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Old 02-17-2014, 09:26 AM
 
14 posts, read 27,780 times
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My husband and I are looking to buy/build a home somewhere in the NE area of the city. The neighborhoods listed above are the ones that are making the cut right now, but we are definitely open to suggestions for other communities within the area.

Our problem is that we can't agree on a neighborhood. My husband is in love with Water's Edge and I'm fine with it. However, I'm not ok with the home choices there. Basically Pulte is the only option left and I like a couple of other builders better. Long story short, I really wouldn't be getting the house I want.

My husband places more value on the neighborhood than the house, where I do the opposite.

I'm looking for any and all opinions on these neighborhoods to help us make our decision. We have driven through each neighborhood multiple times, but we're still struggling with which one would be the best fit. I would like to hear recent opinions of the communities listed.

Thank you!
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Old 02-17-2014, 12:14 PM
 
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Well, chris_ut can chime in because he used to live there, but I believe some, if not all, of Oakhurst is zoned to Porter schools and you are not a "part" of Kingwood, so if it were me, I would take that one off the list personally.

What is it about Water's Edge that your husband loves so much? What is it about it that makes you like other neighborhoods better? what is it about the other neighborhoods that appeal to you?

I live in ES and love it here (you can look up my username and posts I've made about it). There's something great about all the communities around here. But ES felt like home to us, so this is where we are. Tons of kids, tons of family centered activities. Neighborly neighbors. Block parties. Great schools. I like how the neighborhood is set up so when you drive through it, you are on main roads, and have to turn off into individual neighborhoods. Keeps the cars on your residential street down to a minimum. TONS of parks and playgrounds.

Water's Edge is nice, but I was leary of that one when if first started because only Pulte built in there, and I don't care for communities with only one builder. Other builders are now in there, but after the recession happened, building in there almost stopped completely, and lower end builders then started building in there. The other thing that would concern me is how close it is to the train tracks. I lived in Walden and could see trains from my house, but the noise inside was fine. Outside it could get a little loud. But it's a pretty community for sure.

ES will be finished out really soon. The last area to build is being built on now. If you are looking NOW, then that's fine. If you are looking in 6-12 months from now, you probably won't be able to build what you want.

There are some other communities that are breaking ground on W. Lake Houston Parkway now. One is The Groves, which will be across WLHP from Water's Edge. It will border ES on the south side. The Groves Community | Homes for Sale Houston TX The other one I can't remember the name of but is closer to Summerwood and starts with an L (Lake something) and will have Taylor Morrison homes as of now. If you are waiting to build - these might be contenders for you as well.
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Old 02-17-2014, 01:37 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX (Bellaire)
4,900 posts, read 13,679,555 times
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I enjoyed living in Oakhurst but it is zoned to New Caney school district which is why we eventually sold. The neigjborhood is best suited to empty nesters which is who we sold our house to. I have friends who live in WE and they love their house but are kind of bored with the area and probably going to sell and move.
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Old 02-17-2014, 06:51 PM
 
14 posts, read 27,780 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lhafer View Post
Well, chris_ut can chime in because he used to live there, but I believe some, if not all, of Oakhurst is zoned to Porter schools and you are not a "part" of Kingwood, so if it were me, I would take that one off the list personally.

What is it about Water's Edge that your husband loves so much? What is it about it that makes you like other neighborhoods better? what is it about the other neighborhoods that appeal to you?

I live in ES and love it here (you can look up my username and posts I've made about it). There's something great about all the communities around here. But ES felt like home to us, so this is where we are. Tons of kids, tons of family centered activities. Neighborly neighbors. Block parties. Great schools. I like how the neighborhood is set up so when you drive through it, you are on main roads, and have to turn off into individual neighborhoods. Keeps the cars on your residential street down to a minimum. TONS of parks and playgrounds.

Water's Edge is nice, but I was leary of that one when if first started because only Pulte built in there, and I don't care for communities with only one builder. Other builders are now in there, but after the recession happened, building in there almost stopped completely, and lower end builders then started building in there. The other thing that would concern me is how close it is to the train tracks. I lived in Walden and could see trains from my house, but the noise inside was fine. Outside it could get a little loud. But it's a pretty community for sure.

ES will be finished out really soon. The last area to build is being built on now. If you are looking NOW, then that's fine. If you are looking in 6-12 months from now, you probably won't be able to build what you want.

