Married couple from Katy moving into town (Houston, West: condo, how much)

[spitz10]

Been pouring through this forum over the last week or so trying to get as much info/help as possible. Finally decided to just go ahead and start my own thread since so many people have different views, but share a willingness to help.

Background:

Wife and I both grew up in Katy our whole lives and went to Texas A&M. Out of college, I got a job near the energy corridor and wife got a teaching job in Katy. Didn't have many friends in town at that point, so getting a house in Katy seemed like a wise choice (we had the money). Both of our parents still live in/near Katy, and some of our siblings live here now as well with their families.

Fast forward 5 years:

Wife still teaches in Katy, I still work in West Houston (Eldridge/Clay). But almost all our close friends live in town now (Heights, Rice Military, etc), and over the last few years, we've spent a ton of time driving out into town, hanging out with our friends, and in the process really kind of just fell in love with the "inner" city (as cliche as that sounds) and started to second guess our suburban lifestyle and future. Still no kids, but certainly not too far down the line (wife will likely stay at home for a couple years once we have a kid).

We also started to develop generally more liberal views (won't get into all the reasons), despite both our families being EXTREMELY conservative. This makes a long term life in the suburbs that much scarier (we also aren't particularly religious despite being raised as such).


So at this point, we have an extremely strong desire to move ourselves (and our future family) out into town and away from the suburbs, for pretty much all the typical reasons you would expect. The suburbs have tons to offer obviously (especially in our case with neither of us working in town, and our families coughbabysitterscough nearby), but we've also grown a strong distaste for the cookie cutter/sheltered lives of the burbs.

So assuming we go through with this.....we are trying to decide where to live. We've limited it down to pretty much The Heights (and surrounding areas - Shady Acres, Garden Oaks, etc), or Montrose. We love Montrose the most (at least at our current age - late 20s) - we aren't super hipster/hippy/granola really - but we just love the bars, restaurants, coffee shops, general walk and bikeability, and overall feel of the area. It feels like "Houston" to me. But we keep getting pulled to the Heights - more inventory/options, more affordable, more family friendly....honestly probably fits us a bit better longer term. But I just worry that the Heights will end up just feeling like a suburb to me ultimately....just a "cooler" version of one compared to Katy. It seems like such a hot spot for white, young professional families.....which fits us admittedly.....but that kind of defeats a good chunk of our reason for leaving the burbs.....

Our budget is up to $350k or so, but thats still much more than I'd like to spend. I'd like to stay more in the $300k range.

So are we crazy for this? Is it reasonable to raise a family in a 300k house in Montrose - are there even enough kids/families around? Is the Heights ultimately just another upper-middle class white suburb (or is it at least becoming that)? Is there an area I'm forgetting about? How much should I spend time focusing on schools now before we even have kids?

Sorry for the length but wanted to be thorough. Thanks ahead of time for any feedback/help advice!

[cheryjohns]

You want to live in or near the loop. Now is the time - kids are coming, but it will be years before you worry about schools. You will be close to activities and friends - and reverse commuting for you (I assume she might get a closer teaching job?). You will have to find closer babysitters, but it's doable.

Garden Oaks and Oak Forest are neighborhoods, but re-sale will be good in the future, should you decide 7 or 8 years from now to go back to the burbs. Plus, it will be a house, rather than a townhome or condo, which do not appreciate as well as houses. Both neighborhoods have a mix of young professional/retirees (who are original owners). I have noticed that those two groups get along very well and keep an eye for each other.

[heightsian]

You're not crazy! We originally looked at Katy but decided to move to the Heights because the vibe of the MPCs in Katy didn't work for us as we're not particularly well-behaved, we're not religious at all, and at the time, we didn't have children. Plus, as my husband likes to say, the houses in Katy will always be there, but it will become harder and harder to buy inside the loop. We are super happy with our decision because we *are* close to the things we like to do and more importantly, it's so easy to walk in the neighborhood. Loved that tonight I could push baby in her stroller less than a mile roundtrip to pick up dinner.

I think you could definitely find a townhome in that price range in the Heights, but you'd probably have to go up over $300k and sacrifice the yard. In general, you will get a lot less for your money than you will in Katy. Our 1800 square foot bungalow cost the same as a 4100 square foot house in Katy! So that's something else you might want to think about. The townhomes WILL be bigger but will be either spread out over 3-4 floors or will be long and narrow over two floors. The townhomes we've seen are super nice and very modern in their amenities; just with elderly parents, 3 stories wouldn't work for us!

I think the homes zoned to the exemplary elementary schools (Travis, Harvard) are probably above your price range. That being said, there are tons of families and children here and in time, I'm guessing all of the elementary schools in the area will be exemplary and you're talking at least five years from now, right?

