Neighborhoods With Space (Houston, Friendswood, West: homes, private school, quality of life)

[chris_ut]

An extra 20 minute commute equates to 170 extra hours a year sitting in traffic or 22 8 hour work days of traffic. No lot would make me put myself through that.

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

An extra 20 minute commute equates to 170 extra hours a year sitting in traffic or 22 8 hour work days of traffic. No lot would make me put myself through that.

I hear ya!

When we lived in Atascocita, his commute was 45-50 minutes on a typical day of he left before 6:30a. Sometimes over an hour of he left later. He really can't take park and ride when working downtown because there are days when he has to drive out to the east side to the refineries for meetings and whatnot. He doesn't always know ahead of time for those.

His commute now is about 25 minutes, all highway driving. I'm not sure he would go for longer than 30 minutes for a commute anymore if he could help it.

There will definitely have to be compromise, and I will probably have to give up the space I'm wanting. But that's okay - it'll just give me or leverage to get a cabin in the woods somewhere!!

[sentrywoods]

Of course your budget is a major factor here but you may not have to have a crazy commute time. There's land that can be purchased and then you can build on it. I just helped some clients purchase a little over 2 acres in Pearland and they are getting ready to build on it. They got a sweet deal and it wasn't on MLS.

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by sentrywoods

Of course your budget is a major factor here but you may not have to have a crazy commute time. There's land that can be purchased and then you can build on it. I just helped some clients purchase a little over 2 acres in Pearland and they are getting ready to build on it. They got a sweet deal and it wasn't on MLS.

Not sure what the budget will be when it's time to move. If we finance, I would like to stay less the $600k.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

I didn't do much in the loop either when I lived in Kingwood but now I do all the time since its convenient. Another thing to consider is appreciation. Just in the 3 years I've lived in Oak Forest property prices are up around 25%. You aren't going to see that in any far flung suburb community. Anything you buy in Garden Oaks will likely be worth quite a lot more when you sell it.

That also means your property taxes will rise.

If you're in a home for the long haul, appreciation above inflation isn't necessarily your friend.

Originally Posted by chris_ut

An extra 20 minute commute equates to 170 extra hours a year sitting in traffic or 22 8 hour work days of traffic. No lot would make me put myself through that.

Once again, it goes back to lifestyle.

If you are into activities that you no longer need to drive to get to, you make that commute up.

[sentrywoods]

Originally Posted by lhafer

Not sure what the budget will be when it's time to move. If we finance, I would like to stay less the $600k.

Prices are moving in an upward directions so I can only say for certain that as of right now, $600K will probably get you what you want.

[TeresaDM]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

An extra 20 minute commute equates to 170 extra hours a year sitting in traffic or 22 8 hour work days of traffic. No lot would make me put myself through that.

I get to read a lot of audiobooks during that extra commute time, so I don't consider it time wasted.

[DJboutit]

There is a 13k sqft cleared lot for sale on Braseheather ct in Meyerland ready to build a 6 to 7 ft home raised off the ground $350k.

28k sqft lot east end close to Harrisburg and 69th for $340k

[marksmu]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

An extra 20 minute commute equates to 170 extra hours a year sitting in traffic or 22 8 hour work days of traffic. No lot would make me put myself through that.

Everything is a trade off....I save at least 20 minutes a day not cleaning up the house, or having to break up my kids fighting over petty stuff inside because I have a 1 acre lot large enough for the kids to spread out and actually play like kids are supposed to play and not just with ipads.

I absolutely loathe rainy days because my kids are normally outside more than 80% of the time they are awake....

I lived in the heights on a 6600 sqft postage stamp before moving to the memorial area for an acre....The quality of life improvement is immeasurable for me, even when you consider the additional 15-20 minutes it adds to my daily commute...

Lot size was the highest priority when we began looking...that and schools. 15-20 minutes of additional driving every day also equated to saving over $1,000,000 in not paying for private school for 3 kids...I can buy a lot of happiness with $1,000,000 in the bank.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by marksmu

Everything is a trade off....I save at least 20 minutes a day not cleaning up the house, or having to break up my kids fighting over petty stuff inside because I have a 1 acre lot large enough for the kids to spread out and actually play like kids are supposed to play and not just with ipads.

I absolutely loathe rainy days because my kids are normally outside more than 80% of the time they are awake....

I lived in the heights on a 6600 sqft postage stamp before moving to the memorial area for an acre....The quality of life improvement is immeasurable for me, even when you consider the additional 15-20 minutes it adds to my daily commute...

Lot size was the highest priority when we began looking...that and schools. 15-20 minutes of additional driving every day also equated to saving over $1,000,000 in not paying for private school for 3 kids...I can buy a lot of happiness with $1,000,000 in the bank.

I think you can buy me some as well.