There are some other communities that are breaking ground on W. Lake Houston Parkway now. One is The Groves, which will be across WLHP from Water's Edge. It will border ES on the south side. The Groves Community | Homes for Sale Houston TX The other one I can't remember the name of but is closer to Summerwood and starts with an L (Lake something) and will have Taylor Morrison homes as of now. If you are waiting to build - these might be contenders for you as well.
My husband loves that he can walk to the water in WE. It's really a mute point though because we have a boat. I think he's finally starting to see my side. I agree with your statement about ES feeling like home... That's how I feel about it too.

We are considering Chesmar as our builder. Do you have any thoughts on them?

Also, what can we expect the demographics to be like? Are the recreational facilities nice (we plan to tour them this weekend)? How is the crime in the area? I know you can't get away from all of it, but it's a big concern of ours since we're coming from a small town where there wasn't much crime.

Oh, and thank for the suggestions of other neighborhoods!
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Old 02-17-2014, 06:54 PM
 
14 posts, read 27,780 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris_ut View Post
I enjoyed living in Oakhurst but it is zoned to New Caney school district which is why we eventually sold. The neigjborhood is best suited to empty nesters which is who we sold our house to. I have friends who live in WE and they love their house but are kind of bored with the area and probably going to sell and move.
Thank you for your insight on Oakhurst! I think it's probably time that it gets crossed off our list.
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Old 02-17-2014, 07:36 PM
 
467 posts, read 770,238 times
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whats your price range?
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Old 02-18-2014, 05:49 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dd1153 View Post
whats your price range?
Hoping to keep it under 220 after everything is said and done.
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Old 02-18-2014, 07:19 AM
 
34,620 posts, read 21,465,912 times
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Originally Posted by jdmac View Post
My husband loves that he can walk to the water in WE. It's really a mute point though because we have a boat.
Does WE have a boat dock where you can tie up and walk to the house if need be? If so, that would make your lake time on the boat much more valuable.

While on the lake, if yorget something at the house, need to pick someone up, need to use the restroom, etc. pull up to the dock and tie off.

However, if you don't like any of the homes offered there, that will drive you crazy from now on and would not be worth it. So, do you not like the homes or do you just like other homes in another neighborhood more?

Keep in mind that I'm very biased and my home search was strictly limited to on the water. If it wasn't on the water, I wasn't interested.
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Old 02-18-2014, 12:33 PM
 
14 posts, read 27,780 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PedroMartinez View Post
Does WE have a boat dock where you can tie up and walk to the house if need be? If so, that would make your lake time on the boat much more valuable.

While on the lake, if yorget something at the house, need to pick someone up, need to use the restroom, etc. pull up to the dock and tie off.

However, if you don't like any of the homes offered there, that will drive you crazy from now on and would not be worth it. So, do you not like the homes or do you just like other homes in another neighborhood more?
They have a fishing pier, but I'm not sure if we would be able to tie off to it or not. I don't know that the house would be close enough to the pier to make our decision solely based on that.

There is a plan with Pulte that I would be ok with, but I'm just not a Pulte fan at this point. There are other homes that I do like better in other neighborhoods though.
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Old 02-18-2014, 12:58 PM
 
17 posts, read 29,341 times
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My parent's built a new home in Waters Edge last year, and absolutely love it! My fiance and I have been looking in the area for the last year and are leaning towards building with M/I in Waters Edge. We were considering Lennar in Eagle Springs, but hate how long it takes to leave ES. If they would open up Timber Forest to Lakeshore, we would build in ES in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, since Brighton is down to inventory homes on their 50' lots, you only have Lennar or Pulte to build with in that price range. I'm not particularly fond of either Lennar or Pulte floor plans on the 45' foot lots, so I don't blame you for not being excited about either of those options. Chesmar and DR Horton are options in ES, although I imagine they are down to only a few lots.

To elaborate on PedroMartinez's post, if being close to the water is important you should check out Waterhaven in Walden. Chesmar is the builder there and there is a private boat ramp for the neighborhood, as well. We looked at their houses and really liked them, just a bit too small for what we want. Check out Chesmar here - Waterhaven | Chesmar Homes

The only new community in your budget would be KB Home's Lakewood Pines - which I wouldn't even consider. The Groves, Stillwater(Taylor Morrison) and The Bridges will all start in the 250s.
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