I have spent the last few weeks in Mueller, Clarksville, Barton Hills and Downtown districts, the Oak Hill area of Austin, and a little time Round Rock and Pflugerville for good measure.  I had a conversation with someone recently regarding distance versus travel time.  Time is a very hard thing to judge in Austin simply due to the unpredictability of the traffic if you are not used to a flight path.  As you probably know, my office is close to the corner of Spicewood Springs Road and Mesa.  I can get to the office from Mopac, 360 or even I-35.  With no traffic on a Sunday afternoon, it will take me about 15 minutes regardless of my flight path.  During the week the story changes quite a bit.  During morning and evening rush hours, it can at least 45 minutes to get to and from the office on Mopac and 360. For many,  I-35 at end of day can be equivalent to sitting in a parking lot.

Austin Real Estate

It’s important to find the time during the initial stages of the home buying in Austin to see if a particular area is going to work for you.  Getting around Austin on the weekend is easy breezy for the most part, but during the week can be a much different story.  Nine miles doesn’t necessary mean about nine minutes of travel time.  It’s hard to plan for because buyers are often looking at homes on the weekend, because that’s when they have time.  It’s important to take the time though at least once before work or after to just to a test drive.

Austin Traffic

If you are tech savy, phone apps and GPS devices can also be helpful.  Very often current traffic conditions are taken into account when the program is calculating the estimated travel time.  You can often see the traffic to on the device.  Plugging the address into these devices when you would normally be doing the drive will help you estimate commuting times as well.