, just let me know and I can ask them! I know one guy lives in the Round Rock area, it's nice and you can get a LOT of house there for not that much money.
 
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