7/16/16 House Shopping To The West?

    We did not have much to do Friday afternoon, so we went house shopping.  After getting a taste last week after we went to Salt Lick, I wanted to see what else is out there for us.  What we found is that we would have to travel quite a bit.  During the week, I found a "Sweetwater" community and I really liked one their model homes, not knowing it was priced over $1,000,000.  The website said the houses were from the $500,000.  Although that used to sound like a huge amount of money, lately it sounds doable.  First of all, our house is being appraised by the city at $430,000.  If we got lucky and sold for a $150,000 profit, rolling that back into a new house means we would only be financing $350,000, very similar to our current house.
    I really did like that the expensive house was in a gated community within the community.  I have seen this before in other master planned communities where there might be a primary gate to get through, then a secondary gate for a street or section, usually for the higher end customers.  River Oaks and Drees were the higher end neighbors.  We saw a different builder, outside of the gated community, but ultimately, the whole community is on Hwy71 past the turn to Lakeway on 620.  I could not imagine driving more than an hour coming and going.
    So we left that location and saw another on Hamilton Pool road.  It was a long drive though on that road before the houses popped up, but they are on their final phase and if we do move, it wouldn't be until Wife gets a job back here in a couple years.
    Of course, the reason I am even considering the move is because in my head, the whole greenbelt behind our house is flooded with homeless people.  This may or may not be true, but I have a feeling that is what will be the case in a few years. 
    After looking at a handful of houses, maybe I should slow down and reconsider and appreciate what we got.  I have liked the idea of changing all the carpeting to wood, converting one of the bedrooms into a game room, like the model home was set up in this community, and doing a couple other fixes.  I would love to change the rails and balusters to iron and oak, like the nicer homes have.  Maybe a newer fence with some electric fencing on top would be enough to make me feel safe enough here, along with some big new lights aimed at the greenbelt.  I do love the convenience of where we live right now.