Greater Willow Meadows Area (Sugar Land, Missouri City: for sale, apartments, rent)

[HouseHunt101]

Hi all,
We are planning on buying a house near the Greater Willow Meadows Area, a 3 story single family home in Contemporary Plaza, and would like to get some opinion.
We are a couple with no kids and this is going to be our first house.
The main thing we like about this area is the location, which is really convenient for travelling downtown, where I work. My husband works near Sugarland, but we think his commute will be opposite traffic and shouldn't be bad. Our other option was getting a house near Sugarland.
The disadvantage is that we will have a smaller living space, specially no backyard, like we could have had in the suburbs and the the school district seems really bad. Our thought is to live here for a few years and move to the suburbs once we have kids and have to worry about schools.
Please share your opinion if this sounds like a wise choice. Is the area good in terms of crime rate, property value, ease to sell or rent in a few years? Also, please share any other pros or cons related to this area.
I appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

[DJboutit]

I live in this neighborhood low crime close to everything. The only 3 story house for sale in this neighborhood I can think of might be a 1+ million dollar home are you planning to buy a 1+ million home, most houses in the neighborhood sell for $350k to 450K. I love this area I do not plan to leave

[houston-nomad]

Is contemporary plaza the set of townhomes right off 610?

I know a couple of families that live there. They like it.

I think living in town for a while, then thinking about moving out to the suburbs later with kids, is a good idea. By then, you'll know if you really want to move to the suburbs or not. Might as well enjoy being near the action for a while.

[GIS_Gordon]

The Contemporary Plaza development does look nice...but if its a yard you seek, why not look at a Single fam home in the actual Willowbend or Willow Meadows proper?

[HouseHunt101]

Thanks for your responses!
The house we are looking at is just a little over 200K. Looks like house values range between 182K-211K. Here is the neighborhood info : CONTEMPORARY PLAZA in Harris County 77025 - Neighborhood information - HAR.com

Yes, the neighborhood is right off of 610. They are classified as single family homes, but do look more like townhouses.

How is the area in terms of property values? What are normal home appreciation rates? Like I mentioned earlier, our second option is to get a house in Sugarland/Missouri City off of Hwy6. We've heard property values there are pretty strong. Although, comparing these two areas might be like comparing apples to oranges, any thoughts would help.

[Lost_In_Translation]

A third option is to look in westbury area (77035). No reason to go way out to hw6 to get a single family home unless you're just determined to get something new.

[DJboutit]

There is a house for sale Willow Meadows on Silverwood 3300sqft $260k is nice condition even though it has not been updated
The area you are looking at is more Westwood between Stella Link & South Main Willow Meadows is not even in 77025

[houston-nomad]

I know that neighborhood pretty well, my kids used to go to St. Catherine's Montessori down the street from there. Like I said, I knew a couple of families who lived there and they liked it. I don't love that complex of homes, though. It's hemmed in by the freeway and a lot of really, really junky apartments. Not much of a neighborhood feel. Not a place you'd go for a walk in the evening, chat with neighbors, etc. Nothing to walk to but a pupuseria and a scary handi-mart.

I would second the suggestion of looking at houses in Willowbend and Westbury, if you'd like a neighborhood-y feel. Plus you could just stay there once you had kids, and it's still close to downtown and close to Sugar Land.

Those places aren't bad, but when it's time for resale, a lot of people are going to be put off by the neighboring apartments. And no matter what direction the area is going, those apartments are not likely to go anywhere.

[HouseHunt101]

We want a relatively newer house, preferably less than 10 years old, but even one from the 90s would be okay. Single family homes in 77035 in our price range (under 250K) look much older (most from the 1950s/60s). Since this is our first house, we want to go with a newer house.

@DJboutit, HAR classifies 77025 as Greater Willow Meadows. How far is it from the proper Willow Meadows area? Any thoughts on this neighborhood?

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by HouseHunt101

We want a relatively newer house, preferably less than 10 years old, but even one from the 90s would be okay. Single family homes in 77035 in our price range (under 250K) look much older (most from the 1950s/60s). Since this is our first house, we want to go with a newer house.

@DJboutit, HAR classifies 77025 as Greater Willow Meadows. How far is it from the proper Willow Meadows area? Any thoughts on this neighborhood?

A newer house has alot of nice features but even a less than 10 year old house, if the owners neglected it, can be a money pit. An updated house from the 50's could be better in that case. My parents just lost money on their newish house in the suburbs due to even newer development driving down the prices (people loved the house and it looked new but it wasn't so they passed) and I see alot of people falling in that trap. I'd rather an established neighborhood with older stock than something shiny and new soon to be eclipsed.