Are Conroe and Spring part of the Woodlands? (Houston, Dallas: transplants, sales)

[SkyeAnjel]

no state taxes here.

[Lucy Sky]

Originally Posted by mariposa

The Woodlands has high taxes and various fees.

I imagine that the fees for the Woodlands that you refer to vary depending on the community. Could anyone provide a rough ballpark figure of the fees, and what they cover?

Thanks.

[snappy]

This is just an " I think" but our taxes (~$10,000) were ~ $8000 property tax and ~$1400 Woodlands Community Association maintenance fee. I think it would be similar over all the communities and based on house assessments.

[Bike4Life]

In the liveable forest, you pay for what you get. Higher property taxes plus there was some agreement that The Woodlands will "bribe" the City of Houston to avoid annexation. Still beats no state income tax in Texas.

Then again, it's too far from downtown Houston which is already inland at 50 miles from the coast.

[Lucy Sky]

Getting all of your comments has been a reality check for us. We now realize that because of the high taxes, we may not be able to get a home in the Woodlands. So, I checked the statistics for Spring, and read there were environmental problems there. On a scale of 1 - 100 with 100 being the best, Spring received a "1" rating on air quality. Anyone know why?

[SkyeAnjel]

That is completely new to me, been living in Spring most of my life. The Woodlands is also in Spring, it is just one section of Spring. I live in the Klein area of Spring, maybe it has something to do with being close to houston?

[Lucy Sky]

SkyeAnjel - I am hoping that the statistics are wrong about Spring. I read somewhere that one side of Highway 45 is a better area than the other side. I don't remember which side it was. Are there any areas in Spring that we should avoid?

[SkyeAnjel]

The west side is preferable to the east side. The school district (KleinISD) is a top school district. The east side of 45 is zoned to Spring ISD and is just not as nice as the west side. Resale value is much better on the west side of 45.

[jccscc3]

Actually, the entire east side is not zoned to Spring ISD. Part of the east side is zoned to Conroe ISD, which has excellent schools. There are some very nice neighborhoods on the east side, such as Bender's Landing, Spring Trails, Legends Ranch to name a few. Spring Trails, for example, is located in Montgomery County so there are lower taxes and lower insurance than in Harris county.

[houstoniancityfanatic]

You will not have to worry too much about hurricanes since the Woodlands is some 70 miles inland. Even if a Category 5 Hurricane were to move in it would barely have a sustainable winds of Category 1 or 2 by that point and most houses can withstand those winds for several hours. You would likely lose shingles and that is it. Your homeowners' insurance in this area will cover everything except floods. In this area you are not in a flood zone so if you opted for flood insurance it would be about 300 per year.

We don't pay state income tax here in Texas so some taxes will be higher to offset for no income tax, namely property tax will be higher. Property tax averages around 3 percent but can be as low as 1.8 or as high as 3.8 percent in any part of the Houston Metro. It depends on what school district you are in how much you will pay on property tax since almost 80 percent of your property tax goes to schools. The rule of thumb on property tax is if you live in a school district that is pretty well established and the land is done developing then most of those schools have already been paid for - lower property tax. If you are moving into a newly developing area where new schools are going to be built you can bet your property tax will be alot higher to pay for those brand new buildings. Everything will basically at least even out, but most likely you will be left with more disposable income in texas if you try to keep the same standard of living that you had in Florida. A $318,000 house in Houston would be a very nice indeed. A $318,000 house in Florida would be the equivalent of a 170,000 to 210,000 dollar house in Houston. So although the property tax rate may be higher your house will likely cost less, which will mean you pay less money for your property tax. As for home owners' insurance it will be a lot less than what you are used to. To give you an idea my house is 200,000 and my insurance is 1300/year. My flood insurance is 200 a year, but it is not mandatory that I get it.

About the Houston area confusion. Conroe is a town on the very far outskirts of Houston. Basically that town has always been there and the Houston suburbs just grew into it. It still retains its small town charm and really does not fill like you are even in Houston. The Woodlands is a planned development city. It is some 10 miles south of Conroe and is definitely a suburb of Houston. It is one of the nicer areas on the northside. I am not sure if is considered an actual part of Houston proper (if you would have a Houston address) or not. Spring is about 7 or 8 miles south of the Woodlands and an older area than the Woodlands. It isn't all that nice either in comparison to the Woodlands. It is not it its own city. The school district is just called Spring, and people call it Spring but it is not an actual town but rather part of the city of Houston.

Originally Posted by Lucy Sky

Hello People,

We will be moving to the Houston area, and I am confused about searches for homes that I have done. From reading this board, I learned that the Woodlands would be a nice place to live. We have been caught in three hurricanes in Florida, and we want to live inland. When I do searches for property, where it asks for the area, I type "the Woodlands". I did not check the box that said "check nearby areas." Most of the homes that came up were in Conroe and Spring. Are they a part of the Woodlands?

Another question - in Florida, our homeowners insurance was so high because of the hurricanes. Is it high in Houston as well? Ours was about $4,500 for a home worth $318,000. Also, what about real estate taxes? On the $318,000 home, the taxes were $5,800.

I would appreciate hearing your comments.

Thanks a lot, guys.