Relocating to Houston from UK (The Woodlands, Spring: sales, apartment, rent)

[michb5]

Hi there I hope to be moving into the Houston area in the next few months and would, like everyone else like a bit of advice. I have read a lot of the previous posts so have some good info. I am a Chartered engineer, |I guess your equivalent would be PE and work in the oil patch. my partner and I are mid 40s

1) We have 3 kids (10yo, 2 yo girls and a boy of 12 weeks) So no 1 at 10 yo is she elementary or junior high age, the American school system is a mystery to me, if we rent initially can we put her into anyschool or do we have to live in a particular school are?

2) I would be working in zip code 77094 (off I10 I believe) so where would be best to live, seems like Woodlands and Cincho ranch are the hot favourites, we have just been in Perth Australia for a couple of years and would like a place where you can shoot the breeze with your neighbours, sit out in the evening and have a beer/barbeque.

3) We have 300-400K USD for a house (thankyou strong pound and weak dollar, you guys are taking hospitality too far, usually never works to my advantage) could we get a nice 4-5 bed 3 bath for that

4) CoL wise what would a weekly shop cost (groceries,beer, meat, nappies, veg, beer...that sort of thing)

5) Other than property tax and HOA and HOI nay other big expenses I need to know about

Thanks in advance

[jfre81]

Tell you what - how about you come on over here, I'll go to the UK to go work for a couple years and build up some funds and then cash in to come back to Houston living like a king.

But seriously, each school has a set boundary in which generally you must live to go to that school. Some districts have "magnet schools" focused primarily on one subject (e.g. healthcare, technology) to prepare students for college. These schools may be able to draw students from outside the restricted area that a standard school would have. Furthermore, public school districts are separate taxing entities of government from the municipality or county in most of Texas (the city of Stafford, just southwest of Houston, is the only municipal government that operates its own schools). It can be confusing.

There is 8.25% statewide sales tax; excludes many grocery items but not beer (unfortunately). Some localities assess a small additional sales tax, typically not more than one precent. There is no state income tax, though you still have to pay US federal income tax. Groceries are cheaper than on much of the West or East coasts. Electricity can be expensive - I'm paying US $120 on average in the summer months (it's hot here) for a 500-square-foot apartment. That's probably about 150 square meters or so, but I'm too tired to convert to metric. A large family-sized house is running some people over $400/month. On the other hand, keeping warm in the winter does not require very much energy.

Houston's industry has drawn people from Britain as well as elsewhere in the US and the world for work. The UK presence in Houston is well established, and there is a British consulate in downtown.

If you are working in 77094, by all means, live in or around Katy, part of which is Cinco Ranch. Commuting on I-10 (Katy Freeway, a miles-long stretch of road construction as it is) and the Westpark(inglot) Tollway is horrid. Don't do The Woodlands unless you want a long commute. Distances are very long relative to the British Isles or elsewhere in Europe and most of the US. Houston is very sprawled out - Houston city limits and Greater London occupy nearly the same amount of space. And that doesn't count the suburbs of Houston, which include Katy and The Woodlands.

Hope this isn't too much all at once, and that at least some of it makes sense to you. Welcome to Texas, mate.

[michb5]

Thanks for that, you must be up late....I'm actually in Baku at the moment, in Azerbaijan, definately a single man's paradise and quite a few Americans here, not a place to settle with family though......Looking forward to the 2 dollar pint Bud in happy hour

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by michb5

Thanks for that, you must be up late....I'm actually in Baku at the moment, in Azerbaijan, definately a single man's paradise and quite a few Americans here, not a place to settle with family though......Looking forward to the 2 dollar pint Bud in happy hour

Yes - I keep strange hours sometimes. I think my internal clock is set to GMT. I work at night mostly.

Houston is full of a lot of affordable and enjoyable places to have a drink - there are even a couple "authentic" English pubs - some authentic enough to give you a true UK pint (US 20oz) not 16oz (US pint).

$500K is almost too much money in Houston - you can go well under that (say $300K) on your house purchase and still do much better than most of us. My fiancee and I didn't even come here with $50K let alone $500K. At $300-350K you can pretty much name where you live. You will be in a great spot and have enough to pay your property tax which can be right around $10-11K/yr when you get up in that level of property value. Taxes will almost always be lower in an established neighborhood as opposed to a new subdivision.

Thankfully, drinking beer seems not to make one more palatable to mosquitoes, but those are here and you may be making a small annual investment in insect repellent. Not all that long ago Houston was a swamp, not a city. Some of its former inhabitants still remain. </scratch>

[Trainwreck20]

Couple of comments (none really significant)....state sales tax is 6.25%, and county/city/transity can increase it up to a maximum of 8.25%.

For area comparisons, 500 sq ft is ~46 m2.

You mentioned the property tax....don't spend all your money you can on a house, you will end up paying much more in taxes. In Houston, you can get a great house for <$300k. Every extra $45k or $50k you spend on the house will be around $100/month in taxes alone (plus you will want to cool it ).

[jfre81]

I stand corrected on the state sales tax - I suppose because I have never lived in a part of Texas that did not have a sub-8.25% sales tax I thought that was the state rate.

[michb5]

Thanks guys all input gratefully accepted

[charris911]

If you are going to be working in zip code 77094, I would say you should look at Cinco Ranch or Memorial area.

At that price range you will be able to have a great house in Memorial, be going opposite of traffic and nice mature trees in an established neighborhood. Now if you want a brand new construction and all the amenities (pool, golf...etc) you will probably choose Cinco Ranch. In Cinco Ranch you will not have the same large trees and large yards as something in Memorial. Also, the commute will be more of a challenge in Cinco Ranch, you will be going with traffic both ways, as opposed to going opposite out of Memorial. New home/road/school construction will be a continuation for many years in Cinco Ranch. Note: Cinco Ranch also some older areas to check out (Kelliwoods subdivision).

Cinco Ranch is in Katy ISD (Independent School District) and Memorial area is in Spring Branch ISD. Both are great districts, and each subdivision is zoned to certain elementary (kindergarten thru 5th grade), Jr. High/Middle schools (6th thru 8th) and high school (9th-12th). Memorial High School and Stratford High School in Spring Branch are top notch, and they have a district run charter school called "Westchester Academy for International Studies" for students in middle school and high school.

Spring Branch ISD Homepage

Katy Independent School District

Good Luck...welcome to the area!

[Premont]

Some of those neighborhoods on Memorial near 6 would be less of a commute as well as actually in Houston. Neighborhoods like Fleetwood and Nottingham Forest.

As far as shopping, Walmart provides cheap shopping or you can become a member at Sam's Club and shop high volume for certain items.

[michb5]

Yes Cinco Ranch is looking favourite right now, and my boss lives there all the stuff I have seen is quite positive about that are for children....I hope they have a bar for the more grown up children!

..........Sams Club???? We know Walmart from other visits to the US