Moving to Houston, which suburb to move is best for me? (Sugar Land: apartments, renting)

[niiu82]

Hi,

My wife and I are planning to move to Houston by the end of this year. We are currently living in the bay area and it just costs way too much to live here. We have a 6 month old infant, by the time we plan to move he'll be 1 years old. We want to move to either Sugar land, Katy or Richmond. We want an area where they have a good school district. We plan on probably renting for 6 months then buy a house. We have a budget of 300k at most. I know in Sugar Land we'll probably have to buy a home built in the 80s and 90s which I don't mind. I'm just wondering what MPC I should look at in Richmond and Katy. I'm not opposed to buying an newish older home either in those areas. I'm planning on visiting Houston next month to look at apartments and homes. My wife currently works from home and I'm going to look for a job once we move. Any info will be appreciated. Thank you!

[K LoLo]

Probably depends on where you're going to work. Wouldn't recommend any of those areas if you end up working on the north side of town.

[niiu82]

Thanks for replying. I'm probably going to apply around the area or more towards downtown area. I'm more in the medical field. Wife works from home so she'll be fine. I don't mind a 45 min drive to work.

[RedOrDead_YNWA]

We are building in Long Meadow Farms, in Richmond, there are several threads including one started by me recently (click on my name or search on Long Meadow Farms for the thread) about the Richmond area, specifically Aliana, Harvest Green, Grand Mission Estates, and LMF. Our range was similar yours, but we were looking for new builds, there are existing builds in your price range in those communities and other communities like Fieldstone, Waterside Estates, Lakes of Bella Terra, and others. We have a 7 month old, and LMF is in the Lamar Consolidated school district, and the schools assigned to LMF all have good ratings. Of course anything can change in the next 5 years, but LCISD seems to be getting better not worse, so we feel pretty good there. In general Richmond seems to be an area on the come up with good surrounding amenities, and lots of affordable communities.

We also looked at Sienna Plantation in Missouri City, it is more mature than Richmond in terms of amenities. New builds are above 300k, but existing recent builds can be had between 280k-300k. But the schools in Sienna are some of the best, we have family with young children in school over there and they have nothing but good things to say.

Sugar Land is always a good choice, good diversity, good schools, good location, good surrounding amenities, but as you said in your price range it would be older houses which you seem fine with, so give it a shot.

[niiu82]

Thank you for the information. I appreciate it! I'll look into the other threads.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by niiu82

Thank you for the information. I appreciate it! I'll look into the other threads.

What are you looking for in a neighborhood?

BTW, if it's just good schools for $300k close to DT, that is a valid answer.

If you have hobbies like cycling, theater, wine bars, fishing, riding dirt bikes, wakesurfing, etc. that are important aspects to your lifestyle, that is helpful.

[niiu82]

Honestly it's mostly about the good schools. We do enjoy biking and cycling together though. A community gym would be a plus.

[nolaron]

I'm also interested to know what areas are good and are not good for cyclist. I race road so training is very important to me. I'm in a similar situation as the OP but are looking in Sugar Land, Katy and Pearland and have less of a budget.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by nolaron

I'm also interested to know what areas are good and are not good for cyclist. I race road so training is very important to me. I'm in a similar situation as the OP but are looking in Sugar Land, Katy and Pearland and have less of a budget.

Well, out by me in the Huffman/Crosby area, cyclists train every single day due to the number of country roads we have while still being relatively close to the city.

Google map Crosby, and its all the back roads east of Lake Houston.

[LouraineRG]

If you are in the medical industry you could look into working in Sugar Land and living on the outskirts. That is the #1 indusry in Sugar Land. It is still zoned Fort Bend ISD, which is one of the top school districts in Houston, and you can get some brand spankin new houses for that price range! Look into Rosenberg/Richmond or anything south of Sugar Land along the 59.

Nolaron - Sugar Land has some of the best schools out of the areas you listed and depending on what grade your kids are in, the top HS around here. But if you have under 300k for your budget, options are much more slim. Pearland would be top of the list there on general affordability, Katy next, and Sugar Land after that.