Country living in Houston area (La Porte, Alvin: big house, neighborhood, buy)

[Medved]

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

Just found some good options in 77459, go to HAR and plug in 400k max and 30000 min lot size and see what you think. Should be no more than an hour commute to the galleria.

Thanks for your help - will do!

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by Medved

Thanks! I saw a few options around Katy/Richmond/Fulshear which seems like a decent compromise and with some flexiblity in working hours, commute should be managable. Alvin appears a bit futher - is traffic better, worse or the same as Katy?

I also prefer Katy over Alvin for higher elevation - the whole hurricane thing is freaking me out. Or am I being silly about that?

I also have a question regarding your comment that Fulshear area won't stay rural for much longer. If I find a house in a semi-rural neigborhood on a 1+ acre surrounded by a few of the same, even if they later build developments all around it, it shouldn't change anything for me, should it? Or are you saying that developers try to buy out these semi-rural neighborhoods and build subdivisions instead?

I lived in the energy corridor while in Houston for the same reason wanting to be further from the body of water bringing a hurricane in, the further from the water the lower wind speed potential. The higher elevation is a factor too although I am not sure how much difference between these two. Give Fulshear a good look. If you have an acre or so and neighbors do too you are protected from developer changing your immediate area. Also a positive for your interests is Fulshear area is full of small horse ranches..by small I mean 5-50 acres. This means is it difficult and almost impossible for a developer to assemble a large tract for a large high density community development. This is true as you move west from Fulshear away from the former rice farm land just east and north of Fulshear like Cross Creek Ranch etc. Of course the further west of Fulshead the longer the commute to Galleria. But I think this is your best bet.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Medved

I'm looking for a decently sized single family home (3-4 bedrooms, 2500-3000 sq feet) in a country setting with some privacy, some land, no HOA and little restrictions - at least 1 acre, preferraby 2+ acres. The job will be in Galleria area or just west of Galleria, depending on which office I'm going to end up in. I'm looking for somewhere within around 30 miles and 1 hour rush hour commute to/from Galleria. Pricewise, I need to stay under $400k, preferrably closer to $300k.

You are gonna work in the Galleria and want to live out in the country???
S..., I really hope you don't have to work 8 to 5 because you are going to spend 1/2 of your life commuting.

[DJboutit]

I listed does decent size lots 18000sqft to 25000sqft is good size 77061 Glen Vista is your best bet. I am on a 11000sqft in Meyerland Willowbend area and the lot seems pretty big

[MNCold]

Check out:

Alvin
Dickinson
Friendswood - Excellent school

[DJboutit]

^^^ The op will be working in the Galleria commute times will be 45 min +

[testmo]

A hurricane can hit anywhere. it flows in from the gulf and can make it all the way to Katy if it wants to. You can get flood damage anywhere around the Houston area. You should always purchase flood insurance. But, insurance will be cheaper out in Katy as opposed to living in Bay City etc. Don't know if Alvin is considered a high hurricane risk.

I was under the impression that far out of Katy (Fulshear) was pretty much already being developed? There are already MPCs out there. If you buy rural property and the developers move in they will imminent domain it in a second. Texas does land grabs all the time. Private property owners don't have a chance. Possibly something to think about, but depending on how $$$ and tight the community is maybe they'd rise up a big enough stink and keep them away for a few years.

[imback]

Even disregarding the commute and distance issues, it will be hard to replicate around Houston many of the appealing lifestyle aspects of semirural PWC. You might get the privacy and freedom from the HOA (which may trump all for you), but the landscape itself will be so substantially different. It will be absolutely flat and featureless- which does provide much wider horizons than anywhere east of the Mississipppi River, but will be utterly unlike the beautiful, gently rolling terrain of the Western End, the Hunt Country, etc. The land will most likely have been rice or sugar fields or cattle pastures in a previous incarnation so it most likely will have few mature trees (the very northern hinterlands of Houston do have trees - but they are mainly pines, not decidous sepcies).

In NOVA, the long glorious springs and colorful autumns are so much better appreciated out in the rural areas, But in Houston, spring is about three weeks in March (after which, it starts to get hot), and there is no real autumn to speak of (some vegetation just sort of shrivels and turns brown around November), so there is no real premium in being out in the country for that.

I know this makes the Houston area sound hideous - but in fact, there are many beautiful neighborhoods in Houston. These tend to be older areas with mature live oaks, magnolias, and other trees, and established landscaping like massive azaleas (which ARE glorious during those three weeks in March). Of course these areas tend to be closer in (inside the Loop or in the inner suburbs) and thus more expensive. And the lots are often bigger than you might think (comparing to inner buebs of NOVA), but very rarely approach an acre (and acre lots inside the Loop will be much, much more expensive than $400K).

If you can possibly manage it, you may want to visit the "country" areas outside Houston before moving permanently to compare them "on the ground" with your part of PWC before you buy.

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by testmo

A hurricane can hit anywhere. it flows in from the gulf and can make it all the way to Katy if it wants to. You can get flood damage anywhere around the Houston area. You should always purchase flood insurance. But, insurance will be cheaper out in Katy as opposed to living in Bay City etc. Don't know if Alvin is considered a high hurricane risk.

I was under the impression that far out of Katy (Fulshear) was pretty much already being developed? There are already MPCs out there. If you buy rural property and the developers move in they will imminent domain it in a second. Texas does land grabs all the time. Private property owners don't have a chance. Possibly something to think about, but depending on how $$$ and tight the community is maybe they'd rise up a big enough stink and keep them away for a few years.

Of course a hurricane can impact any where in its path. However, the stronger winds and hence storm surge (rise in water level) will occur near the point of entry to land. The land and improvements on the land will slow the wind speed and sustain more damage than land further from that entry to land point typically. A hurricane's first point of land entry clearly wont be Katy so the odds are slightly better you will sustain less wind related damage in Katy than closer to the water/land interface.

However any place in Houston area can be flooded....when a rain system stalls over any place with a lower elevation it can flood as the eastern side did during TS Allison. I bought flood insurance even living out western side of Houston (EC) despite being outside the 100 year flood zone (the updated delineation as well as the early delineation).

Katy area is highly developed with MPC's. To build a large MPC obviously you need a large contiguous land tract. If you look at the land west of Fulshear it has a number of small horse ranches. It is difficult to assemble a large contiguous tract from say 20 different 50 acre horse ranches. So again the odds of a large MPC WEST of Fulshear is smaller. Fulshear is about 5-10 miles south and a little west of old town Katy. You should drive out there and notice how the land changes when you drive west of Fulshear on 1093, then you might understand my point.

Come to think of it you can see it from a satellite land view online like google earth etc.

[DejaBlue]

Originally Posted by Medved

Budget can go up to $400k, does this widen my options?

As for wanting way too much...well, right no I live an hour away from DC on 1.3 acres in a semi-rural neigborhood and the place was $360k. DC area is notorious for ridiculosly expensive housing and townhouses spreading half the way to West Virginia, so I don't think tryng to find the same in Houston is asking too much...

It is with the commute in a way. Most in Houston commute a good deal and those who have a longer commute do so because they live where they want (i.e. the big house, land, gated community, etc) and just deal with the commute.

Shoot sometimes being in the Galleria area can take you 45 minutes to move a few blocks during rush hour.