College grad - safe places for housing? (Houston, College Station: apartments, to rent)

[AGGIE07]

Hey,

I am an Aggie - graduating this december and have secured a job in Houston. I am just starting to look at potential places to rent appartments and will move in by Feb 08.

Can you suggest some safe places that are not too expensive? My office is in downtown and I will have a LOT of work travel from IAH.

Thanks,

[chris_ut]

No place with sharp objects is safe for an Aggie.

[Mustang1]

Midtown

Washington Ave area.

Heights

[travelguy_73]

Fellow Aggie here, class of 96. My first suggestion is to firmly establish your budget. Decide how much you can comfortably afford to spend, what amenities and social opportunties are important to you, and how much commuting time you can tolerate. I wouldn't worry at all about being close to IAH since it's a pretty easy drive from downtown and the central and northern sections of the inner loop.

If you are from a big city, you will adapt very quickly to inner loop living. If College Station is 'big city' to you, then you will have an adjustment to make, LOL. There are a ton of safe places to live, and a number of marginal- and not-so-safe places. As you can guess, there is generally a correlation between budget and safety, so you might end up spending a little more than you planned to get into a particular complex or neighborhood.

Once you figure out your budget, post it here and you should get a lot of responses.

[AGGIE07]

Thanks for that.. Well, since I will be traveling Monday-Thursday every week, I am not looking for a particularly expensive place to live. A one bedroom place costing about $650/month seems ideal. Any ideas?

Also, anyone knows where to look for good deals on used cars in Houston? Im looking at Honda Civic/ Mazda 3/ Toyota Camry

Thanks,

[travelguy_73]

$650 a month, inside the loop (where I assume you want to be), and SAFE, is a challenging combination. My suggestion is to check out garage apartments, duplexes, and fourplexes. There are some great ones out there, in neighborhoods like the Heights, Upper Kirby, etc. They are generally owned by private individuals who advertise in the Houston Press and Craigslist. Keep in mind that they are older and have fewer amenities than the big shiny new complexes, but they also allow you to oftentimes live in an area you couldn't otherwise afford.

Here are a couple on Craigslist that are very cute for the price.
MONTROSE - 1920s STUDIO - 4PLEX - HARDWOODS - VERY VINTAGE - AVAIL DEC (broken link)
Cute Midtown 1/1 Garage Apartment w/ Hardwoods (broken link)
IMMEDIATE MOVE-1 BEDROOM REMODELED GARAGE APARTMENT!!! (broken link)

As for cars, Houston is a car mecca so there is usually a very good selection of pretty much every make and model you can think of. You should check out edmunds.com to get a good idea of the price range to focus on, then check out sources like chron.com, autotrader.com and carmax.com to find what you are looking for. I would steer clear of the mom and pop used car places and go private seller (cheaper) or new car dealership (typically better condition, but pricier).

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by AGGIE07

Hey,

I am an Aggie - graduating this december and have secured a job in Houston. I am just starting to look at potential places to rent appartments and will move in by Feb 08.

Can you suggest some safe places that are not too expensive? My office is in downtown and I will have a LOT of work travel from IAH.

Thanks,

I'd stick with downtown/midtown if you're single. A loft or apartment. It is an easy drive up the Hardy Toll Rd and drops you right at the airport.

Originally Posted by chris_ut

No place with sharp objects is safe for an Aggie.

Ah, yes. Longhorn wit. I'm married to one, so I get the pleasure of hearing random comments like this often. I have to remind my husband he's 39, because he often forgets, like around Thanksgiving.