From CA to Houston worth it anymore? (Beaumont, The Woodlands: rent, condo)

[Cuero]

Originally Posted by Houston parent

In response to the poster who warned of higher property taxes, I would counter that we have no state income tax in Texas.

Each person has to run the numbers based on their individual circumstances. Which state has lower taxes depends on your taxable income and the type of property you own.

[houstonlibrarian]

Originally Posted by Failed Engineer

You can get acreage within 45 minutes of downtown, but not rural, and definitely not at $250k with a house on the lot.

Garden villas is a mile or two outside of the loop, most of the lots are about three quarters of an acre or more and have houses on them.
They usually run about 180 to 275 depending on the house.
Just try to stay to the west side of the neighborhood, as the Eastern part is directly under the flight path for hobby airport and can get loud.
Schools would not be the best.

[notkim]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Why would you send them to private school when you're paying taxes to top-rated school districts? If you send your children to private school in CA, you definitely can afford to pay for it here in TX.

But Texas public schools are different than in CA. Different standards, methods, funding, etc. Katy ISD has been on a building frenzy for the past 10 years on all grade levels. The elementary schools alone are as large as many high schools in other parts of the country.

Luckily the Houston-area still has most of its jobs inside the 610 loop, so you might consider taking the commuter bus from the local neighborhood park-and-ride, something infeasible in SoCal. The ride will take about 30-45 minutes from a distant suburb to Downtown.

Originally Posted by Texas Ag 93

This is an important, and often overlooked, consideration with private schools. OP, nearly all the private schools in Houston are located inside the Loop, so you are likely going to have to commute to drop off/pick up your son. The vast majority of private schools in suburban areas are religiously affiliated (which may or may not matter to you) and often don't go to higher grade levels. Moreover, the good private schools often have long waiting lists and are very competitive, so getting in is no sure thing.

I always wonder about this whenever anyone posts that schools don't matter because they will send their child to private school, as if finding a private school is automatically going to be an easy task.

I am trying to understand, as to why someone chooses to send their children to private schools vs public schools? I am specifically asking with regards to The Woodlands (moving there in June 2018). My spouse and I, did not receive our education in the US; so we are still learning how the school system works here. We have a child in 1st grade now.

It is understandable that one would choose private school if the public school you are zoned to is "bad" or performing poorly. But from reading everything about The Woodlands from this forum, one of the main reasons people move to TW is because of the excellent public schools.

How much does it cost appx. to send one kid to a private school? $20k per annum? Our home budget is $400k - $700k and I thought $20 - $30k per year per kid was expensive . Maybe I have it all wrong ?!

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by notkim

I am trying to understand, as to why someone chooses to send their children to private schools vs public schools? I am specifically asking with regards to The Woodlands (moving there in June 2018). My spouse and I, did not receive our education in the US; so we are still learning how the school system works here. We have a child in 1st grade now.

It is understandable that one would choose private school if the public school you are zoned to is "bad" or performing poorly. But from reading everything about The Woodlands from this forum, one of the main reasons people move to TW is because of the excellent public schools.

How much does it cost appx. to send one kid to a private school? $20k per annum? Our home budget is $400k - $700k and I thought $20 - $30k per year per kid was expensive . Maybe I have it all wrong ?!

Some people have more money than they need, and think their kids will get a massively superior education in a private school. That's true in some cases, but it's not worth the extra cost to me, which is why our child goes to public school. The public schools in The Woodlands are good, so I would be looking at public first there.

[Lbjen]

Originally Posted by notkim

I am trying to understand, as to why someone chooses to send their children to private schools vs public schools? I am specifically asking with regards to The Woodlands (moving there in June 2018). My spouse and I, did not receive our education in the US; so we are still learning how the school system works here. We have a child in 1st grade now.

It is understandable that one would choose private school if the public school you are zoned to is "bad" or performing poorly. But from reading everything about The Woodlands from this forum, one of the main reasons people move to TW is because of the excellent public schools.

How much does it cost appx. to send one kid to a private school? $20k per annum? Our home budget is $400k - $700k and I thought $20 - $30k per year per kid was expensive . Maybe I have it all wrong ?!

