is it real? (Houston, Katy: cheap house, neighborhood, buying)

[EasilyAmused]

The prices are real, but so are the foreclosure rates and commute times from those areas.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by professorsenator

You realize there is no state income tax, right? Government funding has to come from somewhere. Property taxes primarily fund schools, police, and fire departments. Most people want those services.

We all want to be tax-free...and then we realize we like roads.

And emergency services.

And, yes, schools.

It's the key piece missing from Ron Paul's puzzle.

[texasboi]

How are the following zip codes? Safe? Home prices stay steady? Go up?
77014, 77035, 77066, 77068, 77069, 77070, 77074, 77084, 77090?
I love the look of these homes and the neighborhood feel.

[ZeroTX]

There are many, many homes in the Houston area between 100-120k. My wife and I sought out a 4/2/2 for under 130k and found MANY many options. None of them "high-end" neighborhoods, but also not ghetto. If you are looking North, e.g. Spring/Cypress/Humble, there are plenty. If you are looking in Southwest, it's tougher to find one that ISN'T in Alief ISD. I agree w/ everyone here. If you're looking in Southwest, avoid anything in Alief. There are indeed some big, beautiful homes for what seem like ridiculously low prices, but there's a good reason. I'm going to be flat out blunt and tell you that any area that is majority black is going to be a high-crime area, and no matter how nice, big and fancy the houses look, they will be 30-50% below homes in areas that are asian/white/hispanic/indian, etc. Why? Crime, culture, poor attitudes, etc, all contribute to higher levels of danger, crappier schools, etc. The entire Alief area is A-Number-One proof of that. Want secondary proof? Look at most of Missouri City (the parts that don't border First Colony, e.g. all those zoned to Marshall High School). What third proof? Look at Fresno and all of the areas north of Hwy 6 that are zoned to Hightower High School. That zoning decision will drag down the values of Sienna Plantation, too!

But yes, if you choose carefully and selectively, you can find a good, solid home in a solid neighborhood for 120k.

[royandlea]

Zero, your fervor is greatly appreciated, but the census data says something different. For Alief, the most recent census data says:

• Total Population: 51,716
• White Population: 17,315
• Black Population: 14,474
• Hispanic Population: 18,509
• Asian Population: 9,647
• Hawaiian Population: 23
• Indian Population: 170
• Male Population: 25,171
• Female Population: 26,545
• Median Age: 28.9
• Median Age of Males: 27.6
• Median Age of Females: 29.9

Originally Posted by ZeroTX

There are many, many homes in the Houston area between 100-120k. My wife and I sought out a 4/2/2 for under 130k and found MANY many options. None of them "high-end" neighborhoods, but also not ghetto. If you are looking North, e.g. Spring/Cypress/Humble, there are plenty. If you are looking in Southwest, it's tougher to find one that ISN'T in Alief ISD. I agree w/ everyone here. If you're looking in Southwest, avoid anything in Alief. There are indeed some big, beautiful homes for what seem like ridiculously low prices, but there's a good reason. I'm going to be flat out blunt and tell you that any area that is majority black is going to be a high-crime area, and no matter how nice, big and fancy the houses look, they will be 30-50% below homes in areas that are asian/white/hispanic/indian, etc. Why? Crime, culture, poor attitudes, etc, all contribute to higher levels of danger, crappier schools, etc. The entire Alief area is A-Number-One proof of that. Want secondary proof? Look at most of Missouri City (the parts that don't border First Colony, e.g. all those zoned to Marshall High School). What third proof? Look at Fresno and all of the areas north of Hwy 6 that are zoned to Hightower High School. That zoning decision will drag down the values of Sienna Plantation, too!

But yes, if you choose carefully and selectively, you can find a good, solid home in a solid neighborhood for 120k.

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by ZeroTX

There are many, many homes in the Houston area between 100-120k. My wife and I sought out a 4/2/2 for under 130k and found MANY many options. None of them "high-end" neighborhoods, but also not ghetto. If you are looking North, e.g. Spring/Cypress/Humble, there are plenty. If you are looking in Southwest, it's tougher to find one that ISN'T in Alief ISD. I agree w/ everyone here. If you're looking in Southwest, avoid anything in Alief. There are indeed some big, beautiful homes for what seem like ridiculously low prices, but there's a good reason. I'm going to be flat out blunt and tell you that any area that is majority black is going to be a high-crime area, and no matter how nice, big and fancy the houses look, they will be 30-50% below homes in areas that are asian/white/hispanic/indian, etc. Why? Crime, culture, poor attitudes, etc, all contribute to higher levels of danger, crappier schools, etc. The entire Alief area is A-Number-One proof of that. Want secondary proof? Look at most of Missouri City (the parts that don't border First Colony, e.g. all those zoned to Marshall High School). What third proof? Look at Fresno and all of the areas north of Hwy 6 that are zoned to Hightower High School. That zoning decision will drag down the values of Sienna Plantation, too!

