Aging Houston suburbs (150-250K). Perspectives? (Bellaire, Robinson: student loan, best school, universities)

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by IndyRC

I personally prefer the older homes with large lots. New construction looks boring. They all look the same inside and out, and many newer neighborhoods have the same setback from the street, sit on top of each other, and have a small stick in the front yard for a tree.

On the other hand, I would think some people like new construction because they can move in and do nothing. The home has a warranty. Everything is new. No work needed. My wife and I are DIY people, and would prefer to remodel a house ourselves to make it ours. It would be hard for me to walk into a newer house and start demoing it to replace perfectly good stuff just because it didn't match our taste. I'm talking kitchen remodels, bathrooms, or even knocking down walls. There's an older home we are interested in now that we've been debating which wall we would knock down to open up the living space. Plus we want to remodel the kitchen and master bath.

What area are you looking at?
If I was going to do that, I would buy a house on the East side of I-45 across from The Woodlands

[IndyRC]

Originally Posted by Dopo

What area are you looking at?
If I was going to do that, I would buy a house on the East side of I-45 across from The Woodlands

I've been looking in the Champions Forest area, Kingwood, Westbury, and Pearland. Yes I know, we need to narrow it down more. I've also been looking a little further out to find a house with acreage.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by IndyRC

I've been looking in the Champions Forest area, Kingwood, Westbury, and Pearland. Yes I know, we need to narrow it down more. I've also been looking a little further out to find a house with acreage.

If you are a fixer upper,
Right now might be an ideal time to buy a house that "barely flooded"

[modster]

Glenbrook Valley got very little damage in Harvey. Sims bayou did not get out of it's banks, but there is some topography in the area, (hills and valleys), and a small handful of houses sitting in swales got some rainwater overflow. Probably less than 2% of the whole neighborhood if that. As for unique, well, here's one featured in this month's Houston House and Home. You can click on the online magazine version, article is on page 44. The one with the round living room.

https://issuu.com/houstonhouseandhom...uhousehome_vir

Another that is pending that curbed picked up https://www.curbed.com/2017/8/1/1607...ry-modern-home

A repeat on that last one via circa old houses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5oW...ature=youtu.be

[modster]

Also, in the current edition of Houston House and Home, check pages 54 - 56 for other houses in there, although the home tour has been postponed. Seemed a bit tone-deaf to try to do that right now with everything the city is dealing with.

[Ghost Town]

Originally Posted by modster

Glenbrook Valley got very little damage in Harvey. Sims bayou did not get out of it's banks, but there is some topography in the area, (hills and valleys), and a small handful of houses sitting in swales got some rainwater overflow. Probably less than 2% of the whole neighborhood if that. As for unique, well, here's one featured in this month's Houston House and Home. You can click on the online magazine version, article is on page 44. The one with the round living room.

https://issuu.com/houstonhouseandhom...uhousehome_vir

Another that is pending that curbed picked up https://www.curbed.com/2017/8/1/1607...ry-modern-home

A repeat on that last one via circa old houses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5oW...ature=youtu.be

That's an interesting house and I also read good reviews about that area. However, schools are only 3-4 out of 10. They are saying there are lots of families with kids...but can those kids succeed in a future life after these schools?

[philopower]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

That's an interesting house and I also read good reviews about that area. However, schools are only 3-4 out of 10. They are saying there are lots of families with kids...but can those kids succeed in a future life after these schools?

Give me a break. Any kid who's motivated and has a good family that reinforces the need for education will succeed anywhere. I went to one of the worst high schools in HISD and now I'm at a great law school with a full scholarship.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

That's an interesting house and I also read good reviews about that area. However, schools are only 3-4 out of 10. They are saying there are lots of families with kids...but can those kids succeed in a future life after these schools?

I went to one of the worst schools in my city from 7th to 9th grade.
People seem to be impressed when I tell them that I'm an engineer

[curbur]

Some people have drive within their core and essentially are born to be successful, but then there's the rest of humanity. Although it would be great if all of our children fell into the former category, we know too well that many of them fall into the latter. For that reason, it's almost always best to get the child into the best school district possible. Sure, they can be successful without a good school district, but it certainly doesn't help their odds. There's also some rare exceptions too though, like Bellaire HS for example, which is so ultra competitive it can hurt a kid's chances at going to a really good university because grades that would normally get you into the top 10% of your graduating class in other districts will barely get you into the top 25% there.

[modster]

There are people who utilize the local schools, unfortunately GBV is divided up into 3 different elementary schools, Cornelius being one of them, which last I checked was actually ranked pretty well. Park Place wasn't rated bad either. Most of the young professionals I know in there, however, utilize magnet or private school routes.

This is another example though, of how people typically raise issues with that area, issues that may be perfectly legitimate, but ones the area hardly has a monopoly on. People pay a small fortune to live in GOOF for example, parts of which are no closer to downtown than this, or in the Heights for that matter, both wonderful neighborhoods, (and very expensive), but once you get past the select elementary schools, the school quality is not exactly a selling point for them either.

Ultimately if you are looking for good public schools K - 12, who here didn't know already that means either a commute to the burbs, or some serious bank. This is probably not an option for people wanting that, but it could be an option for those without school age children, which there is no shortage of.