Home buying? I am almost giving up!! Been here for 6 years but no clue!! (Houston: apartment, rent)

[dosto]

Look at schools. Pretty much everything in HISD is short term as getting into good middle and high schools will be quite difficult. In your case I'd look at Spring Branch ISD. Though nowadays your budget is kinda small for SBISD good schools. Unless you get a townhouse, though, again, getting those zoned to good schools has been tricky lately. Katy is probably way too far for your wife to commute. Not much choice here unless you decide to go a private school route.

[TXbywayof]

Just make sure you understand what property taxes and homeowners insurance will be in the price range you are looking...maybe around the $8k range minimum? If you decide on a neighborhood with an HOA fee, throw that in as well. What kind of down payment are you considering? Perhaps the "almost $1500" a month is not so bad after all.

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

If you are not planning to have kids anytime soon I would go the townhouse route. I live in Montrose and it is a 10minute drive to the Med Center. It is about 5-10min to I-10. Also, I would check the Heights and Washington area.

Additionally, if you went this route, keeping the property as a rental unit if you ever decided to buy a standalone house might be very appealing. Think about what happened to your rent. If you were to buy a town home with a fixed interest rate, that payment (not counting insurance and taxes) would always remain the same. If the area is good, such as in Montrose, Heights or Washington area, you can bet rent there will pretty much continue to increase over the years.

[Scooby Snacks]

I totally get you, OP. My husband and I are in our mid 30s. We're closing on a home in Spring in a little less than a month, and the whole idea of school district is Greek to us. We aren't going to have kids, but our realtor encouraged us to consider it for resale purposes. You'd get a lot more house for less $$$ outside 610. Westchase maybe? You could get a nice 3/2/2 in suburbia for around $200K. The drive would probably be OK for your wife if she's willing to take the Westpark Tollway. Midtown is way too expensive, IMO. You'll also save $$$ if you buy before the summertime. Summer is when all the families move, so house prices jump a lot.

[Tassy001]

Cross Creek Ranch?? That would be a miserable commute to the med center.

[Tcoma11]

dont buy a house near your/wife's job.... always buy it near jobs......

Thinking long term, you may not be in that job long term , or even the day after you buy a house.

[Jonathz]

I think you want to buy in a good school district area. Otherwise, once you have kids and you might need to move to a house zoned to good school district

[houstonfan]

OP doesn't have kids yet. And after that, it'll be another 5yrs before he/she goes to school. All they have to worry about is elementary, which will carry them for 5 more years. Not too many people live in the same house more than 10yrs. Life situation may change drastically in 10 yrs.

[Meyerland]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

OP doesn't have kids yet. And after that, it'll be another 5yrs before he/she goes to school. All they have to worry about is elementary, which will carry them for 5 more years. Not too many people live in the same house more than 10yrs. Life situation may change drastically in 10 yrs.

If they are not even pregnant yet, they have at least 11-12 years before worrying about middle schools. Just worry about the elementary school. HISD schools go through 5th grade.

I suggest Larchmont in the galleria area. There are also town homes there that are really nice too. They are zoned to St. George Place, which is pretty good. Briarmeadow is a good place too, although it's surrounded by sketchy apartments. Most people send their kids to Briarmeadow Charter school. I believe it goes through middle school too.

They are in the middle of both work locations and have good access to the fun parts of the city. We considered both, but eventually settled on the Meyerland area. The Willow neighborhoods over here are a great spot and close to Rice Village and the loop. They are zoned to red elementary, which gets better every year. It has a great STEM program.

Westbury, Marilyn estates, Barkley square, maplewood are all good neighborhoods zoned to good schools. Although parts of Maplewood and westbury are not. You really want one zoned to Parker, Kolter, or Herod.
They are all in the Meyerland area and have quick access to the galleria and Rice Village areas. We go out all the time.

[Wetehpeople]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

If you are thinking long term, you should hedge your bet on where your job would be, and that's likely energy corridor, Blwy 8, NW, downtown or Sugar Land. I presume your wife will be in Med Center. Meyerland would be good for your wife but not you. Sugarland/Richmond would make both your commute miserable.
There are few older single homes in Larchmont (galleria) but if you could get one there, that would allow for reasonable commute for both of you. If you are ok with townhomes, you have many more options, including Memorial area.

Thank you for your valuable input. I am ok with town homes. Those are very urban. I know that those are not very spacious but we do work most of the day during weekdays and practically we just eat and sleep except weekends. What I am trying to say is that why would I pay for the space I may not use or barely use. A master bedroom and couple of guestrooms are plenty for young couples like us.......I guess.