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I know Houston is still touted frequently as being very cheap, but it seems to me that the only cheap houses are out in suburbs (many of them outside of the Houston city limits) or in very up-and-coming areas inside the loop. Sure, if you go out far enough, you can actually get a great house for $200k, but for those of us who work downtown, Greenway, etc., those deals come with very hefty commutes. $200k might get you a patch of grass in West U, and a blade or two of grass in River Oaks. You could get yourself a nice box in Meyerland for that, maybe a kids' fort in a nicer area of the Heights. Even Garden Oaks, outside the loop, is getting pricey now.
If I compare Houston to, say, the Bay Area, it really seems no different at all. Yes, the prices are still lower here, but so are the salaries, in general. Equivalent jobs to mine pay 30% more in the Bay Area. That extra 30% would immediately be gone to taxes and housing, but it would equalize things mostly. The median home price in San Francisco is $1M, but it's much lower in Oakland or other 'burbs. SF = Inner Loop in Houston.
I'm not really complaining. I'm unmarried, have no kids, and live a very comfortable live here in Houston. Not rich by any means, and while I can't afford a house in West U or River Oaks, I can easily afford a luxury apartment. But I know that if I married a girl with a lower income and we had kids, or if she just wanted to be a SAHM, all that would be gone--we'd be sent out to the suburbs most likely to afford a decent house and my whole quality of life would change. I would feel like I was actually descending into a lower economic class almost, as crazy as that sounds. It's a difficult pill to swallow. Just curious if others feel the same way as me. I generally find Houstonians still believe strongly in the cheapness of this city and am dismissed if I suggest otherwise.
(I suppose the cheapness really is true, though, if you actually work out in a suburb and make a high income there. I think most people making the big bucks, though, generally work in the loop, which is exactly why the distribution of home prices is what it is.)
For a young urban professional such as myself, Houston is a breath of fresh air. I've been living in cities like Boston, NYC, and Los Angeles where the rent is atrocious. I mean unbearable. Currently, I live in Los Angeles and have an income of 50k. I live in a "junior" one bedroom which is a studio apartment that has a wall the separates the living from the bedroom. It sucks. It's not new and in an old but overall safe working class area. I pay 1025, rent and utilities.
I remember living in a luxury apartment on the tail end of the Energy Corridor headed toward Westchase. A spacious one bedroom with a huge bathroom and closet, all for 850. Even then I thought it was too high but I wanted to live someplace nice.
I count the days when I will come back to Houston (one year) and where my 50k will stretch much further. Rent and gas kill your checks here in LA. In Houston I've found un-beatable deals on smaller town homes or converted apartments in really nice areas in the loop for under 900 bucks, usually independently owned. I cannot wait to go back to cheap gas and ample jobs.
You guys have to look at this in context. You're not living out in Boise, Idaho, you're in the fourth largest metro area in the country. What you guys are getting is a bargain for a major bordering on world class amenities for nearly half off. Sure prices are going up in Houston but sometimes I think you guys are a bit spoiled. LOL. I remember living in Houston and there would be some apartments I wouldn't even dare live in because they were slightly older and I would've been afraid of what my friends would've thought (because sorry to say Houston is very keeping up with the jonses, no lie). But now after coming back from my shack in LA, I could care less. Those slightly older nice apartments impress me, that's how humbling it is to come back from a city with a ridiculous cost of living.
Dude, enjoy Houston for everything it has before you get hitched with kids. It really is a young professional's playground.
I think the problem you're facing is your salary didn't adjust when you went to LA. That sucks. At least in my field, salaries are all much higher in the Bay Area at least and probably LA too.
Also, I don't know much about the energy corridor, but the luxury apartments in Houston in Midtown, Montrose, etc., are now going for $1300+/month for the smallest 1br units. You can find complexes where the cheapest units are over $2k/month, though those aren't the norm.
