Need help with Midland!! (Houston, Dallas: real estate, apartments, mortgage)

[lhafer]

My huband may end up getting a job offer there. I know about the real estate situation there. We would be moving there this summer and staying for about 3 years or so before moving on. I know that apartments are super hard to come by. I've inquired about many different ones, as well as townhomes.

So we are looking at buying a cheaper home (from what we are used to) and making do and saving money while we are there. I actually am looking for a bit of a fixer upper that I can work on while he works (I love DIY projects). And hopefully be able to get a little money out of it in the long run.

Buy I have NO IDEA where the "good" areas and "bad" areas of Midland are. I've read on here "1-2 miles surrounding the loop is good" but does that mean anywhere? What about closer inside the city? We are coming from a suburb of Houston. Houston has no zoning, so you can have bad areas the next street over - there are really no "areas" of bad/good per se.

I would love to spend <$200k for a decent house (not real "fixing" required), or <$100-150k for a fixer (replace floors, remodel bathrooms, kitchen, etc but nothing too drastic). 2-3 bedrooms, and a decent back yard would be nice. Need SAFE areas as my husband will be working a lot and I will be home with the my girls. Where can I start looking??? What areas of town? I think hubby's job would have him driving around to a bunch of different sites, so work location might not be that important.

We have 2 small children, and we will just not do well in a camper/rv/hotel room so that's not an option. I have already sent in an application to a private school (Trinity) for my 1st grader for the fall in the chance that we make the move this summer. From what I've read on here and online, Trinity seems like a good school. So I think staying in Midland vs Odessa would be a better option to be closer to the school.

Would love some advice/recommendations!! Thank you!

[SVTRay]

Trinity is a good school and another is Hilander.

As for the suggested Loop radius, this includes from Business Loop 20/Wall st to the old Ball Stadium on Lamesa rd. Lamesa starting at Wadley headed South is a no go. Now just past Fairgrounds on the Loop (East of Lamesa rd) headed East is basically rural areas and with some pretty decent neighbor hoods...but It's hit or mis. I would check out h area surrounding he new Stadium on hwy 191 and th area round Business Loop 20 and Loop 250. They have been building a lot o new homes in this area.

Inside the Loop. Midland has lot of misc decent neighbor hoods inside the Loop or proper. Generally anything 1 north or south of Wadley is good with the exception on Lamesa. Midland Drive and Midkiff for example running ffrom North of the Loop to Cuthbert is decent. Anything south of Cuhbert is hit or mis.

As for pricing, you should be able to find something nice around $140-175k and in a decent area.

Here is some listings in your price range and decent neighbor hood.

3211 Lockheed Drive, Midland TX | MLS# 90109 - Trulia

3000 Fredna Place, Midland TX | MLS# 90137 - Trulia

4500 Gleneagles Drive, Midland TX | MLS# 89974 - Trulia

This one is a little cheaper area and still decent.

4310 Country Club Drive, Midland TX | MLS# 90134 - Trulia

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by SVTRay

Trinity is a good school and another is Hilander.

As for the suggested Loop radius, this includes from Business Loop 20/Wall st to the old Ball Stadium on Lamesa rd. Lamesa starting at Wadley headed South is a no go. Now just past Fairgrounds on the Loop (East of Lamesa rd) headed East is basically rural areas and with some pretty decent neighbor hoods...but It's hit or mis. I would check out h area surrounding he new Stadium on hwy 191 and th area round Business Loop 20 and Loop 250. They have been building a lot o new homes in this area.

Inside the Loop. Midland has lot of misc decent neighbor hoods inside the Loop or proper. Generally anything 1 north or south of Wadley is good with the exception on Lamesa. Midland Drive and Midkiff for example running ffrom North of the Loop to Cuthbert is decent. Anything south of Cuhbert is hit or mis.

As for pricing, you should be able to find something nice around $140-175k and in a decent area.

Here is some listings in your price range and decent neighbor hood.

3211 Lockheed Drive, Midland TX | MLS# 90109 - Trulia

3000 Fredna Place, Midland TX | MLS# 90137 - Trulia

4500 Gleneagles Drive, Midland TX | MLS# 89974 - Trulia

This one is a little cheaper area and still decent.

4310 Country Club Drive, Midland TX | MLS# 90134 - Trulia

Thanks for the info! Hillander didn't have any openings, as that was my first choice. Neither did the Montessori school.

I will say that we have built our 1st 2 homes from the ground up, so going to home that needs some work is a change and a challenge for us. Our current one we've only been in for 2.5 years. But our main goal is to save as much money as we can while we are there, so we don't think spending a ton on a mortgage is the best use of money. I'm up for the challenge - my husband is a lot more leary. Being that our current house is a 3000sqft 1 story that has 3 car garage, study, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and a gameroom all on 1 floor - he is rather loathe to give that up! We live in a very large master planned community that has tons of little parks/playgrounds, 2 huge swimming pools and they are building a new splashpad, we have tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. And this is just our neighborhood. So I have a feeling that Midland will be a bit of culture shock for us.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by lhafer

Thanks for the info! Hillander didn't have any openings, as that was my first choice. Neither did the Montessori school.

