What's the Catch with Housing Prices? (Houston, Allen: homeowners insurance, house prices, neighborhoods)

[MyG5]

So, someone please tell me why housing in Houston is so inexpensive (compared to other big cities)? There's gotta be a catch. High utility bills? I know about the taxes and HOI, anything else?

Thanks!

[TheBayouCity]

High humidity, no scenery, high taxes, lack of history, and a brown beaches.

Given all this, I still love Houston. I've visited many cities in CA, CO, FL, ID, NM, IL, etc. But Houston is still great. Although some other cities do have their charm.

[Midway_FUBAR]

Even the taxes and homeowners insurance aren't that bad IMHO...

I have been able to appeal and reduce my property appraisal almost every year for the past 6 that I've tried keeping my taxes at least reasonable.

As for Homeowners insurance its not that bad as long as you are willing to shop. If you have a new contruction then every company should be pretty competitive. If you are looking at 30+ year old properties then you need to do some research before committing to an insurance company. I've seen price swings as much as $800 on the same property from company to company...

As for the other factors in low housing costs I would add the fact that we have a lot of land... Lots of land means developers get it cheap and they in turn are able to keep the home costs low by building massive neighborhoods on land that was pasture just a few months before. The downside to that is that most of our Master Planned Communities have very little in the way of old-growth trees and it will be years before the parks provide good solid shade trees...

[Mr. Football]

Lots of land. Lots of cheap labor. No Union power. Laissez Fair Development.

[BearBranch]

Kingwood and TheWoodlands have alot of the old growth trees

[Yetti0]

Originally Posted by MyG5

So, someone please tell me why housing in Houston is so inexpensive (compared to other big cities)? There's gotta be a catch. High utility bills? I know about the taxes and HOI, anything else?

Thanks!

Why is everything a "Catch"?

Apparantly the word is getting out that Texas is a great place to live compared to the cities theyare in. I hear this everywhere I travel. Cabbies ask me questions about things they are hearing.

Personally, We knew this huge influx of people were going to come. We are not looking forward to what we see happened in Florida and California and Arizona. We are just next on the list of "undiscovered" places after the others have been overwhelmed by a growing population.

You think things are cheap now? you should have been here in 1827 when they were giving away free land and many did not ask but were grateful to get a place to live when Europe was plagued with wars and too many people.

There was no catch. It was the "new world".

We had a mass migration of new people in the 1970s. it changed the face of houston back then. I am sure this next wave will change it even further.

First I hear "Gee houses are so cheap here!" Then the complaints come in.

WOW No unions? <How do you think things get done cheaply around here?" We dont liike unions in this state because they have out lived their function from the late 19th and early 20c.
People want cheap things then balk about wages.

Then comes the complaints about the heat and humidity. Woah! Bark about it in the winter when the north is BLizzard in!

Then comes the "Why don't you do things like we do back home?" KEY words "BACK HOME" Dorothy yiou are not in Kansas any more. Instead of trying to make us look like your old residence , accept the fact you are living in our "Neck of the woods".

Then comes. "I hear the schools are horrible" Then do something about it. Volunteer as a parent. Get involved. Schools are not a nanny. Amazing my daughter works on Wall Street quite successfully and is a product of this public school system. You are what you make of your education. Hard for some to take that kind of responsiblity. All too easy to blame the schools.

Then its Where is the history? No history in this new place. I remember Lincoln and Washington claiming the same things about their places... I guess some people are into "Making history". Novel idea huh?

Why not ask us natives what we think about all the new people coming here? Aren't you interested? Dont you want to know what your new neighbors and family are like and what they like?

[Yetti0]

Let me get back with ya on that one..I am having a seance tonight and contacting the Allen brothers from NY who "founded" Houston as a development scam for NYers. You should see the orginal maps and ads. Quite interesting.. People had the same question in the 19th c. On the way to Texas there use to be roadside wooden signs where pioneers would carve in questions like that for other pilgrams to answer who were returning or in route for business. Sort of an early version of internet boards.

Originally Posted by MyG5

So, someone please tell me why housing in Houston is so inexpensive (compared to other big cities)? There's gotta be a catch. High utility bills? I know about the taxes and HOI, anything else?

Thanks!

[i am just me]

Originally Posted by Yetti0

Why is everything a "Catch"?

Apparantly the word is getting out that Texas is a great place to live compared to the cities theyare in. I hear this everywhere I travel. Cabbies ask me questions about things they are hearing.

Personally, We knew this huge influx of people were going to come. We are not looking forward to what we see happened in Florida and California and Arizona. We are just next on the list of "undiscovered" places after the others have been overwhelmed by a growing population.

You think things are cheap now? you should have been here in 1827 when they were giving away free land and many did not ask but were grateful to get a place to live when Europe was plagued with wars and too many people.

There was no catch. It was the "new world".

We had a mass migration of new people in the 1970s. it changed the face of houston back then. I am sure this next wave will change it even further.

First I hear "Gee houses are so cheap here!" Then the complaints come in.

WOW No unions? <How do you think things get done cheaply around here?" We dont liike unions in this state because they have out lived their function from the late 19th and early 20c.
People want cheap things then balk about wages.

Then comes the complaints about the heat and humidity. Woah! Bark about it in the winter when the north is BLizzard in!

Then comes the "Why don't you do things like we do back home?" KEY words "BACK HOME" Dorothy yiou are not in Kansas any more. Instead of trying to make us look like your old residence , accept the fact you are living in our "Neck of the woods".

Then comes. "I hear the schools are horrible" Then do something about it. Volunteer as a parent. Get involved. Schools are not a nanny. Amazing my daughter works on Wall Street quite successfully and is a product of this public school system. You are what you make of your education. Hard for some to take that kind of responsiblity. All too easy to blame the schools.

Then its Where is the history? No history in this new place. I remember Lincoln and Washington claiming the same things about their places... I guess some people are into "Making history". Novel idea huh?

Why not ask us natives what we think about all the new people coming here? Aren't you interested? Dont you want to know what your new neighbors and family are like and what they like?

My thoughts EXACTLY!!!

why in the world should people have to auction up an arm or a leg for a decent place to stay!?!

texas is BOTH beautiful and affordable...deal with it!

[Wysiwyg]

this loop highway structure and 'car-required' commuting seem to play a part. not too many cities give you so many choices where and and how far from work to live. unlike in NJ and NY you pay a premium being close to a train station or the highway to work.
another is that you must be averaging the prices of homes. there are lots of old and very old (were) cookiecutter homes - and many are falling apart. many (if not all) of them aren't built to last. you usually get a concrete pour for a slab/subfloor. no basement or concrete walls (just weatherproofing behind brick/masonry facade and dry/paperwalls). neighborhood/neighbor/community/school/etc quality is down the drain once house prices (as they age) becomes "too affordable"

[Txstar]

Try looking for a house in the "inner loop" or galleria area (where I think the most character is) where it's hard to find a decent house under 350k. Btw, this covers a large area, not just some small area hidden away in the middle of the city.