Cinco Ranch commute and cost to build a pool (Houston: houses, buy)

[Camps2002]

Hi All,

We are relocating to Houston, TX for my husband's job. He moves next week (!) and our daughters and I will follow closer to Xmas. We are currently living in Maryland. What a change!! Very exciting... (trying to psych myself up for the heat). He will be working in the energy corridor.

We are looking in the area of Cinco Ranch because our kids are 4 & 7 and schools are very important (but we don't really have the $$ for private). Katy schools are great, and the schools in the Cinco Ranch area are supposed to be top-notch. Is Taylor High so bad? (Green Trails is SO much closer to his work.)

Is the commute from Cinco II (West of 99) as awful as we imagine? I think that google maps has it at 40 minutes, but I wonder if it will be really trafficy. Even 40 minutes is not the greatest. He loves to commute from Green Trails, but I worry about the schools, and about the girls making friends right away.

Also, we want a pool. We are looking at resale houses with pools. But I wonder about the cost to build a pool. I know that you don't recoup the cost, but I am just curious about prices. We want a pool with a spa. Doesn't have to be crazy fancy, but we would prefer the spa to be raised. Our realtor told us that that type of pool would cost $70K-$100K to build. I have a hard time believing that. I am hoping that we could get something for $30K but I am probably way off base.

Any advice? TIA!

[TexasCatherine]

A lot of people who work in the Energy Corridor live in the Katy area, including us (and we're west of TX-99). If my husband leaves for work before 7:00, his commute is under a half hour; if he leaves later, it's closer to 45 minutes (which is still considered an okay commute time by Houston standards). However, if there's an accident on I-10, who knows how long it will take! The worst part is just getting onto I-10 from TX-99; they are building an overpass which is due to be completed next year (?) and that should help a lot.

Regarding Green Trails, it is an older more established community than most of the communities west of 99. Shopping is nearby and, as you've already noted, it's close to I-10 and your husband wouldn't have to deal with the mess at the 99/I-10 intersection. Mind you, I imagine the line-up from Fry Rd onto I-10 isn't a picnic at rush hour, either, but I've never driven that way in the morning so don't know for sure.

As for pools with a raised spa, we had one put in three years ago when we built our house and it cost $70,000 (average size, three rock waterfalls, a grotto, and flagstone coping); in hindsight, we probably could have had it made for less, but definitely not $30,000. Best bet is to find a house with a pool already in place, which shouldn't be too hard in this area.

Regarding schools, you will get all kinds of opinions on the schools in Katy, but I personally would have no problem sending my kids to Taylor High School. It has a good reputation and friends of mine with kids there are very happy with it. Cinco Ranch HS and Seven Lakes HS are also very good, if you decide on an area other than Green Trails. Good luck in your search!

[City Love]

What's your price range? I see 11 homes in Green Trails with pools.

I'd definitely try to find a home with a pool, instead of building. But you should be able to find a nice home with a pool that you like. You'll pay a small premium for a home with a pool, but no where near the total cost of the pool. If not, you can always build. But the price will likely be $30k-$100k. It really depends on what you want. You should be able to get a pool like you described between $40k-$50k.

[seadoons]

I don't have much to add other than the fact that the new fly-over bridges at 99 (Grand Parkway) and I-10 are scheduled to be open in December of this year. That will help traffic in that area dramatically.

Pools are crazy expensive. Our neighbor just had one put in with a spa (I think the spa is raised) but the pool is average size. They don't have any rock features, waterfalls, etc. and it was around $40K.

[d2mini]

Do people really use a spa all that often in Houston? I guess I usually associate a spa with heat (like a hot tub).

Serious question, as we will be looking at putting in a pool. As of right now, I just don't see the appeal.
Do the jets make it that much nicer compared to the shallow end of a pool?

[TexasCatherine]

Originally Posted by d2mini

Do people really use a spa all that often in Houston? I guess I usually associate a spa with heat (like a hot tub).

Serious question, as we will be looking at putting in a pool. As of right now, I just don't see the appeal.
Do the jets make it that much nicer compared to the shallow end of a pool?

Honestly, we don't use our spa very much at all. A few times during the winter and that's about it. Our teenagers like it when friends are over, though, because 10 of them can sit around in a circle jabbering away and enjoying the jets. We just don't turn the heating portion on in the summer when they do this.

[davidrod8]

Depending on what part of the energy corridor your husband works at he might be better off taking Westheimer parkway... I used to work in Eldridge south of I-10 and always took the park. It was a nice relaxing drive compared to dealing with I-10...

If you are looking at houses west of 99, your kids won't be going to taylor... it'll be either Cinco Ranch, Seven Meadows or the new one next year, but you are still a few years away from that...

As for pools, I met with a builder last week, and while their prices are quite "creative" here's the basic to start from... the measure the pool by the area around it, sort of a diameter... a 90 ft pool they had there on display, which seemed avg for a house started at $26K... the spa was $8K, add $2K for auto controls... waterfalls went from $1K to $10K (and even more) and my favorite, a slide through the waterfalls was about $12K...

Is it worth it? I guess it depends on how long you plan on living at the house... We are currently selling our home and building a new one and realtors have told us pools usually add about $10K to the price of the house... So if you are not planning on staying for more than 5 years, I would buy a house that already has one...

Welcome to Katy, I'm sure you'll laugh at our winters compared to the ones in Maryland...

[EasilyAmused]

You can come take my pool, I'll give it to you for free!

Anyway, I would buy a "slightly used" or older home with a pool installed already. It will save you tons of money. Most pools ( and even remodeling one) will cost over 35k with a spa and water feature, and mid-line product. As homes age, they add nothing to the value of the home really. Older parts of Houston you see houses with and without pool priced the same. And as the kids age, they will never be in it and it will just be a cement pond in the back yard that takes 2000+/- a year to keep up.

I live around the Energy Corridor and I see the traffic getting worse heading that way each year.

[Camps2002]

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, I know that pools are such a polarizing topic. I used to swear up and down that I would NEVER get a house with a pool because of accidents with kids and the upkeep, etc. But my husband is totally wanting a pool - - he (and I) are really NOT heat/humidity people - - I know, I know... we will be soon :-) He thinks that a pool will make summers more bearable. And my friend here who is from Sugarland said that the risk of drowning in your pool doesn't come into play as much because you just have to assume that any house your kids go to will have a pool (since so many houses there do).

We are looking at spending between $300K - $350K tops for house/pool, need 4 BRs and ideally 3,000 sq. ft. We could go higher (and my husband is leaning that way), but we went higher here, and let me tell you - - I will never do this again. We are okay in the sense that we have no problems keeping up with our bills, but we have to be careful with discretionary spending and we're not as comfortable as I'd like to be. Plus, it's unnecessary to spend more since there is available housing well within our range.

Are the older areas within Cinco turning over? I don't care about the ages of my neighbors, but here we live in the older part of a MPC and our section hasn't really turned over hence my children's friends live sort of far. No nex tdoor neighbor BFFs.

Thank again all!