Moving family to Houston from Pac NW (Sugar Land, League City: real estate, apartment)

[analogkid84]

Greetings all,

Moving from Marysville, WA, to take a position at an institute affiliated with MD Anderson. I will be coming down in early Feb to get an apartment and start work. My wife and kids will follow in June/July. We have looked, initially, at the Katy area for a home to rent for our first year there while we scope things out. My son will be a high school sophomore and my daughter will be in seventh grade. We would like to find an enriching public school for high school (advanced classes, AP, etc.) that also has a robotics team for him. Our daughter is a competitive swimmer, so we would like to be close to a team for her.
Our mortgage here is around $1800, so we would like to be at, or maybe a bit under that down there. Would like a three bedroom/two bath house with den and garage (two car would be nice in order to accommodate a power rack and other strength training gear). Otherwise, nothing real special - we're pretty low maintenance people. Reasonably safe, family oriented/friendly neighborhoods.
I lived forty miles from work up here, so am not averse to commuting a bit, though given the size of that area traffic is probably quite a bit worse than here. I would like to try to utilize a vanpool if possible.
Thoughts on areas to consider given the above information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

tim

[cheryjohns]

My first thought is Sienna Plantation. It will be closer to work than Katy. You are right - just get an apartment close to work for now - and then start your search when the summer gets closer. Bear in mind our property taxes - $1800 sounds like about $220K (after down payment).

[dehouston]

Hello and congratulations on your move to Texas. I live minutes from the medical center but you will find that $1800 monthly or anything in the $200K area isn't realistic close in to town. I am a native Houstonian and am very familiar with the different parts of town and the suburbs. You have many options and Katy is a good one. One that you should also consider is League City/Webster - its ClearCreek school district. They have GREAT public schools and have some of the top ranked schools in Texas. It's really not a bad commute. I've had the pleasure of driving there during commute hours to take my neices to school and had no problems. Another great suburb is Sugarland due to it's proximity to the medical center but you have to be careful where you live there because they have areas and schools that you wouldn't want to send you kids to - same in Katy. Places to avoid I'd say would be Pearland. I've known people that have lived there and they aren't happy with the schools and their housing doesn't hold it's value - but it is only 15 minutes with no traffic to the Med Center. It was much nicer when it was first developed than it has become over the years. Here is a website with all the housing listed on the MLS in Houston so you can see what the different areas offer. HAR.com : Houston Real estate, Houston homes, Houston Realtors, TX Homes You can even see how many homes are in foreclosure in certain areas which I think is very important. If there are lots of foreclosures that means that the demand for housing in that area isn't strong which should tell you something. There are many neighborhoods inside the city where you don't see ANY foreclosures and that's because close in neighborhoods maintain there value due to demand. The problem with living in the city are the higher costs of living and the fact that HISD has very few good public schools. Most people I know that live in the city send their kids to private school which is very expensive. If an area has good schools public schools then the housing prices will be reflective of that. So there are lots of things to consider when moving but you do have some good options. Houston is reasonable if you stay in the outskirts and you get a LOT more for your money than if you live close in but the value isn't as strong either. If you plan on staying a while you should be just fine. Anyway, good luck to you. Houston is a great city and the economy is MUCH stronger here than anywhere else in the city and you are going to work at a World renowned Hospital - awesome!!

[Topaz]

Welcome to sunny weather! We moved to Sugar Land from the Pacific Northwest and contrary to the predictions of all our Pacific Northwest friends, we are quite happy.

[analogkid84]

dehouston and topaz - thanks for your input. Almost certainly not looking to live right in the city. Other than having a decent commute, I don't see much point right now. I've lived with a 40 mile commute each way for the past eleven years and a slightly off-kilter work schedule, so I'm prepared to do the same down there.