First, I don't have any desire to be in the inner loop. My Commute now is to the West side, slightly further West then where I live. Although I don't live where I do according to where I work. In the last 6 years (at the same company) our offices have been in Alief, 290 and 610, 45 and Monroe, and Fulshear. So, for me it's not a question. I live in the Suburbs. I find it crazy that people will spend so much money on their homes. We live well below our means when it comes to our home, meaning we have a less expensive home then what we were approved for. I could not imagine paying say, 5k for a monthly mortgage payment.
With that said, you can find a nice house in a nice suburb for well under 200k. In my household, it is my Husband, me and 2 cats. Why would I want a 3000sq ft house? I don't want to have to clean all of that space, I don't want to have to cool all of that space. Houston and it's surrounding area are still very affordable.
Let me get this straight. You think if you going from single & making your landlord rich... to married w/2 incomes and owning a nice house and building some equity... that makes you lower class?
I think the only thing here that has changed is the elitist attitude. Houston used to be laid back and down to earth. Nowadays I think much of that is gone. It never was all that cheap, even 10 years ago.
Tell ya what... go tell someone outside of Houston you live here and see how high on the totem pole they think you are.
I think the problem you're facing is your salary didn't adjust when you went to LA. That sucks. At least in my field, salaries are all much higher in the Bay Area at least and probably LA too.
Also, I don't know much about the energy corridor, but the luxury apartments in Houston in Midtown, Montrose, etc., are now going for $1300+/month for the smallest 1br units. You can find complexes where the cheapest units are over $2k/month, though those aren't the norm.
If you're in tech, then you need to be out here in CA or at least Austin. In LA, there is a small tech industry here too that pay really well. I am in the legal field and competition is stiff.
The Energy Corridor has always been expensive, that is why I chose to live closer to Westchase and got the better deals (since not too many young professionals want to live closer to Westchase). It was to be close to the nice bars, the eats and the people in Energy.
If they're really going for that much now, then there is not that much of a difference between Houston and LA in that regard. I mean in the best parts of the city a luxury one bedroom is 2200 min. In the Valley, where I live a luxury one bedroom in the arts district is 1600 at the cheapest I've found, but where I live would be equivalent to living out near the Energy Corridor. To still get those prices and live smack in the thick of Houston is awesome because I am not looking for the best luxury possible. If that is the highest for whats out there then I can find something cheaper that that. I always look for independent owners anyways who rent their stuff for much cheaper than the managed companies.
All in all, Houston is still way cheaper than NYC, LA, and San Fran.
Let me get this straight. You think if you going from single & making your landlord rich... to married w/2 incomes and owning a nice house and building some equity... that makes you lower class?
I think the only thing here that has changed is the elitist attitude. Houston used to be laid back and down to earth. Nowadays I think much of that is gone. It never was all that cheap, even 10 years ago.
Tell ya what... go tell someone outside of Houston you live here and see how high on the totem pole they think you are.
LOL. Well, hate to say it but I agree with you. Houston has grown into a major keeping up with the jonses type of city. In certain sectors it remains down to earth but for the most part it's become a lot like Dallas 2.0. People really care about their stuff, what house they bought, what luxurious part of town they're in, their cars. It's not pretentious in the same vein as NYC and LA but it has absorbed a bit of that Dallas quality I don't like. I don't know how else to describe it. I think maybe and this is just a theory, it's because it lacks the aesthetic qualities of hills, lakes, mountains, outdoors, large arts scene, or whatever that people just concentrate on working and gathering up the niceties a city like Houston can afford them? IDK. But yes, I get what you're saying.
LOL. Well, hate to say it but I agree with you. Houston has grown into a major keeping up with the jonses type of city. In certain sectors it remains down to earth but for the most part it's become a lot like Dallas 2.0. People really care about their stuff, what house they bought, what luxurious part of town they're in, their cars. It's not pretentious in the same vein as NYC and LA but it has absorbed a bit of that Dallas quality I don't like. I don't know how else to describe it. I think maybe and this is just a theory, it's because it lacks the aesthetic qualities of hills, lakes, mountains, outdoors, large arts scene, or whatever that people just concentrate on working and gathering up the niceties a city like Houston can afford them? IDK. But yes, I get what you're saying.
