First Time Home Looker VERY dissappointed!! (Houston, Sugar Land: apartment, to rent, countertops)

[FTHB]

I can't express how unhappy I am with my new home search. It seems that only the rich can get the safe school districts, better homes and better communities. The rest of us have to rent and deal with it.

Please excuse my post because right now I'm tired of looking and I'm just about ready to give up on the whole process unless I hit the lotto.

Let me explain a little about myself. I am a mom of a 9 year old little boy and I am currently renting an apartment at 1010/month in the Medical Center area. I picked this location because it is close to work and the neighborhood is zoned to a good school (Twain Elementary). It goes without saying I cannot afford a home in this area. TBH I can't afford this rent and I'm downscaling to a cheaper apartment. So I gave up on this area and started to look in the other areas farther from where I work.

I make about 35/K a year and I'm a student looking to obtain my first Bachelors degree in Marketing. My child support is low at 275/month. Not much. So after I get rid of all my debt which will take me about a year to do I can realistically afford an 85/k to maybe 90/k home.

So I've looked at the homes in that price range and I have found that they are either built like crap and/or they are in iffy neighborhoods zoned to substandard-schools.

I don't want or need a home with all of the frills and fluff. I just want a well built home in a safe and quiet neighborhood with a great school my son can attend in my price range. Why do I have to settle because of my income???
Where are these homes????

[charris911]

What area are you looking in?

[Visitor2007]

Please be understanding and mindful if the following sounds harsh.

You or your post sounds like you have a sense of entitlement. Other than extreme circumstances such as accidents, unexpected events, you got yourself into the situation you're in in terms of being a single parent. It's a product of choosing (yes, it was a choice) the wrong man to marry or to have a child with. If you're complaining about the cost of living in Houston, I don't know where in the world you'll be that you'll be better off in terms of cost of housing, standard of living, and wages.

"Why do I have to settle because of my income??"

Is this a serious question?

[FTHB]

Originally Posted by charris911

What area are you looking in?

Thank you for your response.

Initially I was looking at sugarland, pearland, and humble. I'm finding that most of the homes are starting in the low 100s and up. I don't feel I can comfortably afford a home at that price.

Then I started to look for homes in my price range. Most of the homes fell under KB or Obra home builders. I've heard bad things about KB homes in Texas and I know nothing about Obra. There were some other builders but their names escape me at the moment.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can provide.

[FTHB]

Originally Posted by Visitor2007

Please be understanding and mindful if the following sounds harsh.

You or your post sounds like you have a sense of entitlement. Other than extreme circumstances such as accidents, unexpected events, you got yourself into the situation you're in in terms of being a single parent. It's a product of choosing (yes, it was a choice) the wrong man to marry or to have a child with. If you're complaining about the cost of living in Houston, I don't know where in the world you'll be that you'll be better off in terms of cost of housing, standard of living, and wages.

"Why do I have to settle because of my income??"

Is this a serious question?

Thank you for your response. Have a blessed day.

[seasponge]

Visitor2007, are you serious??? As you said in your words, "Please be understanding and mindeful if the following sounds harsh." You think people CHOOSE their situation? You think she chose to be a single mom because she chose "the wrong man to marry or to have a child with". Get realistic! Not everyone is as fortunate as "you or your post sounds like you have a sense of entitlement."

FTHB, I'm in the med center too, but I'm about to move. I am a single mom just like you, but my child is not in school yet. A lot of the other single moms I know who work in the med center choose to live in Pearland because it is not too far away and the school system is decent. Or they also choose to get one an "address" at Mailboxes Etc so they have a Houston address in their school district. This allows their kids to stay at their current school.

Hope that helps you a little bit more.

[FTHB]

Originally Posted by seasponge

Visitor2007, are you serious??? As you said in your words, "Please be understanding and mindeful if the following sounds harsh." You think people CHOOSE their situation? You think she chose to be a single mom because she chose "the wrong man to marry or to have a child with". Get realistic! Not everyone is as fortunate as "you or your post sounds like you have a sense of entitlement."

FTHB, I'm in the med center too, but I'm about to move. I am a single mom just like you, but my child is not in school yet. A lot of the other single moms I know who work in the med center choose to live in Pearland because it is not too far away and the school system is decent. Or they also choose to get one an "address" at Mailboxes Etc so they have a Houston address in their school district. This allows their kids to stay at their current school.

Hope that helps you a little bit more.

Thanks a lot for your help. I would have never thought of the address at Mailboxes etc.

I think I'm going to have to take a little bit more time out, maybe say 2-3 years to get the kind of home I'm looking for in the area I want. I lot of people I work with live in Pearland, Spring, The Woodlands, Humble or Sugar Land. With my income level, expected savings and moving from an apartment "mindset" to a new home where I will have to shoulder more expenses, I think I'm going to have to remain patient and keep looking.

Good luck with your move and thanks again!

[Visitor2007]

Originally Posted by seasponge

You think people CHOOSE their situation?

I never said that. What I said was other than special circumstances, people CHOOSE ways or make choices that lead them to their current situation.

Look around, you'll see that women are where they are today largely depends on whom they choose to married to or whom they have children with. That's one of the most important decisions they make that can and will change the direction of their lives.

"Or they also choose to get one an "address" at Mailboxes Etc so they have a Houston address in their school district. This allows their kids to stay at their current school."

If I'm not mistaken, I think this practice is not only immoral, but also illegal.

Going back to OP's question, if she complains about Houston about cost of housing and wages, there are not that many places around the world that she will not complain about. Is anyone else disagree with me about the first post's attitute of entitlement?

[charris911]

Originally Posted by FTHB

Thank you for your response.

Initially I was looking at sugarland, pearland, and humble. I'm finding that most of the homes are starting in the low 100s and up. I don't feel I can comfortably afford a home at that price.

Then I started to look for homes in my price range. Most of the homes fell under KB or Obra home builders. I've heard bad things about KB homes in Texas and I know nothing about Obra. There were some other builders but their names escape me at the moment.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can provide.

Well its your first home, so you will probably need to be open minded, but dont settle. I owned and lived in an Obra Home for 2 years. They have big floorplans, at smaller price (what you give up is the "fancy" things). Fancy meaning curving edges crown molding, countertops...etc.

Dont forget when you buy a new home, you will need fans, blinds and some grass! So you might be in a better position to find a lived-in home.

I did do a search for Spring Branch at 95K, mostly townhomes. Do you plan to move in a few years? Or will this be an area for you to stay in? If so if you wanted something small there are many townhomes in Spring Branch. Humble has a some houses you may want to look at your price range...I think you will find something! Har.com

Like I said I had a $100,000 Obra home, that was brand-new, and I loved it (saved some money). The neighborhood was safe, but not the best, schools were OK (not the best)...after two years my family wanted to move to a larger house, in our hometown...so we sold it for a profit and got our house we want to stay in. Anyway just my little story, and when we found the house, my wife and me had just said that we can take no more of this and this was the last model home we where looking at.

GOOD LUCK!!!

[charris911]

Originally Posted by seasponge

A lot of the other single moms I know who work in the med center choose to live in Pearland because it is not too far away and the school system is decent. Or they also choose to get one an "address" at Mailboxes Etc so they have a Houston address in their school district. This allows their kids to stay at their current school.

I dont think Mailboxes Etc counts as residency!