But yes, if you choose carefully and selectively, you can find a good, solid home in a solid neighborhood for 120k.

LOL dude. I live in Alief and I know its hard to believe but the rarest thing to find here is an African American homeowner. In my neighborhood theres only one AA family that bought a house. you probably gauged the demographics by checking out school attendance - its true about the number and trouble AA teens contribute to the Alief ISD issue but you know what, they live in apartment complexes somewhere else. Those may be high crime areas, but thats THEIR problem. also some blacks are not here to school their kids but because they love asian food!
anyway, i find it hard to believe not one of the undesireable neighbors types bought that cheap house you got or somewhere near yours? how long have you been there?

[EasilyAmused]

Zero sounds like thr typical NW exburber.

I've been some places east of 45 and, or in Spring and Humble, that make Alief demographics look like the Hamptons.

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by jfre81

We all want to be tax-free...and then we realize we like roads.

And emergency services.

And, yes, schools.

It's the key piece missing from Ron Paul's puzzle.

Except that Ron Paul wants to limit the size of the federal govt. and all the services you named are provided for by states out of state funding.

[ZeroTX]

Man, we looked at all kinds of houses in Alief, and the only caucasians living there were retirees or near-retirees (like my in-laws, who live in Alief), who refuse to sell because they flat out own their houses and don't want to start over. But face it, that's a downhill slide. Look at the new buyers coming in. The foreclosure and run-down houses in Alief are rampant. I could easily buy next door to my in-laws for 85k if I wanted a foreclosure (based on HAR prices of actual homes in their neighborhood).

The school demographics may not necessarily represent home-owners as a whole, but they represent the trend for the future in the area. My wife graduated from Alief Hastings, and that place is not a place I'd send my kids to school. They may have great teachers and administrators (I don't know that to be true or not true), but the kids are by and large thugs and the majority ethnicity is black/AA. Nothing like the demographics previously noted above. Also, I have to believe that Alief ISD covers a population area much larger than the one depicted in those statistics. I think the number of students enrolled in Alief ISD is over 30k, so how can the total population be only 51k?

[ZeroTX]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Zero sounds like thr typical NW exburber.

I've been some places east of 45 and, or in Spring and Humble, that make Alief demographics look like the Hamptons.

Well, if you are curious, I am a mixed-race (Caucasian/Hispanic) male, Texas native, born in Brazoria County, and spent most of my childhood bouncing between small-town Brazoria County (Lake Jackson/Clute area) and VERY small town northeast Texas (Diboll, Marshall). I moved into "Houston" (Clear Lake) during my college years. I rented in the Westbury/Fondren area for a time, but got tired of my car being vandalized and having to have iron bars on the windows to prevent burglary, so I moved up to North Houston, near Kuykendahl and Rankin.

Then I found out that no matter how much your apartment rent is, the thugs still roll up in their Jags that cost more than their over-priced rent and stink the place up with their thug-ness. So, I got out of there and bought a house in Spring in a modest neighborhood, where for 7.5 years I never had a single issue of vandalism or theft other than an accidental mailbox destruction by a drunk driver. That neighborhood had values that are 15-20% below Alief, yet it is much safer (based on real experience of both places), the police service is better (Harris Cty Constables, not the worthless Houston PD), roads are regularly repaired using proper materials, e.g. concrete (by Harris County, not by the City of Houston), and the schools are better than Alief (Spring ISD). I don't get why anyone would want to live in Alief, save for the portion very close to 59@BW8, which is a convenient commuter locale. All of the rest of Alief is down crowded stop-light littered roads with a 20-30 minute drive to ANY main road, save for a few homes who have the "pleasure" of paying to get on the already-overcongested Westpark Tollway.

Yeah, I hate Alief. It has its place, but I would never come on this board and recommend anyone to live there. If you want an affordable suburb, anything North/Northwest/Northeast is better/safer/cheaper than comparably-priced neighborhoods in Southwest/West.