Friendswood TO Galena Park? (Galveston, Wallis: property taxes, house, rental)

[jkfish]

Ok, husband has a new job near Galena park. How is the commute from Friendswood to Galena Park and what is the best route to take? He may try some out once he gets there.

Also, any recommendations on subdivisions in Friendswood or areas to stay away from based on flooding. Oh, and what about Friendswood property/MUD etc. taxes.

thanks!

[arbucle]

It would be about 40 minutes to drive on the beltway and i think thats abouts 3 bucks each way.How much do want to spend on a home in Friendswood.

[jkfish]

We would like to keep it between 200 and 250K but it all depends on property taxes since I hear they are quite high in TX....I think I should look at Clear Creek too. Would the drive from there be about the same?

How does the time of day affect that commute time (ie would it be better at 7am?)

Does anyone know how taxes vary between CCISD and FISD?

[arbucle]

It should be about 45 minutes at 7 am if there are no wrecks.Taxes are about the same in clear lake and friendswood.The two better schools are Friendswood and clear Lake.You will have to pay more for windstorm insurance in Friendswood about 1500 a year due to being in galveston county.Car insurance is less in friendswood due to not being in harris county.I have lived in both areas and prefer friendswood due to only being 35000 people.The 1500 is for a 400,000 house.For 200,000 it woud be about half.

[jkfish]

Thanks! Is the drive any better from Clear lake? I think my preference is F'wood too, but it seems like an awful lot of driving...may have to rethink it. It just sounds like a good place to raise a family.

[arbucle]

It would cut about 10 minutes off living in clear lake but like i said i prefer here.Due to the size .People move more from clear lake than Friendswood lots of rental property .

[tstone]

Ok lemme clear a few things up here if I may.

Some areas of Friendswood take longer to get to I-45 than certain parts of Clear Lake. Live near Clear Lake City Blvd, and in 5 mins you're on the freeway provided there isn't a train blocking the Hwy 3 intersection. I deal with 3 traffic lights in the morning and at least one is always green.

There aren't many rental properties in my area at all. Usually they are put up for lease by owners who are moved out by their job on temp assignment and will return in 6-24 months.

Friendswood is in both Harris and Galveston counties. In Galveston county you are deep in and away from easy freeway access.

As for HO insurance, I'm paying $1,700/yr in Clear Lake and that's on $205k coverage, 1% deductibles except for cyclone which is 2%. This is in Harris county. The next cheapest quote I received was $2,200. This is a pretty comprehensive package, though, and I have perfect credit (which is taken into consideration for insurance in TX).

Also when I moved from the medical center to Clear Lake my car insurance went up about 5%, but it was possibly just an inflationary increase. There are more teenage ''boy racer'' types per capita whipping around in their economy subcompacts with fart-can mufflers in the suburban streets vs. inside the city. But for all intensive purposes I've found there isn't much difference in car ins. rates anywhere in the immediate metro area.

[jfre81]

Are we talking about Galena Park proper or around the stretch of Wallisville Road between 610 and the Beltway that often gets called Galena Park because it's in Galena Park ISD?

If it's in or near the actual city of Galena Park, forget the Beltway. You're paying $3 to drive out of the way. 45 to 610, go over the bridge, exit Clinton. Easy.

[MSJones]

Originally Posted by jfre81

45 to 610, go over the bridge, exit Clinton. Easy.

Very - and relatively little traffic. I drive this way every morning - although I go much further than Clinton - and almost never have any problems. *knock on wood*

[tstone]

Originally Posted by jfre81

If it's in or near the actual city of Galena Park, forget the Beltway. You're paying $3 to drive out of the way. 45 to 610, go over the bridge, exit Clinton. Easy.

The only bottleneck here is going to be I-45 from Airport to 610, unless you hit that stretch before 6:15 am. That's the one tough spot in my morning ride to Uptown.

Coming home, merging onto I-45 from 610 is going to be a pain, of course unless it's before 4pm.