Moving to Houston (near U.of.H) - Where to live ? Lots of Information Inside (Kirby: apartment complex, leasing)

[mike5809]

Hello All,

First let me say in advance thank you for any information provided!

[Reason for Move]
My girlfriend and myself will most likely be moving to Houston this summer. She has been given the wonderful opportunity to get into a PhD program at Univ. of Houston for Clinical Neuropsychology.

I will then be looking for a Business/IT job within the city.

[About Us]
My girlfriend and myself are both 24. We are young professionals who are very driven. We like to go out on occasional weekends to bars. We really enjoy dining out at nice restaurants, going museums, walking around outside, etc. We used to be the party type when younger; however, that has died down.

My girlfriend works as a medical researcher at Johns Hopkins; however, will be going to school full time for her PhD. I am a Project Manager for a small event management software company.

We currently live in a trendy upscale area of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The area we live in is very safe [we have no worries about walking around at night], it has a lot of nice restaurants, cute shops, a lot of young professionals [mid 20's-early 30's]. Currently we are paying $1,695 a month for rent + cost of utilities, parking, etc.

[What we are looking for]
Our main goal is to have something close to Univ. of Houston for my girlfriend. We were hoping to live in an apartment or apartment complex which would be about at most a 20 minute drive to Univ. of Houston.

Secondly, we would like something similar to what we have. We would like somewhere where we would feel safe, be able to walk around, close to shops and restaurants.

For pricing, we would like to pay less than what we are paying now. We will be taking a pay cut as my girlfriend really won’t be able to work much. Therefore we are looking at the $800 - $1,000 range [maybe up to $1,200].

We would like somewhere that has a pool, pet friendly, gym, etc [normal apartment complex amenities].

[Misc]
I do not know a whole lot about Houston. Since we found out that we may be moving I have been searching on the internet non-stop.

If anything comes out of this I would like to know at least a good neighborhood which will hopefully be around a 15-20 minute commute to Univ. of Houston.

Thanks,
Mike

[Poltracker]

For a neighborhood, try the Village, Montrose, or Mid-Town areas. You might not be able to get all those amenities (i.e. the pool) but those have the most walkability. Also note that alot of the apartments are small complexes between 2 and 10 units and they don't advertise that much as they are snapped up pretty quick.

[mike5809]

Thank you for the information.

I have noticed that Rice Village seems to be a nice place which seems to meet what we are looking for. Are there any other ideas? What is good/not so good about Rice Village?

Having a pool, gym ,etc are going to be secondary when looking for an apt. However, they are ideal amenities which we would like.

Our main concern is finding a nice neighborhood which is also safe and close to campus.

Where would you recommend looking for apartment complexes? I have looked at the normal rental sites [rent.com, etc] as well as specific sites on Houston [har.com, etc]. But from what I am reading a lot of the smaller apartment complexes do not advertise on sites such as rent.com.

My girlfriend is also going to Univ. of Houston in two weeks to look at the school and give a final decision. At that time I can have her pick up a lot of information and book on rental property.

Again, Thanks !

[travelguy_73]

HAR caters to landlords with realtors or who have a realtor license. Craigslist will cater to apartment locating services or individual landlords who typically won't advertise on the MLS. The big complexes typically show up on Rent.com, but oftentimes you don't get a feel for the pricing until you step foot into their leasing office (and of course you are paying a premium for the amenities).

UH is centrally located, so nearly anywhere inside the loop will fit commute-wise. There are many older 1930's duplexes available in Museum District/Montrose 77006, Upper Kirby 77098, near Rice Village 77005 and adjacent, etc., that are full of charm and will get you into a more upscale area for less money. You might also be able to swing a deal on a small loft downtown or adjacent which could be cool as well. Medical Center fits the fill as well, but the area lacks many amenities. I would avoid the Galleria area 77056 or anything west as the drive up 59 will be a pain (I make that drive every day ).

Your price range of up to $1200/month should get you something pretty nice, but keep in mind that the desirable parts of Houston can be just as expensive as anywhere else in the country.

[southland]

It's been a while since I lived in Houston...but I do remember loving my experience there. I think Travel Guy and Poltracker just gave you some very good info.

