Telfair? (Houston, Sugar Land, New Territory: sales, rental, houses)

[onyx]

Hi, I read somewhere that the new community Telfair at Sugar Land is built on former prison land (grave yard?), and it is very close to the airport, and train whistles can be heard. Is that true? If so, why are the starting home prices $100k over other places? Won't these factors decrease the home value? Are these also the factors why Chelsea Harbor has so many re-sell homes on the market? People realize all the noises after they move in & live for a while? Can the local residents give some insights?

[citizen72]

According to the General Plan for Telfair on the City of Sugar Land website, Telfair is built on former prison land used for agriculture. Documents on the website (General Plan, Land Use Plan Exhibit) indicate that 72 acres of land has been set aside in the northwest corner of the property for a regional park which will include 2.5 acres of cemetery.

Excerpt from the General Plan for telfair on the City of Sugar Land website:
<excerpt>
Historically, the property has had agricultural operations relating to the Texas Department of Corrections prison farm system in the immediate area. The property is under development, with the exception of the Central State Prison Farm (1939) building complex near the center of Tract 4, and a cemetery located near the northwest corner of Tract 4.
<excerpt>

Planning and Zoning - Telfair General Plan (http://www.sugarlandtx.gov/community_dev/planning/projects/telfair_general_plan.asp - broken link)

[icon7]

I will be moving to Telfair in the next few months. I have yet to hear the train noise. The trains have switched to directional horns, so it is quieter. while I have seen planes flyover Telfair, they usually are high enough that I do not hear the noise. Plus the airport usually does not have any flights after 9pm. Telfair is more expensive because of location. Many of the standard features in homes in Telfair are upgrades in the other areas.

[Topaz]

I don't think the train noise fix has extended as far east as Telfair. I am hoping that the City of Sugar Land does so in the future. We live in New Territory adjacent to Telfair and the train noise is a problem, but that's mostly because our rental home is so poorly insulated and these single pane windows are a joke. The homes in Telfair are new and probably have windows 10x better.

Even with our lack of insulation, I've rarely heard an airplane and I'm in northeast New Territory almost directly across the street from the prison and the airport. Since we chose a home very quickly because of relocation logistics (with a choice of exactly ONE option for renting on such short notice), I didn't even know there was a prison there until I saw the prisoners working out in the field one day. I'm fairly confident this prison won't be here much longer...this land location is too valuable for such a use. I predict the prison will be gone before too long.

[SilverWings]

I agree with Topaz - though you also have to keep in mind that Telfair extends all the way from 59 (SW Freeway) to 90A (where the train runs). Obviously the closer you get to 59 the less train and plane noise you'll hear. I live in NW New Territory and I sometimes hear train an plane noises (though I can't really recall the last time to be honest)

The history of the prison land goes back about 100 years when this land was virtually worthless and there weren't enough people to work the fields, so the state agreed to lease the land from the original owners for 100 years and used prisoners to farm the land to get the labor force required. There were a lot of these in the area, not just Telfair. In the last few years the leases have expired and developers have been building communities on them.

[icon7]

The Telfair general plan call for commercial use on the 90 frontage road and plans for a 70 acre park is the Northern portion. I guess i am lucky, I will be closer to 59 and sort of the the middle of Telfair. I took several months scoping out the various lots and sections, before pulling the trigger.

[bsapbw]

Here is what my experience with Newland communities who is developer for Telfair as well as beazer homes.

Recently my sister moved into Telfair. She bought beazer homes. For 3000 SF home she paid 298K, Plus all the upgrades, so when it was all said and done she ended up paying close to 325K for the house. And sales person confirmed that this was the best price she is getting and if she doesnot buy a house soon there was going to be a price increase. She moved into Telfair couple of months ago. Last weekend I went to Beazer homes Model and asked for price list, To my disbelief they had dropped prices by astronomical amount. They were selling same plan for 266K !!

-May I ask what has changed in last 2 months in Sugarland that forces them to reduce their prices ?

-I went to Newland Information Center and they mentioned that Telfair was fastest selling community in All of America and they sold approximately 19 homes last week so why this price reduction ?

-Would you not doubt viability of Builder and would you not worry about your warranty ?

This makes me think if we should overpay and get exploited by Newland Communities and Builders as such.

Regards,

[EasilyAmused]

You have to remember when you buy these houses outside of Houston proper, you're buying THE HOUSE, the land value is a wash. The lots are worth nothing in these MPC's. SO, when they price the same exact house 100k more in one place v. another......I think that should give you pause.

But yeah, It stumps me that these MPCs, next to a prison, are asking high dollar....

[househunter2008]

I have heard that the Telfair builders were maintaining high base prices and were giving huge discounts on these inflated prices instead of showing decline in base prices. I am surprised to know that the base price has now actually been reduced!

These probably are the signs of the start of housing weakness in Houston area.

Originally Posted by bsapbw

Recently my sister moved into Telfair. She bought beazer homes. For 3000 SF home she paid 298K, Plus all the upgrades, so when it was all said and done she ended up paying close to 325K for the house. And sales person confirmed that this was the best price she is getting and if she doesnot buy a house soon there was going to be a price increase. She moved into Telfair couple of months ago. Last weekend I went to Beazer homes Model and asked for price list, To my disbelief they had dropped prices by astronomical amount. They were selling same plan for 266K !!

-May I ask what has changed in last 2 months in Sugarland that forces them to reduce their prices ?

-I went to Newland Information Center and they mentioned that Telfair was fastest selling community in All of America and they sold approximately 19 homes last week so why this price reduction ?

Regards,

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by bsapbw

Recently my sister moved into Telfair. She bought beazer homes. For 3000 SF home she paid 298K, Plus all the upgrades, so when it was all said and done she ended up paying close to 325K for the house. And sales person confirmed that this was the best price she is getting and if she doesnot buy a house soon there was going to be a price increase. She moved into Telfair couple of months ago. Last weekend I went to Beazer homes Model and asked for price list, To my disbelief they had dropped prices by astronomical amount. They were selling same plan for 266K !!

-May I ask what has changed in last 2 months in Sugarland that forces them to reduce their prices ?

I feel empathy for your sister because it sounds like she listened to a salesperson who didn't have a crystal ball but pretended that he/she did. The salesperson used normal fear of getting priced out of the market to close the sale.

If I were your sister, I would probably stop paying attention to prices and just plan on enjoying that Telfair house for quite awhile. Prices will likely increase again eventually, just no one knows when.