If you want a house though, I think Chery John's rec is a good one; Garden Oaks/Oak Forest are really coming up and Oak Forest Elementary is one of the top 5 elementary schools in the five-county area (even beating out KISD). And it's not terribly far outside the loop and lots of neat new businesses are opening up in the area and it's super family friendly too, but you're close enough to the Heights/Montrose as well.

[feufoma]

Welcome

[AGGIEZ]

I'd second Garden Oaks and Oak Forest. You'll get more house, more yard than the Heights and won't be next to a 3-story aluminum townhome or auto body shop. With your budget, I'd look at Oak Forest. That area is still reasonably priced but I wouldn't expect that it to stay that way for much longer. It's getting nicer and nicer as more young couples move in and remodel/refurb the neighborhood.

[spitz10]

Garden Oaks/Oak Forest is definitely an area of consideration. Honestly, I haven't spent much time there, but I know alot of people moving into the area and it's obvious it is will continue to prosper.

We are basically just trying to find the best balance of our desire to be a "part of the action" and really feel a part of the city (I put Montrose much more in this category than the Heights area), and yet also planning for the future when we know we will want other kids around/more of a neighborhood feel (Heights > Montrose in this category IMO). Parts of Montrose feel like this (at least aesthetically), but they tend to be that much more expensive, and I honestly just don't know how many families raise kids in Montrose anyways.

We currently live in a 2k sq ft house with lots of upgrades (it was a model home), and so, since grass is always greener, we are convinced we don't need a place nearly this big, nor do we need it to be particularly nice, even once we have kids, and just want to be within biking/walking distance to as many things as possible. We do have a small dog, so at least a small yard is basically required, but yea....a 1200 sq ft bungalow, or even a smaller 2 story townhouse with a small side yard (we've found a few of these for around 300k in shady acres area) at least SEEMS like something are interested in.

Anyone have more info about Montrose kids/families?

Thanks for the input.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by spitz10

Garden Oaks/Oak Forest is definitely an area of consideration. Honestly, I haven't spent much time there, but I know alot of people moving into the area and it's obvious it is will continue to prosper.

We are basically just trying to find the best balance of our desire to be a "part of the action" and really feel a part of the city (I put Montrose much more in this category than the Heights area), and yet also planning for the future when we know we will want other kids around/more of a neighborhood feel (Heights > Montrose in this category IMO). Parts of Montrose feel like this (at least aesthetically), but they tend to be that much more expensive, and I honestly just don't know how many families raise kids in Montrose anyways.

We currently live in a 2k sq ft house with lots of upgrades (it was a model home), and so, since grass is always greener, we are convinced we don't need a place nearly this big, nor do we need it to be particularly nice, even once we have kids, and just want to be within biking/walking distance to as many things as possible. We do have a small dog, so at least a small yard is basically required, but yea....a 1200 sq ft bungalow, or even a smaller 2 story townhouse with a small side yard (we've found a few of these for around 300k in shady acres area) at least SEEMS like something are interested in.

Anyone have more info about Montrose kids/families?

Thanks for the input.

I never see any kids over here in Montrose north of Westheimer, but we're the wild side. ;-)

[Lone Star Rooster]

Not sure if this would fit the overall "feel" you're looking for, but have you thought about either Meyerland or the Knollwood Village/Woodside areas? Neither community is admittedly as cool as the Heights or Montrose, but both are close-in and convenient to the inner-city attractions you like, still somewhat affordable, and yet "suburban" enough that you would safely be able to raise kids there in the future (the public schools in these areas are very good, I don't know that the same could be said for the Heights).

[spitz10]

Originally Posted by theSUBlime

I never see any kids over here in Montrose north of Westheimer, but we're the wild side. ;-)

What part specifically north of Westheimer are you in?

We like alot of the area bordered between Shepherd, Commonwealth, Westheimer, and Gray. Ideally, we like the area just east of Montrose between Westheimer and W. Alabama, but that definitely seems like a pricier area.

[spitz10]

Originally Posted by Lone Star Rooster

Not sure if this would fit the overall "feel" you're looking for, but have you thought about either Meyerland or the Knollwood Village/Woodside areas? Neither community is admittedly as cool as the Heights or Montrose, but both are close-in and convenient to the inner-city attractions you like, still somewhat affordable, and yet "suburban" enough that you would safely be able to raise kids there in the future (the public schools in these areas are very good, I don't know that the same could be said for the Heights).

I could see myself migrating to one of those areas eventually, but I guess that still doesn't feel like a big enough contrast to our Katy life to warrant going through the entire process of moving. If we had a kid, I think the more outer areas would appeal to us more, but right now it's just hard to really consider. Thanks for the suggestion!