To qualify for an FHA loan in Travis County the purchase price of the residence must be under $288,750.  It’s a buyer’s market all over town.  If you are a first time home buyer, the government will give you $8,000 to play with towards your down payment.  And, for FHA loans, you only need 3.5% down payment.  And And, interest rates are at historic lows.   !!!

Consider downtown Austin condos like the Avenue Lofts or the Railyards, two of the four downtown buildings that are FHA approved condos.  $8,000 could be your entire down payment plus closing costs on an FHA loan for some these units, making it entirely possible to purchase a downtown Austin condo with no money down.

FHA approved downtown Austin condos:
-360 Condos
-Avenue Lofts
-Railyard Condos
-Spring Condos

FHA approval has ZERO to do with the quality or desirability of a building.  In fact, it is smart Home Owner’s Associations and developers that open up their projects to as many financing options as possible – even Spring has a few units that can be purchased with the FHA loan program and $8,000 first time home buyer credit.

Examples:

1) 360 condos unit 1012. This property is under $300 per foot at $261,000. Using the $8,000 you nearly have your down payment covered before we’ve made an offer.

view from 360 Condos unit 1012

2) Railyard condos unit 301.  This is a 3bd/2ba in the heart of downtown Austin, and after some negotiating would qualify for FHA financing.

3) Avenue Lofts unit 2.  A genuine adaptive re-use loft.  Raw and full of character.  This is a short sale opportunity in an FHA approved building.

Keeping you in the know about the best real estate opportunities in downtown Austin…

My contact info is always at the top right of the page.  Don’t hesitate to send me an email or give me a call if you would like to know more downtown Austin FHA condos.

-Jude

Maybe this is unique to my peers in the real estate world, but how often do you hear the term “urban core” as it relates to Austin?   Some people just say “Central” Austin, but to many that doesn’t imply South Austin, or East Austin.  Generally, when I write about the urban core of Austin this is the area I’m referring to.

How do you define Austin's "urban core"?

For some of you this might be too narrow, but I suspect most of you will accuse me of drawing too broadly.  Notice that UT is excluded as UT is always referred to as UT.  Arguably, it’s one of the most urban areas of Austin – most university settings are dense, walkable, and active – but in my opinion it doesn’t compare well to the other neighborhoods due to the narrow demographics.

Oltorf is still a boundary to the south.  Lamar is no longer a boundary to the west.  To the north, MLK is a natural border between UT and downtown.  To the east I’ve chosen Pedernales, but I could be convinced to include Pleasant Valley.

More importantly, what does it mean to be inside Austin’s urban core?  Well, generally this is how I see it…

1) you can expect to find mixed-use development
2) you can find remnants of Austin’s history
3) you can find urban infill projects
4) decent transit (a generous term for Austin)
5) You could walk to downtown
6) There are no malls

Of course you could find some of the above items miles from downtown, but as a bundle of characteristics I think they work pretty well.  Austin’s “urban core” is a nebulous term that is as flexible as it is convenient.  This map shows what would have not only been the core, but most of the city at the turn of the century.   The boundary will likely grow as our city matures.   Let me know what you think.

-Jude