Homes near Houston National Golf Club - Zip: 77095 (Austin, Sugar Land: neighborhoods, to buy)

[rocketdude]

Why are the homes in Zip Code "77095" (Northwest Houston; Harris county) lower than say Sugar Land, Missouri City, or Pearland? I see that there are many homes in this area from the low to mid $200Ks, and are fairly large homes (McMansion types) built 10 or more years ago. Should I buy into this area, and, is it ok to buy a home that's more than 10 years old? How about the schooling in this area? I am newbie to all of Houston. Thanks!

[Mr. Football]

Some neighborhoods in the area are the same, some higher, some are lower, depending on neighborhood and the schools. Not all neighborhoods are alike.

I think you're referring to Riata Ranch, Canyon Lakes at Stonegate and Stone Gate. They're all nice, Stone Gate is the nicest of these and would be comparable to popular communities in the other places you mentioned. They all have a great deal of competition from newer communities being built nearby in Copper Lakes, as well as Towne Lake, Bridgeland, Blackhorse, Cypress Creek Lakes in 77433 and across the freeway in North Cypress 77429.

The new tollway (http://www.my290.com/NR/rdonlyres/E14C50E6-ABDA-4068-B3BD-6B81EF595C04/0/290mlpp03DEIS.pdf - broken link) will come very close to the top of that community which may affect one or two streets (closest to 290). With that said, there are a lot of very nice homes in Stone Gate which is a golf course community. It's a nice community and is zoned to Cy-Fair HS, which is considered desirable. I believe it is the only neighborhood in 77095 zoned to Cy-Fair HS.

To get a good feel for what else is available, you may want to checkout Longwood, Coles Crossing and Northlake Forest which is on the North side of 290.

[rocketdude]

I read that Fort Bend District schools are one of the best in all of Texas. Are they really that good in comparison to the Cyfair ISD (Cypress-Fairbanks) schools?

Thanks.

[Mr. Football]

Overall, Cy-Fair rates higher than Fort Bend ISD in the latest Texas Education Agency (TEA) school rankings:

CFISD Rating: Recognized
FBISD Rating: Acceptable

The FBISD schools in Sugar Land are generally a bit more diverse as is Sugar Land itself as compared to Cypress proper. FBISD has a very large Asian population which generally means higher SAT score avgs at some FBISD schools like Clements. The FBISD schools with higher Asian enrollments score well.

CFISD High Schools each have considerably higher enrollments than their FBISD counterparts (+800 students), with the avg HS enrolling around 3,200 students compared Fort Bend HS 2,400.

With these points in mind, the State of Texas has a Top 10% rule that automatically admits students in the Top 10% to any state university of their choice. You can do the math and figure which will give your child the best chance at gaining admission to the university of their choice.

The top high schools in CFISD are: Cy-Fair, Cy-Creek, Cy-Woods and Cy-Ranch followed by Langham Creek and Cy-Falls.

The top high schools in FBISD are: Clements, Austin, Dulles, Elkins and Kempner

Both good. Depends on what you want and where you feel most comfortable. Each school is different.