Any Reasons Not To Retire to Lake Conroe? (Houston, The Woodlands: HOA fees, low crime)

[Mr. Lake]

Everytime I asked a Lake Conroe resident about the Conroe Regional Medical Center, I got an answer like "Oh, we go to the Woodlands just down the freeway." or, "Our doctor is right over in Tomball..." I got the impression that there is no good medical care close to Lake Conroe, and that we would be going all the way downtown for anything important. And we got the impression that we should not have a doctor who would put us in Conroe Regional. Have we got the wrong picture?

[borgertx]

Saw a nice house on har.com in Cape Conroe subdivision. Is this as good as the Walden area? Also, on a house in April Sound, it stated that subdivision was non-restricted. Does that mean that a trailer house could be on the lot next to you? Thanks, again, for any comments you may make.

[Lake Conroe resident]

Originally Posted by borgertx

Saw a nice house on har.com in Cape Conroe subdivision. Is this as good as the Walden area? Also, on a house in April Sound, it stated that subdivision was non-restricted. Does that mean that a trailer house could be on the lot next to you? Thanks, again, for any comments you may make.

Cape Conroe is not as nice as Walden and certainly not as nice as April Sound... April Sound has heavy deed restrictions so no parking anything in a driveway except cars, they don't even allow real estate signs in the yards. Cape Conroe is a place where you will see lots of boats, junk cars, travel trailers etc in the driveways, therefore you can get more bang for your buck in there if you don't mind all the "junk farmers".

[borgertx]

Originally Posted by Lake Conroe resident

Cape Conroe is not as nice as Walden and certainly not as nice as April Sound... April Sound has heavy deed restrictions so no parking anything in a driveway except cars, they don't even allow real estate signs in the yards. Cape Conroe is a place where you will see lots of boats, junk cars, travel trailers etc in the driveways, therefore you can get more bang for your buck in there if you don't mind all the "junk farmers".

What about the Willis side of Lake Conroe?

[Lake Conroe resident]

Originally Posted by borgertx

What about the Willis side of Lake Conroe?

There are some nice subdivisions on the Willis side like Seven Coves, Point Aquarius, etc...Stay out of Lake Conroe hills though, nasty...

[imanativetx]

Originally Posted by borgertx

See several new homes for sale by Legend Homes in Walden. Anybody know anything about this builder? Thanks for any help.

OK I will try to be objective. The house behind ours was a two story Legend where owner (from California) bought from Legend unseen. He told us about October of last year that he is having foundation problems already and the house is less than a year old. We watched a Legend home come up beside us, very quickly, and go up for sale. The back yard was never leveled properly, big huge holes that made puddles. When the yard crew came they just threw grass squares over the puddles and never really maintained it. Of course it was bad. They came and placed grass over that grass two more times! The young couple buying the house were so proud I didn't want to break their hearts. That house less sq. ft than ours, pressed wood walls, but of course the beautiful granite counter tops! They bought it for $52k, I think. Our older home (1996) with great bones is for sale for much less. We can't seem to compete with the granite countertops! FYI there was a lawsuit which Walden lost because they wanted to keep Legend from coming in and building less quality houses. So be careful when you look at those homes. There's some other houses out there for sale that are custom or older, by different builders.
Hey, I know Borger! My Dad use to say it smells like money!!

[Lake Conroe resident]

Originally Posted by imanativetx

OK I will try to be objective. The house behind ours was a two story Legend where owner (from California) bought from Legend unseen. He told us about October of last year that he is having foundation problems already and the house is less than a year old. We watched a Legend home come up beside us, very quickly, and go up for sale. The back yard was never leveled properly, big huge holes that made puddles. When the yard crew came they just threw grass squares over the puddles and never really maintained it. Of course it was bad. They came and placed grass over that grass two more times! The young couple buying the house were so proud I didn't want to break their hearts. That house less sq. ft than ours, pressed wood walls, but of course the beautiful granite counter tops! They bought it for $52k, I think. Our older home (1996) with great bones is for sale for much less. We can't seem to compete with the granite countertops! FYI there was a lawsuit which Walden lost because they wanted to keep Legend from coming in and building less quality houses. So be careful when you look at those homes. There's some other houses out there for sale that are custom or older, by different builders.
Hey, I know Borger! My Dad use to say it smells like money!!

I would agree that Legend doesn't build the best homes in the business, but that's how folks are getting them so cheap (you get what you pay for). As far as your home not selling because it doesn't have granite...Sounds like an easy fix; Install granite and snag one of those Legend buyers as it only cost a few thousand to put in... Problem is there are 140 homes currently for sale in Walden alone and most of them are new construction so your competition is fierce. The only way to combat it is by either lowering your price or updating your home or staying put for a while as the area is very nice...

[imanativetx]

Originally Posted by Lake Conroe resident

I would agree that Legend doesn't build the best homes in the business, but that's how folks are getting them so cheap (you get what you pay for). As far as your home not selling because it doesn't have granite...Sounds like an easy fix; Install granite and snag one of those Legend buyers as it only cost a few thousand to put in... Problem is there are 140 homes currently for sale in Walden alone and most of them are new construction so your competition is fierce. The only way to combat it is by either lowering your price or updating your home or staying put for a while as the area is very nice...

Yes, thanks for the tip, but we are beyond spending the bucks on the granite. Qualified for a short sale (hardship as we moved) and cut price way down, but our lender would not accept the offer given, even though our realtor sent in comps in the same price range. Our lender won't budge out of the price range they have set. They think the quality of the home is worth waiting for...

[Lake Conroe resident]

Originally Posted by imanativetx

Yes, thanks for the tip, but we are beyond spending the bucks on the granite. Qualified for a short sale (hardship as we moved) and cut price way down, but our lender would not accept the offer given, even though our realtor sent in comps in the same price range. Our lender won't budge out of the price range they have set. They think the quality of the home is worth waiting for...

Sorry about your mis-fortune... You think the lenders would be smart enough by now to take the deal that's on the table, cut their losses and move on down the road as it could be a lower offer next time...

[borgertx]

Originally Posted by Lake Conroe resident

The Homes in Walden, April Sound, Bentwater etc... are not in any kind of flood plain so no worries. Also there is about a 145 homes for sale in Walden right now so go get yourself a good deal, it's a nice area to live in if you don't have to worry about commuting to Houston everyday...

Several of the homes we are watching in Walden are made of stucco. Thought stucco homes would be built in dryer areas. Would you be worried about these homes over time? What are your thoughts? Not long before we'll actually be coming down to buy. Thanks so much.