Telfair, S Main, Shady Acres (Houston, Center: credit, buying a home, safe area)

[Marshmallow]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum. Lately, we have been looking into houses/patio homes. There are three areas we are deciding among, Telfair, S Main, Shady Acres. They are all very different, however, each offers something nice within our price range (200-270k). We feel like Telfair has nice homes and could be a good investment except it's a bit far from downtown where we work. As with S Main and 610 (right outside the loop), we saw 2 new developments near Clearview, however, I would like to know more about the area to determine if it is worth paying 240-250k for a patio home. Finally, we are not familiar with Shady Acres but the patio homes we saw are very stylish which we love and it's pretty convenient from the Galleria and Downtown. Our main concern in buying a home is safety then possible appreciation in value. I would really appreciate it if anyone is familiar/currently living in any of the areas and is willing to provide any input.

Thanks a lot!!

[westres1]

Shady Acres would be my choice. I think it will continue to build out and get nicer in time like Rice Military. It is a great location and wedged between great areas.
S Main is a bit riskier

[modster]

If appreciation is one of your priorities, I too would put Shady Acres more at the top of the list.

Telfair is a beautiful area, but the suburban areas like that tend to appreciate less or at a slower rate than growing areas inside the loop.

South Main, I would certainly put the potential below that of Shady Acres. There just isn't a lot going on over there in the way of growth or redevelopment until you get further west of there towards Post Oak.

The only issue with Shady Acres is a good portion of it is in the flood plain.

IMO the new construction town home/patio home set up will probably not have the appreciation of a single family home in an established inner loop neighborhood or someplace just outside of the loop like Garden Oaks. In this downturn, I have seen more examples of the patio home set ups "taking a hit" compared to the older single family homes. Ultimately though, you have to buy what appeals to you, and if the newer stuff is what you like, then that is a route you should go. Just know it is probably not the investment potential of some other options in the same price range.

[Marshmallow]

Thanks guys, this is really helpful!

Now that I have narrowed down my choices. Can someone tell me more about Shady Acres? For instance, is it a safe area to live? Is there a railroad track nearby like in the Cottage Grove? Is it convenient to go grocery shopping, to the pharmacy or to the dry cleaner?

Thanks again!!

[modster]

shopping is fairly convenient. Just to the west of there around 18th & Ella is a cluster of retail, an HEB and a Foodarama. Home Depot and Lowe's are at the northern edge of the area along 610, just to the east on 19th is the row of shops in the Heights. There is a Fiesta on Shepherd, but it isn't very nice, there is a Kroger at 20th and Yale that is not far from there either.

[xavier1774]

Depends on what you want Telfair seems like a very family friendly place, but at the same time is not too far from the shops and the non rush hour drive to town , west u is not that bad. I am in Telfair, but not a Patio home, I need a lot of space .

[noeltsang]

If you work in Galleria, the commute from Telfair to Galleria is about 25-30mins because of its easy access to 59. Houston natural science museum is going to open a new branch in Telfair. I heard that many of the high priced homes in Telfair are actually purchased by Doctors in the surrounding area.
Methodist, Memorial Harmon, St Luke either open new branches or do expansion around that area and the commute to Medical Center is easy.

[Marshmallow]

I kinda like the environment around Telfair more than the Shady Acres but then I also need to take into account the commute and appreciation in home value. Does anyone have an idea of whether there is room for negotiation on building a new house in Telfair? I heard on inventories, you could get a 5% or more discount, but of course, when you are building one with everything you want, they are less likely to offer as much.

[xavier1774]

On inventory you can get pretty good deals especially end of the month or quarter. With new homes, they may throw in some builder options credit, but new and the way you want it always costs more!

Originally Posted by Marshmallow

I kinda like the environment around Telfair more than the Shady Acres but then I also need to take into account the commute and appreciation in home value. Does anyone have an idea of whether there is room for negotiation on building a new house in Telfair? I heard on inventories, you could get a 5% or more discount, but of course, when you are building one with everything you want, they are less likely to offer as much.