Housing right around UofH is a bit iffy. In fact, a decent neighborhood like Rice Village or Montrose is going to be kind of pricey, but worth it if you have the means (I know that in school, I sure didn't!). Hopefully you will be taking the time to visit town and do a good apartment search in this area.

For a short time, I lived in an apartment complex off of Holly Hall near the Astrodome...it's not as "pretty" as the other suggestions, though. That would be in your price range and it does have access to the metro rail....but unfortunately my last experience there was 4 years ago.
Perhaps a city-data forum member could weigh in on this area. Unfortunately, I've heard that this neighborhood has gone down hill with higher crime and worse traffic.

In any case, welcome to Houston...it's a great place to live and work. Having lived for a short time in DC, I can say with certainty that you will love the weather in Texas.

[Poltracker]

Originally Posted by mike5809

Thank you for the information.

I have noticed that Rice Village seems to be a nice place which seems to meet what we are looking for. Are there any other ideas? What is good/not so good about Rice Village?

Having a pool, gym ,etc are going to be secondary when looking for an apt. However, they are ideal amenities which we would like.

Our main concern is finding a nice neighborhood which is also safe and close to campus.

Where would you recommend looking for apartment complexes? I have looked at the normal rental sites [rent.com, etc] as well as specific sites on Houston [har.com, etc]. But from what I am reading a lot of the smaller apartment complexes do not advertise on sites such as rent.com.

My girlfriend is also going to Univ. of Houston in two weeks to look at the school and give a final decision. At that time I can have her pick up a lot of information and book on rental property.

Again, Thanks !

What Travelguy said is correct.
In all honesty, to find the best places you kind of have to drive around and look for the small "for rent" signs that get put out. These places are snapped up pretty quick. Some don't even get as far as putting a sign out as word of mouth gets it rented before the last tenant has moved out. That is how I got my apartment in that area years ago and the person who got it after me was the same way. Some of those renters are long time tenants. I was there 16 years, and there were at least 2 more in the 9-unit complex who had been there longer than I.
Do not ignore the listings on HAR.com though as some good listings can be found there.

[mike5809]

Again, thank you all for the information! It is much appreciated.

After my girlfriend goes to visit Univ. of Houston in two weeks she will make a final decision if she would like to attend there. While she is there she is going to be looking at a few neighborhoods and talking to current students in the PhD program to try to find a suitable neighborhood. If she decided to attend then I will travel down with her in March or early April.

I have been looking at craigslist but found it difficult to view listings as I did not know many of the locations [so I felt like I was wasting my time]. Now that I am slightly more familiar with the neighborhoods I will continue to look on craigslist.

Travel Guy, thank you for providing the zip codes as that information is very helpful.

As far as price, is around $1,000 a month an average price for a nice apartment around the mentioned areas, or am I dreaming? From what I have briefly seen it seems as if $1,000 can get you an OK/decent small 1 bedroom apartment. Around Baltimore $1,000 would not get you a very nice place at all. As stated I am paying $1,695 but my apartment is a 'nicer' loft right on the water which is aprox 850 sq ft. We are not looking for anything large; just a 1 bed room apt anywhere from 650-1000 sq ft.

[Topaz]

Congratulations to your girlfriend! It isn't a trivial feat to gain admission to a doctoral program in Clinical Neuropsychology. Tell your girlfriend not to let the immediate area around UH scare her off. I work there and the school might not make a fabulous first impression because of the urban location, but there are a lot of excellent faculty and the university is up and coming under the direction of a dynamic new president.

[texas7]

Try apartments in midtown. Very close to good restaurants, Montrose, U of H and they just built a great 24 hour fitness in Midtown as well. Lots of young people in your age range living in that area and also some empty nesters moving back into town to enjoy the amenities. There are several complexes but the one I can think of right now is Camden Midtown but there are several others, The Post, The Calais.

Try this link for info: Midtown Houston

[ziz_zum]

midtown and rice village have a good night life and are pretty safe areas. Expect to pay the 1,000 you mentioned and maybe a bit more. Rice Village is located in the med. district so I'm sure she would love that. I plan on moving to Rice Village as a senior but right now campus life at HBU is fine enough. Congrats on her acceptance and at 24 starting phd work is something to be proud of.

I'm in SW Houston and Rice Village is where I tend to go for a drink and a nice places to eat at.
again good luck.