I don't get it. Why try to keep up with the Jonses?? They are probably so deep in debt with sleepless nights about how they are going to pay for everything. I really don't care what someone else things about something I may or may have. People who do care are shallow. That's sad....But, at the end of the day, I sleep rather well knowing the only debt I owe....my house and taxes.
Let me get this straight. You think if you going from single & making your landlord rich... to married w/2 incomes and owning a nice house and building some equity... that makes you lower class?
I think the only thing here that has changed is the elitist attitude. Houston used to be laid back and down to earth. Nowadays I think much of that is gone. It never was all that cheap, even 10 years ago.
Tell ya what... go tell someone outside of Houston you live here and see how high on the totem pole they think you are.
This has absolutely nothing to do with any totem poles or looking down on people or looking up at others. I don't give a crap what people think of me. My post was about one thing and one thing only: what sort of lifestyle do I or would I have in Houston? I described my current lifestyle, and I suggested that I couldn't come close to maintaining it if I needed to actually buy a nice house with a yard and have kids. Understand? So there's no need to huff and puff here or read too much into my post.
To answer your first question, yes, I have an easier life--both financially and otherwise--just making my landlord "rich" and walking to work than having to take on a mortgage and commute hours a day in traffic. If I didn't have any ambitions of raising a family, I could easily just continue along my current path, amass huge savings, and when I'm ready to retire move out to the boonies and buy a cheap ranch home for cash. If I happen to make my landlord rich in the process, well, I hope they enjoy their retirement on the beaches of Hawaii--more power to them.
I don't get it. Why try to keep up with the Jonses?? They are probably so deep in debt with sleepless nights about how they are going to pay for everything. I really don't care what someone else things about something I may or may have. People who do care are shallow. That's sad....But, at the end of the day, I sleep rather well knowing the only debt I owe....my house and taxes.
Perhaps I can provide a theory and this is just a theory based on surface level observations. It's just anecdotal so I hope people here don't flip out.
I used to live that young urban life in Houston, a kid fresh out of college making 40+k, single and with a roommate is heaven. I mean clubbing, bar hopping, meeting women and affording all these things that most people in other cities living off 40k just could not do. I had some debts but less so than my other friends who were swimming in it. The point is that Houston is a very practical town, sure there is a healthy arts culture but it's no where near what say Music is to Austin, Film/Arts is to LA, finance is to NYC and tech is to San Fran. Business is what's unique to Houston, oil/gas, law, construction, real estate, medical, etc.
To say you're an accountant in Houston is much different than saying you're an accountant in LA. In Houston, saying you're an accountant for Ernst and Young in midtown is like saying you're a creative developer for one of the studios in LA. It commands a certain degree of respect, much more so if you're in oil/gas.
Since there is not a lot creativity in Houston built around those fields, it tends to focus a lot more of a means to an end kind of thing and the ends are usually luxury goods; homes, apartments, cars, boats, vacations, etc. And those things are much much more attainable in a place like Houston than say making it big in LA. So keeping up with the jonses is not a viable option or a luxury to play with in LA but in Houston a lot of people revel in it. Couple that with a lack of aesthetic beauty or natural landscape, Houston just tends to focus on practicality. With that comes the practicality of the job and what that jobs can get you i.e. stuff. I cannot quite explain it, but coming from that culture, I can attest to it that Houstonians are way more impressed by new (shiny) stuff, whereas I've noticed here in LA (which shocked me) people are much concerned about quality and the recognition of something.
Houston is a new city so it's growing into it's own. But those stereotypes of LA being materialistic and shallow and just all about shine is really only characteristic of a small small part of LA, where as it can describe a lot of the people in Houston and Dallas.
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