Pine Mill Ranch Vs Silver Ranch (Houston, Katy: HOA fees, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[nish17]

Hi,
We are moving to Katy area and need some advice on the communities out there.
We went to the Cinco ranch south west but found that to be a little costly and so had a look at PMR and the silver ranch.

Can you please share any experiences or comments on these two communities.

Thanks

[lane_change]

I personally liked the feel of PMR better than Silver Ranch...but it really comes down to the builders in those areas. You have totally different options in either area, so check out the homes, see what builder you like, and buy the house you want. I would not think that you are looking at a huge disparity between any area in Katy that is outside of Cinco, Seven Meadows, or the other more established and expensive sections of South Katy. I chose to build in Westheimer Lakes North, because I liked the Westin homes the most, I liked the easier access to 1093 and 1463 personally over PMR and also Westin homes in WLN are about $5-10k less in WLN for the exact same home compared to PMR. Other builders may be different, but again, we liked a house, and found an area that built the house that we also we comfortable with.

[EM1956]

We chose Sliver Ranch because we liked the Meritage home for the money. We also liked the feel fo Silver Ranch and the fact that it was easy to get to the Park N Ride on Grand Parkway. (We were purposely trying to avoid 1093/99) I don't think there's anything wrong with either neighborhood- both are good and represent good value for the south side of 10.

[mingyanok]

i want to move to that area too but it seems that builder in silver ranch is friendly than in pmr. just personal feeling.

[BBall Coach]

Originally Posted by mingyanok

i want to move to that area too but it seems that builder in silver ranch is friendly than in pmr. just personal feeling.

Really!? Which builder? I had very positive experiences in PMR with Westin, Newmark, and Perry. I'm extremely surprised that you had something different. I wouldn't personally let that deter me from moving to where I felt most comfortable though. Those people just work there. I would suggest you get out and meet the neighbors to get a true feel for the place. It really helped me out a ton with my upcoming decision.

Originally Posted by nish17

Hi,
We are moving to Katy area and need some advice on the communities out there.
We went to the Cinco ranch south west but found that to be a little costly and so had a look at PMR and the silver ranch.

Can you please share any experiences or comments on these two communities.

Thanks

I'm pretty much in the same situation. My wife and I are trying to choose a neighborhood. It has been a very intense process as each place has its pros and cons. We were looking at Cinco Ranch, Westheimer Lakes North, Pine Mill Ranch and Silver Ranch. Out of the two you have it narrowed down to, we like Pine Mill better than Silver because it has a very Cinco looking feel to it without the Cinco price. When you drive through Cinco and reach Pine Mill, there is hardly any dropoff in the aesthetics which is something that really impressed us about Pine Mill. Often when you drive through Cinco and reach a new community you can tell immediately that you are no longer in Cinco(in a bad way) with one exception I can think of immediately being Seven Meadows. For example go down Westheimer Parkway past Rylander Elementary until you reach Falcon Ranch and you'll see exactly what I mean. Don't ge me wrong, Falcon Ranch is a nice neighborhood, but trust me, you can tell you aren't in Cinco anymore almost immediately. Silver Ranch has the same developer as Falcon Ranch so I pretty much expect a similar product which is still very nice IMO, just saying that I think Pine Mill looks a little bit nicer. Another positive for me was that a very expensive section of Cinco borders Pine Mill on the non Silver Ranch side. They are building some huge and beautiful homes there. One last thing is that there are homes in Pine Mill that exceed 500k, much more than what I can afford, but I personally found that a good selling point. The only detractor with them was they have a section of unimpressive Trophy Homes in the back of section 2, but I met some of the people over there while trying to get a feel for the place and they all seemed like good friendly folks. Lane Change's suggestion of finding a builder you like and going with that seems like good advice too. The builders are completely different.

I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either though and if you look at the plans they have at Silver Ranch in the Meritage model home, you're going to see that both communities will eventually be connected as the future developments of Silver Ranch are completed so I would expect kids from both places to attend the exact same middle and high schools and in the earlier years, possibly even the same elementary school until the developments fill out and there is a need for another new school due to population density. Pine Mill is going to have an elementary school right there in the neighborhood and Katy ISD owns a huge chunk of property right next to both communities.

