Relocating to Midland (Houston, Katy, Briar: for sale, HOA, low crime)

[hadey007]

I have recently been relocated to Midland by the company I work for. I thought about quitting, but love what I do (rather than gamble with another company that may not be as stable).

I have been to Midland twice to check homes, but I have not been impressed. I live in a suburb of Houston and the community has parks, pools and tennis courts while been well taken care of (we pay a HOA fee). The houses my realtor showed me do not have these amenities and she claims that houses in Midland don't usually have them. She said some communities pay HOA but it's mainly for thrash pickup.

Can anyone help me with the good areas in Midland especially master planned communities for upper middle class young professionals - with relatively low crime rate, amenities and where I can get houses for under 300k.

I will really appreciate any help I can get.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by hadey007

I have recently been relocated to Midland by the company I work for. I thought about quitting, but love what I do (rather than gamble with another company that may not be as stable).

I have been to Midland twice to check homes, but I have not been impressed. I live in a suburb of Houston and the community has parks, pools and tennis courts while been well taken care of (we pay a HOA fee). The houses my realtor showed me do not have these amenities and she claims that houses in Midland don't usually have them. She said some communities pay HOA but it's mainly for thrash pickup.

Can anyone help me with the good areas in Midland especially master planned communities for upper middle class young professionals - with relatively low crime rate, amenities and where I can get houses for under 300k.

I will really appreciate any help I can get.

Welcome to Midland.

We don't have a lot of master planned communities but we have a few. The one that comes to mind thinking of Houston, is the Woodlands It's just up the road from me on N. A st (North of Loop 250). The area has a low crime rate, a community pool, walking park/pond and looks to be in your price range. It's also a new neighbor hood, so the homes are realitivly new and either surrounded by open fields or established upper income neighbor hoods.

New Home Constructions for Sale - Tom Woodruff Signature Homes - Midland Texas

PS you don't owe me a finders fee if you close on one but I like Dr Pepper

[debzkidz]

Midland does have a few masterplanned, but not like you would find in Houston. I've lived in both Midland and on the west side of Houston (Katy area). The neighborhood that is most like what you are talking about would be The Grasslands. They have pools, playgrounds etc.

I believe Briarwood also has a neighborhood pool and playground as well. I know there are some other newer ones as well, but I haven't been back for a visit in a couple of years.

As for the trash pickup, maybe in some of the newer ones, that's the case, but the one we lived in, as well as the others I'm aware of are on city trash pickup and the HOA had nothing to do with it.

Keep in mind the reason why Houston has all those masterplanned communities in the first place. Lack of zoning and subdivisions in unincorporated areas. Without HOA's in Houston, you could have someone raising goats in their backyard. Midland has some pretty strict zoning regulations.

We lived in Polo Park, which has an HOA and is an area of homes built mostly in the 80's and early 90's located at the loop and Garfield. It had a neighborhood pool and clubhouse and a small playground. The pool is not however is not a large water park type like you might find in Houston. It was quite nice, but there were no lifeguards on duty. It was strictly, swim at your own risk. Kids were not allowed to swim unaccompanied by parents until they were something like 8 or 9. My sons loved it. They could just ride their bikes up and meet up with their friends. There were always enough adults around, that none of them dared act up, because it was very much a community and any of the adults there didn't have a problem correcting kids which misbehaved. (very old school) It was small enough that most people knew who all the kids belonged to, and didn't have a problem calling the parents if there was ever an issue. All of the moms usually took going by to check in on the kids. Our boys loved living there. They could ride their bikes to the pool, 7-11, Swensons Ice Cream shop, the polo fields and really all over. It was as close to a "Leave it to Beaver" lifestyle as you can get.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by debzkidz

Keep in mind the reason why Houston has all those masterplanned communities in the first place. Lack of zoning and subdivisions in unincorporated areas. Without HOA's in Houston, you could have someone raising goats in their backyard. Midland has some pretty strict zoning regulations.

Exactly,

Anyhow, I have friends in both Polo Park and Grasslands and their nice places to live. Grasslands has done a lot of expanding in recent time and you can find a few homes under 300k. Polo Park on the other hand maybe a hair higher but can't find any for sale ATM.

[Westerntraveler]

Grasslands