Country living in Houston area

[Medved]

Originally Posted by deckhanddavy

Fulshear and Alvin. Fulshear may be out of your price range, but it's truly beautiful country living. Alvin has a low quality of living and high taxes, but plenty of land to build on. Seabrook and Texas City are also options.

I didn't notice much price difference between Fulshear and Alvin, but Fulshear does seem quite a bit nicer. How do they compare between each other commute wise?

[Medved]

Originally Posted by RiceU2008

How about Brookshire, Old Katy, Manvel, or Needville?

Looking in the first 3 you mentioned, where is Needville?

[Medved]

Originally Posted by jdw7337

Looking into the country living you are looking for...I can tell you any country area within the travel time you ask for will not stay a country area for more than 5 years or so because those areas are just west of the Katy sprawl...You need to lengthen your commute and more likely look to the east or really far south (hwy 288)...I live in a country area (Barbers Hill) out east and it is growing...but slowly & the growth stops at the Trinity River...and won't jump it for about 20 years most likely.

You can find what you are looking for if you are willing to drive further out...

Using my area as an example:
*rush hour commute-2-2.5 hours (non rush hour-1hour commute)
houses range $200,000-300,000 for 3-4 bed 2500-3000 sqft
most homes sit on 1.5 to 5 acres
HOA's are common but rarely enforce laws
and a good school district

Well, I understand that the area in general can, and likely will, change. But as I said before, if I buy a 1-2 acre property in a semi-rural neighborhood of similar homes, whatever happens around it wont directly affect me, right?

That's why I'm now also looking at these larger lot neighborhoods positioned in between of standard developments closer in. This way, if I like the current setting, chances are that it will stay this way and I also can take an advantage of being closer to the city.

[DJboutit]

I can not see how anybody is willing to do a 1hr 15min to 2hr commute to work that is a killer right there. You would only have free time to do anything on the weekends during the week the only time you spend at home would be eating sleeping & getting ready from work. Get home at 8:30pm eat dinner goto sleep wake up 4am out the door about 5:15 to 5:30

[Medved]

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

Medved, We're doing the same thing right now. We just moved from Fairfax, VA (we worked in DC), and are renting in Missouri city.

Looked at Missouri City as well - nice houses, but it's a bit too ethnic for me.

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

We have been pretty surprised by what we've seen real estate wise. At first we thought we'd do suburbs (I mean we're coming from Fairfax - a DC suburb!), but after being here for a month, we're starting to look inside the loop.

Why inside the loop? Just for commute reasons?

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

The ONLY thing that keeps the master planned communities on the table are the schools. We were amazed at how small the backyards are here. After having half an acre in Fairfax, just a few miles of the beltway, we thought for sure we could find something similar here. We can, but the outer loop is nowhere near the city!

Yes, same thoughts here - I can't believe that out of all places, TX would have a small back yard problem! I just absolutely hate gigantic mansions 2 feet away from each other. It looks ugly and defeats the purpose, at this point I'd rather live in a townhouse or condo...

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

One of us works along the energy corridor, the other in Deer Park, so our options are pretty slim anyway. We also have 2 kids under 2. Mentally prepare yourself for every house you see in a master planned community to have a media room. I just don't understand devoting an entire room to movie watching.

Media room wouldn't bother me - I can always remodel somewhat, but MPC itself annoys the hell outta me.

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

Also prepare yourself for the toll roads. It blows my mind that between the two of us we pay between $8 and $11 a day just to drive to work. I am all about my toll for he 295 tunnel in Baltimore, or the golden gate bridge, but really, to drive on a freeway. I just haven't internalized this one yet.

Yep, not looking forward to paying for the roads at all - but if I just get an EasyPass and budget it in I think it will be well worth reducing traffic related time waste and frustration.

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

Maybe I'll go get some cowboy boots and it will feel right.

Already have a few pairs, along with some large belt buckles - so I'm ready on this one ;-)

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

It's yet another reason we are looking inside the loop. (Current budget between $350 and 500k.) We feel if we're going to "invest" nearly $300 a month in something, better if it's our home/property than a local freeway.

You have a point...

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

Prepare yourself for every house to look exactly the same, or pretty darn close. Also, people here like to brick/stone veneer the front and then use siding on the sides and back. Definitely not our style. But, when in Rome....

Brick at the front and siding in the back is what's pretty popular here as well. Not my preference either, but doesn't bother me all this much. Every house looking the same does though.

