Affluent people leaving Harris County for Montgomery County (Houston, River Oaks: to rent, how much)

[nervouslaughter]

Originally Posted by Keyan

I agree with places like the woodlands, or cinco ranch (great school districts) for example. they do have higher rates. But still a huge amount of multi millionaires live in random suburbs. They are everywhere trying to get a big bang for their buck

You will have spikes here in there in the suburbs, but if you look at the averages, no way the burbs come close. For example, there is no way you get into the Memorial Villages for less than a million. In the burbs, you can get it for $200k. Just because you see a speck of $4MM or $5MM homes, it doesn't even compare to River Oaks, Tanglewood, Memorial Villages, and the other parts closer to town. I've lived in the burbs and in the loop. I call it as I see it.

[Jack Lance]

Do people in River Oaks and Memorial ect pay HOA dues ? I wonder how much they are if they do..?

[TheMoreYouKnow]

The truly affluent people who are leaving Harris county to move up here to Montgomery county aren't buying homes in master planned communities found in internet polls or on Wikipedia, they're rarely listed on HAR for that matter. These people are buying up large ranches in the 300+ acre range where the most that people will ever know about their home is what their monitored entry gate looks like.

I've got 2 different neighbors who own 600 or more acres of prime Montgomery County land near the national forest and somewhat near the Montgomery county executive airport. These homes would easily be 3 to 4 million dollar houses if they sat on the measly little West U or Memorial lots that people lust for inside the loop. At $10K an acre it doesn't take long to rack up a lot of value in land alone around here. Once you live in an area where your neighbors homes are a mile or 2 from yours you start to appreciate not living anywhere near the city or a planned community for that matter. That's what truly affluent people are usually looking for when they live in TX.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Originally Posted by nervouslaughter

You will have spikes here in there in the suburbs, but if you look at the averages, no way the burbs come close. For example, there is no way you get into the Memorial Villages for less than a million. In the burbs, you can get it for $200k. Just because you see a speck of $4MM or $5MM homes, it doesn't even compare to River Oaks, Tanglewood, Memorial Villages, and the other parts closer to town. I've lived in the burbs and in the loop. I call it as I see it.

The article said people were leaving for other counties, that doesn't automatically mean they're moving to suburbs with pretty stone signs, fountains and street lights. People with real money aren't looking for million dollar homes in neighborhoods regardless of how high dollar they are.

[Bike4Life]

I wouldn't buy a $1 million home when there is a $130,000 home right around the block. Northgate Forest is a sorry example.

[Keyan]

Originally Posted by Bike4Life

I wouldn't buy a $1 million home when there is a $130,000 home right around the block. Northgate Forest is a sorry example.

Yep, the prices haven't appreciated because they are the biggest houses in the area. On top you have Olde Oaks and Waterford park next door with homes in the 150k.

A lot of the newers builds in northgate are $350k - 450k

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Originally Posted by Bike4Life

I wouldn't buy a $1 million home when there is a $130,000 home right around the block. Northgate Forest is a sorry example.

I wouldn't buy a $1 million home with another home of any price right around the block period, I wouldn't buy a $1 million dollar home on a "block" at all for that matter.

[Oildog]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

Do people in River Oaks and Memorial ect pay HOA dues ? I wonder how much they are if they do..?

I paid HOA dues when I lived in a River Oaks townhome. There were about 50 units, I paid about $100/month.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by TheMoreYouKnow

Once you live in an area where your neighbors homes are a mile or 2 from yours you start to appreciate not living anywhere near the city or a planned community for that matter. That's what truly affluent people are usually looking for when they live in TX.

That's what they look for in their ranches, aka 2nd or 3rd home. Every "truly affluent" person I know also owns some type of home in an urban area. They aren't totally friendless, isolationists. Time spent here or there varies. In order to remain truly affluent,there are just some things you can't completely leave behind for the country, mountains, etc. Even in this computer age. The retired ones just want a place near the grandkids. Others like to come in for a good meal, a play, see friends and sleep in a bed that is their own.

Anyway this article is based on the 2010 census, which documents shifts from 2000-2010. Things have been changing in the past 5 years from what I've see. With all the gentrifying neighborhoods sprouting up,more people than in the past are obviously choosing to live in. There was a mass exodus in the early 2000s, that skew this study. This was before places like The Heights, Oak Forest, Meyerland, parts of Belaire,etc returned to family neighborhood status.

Either way, the metro is growing. I would just take a government study based on data that is years old with a grain of salt. I don't think the term affluent was used correctly. JMHO.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

dont worry.. those affluent people will be moving back to the city when the poor are driven out to the suburbs because of rising cost of living in the city.

Until Houston builds dozens more luxury apartment towers, there is no way it could absorb more than a fraction of the affluent people living in the burbs. Additionally, a large portion of society doesn't yearn to be shoe-horned into either a smaller home or tiny yard in order to avoid a commute; they want things like large yards, 4 car garages, living on a golf course, living on the water, large resort style swimming pools, etc.

This myopic view that everyone wants to live downtown cracks me up.

Sure, many people do want to live downtown, but just as many, if not more, are passionate about not being downtown.