Moving to Houston.... (Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Missouri City: condos, crime rate, neighborhoods)

[Redrover]

If you are planning to work in the Med Center why would you want to live so far away? Every day the traffic gets worse and worse so living closer to where you work makes for a lot less stress. Suggest you might take a look at Pearland as it would be a much shorter commute than the Woodlands. Not knowing what you want to spend on housing, you may want to look in the West University area (if you are moving from a high housing price you may have the money to spend). It isn't cheap but what a breeze to drive every day and it would give you a big chunk of convience - you could even meet the plumber or furniture delivery truck with a quick turnaround. Bottom line, the shorter your commute the happier you will be.

[nelle]

Thanks Rantbrown for your help with the info. I appreciate it very much. We're buying a house in Frontera. I think it is a new development with a bunch of new homes being build at the moment in the Sterling Ridge area. Do you know if there is a health food store in the Woodlands area or nearby? I am a health nut and only shop at health food store where I currently live. Stores like WholeFoods or Traders Joes or even a farmers market type of thing? I like organic food and I am a little worried if The Woodlands don't have such market. Also, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but, roughly what is the electric bill be and gas, water, home insurance, and car insurance living in The Woodlands? I would like to know so I have an idea of the living expenses be like there. I visited there and fell in love with the community. We are waiting for our house to finish building, then we'll make the move.

[randtbrown]

Nelle-

HEB Market has the largest selection of organic foods in the area- lots of organic fruits/veggies, free range meats, and other organic foods to boot. They actually have theiir own store brand-organic food that is priced very good. There is a wholefoods in houston. I don't think we have a trader joes in the houston area. Also, for farmer's markets during the season you could drive the 45 min to Hempstead to their market. Small road side stands are also open in the summer in the area.

I can only tell you what I pay recently in the area (and mind you I'm not subject to all Woodlands taxes so I may be a little lower- but probably not a ton).

Electric bill has been $350-380 (2-story, 2100 sf, kept on 80)
Gas is about $35
Water about $25 (not sure about the differences in the mud taxes over there)
Home insurance- honest don't know- it is in my mortgage.
Car insurance- I pay $1600/ year for 2 adults
And I'm not sure what your HOA fees will be- I know they are high over there.

Who is building your home?

[nelle]

Plantation Homes is building our house. What do you think of Plantation Homes? Would like to hear your opinion. Thank you for all your info. I now know and have an idea what it would cost to live there.

[randtbrown]

I don't know much about plantaion. My husband built for DR Horton and now builds for David Weekly. I do know the Woodlands is pretty strict on who they allow to build on their land so can't be bad

Glad to help!

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by randtbrown

$50,000 isn't going to buy you a house here. Even with the low costs- that is way low. Maybe a mobile home in the burbs in a park.....not a high suggestion. have you checked out har.com? that is the best place to look for housing- just enter in your search criteria and it will pull what is available!

$45,000
Address: 6314 CAMBRIDGE GLEN LN
Property Type: Townhouse / Condo
Status: ACTIVE ON MARKET
Bedrooms: 3 Bedrooms
Baths: 2 Full & 0 Half Bath(s)
Garage: 2 CAR Detached
Stories: 2 STORY
Style: Traditional
Year Built: 1979/Appraisal District
Build Sqft: 2,492 / Appraisal District
Lotsize: 1,800 / Appraisal District
Subdivision:: SOUTHWOOD PL 5 TH
Mrkt Area: Bellaire
City: HOUSTON
Zip Code: 77035-3901
Key Map® : PAGE 570D
MLS# / Area: 3066155 / 20-BELLAIRE SOUTH

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FORECLOSURE, PROPERTY IS BEING SOLD AS IS * GREAT 3BED 2BATH INVESTMENT PROPERTY



$22,500
Address: 10110 FORUM WEST DR 322
Property Type: Townhouse / Condo
Status: ACTIVE ON MARKET
Bedrooms: 2 Bedrooms
Baths: 2 Full & 0 Half Bath(s)
Garage: 0 CAR
Stories: 1 STORY
Style: Traditional
Year Built: 1981/Appraisal District
Build Sqft: 1,054 / Appraisal District
Lotsize: 0 / Appraisal District
Subdivision:: WINFIELD 2 COND
Mrkt Area: Beltway 8 & Hwy 59 S
City: HOUSTON
Zip Code: 77036-8307
Key Map® : PAGE 529V
MLS# / Area: 4371861 / 21-BELLAIRE WEST

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Nice two bedroom in a convenient location. Currently tenant occupied. Very close to 59 & Beltway, shopping, and entertainment. Great investment opportunity too... Unit can also be sold along with two other units in community. You don't want to miss this one!



