10 reasons not to move to The Woodlands (Houston, Conroe: real estate, homeowners association)

[slipton306]

We are exploring moving to The Woodlands and most of everything that we have read on this forum is positive, except for traffic congestion and low home appreciation values. What I'm interested in learning is what are the reasons for not moving to The Woodlands? Real estate agents won't say and we don't have time to interview the entire population of The Woodlands. We live in the DFW area now and are looking for our retirement home. Thanks much.

[Visitor2007]

Long commute to employement areas (downtow Houston) and lack of professional employment in the Woodlands area. But, since your'e retiring, those shouldn't be a concern.

High cost of housing compare to say, other suburbs in the Houston area. I heard that property tax is slightly higher too in the Woodlands.

[jfre81]

It's a lot more congested and built-up than it was - it's a suburb. Those things happen in suburbs. If you're a homebody it might not bother you so much. The low appreciation is because growth has pretty much leveled out there. That's going to happen in every suburb eventually.

Everything has become pretty big-box around there, even if there are still enough trees left to remind you of how it got the name.

The drive to the center of Houston or north to Conroe at rush hour can be slow and frustrating, though you have some backroads you can take that might get you there faster.

If you want something less congested or quiet then you may want to get further away from the large cities. But if you want to be closer to city amenities and convenience then you want to look more at places like The Woodlands.

[mom22blessings]

If they are retired I would't think going to Houston would be a problem. I never have to leave this part of town for anything. he Wodlands has every store imaginable (except Nordstrom/Neiman Marcus...but who goes there too often?)

Taxes aren't as high as one would think. Montgomery County has lower taxes than Harris/ Ft. Bend.

[BearBranch]

The taxes in The Woodlands appear about the same as Harris Cty:

The Woodlands, TX Real Estate | Michele Flory & Company: Real Estate Property Tax

[Mr. Football]

The graduated Homeowners Association fees in The Woodlands is a sore subject with my friends from The Woodlands. Some areas pay thousands each year in Association dues. It's pegged to your Appraisal value. Some may call that a quasi-tax.

[jfre81]

Your HOA fee is pretty much a tax anyway - just there it's linked to your value.

[stargazer]

Can someone tell me the best places to live around there. My husband is up for a job there in Conroe. We would like to know the best places to live that are 10 minutes from work. We believe the place will be on 105. What about the schools? Can someone tell me about Montgomery? What about Magnolia schools versus Conroe?
We went yesterday to look at the Woodlands as well. It was a bit confusing to us because we really did not find many neighborhoods and more fustrating off of 105, we could not go into some of the neighborhoods. We did stop at April Sound but weren't able to take a tour due to no agent there. Where does everyone generally live?
We want to live in the trees and have a nice house around 400-500K . I love the concept of the business's being hidden behind trees in The Woodlands but noticed that they didn't mow the islands or the weed eat the areas around the trees. Do they ever mow the islands and weed eat? I always thought it was more manicured looking than that. Was it an off day?

[Mr. Football]

I was just driving around the Village of Indian Springs and I love the areas down near Kuykendahl. It has nice rolling terrain and some beautiful little neighborhoods.

[jfre81]

People talk about how flat it is here but you do not really have to go that far inland before you start seeing some rolling....I think that's part of the draw up there. Suburban strip-mall encroachment aside, you can really start forgetting you're still very close to the fourth-largest city in America.