Do the Subdivisions have Websites?? (Houston, Sugar Land: fit in, transplants, real estate) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

EleciaF · 08-09-2010, 10:06 AM

Hello!

I am moving to the Houston area from Rhode Island within the next couple of months. My husband will be working right off of 290, about 5 miles up from the N Loop Freeway (please excuse me if that doesn't make sense to you, I am COMPLETELY new to the area, the closest (proximity wise) to TX I have ever been is Miami... I have noticed all of the areas we have looked at so far on Realtor.com (like Sugar Land and Jersey"...") are in subdivisions or communities if you will. Most of them say they have community pools. I am trying to find out if the subdivisions have websites so I cold see how close the community pool is to the home I am looking at. If the pool is too far, I would want a pool in my backyard.

One more question, do any of you know (ball park) what the fees (HOA or whatever they are called??) are to live in these communities?

When my husband found out he got the job in Houston, we were SO excited. It was my 4th choice out of about 60 different locations in the country!!! I am getting a little nervous now as I read some of the posts on here talking about New Englander's. I don't know if it is just a few people on this site that have strong opinions or the Houston area in general? We are pretty open minded people and will try our HARDEST to not be one of those people who compare their new city to their old one constantly. From what I have heard it sounds like Houston and the surrounding areas are pretty diverse as far as cultures and backgrounds, so I am thinking we will fit in.

Thanks so much!
Elecia

dadsearchingforahouse · 08-09-2010, 10:16 AM

look up HAR.com as well. the listings therein have information on the HOA dues.
most of the subdivisions and/or master planned communities do have their own website. For example, where i live, its newterritory.org - 290 is one of the busiest freeways in town and that area (outside the beltway) is developing fast.

EleciaF · 08-09-2010, 10:32 AM

Thanks so much, that's a great help

houstonfan · 08-09-2010, 11:17 AM

Yes, har.com will tell you the HOA fees in their listing. Also, you'll see an arial map and from that, hopefully you can spot the community pool. Houston is a welcoming and friendly city, imo. Infact, probably 1/3 of us are transplants from other places.

City Love · 08-09-2010, 11:24 AM

Once you find a few communities you like. Type the name of it into google and then "HOA" at the end. It should pop up with some good information.

If you want to know the distance of the community center in that subdivision, just pull up google maps satellite view. You'll be able to easily spot the community pool in the neighborhood you are looking at, should be together with a tennis court. Maybe even a neighbors pool

If you plan on working on 290, 5 miles north on the 610 loop. You could look up north off 290 or even in the Heights, Oak Forest, etc around the 610/290 interchange. It just really depends on your price range and housing preference.

Good luck. Houston Real Estate - Houston Homes, Houston Home Value and Houston Relocation is a great resource here in Houston.

davidtk · 08-09-2010, 01:12 PM

Another recommendation for HAR.com. It sounds like you will also need a realtor. May I suggest that if you do, I would ask the realtor where they live. IMO, you want one that lives in or near the area you want to buy.

I've had good experiences with realtors fortunately, but local knowledge is important and there's no substitute for actually living in the neighborhood.

Oildog · 08-09-2010, 01:24 PM

Don't worry, in general the people in Houston are friendly. Like many big cities at least a third are not originally from here, but call it home nonetheless.

cheryjohns · 08-09-2010, 01:28 PM

har.com is much better than realtor.com. It updates from the MLS system every night, whereas realtor.com seems very behind, which means you will be looking at properties that have already sold.

If he is working around 290, another location that would be good is Copperfield. The dues run about $400 - $550 (depending on which part of Copperfield and the house size) but includes numerous parks and pools. There are some homes that have their own pool, but don't forget the headache of the maintenance. Schools are Cy-Fair, which is good.

http://www.copperfield.org/

EleciaF · 08-09-2010, 02:18 PM

Thanks everybody. We will use har.com from now on. I knew that realtor wasn't the best from my own exeprience in selling my home here. Glad you all could point me to a great source of info. We are looking to spend between 200-275k. Ideally, I would like a pool or to walk less than a block to the community pool. We are losing so much on our home here in RI, thank God you can get SO much more for your money in the Houston area! My jaw still hits the floor each time I see the amount and kind of house for the money. The yards here might be slightly larger, but for $200 k in a decent area the house would be smallish (1500 sf or smaller) and not too pretty...

Sampaguita · 08-09-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oildog

Don't worry, in general the people in Houston are friendly. Like many big cities at least a third are not originally from here, but call it home nonetheless.

Well said.

We are transplants (me via SoCal/NYC) as well and have absolutely no issues as transplants. We meet so many people who were transplants from 20 yrs ago to just a few months ago. I think if you come to Houston with the mindset you described then you will just have a normal period of adjustment which is to be expected.

Good luck with house-hunting and your move!