Moving Back to Texas (Houston, San Antonio: real estate, foreclosure, rental)

[Sampaguita]

DH and I are finally ready to take the plunge & move back to Texas. I went to school in SA & lived there 8 yrs before my career took me to NY and SoCal. We had considered San Antonio & Austin a couple of years ago but we were unable to make the move then. I have a lot of good memories of my years in TX.

Now that we are parents (newborn twins) and looking at our future, we do want our children to be raised near family. My brother and his new wife live in Houston (close to downtown) and we have other extended family there as well. My parents are planning on retiring in Houston so it's going to be quite the family affair.

As my brother was until very recently a bachelor, he's not very attuned to family-friendly communities.

We are planning on renting for the first year to get an idea of where we'd like to eventually buy.

I've been reading the threads here and perusing Houston Real Estate - Houston Homes, Houston Home Value and Houston Relocation but am still largely *confused*. It's difficult to really get a feel for areas via the internet. Things can look great via the web but real dogs IRL.

On my last visit to Houston a couple of summers ago (I must love my brother to visit him in July!!!), I fell in love with areas around Houston proper - Montrose, Memorial, Kirby, etc...but I don't really think we'll find what we're looking for there. My brother also drove us around Sienna Plantation (where is friends had just bought a 5000sf home with acreage for 499k - a steal considering our old house here in SoCal was 1200sf & valued at 525k!)

Currently, we live in Carlsbad, California in a 2400sf, single-level home built in 1978 on 12k sf property in a community that is considered affluent (La Costa). We're close to parks, shopping, restaurants, one of the best school districts in the county and well, the beaches.

DH has MS and is in a motorized wheelchair as he is unable to walk. We've had some serious medical bills over the last few years (mostly mine) so budget is important as we need to save & pay down debt to get back to where we were a few years ago.

Here is what we're looking for:

*single story, single family residence
*3bdrm/2bath
*2000-2400sf house
*safe, family-friendly neighborhood with parks
*close to good shopping areas (Whole Foods would be a plus or an HEB Marketplace - is that what it's called now?)
*reasonable proximity to Catholic church
*30-45 min max from downtown Houston
*$1000-$1600/month rent

DH works from home so we don't have to worry about commute. We'd like to not be too far from my brother (maybe 30min-40min tops drive) who lives near Minutemaid Stadium.

I've been perusing Houston Real Estate - Houston Homes, Houston Home Value and Houston Relocation but what looks great via the web doesn't necessarily translate into great-in-real-life.

I've noticed that there are quite a few properties in Quail Valley - what is the real skinny on that original masterplanned community? Is it really all that seedy? Would it be a good rental option for a year? Is it safe?

Thanks for any feedback that anyone can offer.

[SkyeAnjel]

Welcome to Houston! I am not familiar with the areas you are looking in but your requirements seem to be reasonable. I don't think you will be able to get that size of a rental home for 1600. in town but you may be able to find it in the suburbs. There are only 2 whole food markets, both are inside the loop but HEB's are everywhere. This is where I shop for alot of organic foods and vitamins, they also have organic milk cheaper then anyone else.

[predatorprey]

SkyeAnjel,

There is actually a new whole foods in Sugarland on Hwy 6 and 59.

[Topaz]

Your list looks like a good match for Sugar Land (including a wonderful new Whole Foods Market). The one thing I'm not sure about is the Catholic Church because my family isn't Catholic. We drive from Sugar Land to the Museum District for church because we found a church there we really love. It takes us less than 30 minutes to get there on Sundays because there is not much traffic on 59 North on the weekends. But there are a LOT of churches in Texas...you should easily be able to find a church, probably within a much closer drive than we do.

You'll also be driving a distance if you want to visit the nicest Texas beaches. My Texas friends tell me that South Padre Island has the nicest beaches...about 6 hours away. We are visiting South Padre for the first time in August so I'll know more then. In the meantime, my children are perfectly happy with the beaches around Galveston because as long as a beach has water and sand, they have fun. They aren't comparing the coast to California, though...

Quail Valley is one of the areas hit hard by foreclosure activity. I'd look elsewhere. There are a lot of nice areas of Sugar Land: Sugar Creek, First Colony, Telfair, New Territory...several of us on the Forum live in Sugar Land and we would all be happy to answer questions.

[Poltracker]

Given the information you provided, I would also check areas like Clear Lake and Friendswood.

[Kappinator]

Originally Posted by Sampaguita

DH and I are finally ready to take the plunge & move back to Texas. I went to school in SA & lived there 8 yrs before my career took me to NY and SoCal. We had considered San Antonio & Austin a couple of years ago but we were unable to make the move then. I have a lot of good memories of my years in TX.

Now that we are parents (newborn twins) and looking at our future, we do want our children to be raised near family. My brother and his new wife live in Houston (close to downtown) and we have other extended family there as well. My parents are planning on retiring in Houston so it's going to be quite the family affair.

As my brother was until very recently a bachelor, he's not very attuned to family-friendly communities.

