Spring/Klein ISD best area (Houston, The Woodlands: real estate, custom home, neighborhoods)

[emtaboy]

Hi and thanks in advance for anyone who offers their insights!

I am considering a move from the Midwest to Houston area and have been looking online at the Spring/Klein ISD area. I am looking for the "best" area within the Klein ISD/Spring area. By that, I mean highest property values and best re-sale in the future if I need to move again. Also, why do you think this area is best?? Do you think the property values are justifiable?? I tend to listen to the "market" and if an area is expensive it generally is for a variety of reasons. I have been to The Woodlands and understand why that area is more expensive than Spring/Klein but it may be too far from downtown Houston for me and perhaps others in the future...ie resale.

Anyone move from Midwest to this area?? What do you think? I have young child, so schools are not an issue but would be in future. How are the elementary schools in the "best" area of Klein ISD?? What about the high school in this area?

This area seems to have decent trade-off between housing prices/distance to Houston and schools. In fact, seems very inexpensive relative to other areas and this concerns me as to "problems" this area may be going through. Is this a valid observation or am I way off? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

[Supermac34]

The Klein area is a very nice area. My wife and I love it. Klein High School for all of its "problems" is a highly ranked tier 1 high school in the metro area.

77379 is a big zip code, but its hard to go wrong when you search in www.har.com with that zip code.

Subdivisions that are nice depending on price range are: Gleannloch, Windrose, Memorial Northwest, Spring Creek Oaks/Forest, Champions, Champion Forest, The Falls at Champions, Champion Woods, the Vintage, etc. There are dozens of smaller neighborhoods in the area as well that are too numerous to mention.

The elementary schools are considered very good..the thing to look for is what High school they eventually feed up to.

As long as the feed Klein Oak, Klein Collins, or Klein High, you should be good. Avoid areas that feed Klein Forest.

[emtaboy]

supermac! I noticed that new construction in Gleannoch was going in the $70-$80 range. That being said, should older homes be at least this low? We have a lot of flexibility as to price of house. For us, even a house from mid 80's or early 90's still seems "new". Looking at har.com in the 77379 zip code you mention, it seems most homes are being offered for more than $80ish per sq ft. Do you think they are just asking too much and they actually would sell in that price range??

How is traffic in the area, say on a Saturday afternoon?? I know there is a lot of traffic in general but would hate to be stuck in traffic on a Saturday. How about resale, what things should I consider?? Thanks again!

[Lost_In_Translation]

Avoid living near FM 1960 (which isn't Spring/Klein for the most part except where it feeds Klen Forest) and traffic isn't an issue on the weekends. The artery roads (Louetta, Spring Cypress, and Cypresswood) all flow fairly well outside of rush hour (or football games).

Most of the neighborhoods are just fine depending on what your price range is. The most prestigious, if you can call it that, neighborhood is Champions. But the new and old neighborhoods really just differentiate house to house (though I'd avoid the newest homes built during the boom just because anybody threw up anything then it seems. When you see a house go from foundation to finished in like 2 weeks, you have to be suspect).

For what its worth, I grew up in Spring Creek Forest and Spring Creek Oaks, which both have great elementary's that children could walk to. Other neighborhoods are set up similarly, so you just have to look to find the one you like.

Welcome to Houston. Hope you like mosquitoes.

As to your suspicion of a tradeoff, its not the quality life in Spring that you're trading, its getting downtown. I-45 North is a nightmare that is getting worse every year and there doesn't seem to be any fix other than for people to give up and move to other artery roads. If you're going to commute downtown, I would highly recommend thinking about taking a commuter bus from a park and ride (which don't have the same issues mostly as the inner city buses) or finding a coworker nearby to carpool with. The mainlane traffic in the mornings could drive a buddhist monk mad.

[crone]

Since the State took out the suicide lane traffic on 1960 is much better. The people who were against it even say the traffic moves much better. I'll take 1960 over Kuykendahl at Louetta or 2920 any day.I'm in the Champions area and it can't be beat.

[emtaboy]

Thanks to all who have posted. I'm still curious as to thoughts on what 20ish year old housing stock should sell for. With new construction going for $80ish sq foot, do sellers of homes that, while perhaps very well maintained, are still priced at closer to $100 foot have any real chance of getting that much? What should homes in Champions area sell for, assuming they are 20ish years old?

That said, how do you guys see pricing today relative to past. For example, we all know that prices are down everywhere, but when looking at current prices, to what year do you think they have regressed to?? That is, how long ago where homes priced this low?? Seems to me we may have regressed to about 2004 or 2005 on average nationally. How has the Spring/Klein area done??

Thanks again to all for chiming in!

[modster]

It depends on the neighborhood. Memorial Northwest, for example, has always been a good buy per square foot and unless things have changed recently, will probably be less per foot than Champion Forest. Champions, down on 1960 in Cy-Fair, will be one of the higher priced ones along with some of the small gated communities off Louetta like Sterling Gate, (I think that is the name).

[Supermac34]

It completely depends. If you go into Champion Forest, despite being older homes, you will pay a bit of a premium because they were/are custom homes built by better builders and the neighborhood itself commands a premium too.

In Memorial Northwest, you are going to get a ton of house for the buck, but the homes, for the most part, aren't quite as well built and won't appreciate much. You'll buy it cheap and you'll sell it cheap, but it WILL sell, as there is a demand for neighborhoods like that.

In places like Gleanloch, Windrose, Champion Woods, etc. they are all "mixed media" type neighborhoods. They'll have less expensive tract homes that are not as well built, and they'll have medium to high end custom homes that are more expensive, but better...so it is more of a personal choice.

One thing to take to heart, you are going to have a hard time over paying in the area because most of the houses and neighborhoods are appropriately priced for what they are in the area.

You can "Direct Message" me through the board if you have a specific question about particular neighorhoods in the area as I have lived in the area for 30 years.

[crone]

If you want an area with good schools and a likely appreciation on your house purchase why did you pick Spring Klein?

[emtaboy]

I'm interested in Spring/Klein because of location, housing cost, school district quality and demographic stability...ie median income remaining stable. I am NOT choosing this area for real estate appreciation...I just do not want to buy into an area that is at a tipping point and may go down hill. Based on those metrics, I think Spring/Klein makes a lot of sense. You take more risk but you get more too. If I were looking at low risk, then buy in Woodlands or "better" suburb. But in those places, new housing stock seems to always put pressure on housing prices, so not sure they will really appreciate either, and indeed may depreciate if new housing stock keeps downward pressure on the existing stock.

So Spring/Klein ISD seems to offer a lot of "bang for the buck"....does that make sense or am I way off??