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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 understand that no area of Houston is safe from hurricanes. In fact, neither is NYC as we all know now. However, if probability is considerably lower, it would be worth it for me. Would pursue flood insurance anyway, I don't like taking chances.
Quote:
Originally Posted by testmo
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.
Now this is news to me. I heard of imminent domain, but I was under the impression that this only happens in rather extreme circumstances like when you are the only house left in a way of a runway of a new airport or highway. I didn't realize that a simple developer can come in and kick you off your property. How exactly does this work, please give me some details.
I was under the impression that if I own say a house on 2 acres in a semi-rural neighborhood of similar homes, I'm pretty much safe, ain't I?
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.
Ah, you are reading my mind man! This is the same exact mental torture I'm going through. I have no desire whatsoever to move to Houson, but my job is making an offer that's hard to refuse. I'm originally from Russia and not having a winter at al is gonna be really weird for me. Also, I've adjusted to VA summers, but having the same from March through November instead of June through August is not something I'm looking forward to.
It took me a few years and lots of soul searchin to adjust to the US while living in VA and I'll definitely miss this beautiful state. But, I have to look on the bright side and find things in TX and surrounging areas that will offer new things to learn and experience.
But yes, not having HOA, inner city crowd and planned "perfect" neigborhood around and living with some privacy and not having neighbors up my a$$ alone is well worth it for me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by imback
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.
Can you give me some ideas where to look for these options? I'd consider a smaller lot closer in if the neighborhood and house are nice and have a sufficently private wooded lot. Ideally, I'd live on a 30 acre ranch with horses and a shooting range right on my property, but I'm trying to be realistc. If I have a nice house and can use my back yard with some sufficent privacy, I can deal with that...
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.
Exactly my point!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnhw2
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).
Will definitely try to get the flood insurance regardless of where I am - not worth the risk to do otherwise. Is there a good, easy-to-operate map of flood zones anywhere online? I looked at FEMA website, but it's really slow and convoluted system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnhw2
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.
I'm a little confused... So what's a better way to stay protected from the developments?
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.
Damn...and I thought DC area traffic was a freaking nightmare...
Will definitely try to get the flood insurance regardless of where I am - not worth the risk to do otherwise. Is there a good, easy-to-operate map of flood zones anywhere online? I looked at FEMA website, but it's really slow and convoluted system.
I'm a little confused... So what's a better way to stay protected from the developments?
A developer can not kick you off your land, they can offer to buy it but YOU decide whether to sell it to them or not.
The point I am making is if you find the ideal 1 or 2 acres to live on with neighbors on good sized land as well, the odds of a small lot MPC development coming in next door or around the corner or a mile or two down the road in your area is lower in Fulshear area.
The reason is the developer would have need say 500+ acres of land. In the area west of Fulshear, he would find it more difficult to assemble that much land, say 500 acres from a large number of land owners with contiguous land. It is easier to assemble 500 acres from one large land owner than talking 10-25 land owners into selling at the same time for reasonable market prices.
So the odds of an MPC in west Fushear is lower due to the small land tracts owned now in that area compared to east of Fulshear and around Katy where much of the land was rice farms owned 1 or 2 individuals.
There are 2 larger developments west of Fulshear in place, Weston Lakes and Fulbrook. The remaining land ownership is largely in the lands of these small horse ranches (10 to 50 acres in size). Its due to the fact that this has been a popular cutting horse ranch area for decades and the large farms were split up into these smaller tracts for horse owners within a decent commute from Houston.
But let me repeat, if you buy an acre and build on it you can not get your land taken by a developer. But the neighborhood can change to an MPC if your acre is near someone who would like the price an MPC developer might offer them for their large land tract.
I was talking about 45min with out traffic with traffic you can add 30min
Depends on the road your on and time of year. Most of the time it's more like 15 minutes to get on a freeway from in the galleria. And once past the 610 59 intersection it gets much better
Ah, you are reading my mind man! This is the same exact mental torture I'm going through. I have no desire whatsoever to move to Houson, but my job is making an offer that's hard to refuse. I'm originally from Russia and not having a winter at al is gonna be really weird for me. Also, I've adjusted to VA summers, but having the same from March through November instead of June through August is not something I'm looking forward to.
It took me a few years and lots of soul searchin to adjust to the US while living in VA and I'll definitely miss this beautiful state. But, I have to look on the bright side and find things in TX and surrounging areas that will offer new things to learn and experience.
But yes, not having HOA, inner city crowd and planned "perfect" neigborhood around and living with some privacy and not having neighbors up my a$$ alone is well worth it for me.
Can you give me some ideas where to look for these options? I'd consider a smaller lot closer in if the neighborhood and house are nice and have a sufficently private wooded lot. Ideally, I'd live on a 30 acre ranch with horses and a shooting range right on my property, but I'm trying to be realistc. If I have a nice house and can use my back yard with some sufficent privacy, I can deal with that...
Just a few more comparisons:
1. What you have adjusted to in NOVA is not "the same" as in Houston but longer, but in fact, nice, temperate summers with occasional somewhat warm spells. Houston has REAL summers, with the almost-tropical heat and humidity starting around April, is in full-force by May, and never, ever lets up - not for one day, not even much at night - until about the end of September. (On the plus side, everything is air conditioned, and the brutal summers are the currency which pays for the mild winters - which some of us love).
2. There is no zoning in the city of Houston, so it's only a slight exaggeration to say that in Houston a strong HOA which ferociously enforces the deed restrictions (the stricter the better) is about all that stands between you and someone building an abattoir or strip joint next to your house. So in Houston, the HOA is your friend and defender. Of course, in many Houston suburbs, this may not apply because many are separate municipalities which do have zoning, so the their HOAs may revert to just being what you seem to consider them - annoying busybodies.
3. Unlike NOVA, in Houston, just about all houses have fenced back yards. In lower income areas, the fences are chain-link, in more expensive areas, they are tall wooden, metal railing or even masonry. A 6- 8 foot, solid wooden fence does provide a measure of privacy even on a smaller lot.
4. Unfortunately, many of the beautiful neighborhoods are places like West University, Southside Place, Bellaire, Memorial Villages, Braeswood Terrace area - where houses are far - in many cases very far - above the 400K range, except for maybe for the small mid-century ranch houses in Bellaire, Braeswood Terraces, etc... being sold at "lot value" as "teardowns" to be replaced with McMansions. But all of these (except maybe Memorial) are within an easy commute to the Galleria area. (River Oaks is beautiful too, but prices there make McLean, Chevy Chase, and Woodley Park look like cut-rate bargain slums....)
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