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

Once we realized there's almost no way to get acreage and a house we can tolerate in a good school district without paying for the commute (time and $ wise) we really opened up to the idea of dropping the half-1.5 acre requirement to try and find something with some character and a decent commute. Shoot, if we're going to have a big house and yard, it sure would be nice to see it before 6:30 at night and after 5:45 in the morning.

Thought about this too, although I prefer country living to city living overall. I grew up in a small appartment in a huge city, and this lifestyle, albeit difficult, has it's unique perks. I'd definitely consider this for a real, European-style city, with historic center and character - but in the US there is only a handful of these and Houston is about as far from this concept as it gets.

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to let you know what has surprised us. I recommend renting for a bit until you feel the neighborhoods (and commute) out. We got a short term lease in a Missouri City MPC to do just that and feel less pressure to find the perfect place right this second. Hope this helps.

I agree, but with the way my company's relocation policy works, I'd get much more out of it if I buy during relocation and not later. I can probably swing a few weeks in hotels there, so I can try out different neighborhoods and communtes to some extent before I buy.

Originally Posted by Relocating from Virginia

For everyone else out there (and sorry to hijack your post) please send tips our way about where to look. We're coming from a 1943 Cape Cod in Virginia (1600 sq ft) that we absolutely loved, and have 2 dogs and 2 kids under 2. Schools are important, but we are considering private school regardless, so it's not everything. Looking for a house with character, that's not the same as everything in the neighborhood, well built, doesn't have a ridiculous HOA, and that will be a good investment if we move in 5-10 years. Price range ($350-$500, would stretch to $550 if house was perfect). We think 2000 -2600 sq ft would be ideal. (I hate the prospect of cleaning a 3400 sq ft home.) We're also looking to minimize the commute. I currently work in Deer Park, but my company has offices in the city and along the energy corridor, so think it would be wise to position ourselves centrally, or nearer to my husbands work along the energy corridor, for the longterm. Thanks!

Your post gives me a great prospective, thanks a lot!

[Medved]

Originally Posted by DJboutit

I can not see how anybody is willing to do a 1hr 15min to 2hr commute to work that is a killer right there. You would only have free time to do anything on the weekends during the week the only time you spend at home would be eating sleeping & getting ready from work. Get home at 8:30pm eat dinner goto sleep wake up 4am out the door about 5:15 to 5:30

I never said I'd do 1:15 to 2 hours. 1 hour is my treshold, maybe occasionly stretching up to 1:15 on a bad day is all I'd do. And I sure as $hit not getting up before 6am. And even if commute is 2 hours (which I'd never do), your math still seems like a stretch - 7:30 am to 6:30 PM is an 11 hour day.

[crone]

My kid wanted to go to HSPVA. He just took a compass, drew a 20 minute commute radius around everything that mattered to he and his dad. We found the spot where all the commute circles overlapped. Found a house, moved in. Could have lived happily ever after but a transfer to Dallas, then St. Louis squelched that.

As a previous poster said, your country setting will be suburbs in 5 years.

The 25 minute commute can morph into 1 1/2 hours within a few years, too. Been there, done that, too.

[deckhanddavy]

Originally Posted by Medved

I didn't notice much price difference between Fulshear and Alvin, but Fulshear does seem quite a bit nicer. How do they compare between each other commute wise?

Hmm, I may have quoted you higher pricing based on a couple specific neighborhoods that I had in mind. There are other neighborhoods as well further down Fulshear, but I don't think they offer 1 acre plots and are more standard sized. When we drove through there to look at the different neighborhoods, the 1+ acre plots ranged in the 400k + range, but that was in the Fulbrook area. I'm sure the other side of Fulshear may have some large plots with older, but much smaller homes, but I'm not entirely sure. The drive would be a straight shot taking the Westpark Tollway. I live next door to Fulshear, so your commute should be around 45 minutes or so.

Manvel is pretty rough. I have driven to work from there a couple times. Worst thing are wrecks on the freeway that can cause some crazy traffic delays. It's HWY 6 > 288 > Beltway. Not the friendliest route...drive was about an hour I believe.

[judy musslewhite]

ActiveRain Real Estate Network

[judy musslewhite]

ActiveRain Real Estate Network

There are a ton of homes in Simonton, Fulshear and Katy in that price range. Katy is no longer country but simonton is. Fulshear is pretty much larger newer more expensive homes. Simonton is a great place to find lots of land and great homes. Im sure it will be eaten up by the builders soon.