We are planning on renting for the first year to get an idea of where we'd like to eventually buy.

I've been reading the threads here and perusing Houston Real Estate - Houston Homes, Houston Home Value and Houston Relocation but am still largely *confused*. It's difficult to really get a feel for areas via the internet. Things can look great via the web but real dogs IRL.

On my last visit to Houston a couple of summers ago (I must love my brother to visit him in July!!!), I fell in love with areas around Houston proper - Montrose, Memorial, Kirby, etc...but I don't really think we'll find what we're looking for there. My brother also drove us around Sienna Plantation (where is friends had just bought a 5000sf home with acreage for 499k - a steal considering our old house here in SoCal was 1200sf & valued at 525k!)

Currently, we live in Carlsbad, California in a 2400sf, single-level home built in 1978 on 12k sf property in a community that is considered affluent (La Costa). We're close to parks, shopping, restaurants, one of the best school districts in the county and well, the beaches.

DH has MS and is in a motorized wheelchair as he is unable to walk. We've had some serious medical bills over the last few years (mostly mine) so budget is important as we need to save & pay down debt to get back to where we were a few years ago.

Here is what we're looking for:

*single story, single family residence
*3bdrm/2bath
*2000-2400sf house
*safe, family-friendly neighborhood with parks
*close to good shopping areas (Whole Foods would be a plus or an HEB Marketplace - is that what it's called now?)
*reasonable proximity to Catholic church
*30-45 min max from downtown Houston
*$1000-$1600/month rent

DH works from home so we don't have to worry about commute. We'd like to not be too far from my brother (maybe 30min-40min tops drive) who lives near Minutemaid Stadium.

I've been perusing Houston Real Estate - Houston Homes, Houston Home Value and Houston Relocation but what looks great via the web doesn't necessarily translate into great-in-real-life.

I've noticed that there are quite a few properties in Quail Valley - what is the real skinny on that original masterplanned community? Is it really all that seedy? Would it be a good rental option for a year? Is it safe?

Thanks for any feedback that anyone can offer.

Welcome! I'm not familiar with Quail Valley either, but here's my recommendation; the Memorial area. I lived there for many years myself and it just doesn't get any better. It's safe, a wonderful place to raise a family, relatively close in, excellent doctors and hospitals and shopping. ( I think EA would agree here). If I recall correctly there is a HEB on Memorial between Kirkwood and Dairy Ashford and wonderful catholic chuch nearby which is St. John Vianny (sp). Here's a link to a rental property. It doesn't have the square footage you want, but it is a great area.
13931 Britoak Ln, Houston, TX 77079

[tstone]

Catholic churches are everywhere to be found around the areas mentioned:

Sugar Land: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=e...,0.436707&z=12

Clear Lake: catholic church loc: 77062 - Google Maps

[chris_ut]

Kingwood has a large and active Catholic Church as well as a nice HEB. The HEB is on the corner of Kingwood Dr and Lake Houston Pkwy (center of Kingwood) and the church is on Woodland Hills Dr. If you live towards the front of Kingwood your commute to DT would be in your range.

[Sampaguita]

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies.

I should explain that the need for more square footage is because of the turning radius for DH & wheelchair. He eats up a lot of room & when you're sitting all day long, having a large space makes him feel less hemmed-in (if that makes any sense).

I realize that our sf requirements limit choices in areas like Memorial (thanks for that link Kappinator) but it can't hurt to look.

I will take a look at Sugar Land at the subdivisions mentioned above.

Thanks for all your help! When we last moved (from San Diego to North County SD), the feedback on the SDforums here provided much help. I know that your help here will be just as great. Thanks again!

[Sampaguita]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Your list looks like a good match for Sugar Land (including a wonderful new Whole Foods Market). The one thing I'm not sure about is the Catholic Church because my family isn't Catholic. We drive from Sugar Land to the Museum District for church because we found a church there we really love. It takes us less than 30 minutes to get there on Sundays because there is not much traffic on 59 North on the weekends. But there are a LOT of churches in Texas...you should easily be able to find a church, probably within a much closer drive than we do.

...our current drive to church is about 25 min as we did not want to change parishes...closer is better but finding the right church is more important.

You'll also be driving a distance if you want to visit the nicest Texas beaches. My Texas friends tell me that South Padre Island has the nicest beaches...about 6 hours away. We are visiting South Padre for the first time in August so I'll know more then. In the meantime, my children are perfectly happy with the beaches around Galveston because as long as a beach has water and sand, they have fun. They aren't comparing the coast to California, though...

...I got my first sunburn ever in South Padre Island. LOL I won't lie - where we live is really beautiful so I'm not going to compare beaches...but it's nice to know that Galveston is near by & can provide the beaches for the kids.

Quail Valley is one of the areas hit hard by foreclosure activity. I'd look elsewhere. There are a lot of nice areas of Sugar Land: Sugar Creek, First Colony, Telfair, New Territory...several of us on the Forum live in Sugar Land and we would all be happy to answer questions.

...I will definitely be asking some questions of you & other SL residents.