The vast majority of people sending their kids to private schools here in Houston do it for one of three reasons: religion, they have the money to do it, or it is being paid for by their employer. Some people do it so that they can live closer to work, but in an area that has poor public schools. That is something that we have considered too.

[Shipresa]

Having moved to Houston, bought and sold a house, left, now are moving back... this is what we know. Of course nothing is absolute.

1. Live near your work. For example, the traffic is horrendous and if the 290 looks like 'a straight shot only' 25 miles to downtown... just throw away any concept of time and space.
2. Pay more for your real estate and get better schools.
3. Taxes in Houston made us feel like we were back in New York State. Which makes California appear to be as burdened.
4. Make the decision to invest in real estate or in private schools.
5. Pay attention to ALL of your schools in the line to high school, and be careful of living on the boundary line. They can change.
6. If you work from home, and schools are not important, anything is possible. But resale on a home in a lesser school district will keep that home price low.

I'm hard pressed for finding something in Houston for $250k that isn't an apartment or townhouse. Even that is too low for Bridgeland or Fairfield, or even Fulshear. All those are quite afar.

[chris_ut]

You send your kid to private school so he has a peer group of children whose families are also wealthy and or ambitious. Your connections mean everytuing in business.

[RocketSci]

Many Houston schools are so large that your child becomes nothing but a number among the thousands of students. My oldest loved participating in sports, but was not an "athlete" and was excluded from basically all sports due to the intense competition and sheer number of students participating. Because of the intense competitive nature of Texas sports, some schools restrict the number of extracurriculars a child can participate in, such as limiting to only 1 sport, etc.

As a freshman in public school, my daughter was one of 70 trying to make the freshman team, and she did not make it, and struggled all year academically. In a private school the next year, she was a JV starter the first year, and was even moved up to varsity and made the district all-star team. She also competed on the tennis team, volleyball team, and did 1 semester of softball, in addition to club memberships including a school "ambassador." She also received additional attention academically, and went from failing grades to all A's and was able to graduate 1 year early at 16.

At the larger school she was lost, and no one at the school really cared as she was neither a student at the top or bottom. While larger schools on paper may offer more opportunities, the smaller private school actually opened them up to all of the students.

But, every child is different, as my other child struggled at a private middle school but thrived at a public high school.

[notkim]

Originally Posted by RocketSci

Many Houston schools are so large that your child becomes nothing but a number among the thousands of students. My oldest loved participating in sports, but was not an "athlete" and was excluded from basically all sports due to the intense competition and sheer number of students participating. Because of the intense competitive nature of Texas sports, some schools restrict the number of extracurriculars a child can participate in, such as limiting to only 1 sport, etc.

As a freshman in public school, my daughter was one of 70 trying to make the freshman team, and she did not make it, and struggled all year academically. In a private school the next year, she was a JV starter the first year, and was even moved up to varsity and made the district all-star team. She also competed on the tennis team, volleyball team, and did 1 semester of softball, in addition to club memberships including a school "ambassador." She also received additional attention academically, and went from failing grades to all A's and was able to graduate 1 year early at 16.

At the larger school she was lost, and no one at the school really cared as she was neither a student at the top or bottom. While larger schools on paper may offer more opportunities, the smaller private school actually opened them up to all of the students.

But, every child is different, as my other child struggled at a private middle school but thrived at a public high school.

Thank you for this post. It gives me an idea what to look for if the time comes when my child starts struggling in school after I have exhausted all my options ! This post really helped me learn.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by RoamingTX

Let me get this straight:

You want an acre of land with an easy commute to the downtown area of the 4th largest city in the US...
You want that for $250,000...
You're willing to forgo the 1%ish that you'll pay for ISD taxes...

And this is somehow different from when?

What you're looking for was never a reality.

ETA: A "nice" city in the IE is a definite oxymoron when comparing to the Houston area. Unless you're looking for flatbrim bro culture, in which the IE wins by a mile.

I couldn't agree more. My recent visit to IE, I was floored on how dominate the "flatbrim bro culture" is out there. Not my cup of tea.