Relocating from Missouri to Pearland. Help! (Houston, Sugar Land: sales, real estate, HOA)

[Sarahbeth1030]

Hello! My family and I will be relocating to the Houston area because of better employment opportunities for my husband. We currently live in SE Missouri so all research about different areas is being done online and it's very overwhelming! We live in a relatively small town, about 40k people and the closest major city is about 1.5 hours away so this will be a huge life change for us. We are looking at the Pearland area. I have done some research on har.com on what we could possibly afford. We would prefer to stay around 200k. We also have two small children so obviously we would want good schools for them. The taxes are much higher than what we are use to here in MO. So I guess what I'm getting at is what are some good, family friendly neighborhoods in that price point? And if possible, does anyone have an estimate of what the house payment would be with taxes and insurance? We would need wind storm insurance as well, correct? Any realtor recommendations? Thanks in advance for any help or insight you may be able to give.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by Sarahbeth1030

Hello! My family and I will be relocating to the Houston area because of better employment opportunities for my husband. We currently live in SE Missouri so all research about different areas is being done online and it's very overwhelming! We live in a relatively small town, about 40k people and the closest major city is about 1.5 hours away so this will be a huge life change for us. We are looking at the Pearland area. I have done some research on har.com on what we could possibly afford. We would prefer to stay around 200k. We also have two small children so obviously we would want good schools for them. The taxes are much higher than what we are use to here in MO. So I guess what I'm getting at is what are some good, family friendly neighborhoods in that price point? And if possible, does anyone have an estimate of what the house payment would be with taxes and insurance? We would need wind storm insurance as well, correct? Any realtor recommendations? Thanks in advance for any help or insight you may be able to give.

Pearland is a suburb of 100,000 people now and constantly growing.

Schools are excellent and many areas are quite family friendly. Where will you be working? The commute times will depend heavily on that. You may also want to consider Friendswood which has good schools and some very nice neighborhoods.

[imback]

Just a few general points:

1. As alluded to by another poster, a crucial determinant of home location in the Houston area is the commute time to the job(s) (in Houston traffic, commutes are measured in minutes/hours, not miles). Only you and your husband can decide what commute times are "tolerable" for you. (Adjusting to the Houston traffic will likely be a major element in that "huge life change" that you are wisely anticipating).

Pearland and Friendswood are nice communities and do seem to be overall very good fits based on your criteria - as long as the commutes are tolerable. Since you seem to be focusing your search on the south side of the metro area, you might consider - as back-ups - communities in Fort Bend County (such as Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugar Land and - yes - Missouri City).

2. Depending on the property location (flood plain, "coastal", etc..), the mortgage company will probably require windstorm/wind hazard insurance AND/OR flood insurance. These are two separate types of insurance!

3. Property taxes are indeed higher in Texas than in many states (and don't forget the infamous, additional MUD taxes imposed by some newer subdivisions in the Houston metro area). But on the other hand, Texas has no - zero - state income tax. Also, to the best of my knowledge, no Houston area municipality imposes an "employment" tax on wages earned by persons who work in the city but reside outside the city limits (I'm looking at you, City of St.Louis).

4. It is not enough to just be in a "good" school district. You need to absolutely verify - through official sources, not some real estate agent's sales patter - the exact schools (elementary, middle, and high) to which any given property is zoned. This is because within a district, there can be wide variations in the quality of individual schools. Granted, this is probably more of an issue in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) than in most of the surrounding school districts. But still, I think it's prudent to check - for the sake of your own children of course, but also because individual school quality is a major factor in resale value.

5. Many Missouri residents (including many of my in-laws) characterize Missouri summers as "hot" and "humid". But you will learn the true definition of these terms once you move to Houston. The bright side of this coin is that Houston winters are positively balmy compared to Missouri winters, with ice or snow occurring very rarely. Also, everything in the Houston area is air-conditioned.

[sentrywoods]

I'm a realtor and I can help you with your home search. It would be difficult to tell you what your mortgage payment will be on a 200K home because property taxes and insurance vary. On average your payment should be about $1900-$2100 give or take $200 with taxes and insurance. Once you pinpoint a home, you can get more precise numbers.

[LonghornHotspur]

I did this exact comparison. You will pay up for property tax and insurance and save on state income taxes. The extent of the changes is wholly dependent on where you live....closer to the coast and in a MUD (new home) you will pay more in TX. In a built out neighborhood north of I-10, you'll save money....all assuming the same size and cost of home, of course. That said, you generally get more and newer home for every $ in TX...YMMV on neighborhood and area.

Don't forget HOA dues, which can run around $1,000/ year, depending on community. That said, you'll likely have pool/gym/amenities for those dollars that you might have to pay separately for in MO.

And the naked tax grab of the city of StL stealing 1% of my pay since I spend 40 hours a week in an office there obviously goes away, as pointed out above.

You'll miss quality Cardinal and National League baseball, unfortunately.

[Sarahbeth1030]

Thank you all for your responses and advice. I will definitely look into the other areas mentioned. Such a big decision that we definitely don't want to make lightly. The reasoning for the pearland area was the location. It's pretty centralized to all the job opportunities my husband has on the table.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by Sarahbeth1030

Thank you all for your responses and advice. I will definitely look into the other areas mentioned. Such a big decision that we definitely don't want to make lightly. The reasoning for the pearland area was the location. It's pretty centralized to all the job opportunities my husband has on the table.

If that is the case, you won't go wrong in Pearland. The schools are uniformly good - especially elementary schools though some are a bit less good than others. The middle schools vary a bit more, but none of the middle and jr highs are unacceptable. The high schools are both good with Dawson beating out Pearland High on some fronts.

[honeyinhouston]

Make sure you verify what schools your children will be zoned to because there are three school districts within Pearland. There is Pearland ISD, Alvin ISD and Fort Bend ISD. If you move to the area of Shadow Creek Ranch your kids will be zoned to either Alvin ISD which is not bad, or Fort Bend ISD (the schools in that part of Fort Bend ISD are questionable), but Pearland ISD is ranked much higher than both of those districts. Good luck!

[Sarahbeth1030]

Originally Posted by honeyinhouston

Make sure you verify what schools your children will be zoned to because there are three school districts within Pearland. There is Pearland ISD, Alvin ISD and Fort Bend ISD. If you move to the area of Shadow Creek Ranch your kids will be zoned to either Alvin ISD which is not bad, or Fort Bend ISD (the schools in that part of Fort Bend ISD are questionable), but Pearland ISD is ranked much higher than both of those districts. Good luck!

Thank you! That's very helpful!

[TeresaDM]

A rough estimate of your house payment, including taxes and insurance, is about 1% of the purchase price. A little less if you get a 30-year mortgage, and a little more if you get a 15-year mortgage.