Tolls from Pearland to I10 (energy corridor) (Houston, Sugar Land: apartments, rent)

[gayang3]

First time poster.

I work downtown and my wife works in the Energy Corridor. We are first time home buyers and am looking at buying a house for 250ish. We are in our early 30s and have no kids (so schools is not a huge deal)

These are the options that we have,

1)Katy is affordable but the drive for me will be killer (approx 1hr each way during rush hr and 40 if I take the tollway which can be $5-$7 per ride)
2)Heights is conveniently located but decent houses are 350+
3)Sugarland has a decent commute but the houses are slightly more expensive
4)Pearland is affordable and according to about a weeks worth of google maps data the drive for my wife on Sam Houston Tollway is about 30-40mts and for me its around 40mts on 288 during rush and 30mts otherwise.

From those options the only thing that I don't know is the toll charge for SamHouston tollway from Pearland to the Energy Corridor. I looked at their website but couldnt figure out how to read it https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_rate...nter-clockwise

Can someone help me out?

Also I am interested to hear your feedback/ideas/opinions about the 4 locations and what you think is the best.

THANKS in advance

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by gayang3

First time poster.

I work downtown and my wife works in the Energy Corridor. We are first time home buyers and am looking at buying a house for 250ish. We are in our early 30s and have no kids (so schools is not a huge deal)

These are the options that we have,

1)Katy is affordable but the drive for me will be killer (approx 1hr each way during rush hr and 40 if I take the tollway which can be $5-$7 per ride)
2)Heights is conveniently located but decent houses are 350+
3)Sugarland has a decent commute but the houses are slightly more expensive
4)Pearland is affordable and according to about a weeks worth of google maps data the drive for my wife on Sam Houston Tollway is about 30-40mts and for me its around 40mts on 288 during rush and 30mts otherwise.

From those options the only thing that I don't know is the toll charge for SamHouston tollway from Pearland to the Energy Corridor. I looked at their website but couldnt figure out how to read it https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_rate...nter-clockwise

Can someone help me out?

Also I am interested to hear your feedback/ideas/opinions about the 4 locations and what you think is the best.

THANKS in advance

From 45/beltway on the south side it is 2 main tolls to get to I-10 iirc the 45/beltway and I-10/beltway entrance and exits are free so with an eztag I think you are just under 6.00 a day. If you get on/off elsewhere you might pickup 2 more tolls per day which could put you at mid 8 bucks. I'm on my phone so it's hard to play with but they have an interactive map where you move a box around where you are traveling and you can click to toll booths you hit and it gives your eztag and cash prices

[Schumacher713]

1)Katy is affordable but the drive for me will be killer (approx 1hr each way during rush hr and 40 if I take the tollway which can be $5-$7 per ride)
2)Heights is conveniently located but decent houses are 350+
3)Sugarland has a decent commute but the houses are slightly more expensive
4)Pearland is affordable and according to about a weeks worth of google maps data the drive for my wife on Sam Houston Tollway is about 30-40mts and for me its around 40mts on 288 during rush and 30mts otherwise.

1) Katy is 20 for her and an hour for you
2) Heights is 600+ The neighborhood north of Oak Forest is 300ish though the 290/610 interchange will not be complete for about a year.
3) Sugar Land is slightly more expensive, but a better area.
The commute for you both will be reasonable. Toll will be like 3 bucks each way for her. 30ish for you and 30ish for her is my guess. I think you will need to bump your budget to 300ish for SL.
4) The cheapest of the bunch. 30ish for you and 40 for her with about 6 bucks of tollway.

My advice.... rent an apartment. Home ownership is very over rated. Unless you have big dogs I would not even bother with a house. The upkeep is a pain. You have home owners insurance, water bills, taxes. Get an apartment in a fun area. Most people I know in their 30s that have no kids and are not rich have apartments. Unless you are planning to have kids what is the point of moving to the boring burbs? Why subject yourselves to a bad commute to live where fun goes to die? You can also look into a townhouse.

[EasilyAmused]

Get a townhouse in the energy corridor. 20-30 minutes for you, 5 minutes for her.

[gwarnecke]

Agree with EA. Finding a decent place for $250k would be doable. If you enjoy the outdoors, there's Terry Hershey Park and George Bush Park, CityCentre is close, and you're not terribly far from the Galleria or inner loop.

[gayang3]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

1) Katy is 20 for her and an hour for you
2) Heights is 600+ The neighborhood north of Oak Forest is 300ish though the 290/610 interchange will not be complete for about a year.
3) Sugar Land is slightly more expensive, but a better area.
The commute for you both will be reasonable. Toll will be like 3 bucks each way for her. 30ish for you and 30ish for her is my guess. I think you will need to bump your budget to 300ish for SL.
4) The cheapest of the bunch. 30ish for you and 40 for her with about 6 bucks of tollway.

My advice.... rent an apartment. Home ownership is very over rated. Unless you have big dogs I would not even bother with a house. The upkeep is a pain. You have home owners insurance, water bills, taxes. Get an apartment in a fun area. Most people I know in their 30s that have no kids and are not rich have apartments. Unless you are planning to have kids what is the point of moving to the boring burbs? Why subject yourselves to a bad commute to live where fun goes to die? You can also look into a townhouse.

We have always rented and currently we have an apartment in the galleria area. The drive for both of us is about 25mts tops and we are right in the middle of everything, which is great! But its an apartment (<1000sqft). When parents/family come over (which is like 2 weeks every year) it gets crowded. It has no backyard for any outdoor entertaining. The neighbors are not loud but they are right there, left and right and below us. The neighbors always change so I have no clue who is living next to me. So lately we have been thinking of actually getting a place.

Also the whole rent vs interest aspect. Right now we are breaking even on that. But as our needs grow it becomes more and more favored to the Buy(Interest) side of the equation.

[gayang3]

Originally Posted by Lowexpectations

From 45/beltway on the south side it is 2 main tolls to get to I-10 iirc the 45/beltway and I-10/beltway entrance and exits are free so with an eztag I think you are just under 6.00 a day. If you get on/off elsewhere you might pickup 2 more tolls per day which could put you at mid 8 bucks. I'm on my phone so it's hard to play with but they have an interactive map where you move a box around where you are traveling and you can click to toll booths you hit and it gives your eztag and cash prices

Thanks. I looked at it too and seems like from Pearland she has to go thru the Sam Houston Southwest Plaza ($1.45) and the Sam Houston South Plaza ($1.45) before hitting I10. Can you actually exit on I10 after Wilcrest Plaza free? Or do we have to pay that too?

[Aggiebuttercup]

I live on the east side of Pearland and will be working at the BW and 10. I go through 3 toll plazas. From my house, it will be about a 40-minute commute.

I didn't want to work downtown; the traffic on 288 barely moves in the mornings and afternoons.

[testmo]

Im always propping my neighborhood but you can still find some homes in westubry for 250k, yard, short commute, and right next to the city. My SOcommutes to the energy corridor in rush hour doesnt take the beltway and does it in about 35minutes.

[gayang3]

Originally Posted by Aggiebuttercup

I live on the east side of Pearland and will be working at the BW and 10. I go through 3 toll plazas. From my house, it will be about a 40-minute commute.

I didn't want to work downtown; the traffic on 288 barely moves in the mornings and afternoons.

So its 3 toll fees right?