Zip Code 77084-Bear Creek area (Houston, Katy: apartments, foreclosures, low crime)

[houstonfan]

Hi, I know there have been some older threads about this zip code before but since communities can change rapidly in Houston, I'd like more current info on this zip code.
Looking for newer houses in this zip, circa 2004+. Safety, quality of construction and home value maintenance are key priorities!! Price <250k, 3bdrm <2500sqft is ideal. From my resesarch, it seems like Berkshire, Amesbury Park and Lakes of Pine Forest are my choices.
Can anyone comment on what they know about these subdivisions or recommend anything I missed? (I do not want to go further north to copperfield, nor west to Katy since my goal is to be as close to the memorial area as possible in that price range.) Thanks for your inputs!

[cheryjohns]

All are ok. I live in that zip and it is a mixed bag of tricks. The neighborhoods you have narrowed down to are all fine. There are foreclosures, as there are in almost all neighborhods, but they aren't the majority. Berkshire seems nicer than Lakes of Pine Forest, just because I have seen some homes in the latter that have a lot of cars, which isn't a good sign.

I know you mentioned 2004 forward, but if you will check out a little older homes, you might like Barkers Ridge (built in the 90's) and Deerfield Village (built in the late 80's). Both have the higher ceilings and open plans, for the most part.

[kittyhawk]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

Hi, I know there have been some older threads about this zip code before but since communities can change rapidly in Houston, I'd like more current info on this zip code.
Looking for newer houses in this zip, circa 2004+. Safety, quality of construction and home value maintenance are key priorities!! Price <250k, 3bdrm <2500sqft is ideal. From my resesarch, it seems like Berkshire, Amesbury Park and Lakes of Pine Forest are my choices.
Can anyone comment on what they know about these subdivisions or recommend anything I missed? (I do not want to go further north to copperfield, nor west to Katy since my goal is to be as close to the memorial area as possible in that price range.) Thanks for your inputs!

Those neigborhoods do have some nice homes. However, the issue in that area is that they are surrounded by lots of older, sub-100K homes and apartments. The schools are in rapid decline and most of the new retail in that area caters to new immigrants from Latin America. Take a drive down Highway 6 between Clay and W Little York, visit some of the retail, and you'll get an idea of the folks that live in the area. For these reasons, home values in that area will either decline or remain flat--especially with the higher end homes as the low end residental will bring the prices down. In addition, the traffic along Highway 6 and Clay Road is horrible. If you are going to spend 250K, I wouldn't spend it on a home in that area.

[houstonfan]

Yeah, thanks for the great advices posted. I drove around Hwy6 and E/W of Clay, and, ugh. I only liked Berkshire, of all the subdivs I listed, and that's while I'm deep in the subdivision. Once I drove out onto Hwy 6, a lot of punks (one car had a cheap body that has been pimped up with large wheels, bling-blings, and got garish paint job; another drove thru 2 red lights at, I'm guessing, about 80mph) and other disconcerting stuff. Actually, I saw tonnes of cars on driveways and all over the roads in ALL these subdivs, but that could just be b/c it's the holidays...I was giggling to myself as I had to weave around all these hapzardly parked cars, thinking about what first poster said.

[cheryjohns]

Dd you try the two older subdivisions I mentioned? That's the problem with newer construction - unless price point is high, they tend to look like what you described.

[houstonfan]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Dd you try the two older subdivisions I mentioned? That's the problem with newer construction - unless price point is high, they tend to look like what you described.

Hi Cheryjohns,

I did drive past those older neighborhoods. They were much nicer. The houses were just a little too old and a little too far and a little too large for me-but pricewise, wow you can get a lot of house for the buck! I think if I was considering Barker's ridge, for example, I would rather be in Krystle lake, south of IH10 b/c they're newer. I'm one of those ppl that like newer houses (I know, i know, no soul...). And those houses seem a little too large for me, I prefer <2500sqft. But thanks for pointing them out to me, i had not known of Barker's Ridge.

[kitty13n]

does anyone have any info on the bear creek subdivision.

[cheryjohns]

Villages of Bear Creek or Bear creek Village? They are completely different in age, floorplans, atmosphere, demographics, etc.

[Beto]

Probably Bear Creek Village.

[GoStros10]

kitty13n - Bear Creek Village is very small and only has a few (smaller) houses. You probably mean Villages of Bear Creek (has about 2k residents) - both are at Clay and Highway 6

I've lived in Villages of Bear Creek for about 15 years - it has homes that were built in the 70's, 80's, and early 90's. The homes built in the 70's are generally built better than most trac homes today - a lot of really nice Fuqua homes.

Some of the 80's and 90's houses were Standard Pacific - pretty nice floorplans and ok quality.

Theres also a new section with large patio homes at the front of the neighborhood - most about 2200 - 3000 sq ft.

The neighborhood also has its own fire department, police station, 2 olympic sized pools, and 3 sets of clay tennis courts.

Demographics-wise its mixed, but pretty low crime - the association sends out a police report to all residents in the news letter and not really anything out of the ordinary.

I'd recommend the area - I still like it after living here for 15 years - but its definitely not a master planned community with all beige houses and pristine shopping centers (the above depiction of highway 6 was unfortunately pretty accurate). [mod edit - 10 post to link off site]