Buying vs. Renting in Sugar Land ($2000 per month budget) (Houston: sale, apartments)

[djt79]

Which one will get you a nicer home assuming the same monthly housing budget?

We have good reasons to consider both, including first renting, then buying, but we must stay in the same school attendance zone (Clements, most likely).

Thanks.

[Topaz]

The $2000 per month budget doesn't tell us much about how much home you can afford to buy because we don't know how much you have as a down payment. That will make a big difference in what you can afford.

There are pros and cons to renting or buying. If you don't know the area at all, I'd rent for 6-12 months to ensure you really want to stay and then buy a home.

[AK123]

^ Agree with above.

[djt79]

Thanks for your responses. I was more interested in the relative strengh of our housing budget dollar between the two approaches, rather than what exactly $2000 can get. Let's assume 20% down, but as you can imagine, parting with that much $$ is one of the reasons why long term renting seems appealing. Another is that we'll have to move to Houston area probably within a month.

So, to rephrase the question, if we buy, for instance, a $250,000 home with 20% down, i.e. if we finance $200,000, and our monthly housing expenses come to $xxxx (not necessarily $2000), would that same $xxxx rent get us into the same $250,000 house? A $500,000 house? A $150,000 house?

Again, once we do buy, we'd like to avoid changing school attendance zones.

[Topaz]

I don't think you can find a $2000 per month rental for a house worth $500K and zoned to Clements, but you probably won't end up with a $150K house for that amount of money, either. Something in between but the biggest problem is finding rental houses zoned to the most desirable schools like Clements. When we moved here, we had a choice of exactly one rental house because we didn't have a big window of opportunity to choose. But I'm still glad that we rented for a year because it would have stressed me out to buy a house for a part of the country I hadn't even yet visited.

[Sampaguita]

I'm with Topaz on this one in regards to leasing before buying especially when moving to a new city or state. We chose to rent first in what I thought was a complete no-brainer (The Woodlands). It is a very desirable area for many but it's just not up our alley. In the last few months, we've been able to drive around different parts of Houston and its suburbs, read some of the very informative threads here & narrow down our choices. I'm so glad we rented first because I would be kicking myself in the head if I'd insisted we buy first (TW was MY choice).

As for your question regarding what kind of house 2k/month rent would get you into - I think that might really depend on the landlord's mortgage, wouldn't it? For example, we've looked at 2 houses in the same community - basically the same square footage, same year built, same type of lot - but a price difference of almost $400 in rent even though the lower-priced one has "updates" like granite counters in the kitchen & all the bathroom vanities. Why? The more expensive rental has a higher mortgage than the lower-priced one whose owners have owned for some 25 yrs. So, I don't know if this is going to be a question with an easy answer.

[djt79]

Thank you for such great informative responses. I knew, of course, that this isn't an easy one to answer. We're planning to fly in in a couple of days to see for ourselves, and hopefully select something so we can do the move as soon as possible. Based on the limited information we have, Sugar Land does indeed look like a no-brainer, but we may be terribly wrong. We're also considering Clear Lake, and maybe, just maybe, something inside the Loop that zones to Bellaire. We have more questions, but I may ask them in separate threads.

[SpendWiselyTexas]

My family and I set our minds on living in one area of Houston but fell completely in love with another once we got here. There are lots of great places here. For budget friendly ideas on things to do and buy once you get to Houston check out www.spendwiselytexas.blogspot.com. There isn't anything posted on Sugarland yet but may give you ideas on exploring the Houston area.

[georgecogirl]

You can go to www.Har.com and put in single family home. You can choose rental.
I looked in the same area you looked in and narrowed it down better by selecting fort bend school and 77479 zip code. This narrows it down to First Colony and New Territory. Each listing almost always lists the schools. (You will want to verify when viewing the homes).

As far as buying and renting power for your money. As far as renting it really depends on the current note on a rental by the owner. You could possibly get a original owner home in a sale cheaper than renting a comparable home. It depends on the size home you want and what is available.
Clements has a large area. The middle school could change.
We just registered our daughter at Clements for next year and everyone was very helpful. Almost life private school without having to pay more than the taxes you already pay.
By the way that is where I originally wanted to live but my husband insisted on Pearland. Whoever is in charge of picking out the schools should have final say.

[zhugeliang1]

Are there apartments (three bedroom) zoned to Clements? Just wondering.