Am I missing something? Whats the catch, why so cheap? I can find hundreds of condos in the $20k to $30k range and houses around $50k in Houston!

[randtbrown]

Originally Posted by Need_affordable_home

I too am considering Houston, hows the jobs there? Can I get a cheap nice $50,000 house within 10 minutes commute to work?

When I do a search on HAR, I do get a large number of hits, but of those, many are mobile homes, as I mentioned.

Many are not in houston (for example...Livingston, Cleaveland, Hunstville, Trinity, ect are not really easily driveable for a daily basis- especially NOT in 10 minutes.

And many are like this one http://search.har.com/engine/indexde...0&backButton=Y. And you asked for "nice".

Also, LOCATION is important. Houston has pretty bad pockets of really bad areas that I personally wouldn't step foot in even during the day. Especially close to the city. Just like all cities I guess.

And I do appologize, I wasn't considering a condo- buying those is a fairly new thing around here. And you said a HOUSE- which is different than a condo/townhouse. I still would say that finding a nice condo in a safe area would be nearly impossible for $50K.

I still stand by it- not gonna happen- NICE, HOUSE, in the CITY (and I'm going to add SAFE because we should all be concerned about that) for $50K. Now if you are okay with really run down, major fixer-upper, condo, in a bad area- maybe. And I do realize my idea of "live-able" and "safe" and "nice" could be totally different than yours. Sorry.

[Need_affordable_home]

I do want a house or even condo in a good area. I have done another search and I am getting many hits for $50,000 houses with really nice houses for $100k were talking 4 bedrooms, newer development in new areas.

In my last post above, I have shown you a $22,500 condo. Can you read the description and Address: 10110 FORUM WEST DR 322. Is this in a good location or not? You are the expert. Many thanks for your help!

[observer]

Need affordable home,

What part of Florida do you live in? Because I live in South Florida and have visited the Houston area several times and can give you comparable areas in Houston to that of South Florida.

As far as $50,000 homes in good neighborhoods in Houston, highly unlikely.
For $100,000 it is possible to buy a 3/2 1400-1800 sq.ft. home with a 2 car garage (built in 1970-1980) in a nice suburban neighborhood such as Katy which is about 25 miles west of downtown Houston. However, for that price you may need to do some remodeling and minor repairs. But it could be found if look hard enough and research.

I have driven around the neighborhoods where condos are listed for $30,000 about 5-10 miles from downtown and I WOULD NOT want to live there with kids if I want good schools in a safe neighborhood. About an hour north of Downtown Houston you can find a 2 bedroom condo about 800 sq ft. in a good neighborhood for about $60,000 and even $50,000.

I am somewhat familiar with some of the areas and am actually considering relocating there within the next 4-5 years. For now, I plan of visiting other cities/states in order to determine where I would eventually like to relocate to. The Houston area however is tops on my list right now.

[Need_affordable_home]

Originally Posted by observer

Need affordable home,

What part of Florida do you live in? Because I live in South Florida and have visited the Houston area several times and can give you comparable areas in Houston to that of South Florida.

As far as $50,000 homes in good neighborhoods in Houston, highly unlikely.
For $100,000 it is possible to buy a 3/2 1400-1800 sq.ft. home with a 2 car garage (built in 1970-1980) in a nice suburban neighborhood such as Katy which is about 25 miles west of downtown Houston. However, for that price you may need to do some remodeling and minor repairs. But it could be found if look hard enough and research.

I have driven around the neighborhoods where condos are listed for $30,000 about 5-10 miles from downtown and I WOULD NOT want to live there with kids if I want good schools in a safe neighborhood. About an hour north of Downtown Houston you can find a 2 bedroom condo about 800 sq ft. in a good neighborhood for about $60,000 and even $50,000.

I am somewhat familiar with some of the areas and am actually considering relocating there within the next 4-5 years. For now, I plan of visiting other cities/states in order to determine where I would eventually like to relocate to. The Houston area however is tops on my list right now.

I also am from south Florida! Your advice is much welcomed! My dad thought those $50k houses and $30k condos might be in bad areas/neighboors. How bad are the $30k condos? The ones I see are 2 bedrooms, around 1000 square feet and the pictures of the exterior and interior look decent, no luxury but livable. I will be living alone, no wife, no roomate, no children. How is Houston for you? Do the jobs pay as well as south Florida? Is there alot to do in that big city? How many malls and walmarts? Is there good public bus transportation?