Hilander gets booked up fast...generally by generations of Midlander Natives. Even still, Trinity is a very good school...in some ways better. Another school would be Midland Christian. There is Midland Classical which isn't all thatbad, better than most publics. If all else fails, some of the Public schools like Santa Rita isn't bad. Our son spent 5 yrs at Hilander until we decided to move to Dallas. Well that didn't work and ended back in Midland an after the school started. So we put him in Santa Rita and he's been doin good considering it' his first public school.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by lhafer

I will say that we have built our 1st 2 homes from the ground up, so going to home that needs some work is a change and a challenge for us. Our current one we've only been in for 2.5 years. But our main goal is to save as much money as we can while we are there, so we don't think spending a ton on a mortgage is the best use of money. I'm up for the challenge - my husband is a lot more leary. Being that our current house is a 3000sqft 1 story that has 3 car garage, study, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and a gameroom all on 1 floor - he is rather loathe to give that up! We live in a very large master planned community that has tons of little parks/playgrounds, 2 huge swimming pools and they are building a new splashpad, we have tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, etc. And this is just our neighborhood. So I have a feeling that Midland will be a bit of culture shock for us.

We have a couple Master Planned Communities that have play ground and swimming pools bu you're looking at $300-500k homes. Midland does have soccer fields, baseball fields, race track, Polo, sports complex (AA baseball team), and their building a huge tennis complex as well. Odessa which is only 20 minutes away has a minor league Hockey team which is fun to watch as well as a public ice ring.

[Westerntraveler]

the north and northwest parts of Midland are the best parts of town

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by SVTRay

Hilander gets booked up fast...generally by generations of Midlander Natives. Even still, Trinity is a very good school...in some ways better. Another school would be Midland Christian. There is Midland Classical which isn't all thatbad, better than most publics. If all else fails, some of the Public schools like Santa Rita isn't bad. Our son spent 5 yrs at Hilander until we decided to move to Dallas. Well that didn't work and ended back in Midland an after the school started. So we put him in Santa Rita and he's been doin good considering it' his first public school.

Being non-church goers, Hillander was appealing to us. And it was more affordable than Trinity. But I saw there were a few decent public elementaries. My daughter goes to a really good public school now where we live, so if she ends up in private school, that will be a bit of a change for her. I assume Trinity has uniforms?

[debzkidz]

I've lived in both Midland and suburban Houston twice (Katy area once, Sugar Land once), and I will attest to the fact that you will be in culture shock. the problem I think you will have is that there are no large neighborhoods that even remotely resemble the type of neighborhood you are in now that will have homes in your price range. There are several really nice large neighborhoods, such as the Grasslands that will have that type of feel, but there will be nothing that inexpensive, especially now days. Lived in our last home in Midland for 5 years, and in that time completely repainted, new carpet, wood and tile, refinished cabinets etc and we were happy to sell it for $10,000 more than we paid for it. That was 8 years ago. Homes in that neighborhood are now selling more than double what we sold ours for. The cost of housing is amazing.

As far as schools go, trinity is excellent. I think probably better than Hillander. Hillander just has local snob appeal. Both my kids attended Santa Rita, and the oldest was at Goddard Jr High when we were transferred to Houston the last time. They were well prepared when they both entered junior high in the Katy school district when we moved.

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by debzkidz

I've lived in both Midland and suburban Houston twice (Katy area once, Sugar Land once), and I will attest to the fact that you will be in culture shock. the problem I think you will have is that there are no large neighborhoods that even remotely resemble the type of neighborhood you are in now that will have homes in your price range. There are several really nice large neighborhoods, such as the Grasslands that will have that type of feel, but there will be nothing that inexpensive, especially now days. Lived in our last home in Midland for 5 years, and in that time completely repainted, new carpet, wood and tile, refinished cabinets etc and we were happy to sell it for $10,000 more than we paid for it. That was 8 years ago. Homes in that neighborhood are now selling more than double what we sold ours for. The cost of housing is amazing.

As far as schools go, trinity is excellent. I think probably better than Hillander. Hillander just has local snob appeal. Both my kids attended Santa Rita, and the oldest was at Goddard Jr High when we were transferred to Houston the last time. They were well prepared when they both entered junior high in the Katy school district when we moved.

Thanks for your input. We are in the Kingwood/Humble area and are used to pine trees. I know it will be a major change. But I've also lived in the hill country in a tiny town, Austin, DFW, etc. just another check box on the list. We will adapt.

We could afford a $300k house, as that's what we live in now. But our goal is to get to Colorado, and we want to save our pennies to buy our dream home there. So I would rather get a bit of a fixer in a decent neighborhood and put my power tools to use.

I've heard that about Hillander and the snob factor. I'm happy to get her into a good school. It will be one less thing to have to worry about if we move.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by debzkidz

Hillander just has local snob appeal.

I've been called a lot of things in my life but never a snob lol