Basically everything is going to be connected in a few years anyways so go where you like best. Get out and walk around, meet your prospective neighbors, and pick a plan that suits the needs of your family.

Good luck!

[nish17]

I'm pretty much in the same situation. My wife and I are trying to choose a neighborhood. It has been a very intense process as each place has its pros and cons. We were looking at Cinco Ranch, Westheimer Lakes North, Pine Mill Ranch and Silver Ranch.
Good luck![/quote]


Thanks so much for the detailed reply, that was really helpful

[workingwifeandmom]

I completely agree with BBall Coach. I too have met some of the people in the community of PMR and found them to be friendly, family oriented, and welcoming. Definitely a place you want to be part of. IMO I feel Pine Mill is the better of the neighborhoods. My husband and I have spent countless hours in each community at different times of the day and have decided to call Pine Mill home. CR is like a utopia for amenities but you will definitely sacrifice square footage while paying more in HOA fees. SR was nice but did not have much visible appeal and had moderate amenities. PM has it all, a CR feel and look, more value for your money, and a decent amount of amenities. WLN is more developed but my husband and I have witnessed some questionable activity and even spoke with the sheriff that was on duty in the area (which was not the first time a sheriff has been called out to that community as we had seen one there just the day prior). For such a new community it was alarming to see the local authorities called out so frequently. I feel extremely confident in my selection of PMR. Best of luck!

[Martha Silvestri]

Originally Posted by workingwifeandmom

I completely agree with BBall Coach. I too have met some of the people in the community of PMR and found them to be friendly, family oriented, and welcoming. Definitely a place you want to be part of. IMO I feel Pine Mill is the better of the neighborhoods. My husband and I have spent countless hours in each community at different times of the day and have decided to call Pine Mill home. CR is like a utopia for amenities but you will definitely sacrifice square footage while paying more in HOA fees. SR was nice but did not have much visible appeal and had moderate amenities. PM has it all, a CR feel and look, more value for your money, and a decent amount of amenities. WLN is more developed but my husband and I have witnessed some questionable activity and even spoke with the sheriff that was on duty in the area (which was not the first time a sheriff has been called out to that community as we had seen one there just the day prior). For such a new community it was alarming to see the local authorities called out so frequently. I feel extremely confident in my selection of PMR. Best of luck!

Good Afternoon guys
I have a question about PMR, because I am in between Cinco and PMR and although I agree with all the money benefits in buying a house in PMR, but I just do not like the huge drain water system in the middle of the community, do you guys have any thoughts about it, please help.

[spm6110]

If it bothers you now it always will...just spend the extra and buy in Cinco...I believe if you drive around other subdivisions this is not uncommon and in fact looks worse in many neighborhoods....however if that is the only TRUE deciding factor you have to ask yourself is that is worth $30-40K...I'd say no...however if a few factors point you to Cinco buy there...really our opinions don't count too much as you're the one that has to live in the house...I mean there was one woman that didn't buy in PMR because she felt like her car was going to tip over when she turned into the subdivision ....crazy but true....I still can't figure out how she gets around in Houston/Katy never making a turn though

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by spm6110

If it bothers you now it always will...just spend the extra and buy in Cinco...I believe if you drive around other subdivisions this is not uncommon and in fact looks worse in many neighborhoods....however if that is the only TRUE deciding factor you have to ask yourself is that is worth $30-40K...I'd say no...however if a few factors point you to Cinco buy there...really our opinions don't count too much as you're the one that has to live in the house...I mean there was one woman that didn't buy in PMR because she felt like her car was going to tip over when she turned into the subdivision ....crazy but true....I still can't figure out how she gets around in Houston/Katy never making a turn though

That was my post that you're referring to and I am NOT a woman.
Secondly, that was not the only deciding factor that led me not to buy in PMR.
There were many other factors which I won't get into right now b/c I've already discussed them previously.