Moving to Houston, working in Webster but wife needs access to IAH

[onthemove333]

We've started looking at houses and have a general question. With all the wide open spaces in Houston (and Texas in general) why are all the houses crammed one on top of another in these development? Very large houses on very small pieces of land. Would think this creates lots of stress. We are looking for a smaller house (no kids) and enough land to have a garden and a pool and some room left over.

[trbstang]

Originally Posted by onthemove333

We've started looking at houses and have a general question. With all the wide open spaces in Houston (and Texas in general) why are all the houses crammed one on top of another in these development? Very large houses on very small pieces of land. Would think this creates lots of stress. We are looking for a smaller house (no kids) and enough land to have a garden and a pool and some room left over.

Money. People don't want to pay extra for more land area and the builders/developers keep the lots small to keep the prices down. If they can fit 5 houses in the space instead of 3, then they get the profit on 2 more houses. Most of the larger lots (1/2 acre+) are found in the $500K+ communities since they can afford the extra land and the builders make more profit from the larger, more expensive homes.

We did look at some 1 acre homesite communities when we were buying, but the least expensive were all about $50-$75K above our price range and much further out than we wanted to live. Our neighborhood is a compromise as we got a larger lot (1/4 acre ~ 11,000 sqft) in a mid priced neighborhood of 8,000-9,000 sqft lots. Many of the newer areas have 5,000 - 6,000 sqft lots for their cheaper homes, and that is too small for me.

Good luck!

[tstone]

The 'wide open spaces' around Houston are sometimes industrial, uniformly run down or otherwise unfit for residential development. "Greenbelts" that stay green for long are usually on utility easements, pipeline easements, or floodways. Sure, there is a lot of cheap land in Texas but closer to civilization the development is dense unless you have a lot of money to spend.

You may get lucky and be able to find a modest house on the very end (circle part) of a cul de sac on a 12-14k sq ft lot.

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by tstone

That's what I was thinking, and use to fly out of IAH. It's about 40 minutes from the Randalls at Clear Lake/Space Center Blvd, and the east beltway flows fast all day unless there is a wreck. You would take Space Center to Crenshaw to the E. Tollway to 59.

Webster would be 10-15 mins the other direction.

I'm guessing tolls would be about $10/day round trip.

From 45 on the south side to iah going east it would be 4.40 each way with a tag 7.25 each way on the west side

[LocalPlanner]

Funny how folks think houses in new Houston suburbia are "built on top of one another." I guess they've never seen new suburbs in California? There's almost no yard at all. Of course, with the water restrictions, maybe that's not a bad thing.

[onthemove333]

Thanks for the take on the "togetherness" in most developments. We've found some larger lots outside of the cookie cutter developments. Trick is finding one that is for sale!! haha. Good thing we've got at least 6 months before we can think of moving. We are loving Texas and thanks for all the great info!!