Anyone form Houston area??? (Sugar Land, The Woodlands: real estate, homes, safe area)

[Dan Corcoran]

I lived in Houston for 20 years, leaving in 2002. My main recommendation would be to try to live very close to where you'll be working. I first lived in the suburbs and worked downtown. My commute was an absolute minimum of 1.5 hours roundtrip, often much longer. I was always stressed and hated Houston. After moving downtown, to within 2 miles of my office, my whole attitude changed. I gained 1.5 hours of free time and could enjoy doing whatever I wanted to with it. Houston became a great place to live.

Houston traffic can be horrendous and it takes a toll on your mental health. If you can choose where to live, I suggest that the tradeoff of a larger house or yard with a longer commute is not worth it.

[ravensrock]

Referring to the Woodlands..its very expensive up there...
Have you moved yet?
Pat

[INTN]

We are making a trip next week to the Spring, Woodlands area (looking for a place to relocate). I just inquired about some homes and their taxes and have tax shock. I would like to live in a good area, we have 2 kids. Are there any areas were the taxes are not so high but still considered nice.

How about Katy?

Thank you.

[Victoria]

For both of you - just remember that while Houston is an absolutely wonderful city it's really going to depend on where you work and how much time you want to spend commuting. The best thing to do is learn the city by getting off the freeways. Remember Hurricane Rita? People were saying it took them 12 -20 hours stuck on the freeway trying to get out of town. Just bail off the freeway and take an actual street. Houston is so easy to get around you just have to know where you are going.

Good luck to you both - I'm a 3rd generation Houstonian and it's a wonderful place and the people are the greatest!

[INTN]

People are what make any place.

[stephie]

Your questions are a bit vague but I'll try and answer. The woodlans are very beautiful while there ask about the hike/bike trails, the woodlands mall (has river walk and boat, outdoor activities) visit lake conroe, old town spring, dtwn ( theatre, ballet, shops, resteraunts,bars) The galleria area! Avoid South houston (just outside of dtwn) run-down and poor area!

[honeyinhouston]

Originally Posted by Gigi

Found a link to this site and was hoping to get some info on Houston area but no one has posted
I am relocating to Texas within the next 3 months and am considering Spring and The Woodlands. Was just hoping to get some feedback/advice. I am planning a trip to look at homes very soon and it would be great to have a better idea what to avoid or make a point to see.
If anyone is out there, I would really appreciate some feedback

Those areas are nice. Also look at Humble, TX specifically the Fall Creek, Eagle Springs and Summerwood subdivisions. Another area to consider would be Katy, (Cinco Ranch subdivision), Sugar Land and Cypress. These are all suburbs of Houston with great school districts.

[Honey]

Alot of people are moving to Pearland....you are close to downtown and medical center and its growing quite a bit!

[Jewels36]

Originally Posted by danj

One more question,

If I were to take a job at Deer Park, and I was willing to spend around 45 minutes in a commute, how far North, or away from the city would that take me? Assuming an 8-5 job? Would traffic be horrible going into this part of town? Also, given the proximity to the Gulf, how many evacuations has this area seen, as of late, not counting this past season?

Thanks for any help,

DanJ

If you are going to work down in that area, try looking at Friendswood and Pearland. This is a pretty good area. Friendswood is know for having some of the best schools. Although both areas are a little expensive.

The Bacliff area used to be pretty desolate but they shut down the refinery there and the land is going to be turned into a huge housing development. I think the old fish hatchery is also going to be turned into a housing development. There is a lot of development going on as far as shopping, etc. I read something within the past year that said a new elementary school is going to be built in that area. Right now is the best time to buy property in that area before the values start to shoot up. Chase Park is really the only subd. in the area. The homes in it are range from maybe 5 or so years old to just built. They are finishing the last phase of that neighborhood soon. It is a nice neighborhood with really reasonable prices. The area is low in crime, or at least was last I checked.

The area North is probably better, but tends to be more money and may not be practical depending on where you work. I lived in Pearland and worked off of 1960 for awhile. The drive was miserable. It took 30 minutes or longer just to get down 1960 after work, then I still had to drive all the way back home.

The evacuation thing does not happen too often. In fact, I think this last year, they made such a big deal of it because of Katrina and New Orleans. No one wanted to be responsible for taking any chances after all the press on NOLA.

Good luck!

[Jewels36]

Forgot to mention, taxes in Bacliff are better thatn some other areas of Texas. Of course, depending on where you are moving from, they may still seem outrageous.

We currently live in KY and our property taxes are a very small fraction of what they were in TX. Of course, we have state income tax which we did not have in TX. It is a give and take no matter where you live. They all get their money some how.