Villages of Bear Creek - Katy - Good or bad area?? (Brookshire: apartments, buying a house)

[Yepega]

Hi all, I need some advice, I found a great house in the neighborhood Villages of Bear Creek in Katy, the house is 275K but I am worried that most of the houses around it are around or less thank 200K. Is this a safe neighborhood/good area to live?? Please any advice is appreciated.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by Yepega

Hi all, I need some advice, I found a great house in the neighborhood Villages of Bear Creek in Katy, the house is 275K but I am worried that most of the houses around it are around or less thank 200K. Is this a safe neighborhood/good area to live?? Please any advice is appreciated.

Just a general thought:
I would buy the cheapest house in expensive neighborhood rather than the most expensive house in cheaper neighborhood...

[HTownNearNative]

Is this a recent flip? Any reason you prefer North Katy area? For that price range, you could could easily move to South Katy’s Memorial Parkway or Governors Place neighborhood as well as a few others. The 2 mentioned are the better ones in the sub $300k market in Katy area.

[Ghost Town]

Rule of thumb in North Katy: you don't want to be north of Clay Rd. That place is semi-OK, all depends on a particular block. If there are no drug houses in a close vicinity, you will be fine. But I wouldn't spend more than 150K in that area. Even 200K sounds too much for this neighborhood. South of Clay Rd, probably. But definitely not north of Clay Rd.
275K is crazy bad investment in North Katy, even south of Clay Rd.

[LocalPlanner]

While the guidance to buy a home in an area of equal or higher values, rather than the opposite, has some merit from a wealth protection standpoint, there's also something to be said for looking at your home as a consumption item (housing), not a purely financial investment. If it represents the value of what you're looking for in a home and neighborhood, and better than elsewhere, it may be the best option for you.

And please ignore those in this forum (and there are many) who keep trying to put down anything north of I-10 and south of Longenbaugh on the west side. They are needlessly fomenting social division and could be accused of trying to artificially depress home values north of I-10 so they can benefit their south of Katy Freeway and outer Cypress properties.

[Ghost Town]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

And please ignore those in this forum (and there are many) who keep trying to put down anything north of I-10 and south of Longenbaugh on the west side. They are needlessly fomenting social division and could be accused of trying to artificially depress home values north of I-10 so they can benefit their south of Katy Freeway and outer Cypress properties.

Have you personally lived in North Katy?
I spent there a couple of years and got familiar with that area fairly sufficiently.

Back in those days, North Katy was financially most efficient. Financially and geographically that was a reasonable choice for me, but personally I witnessed a lot of crap there. As I said, a lot depends on a particular block. 99-99.5% of neighbors are good, but the rest 0.5-1% can create a lot of trouble.
Unfortunately I was unlucky, and it was not so easy to identify the problem before buying the house.

Long story short, shootings were pretty common. I admit, only one time with an ambulance. But in my current area I haven't heard a single gunshot in almost 4 years. In North Katy that was quite normal. I remember I called the police at night and said I heard two shots with .357Magnum nearby, could you locate them? They said 'we are right in this area at the moment, we heard the gunshots but don't see anyone'. That was quite common.

Initially I had only revolver with 5 round capacity. One evening I heard rapid gunfire nearby and remember it was about 15 shots. So I thought 'my gun doesn't have enough capacity'. So next day I bought Glock 17 with 17 rounds. But another day there was a drive-by shooting so I started thinking about AK-47. However the best solution was moving out to the better area. It didn't happen immediately, but I didn't lose anything on that house, sold efficiently.
In my current area I don't need to carry any firearms when taking out trash or going to the backyard or even around the house. In North Katy I needed firearms.

So if you think I don't have enough argument regarding North Katy, you probably would enjoy it a lot. Do you live there?

I agree with you regarding the home as consumption item. From this perspective North Katy is reasonable, especially if you work in Katy, Cypress or Brookshire.

[Ghost Town]

I think, in North Katy, Lakes of Bridgewater and Raintree Village are quite decent. Even right now I wouldn't have much reservation buying a house in Lakes of Bridgewater.

Regarding difference between north and south of I-10, you can easily notice different mentality by driving along Fry Rd. Lots of aggressive drivers north of I-10 and very pleasant driving experience south of I-10. Like two totally different worlds.

[hbcu]

no uniformity basically once you cross I-10 heading north in unincorporated Katy

that's the problem. Trailer park next to an established community of starter homes then you have a patio home community next to large swaths of apartments/KB Homes, etc. You'll have some nicer areas but they are surrounded by stuff they can't control.

the strip centers are all different, one has extra bright lighting and the others are dark, etc.

Other pop up areas will use the name of the established community to fool folks but are way lax on things

[new to this]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

I think, in North Katy, Lakes of Bridgewater and Raintree Village are quite decent. Even right now I wouldn't have much reservation buying a house in Lakes of Bridgewater.

Regarding difference between north and south of I-10, you can easily notice different mentality by driving along Fry Rd. Lots of aggressive drivers north of I-10 and very pleasant driving experience south of I-10. Like two totally different worlds.

You're forgetting that one of the better Master planned communities in Elyson is also in North Katy. If you're saying you would feel comfortable in Bridgewater and Raintree, you would definitely feel comfortable in Elyson. The only thing against Elyson is their 3.75% tax ( which is typically what you will pay now in most new master planned communities in Katy). There's also Katy Lakes on 529 which seems pretty decent. It's a smaller subdivision with Gehan and Castle Rock homes. Those are two solid neighborhoods in North Katy. North Katy is also developing rapidly. I know some here are against this area of town but there is tons of potential to be great. IDK if you will view this a positive or a negative, but the big warehouse of 99 at the corner of Clay and Peek will be an Amazon warehouse. There's also plans for a Target to open next to Elyson at 529 and 99. The construction date has not been released. Lastly, there is talks that an HEB will open on the North side of Katy as well.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

Have you personally lived in North Katy?
I spent there a couple of years and got familiar with that area fairly sufficiently.

Back in those days, North Katy was financially most efficient. Financially and geographically that was a reasonable choice for me, but personally I witnessed a lot of crap there. As I said, a lot depends on a particular block. 99-99.5% of neighbors are good, but the rest 0.5-1% can create a lot of trouble.
Unfortunately I was unlucky, and it was not so easy to identify the problem before buying the house.

Long story short, shootings were pretty common. I admit, only one time with an ambulance. But in my current area I haven't heard a single gunshot in almost 4 years. In North Katy that was quite normal. I remember I called the police at night and said I heard two shots with .357Magnum nearby, could you locate them? They said 'we are right in this area at the moment, we heard the gunshots but don't see anyone'. That was quite common.

Initially I had only revolver with 5 round capacity. One evening I heard rapid gunfire nearby and remember it was about 15 shots. So I thought 'my gun doesn't have enough capacity'. So next day I bought Glock 17 with 17 rounds. But another day there was a drive-by shooting so I started thinking about AK-47. However the best solution was moving out to the better area. It didn't happen immediately, but I didn't lose anything on that house, sold efficiently.
In my current area I don't need to carry any firearms when taking out trash or going to the backyard or even around the house. In North Katy I needed firearms.

So if you think I don't have enough argument regarding North Katy, you probably would enjoy it a lot. Do you live there?

I agree with you regarding the home as consumption item. From this perspective North Katy is reasonable, especially if you work in Katy, Cypress or Brookshire.

I lived in Bear Creek Village 1996-2007. While there were a few problematic neighbors (and most places have those), there were no gunshots. My coworker lived in Raintree for a couple years (roughly 2017-2018) and liked it.