Royal Oaks Country Club (Houston, Spring: sale, real estate, townhouses)

[NYCtoHOS]

I see online that there is a lot of real estate turnaround in Royal Oaks Country Club in Houston but also recognize as much as houses go on sale there seems to be just as much activity of houses being sold. Does anyone here live in Royal Oaks? Are the amenities worth the premium? How safe is it? How do you feel about the area from an investment standpoint? Lastly, are there any other neighborhoods like ROCC within 30-45 minutes of downtown during rush hour? Thanks!

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by NYCtoHOS

I see online that there is a lot of real estate turnaround in Royal Oaks Country Club in Houston but also recognize as much as houses go on sale there seems to be just as much activity of houses being sold. Does anyone here live in Royal Oaks? Are the amenities worth the premium? How safe is it? How do you feel about the area from an investment standpoint? Lastly, are there any other neighborhoods like ROCC within 30-45 minutes of downtown during rush hour? Thanks!

The older homes are actually selling for less than they sold for new 15 years ago in most cases. The new, birthday cake mansion houses are still more affordable to similar sized homes in The Villages. Just not an over all fan personally.But if you are a big traveller, with no kids, it's a comfortable lock and leave type place. But it's not without its troubles. The immediate surrounding area isn't all that great.

Oh, And Royal Oaks can easily be 45 minutes plus from downtown. Note:ROCC is River Oaks Country Club, not Royal Oaks.

[Vicman]

I wonder if anyone in the neighborhood ever considered petitioning moving from Alief ISD to Houston ISD. I remember what happened in Northgate Forest's case (Spring ISD didn't want them to leave AND Klein ISD didn't want to take them). And I am also aware that Northgate's motive was simply to increase/keep property values and not actually move to get children better schools.

The way it is right now: it's zoned to Outley Elementary, Budewig Middle, and O'Donnell Middle. The way high school assignment in Alief works is that it is assigned by lottery (Elsik, Hastings, or Taylor) regardless of where you live although I think they make accommodations for siblings.

The HISD attendance zones across from Royal Oaks are Ashford and Askew elementaries, West Briar and Revere middles, and Westside High
* http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/school.../AshfordES.pdf
* http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/school...ps/AskewES.pdf
* http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/school...s/RevereMS.pdf
* http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/school...estBriarMS.pdf
* http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/school...WestsideHS.pdf

If someone really wanted to do this I'd imagine they'd choose West Briar over Revere in a heartbeat. I'm not sure if there's a difference between Ashford and Askew.

Would it be worth its while to try to get better property values by switching from Alief to HISD? Would HISD want the extra tax revenue from the houses?

[TXbywayof]

I love the look of a lot of the homes in RO. You just don't see that in subdivisions. With that being said, we have looked there. I think it's all about the golf. Homes are very close to one another, very little yard space, no sidewalks, no parks. Very pretty and well maintained though. Once you exit onto Westheimer, ouch, ugly. The homes are also getting to the point where they could probably use a little updating. If you need schools, you probably should look elsewhere. What is your budget? You can get into River Oaks for what they want for some of this homes in Royal Oaks.

[Schumacher713]

I would live in an old home in River Oaks over Royal Oaks any day. It is all about location. Not to mention River Oaks is one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Houston. It is certainly the most prestigious. Though a house starts at 1.3 there and that is for a very old renovated house on a smaller lot that backs up to a major street. I have been to Royal Oaks before. Seems like a fancy suburb type area. The houses are not cheap out there too which is what the person above me said. I would get a nice house that is not in either of those neighborhoods and join the Houstonian if I were you. Though a nice house in the loop will run you a million pretty much anywhere in a good area.

[ToyYot]

Originally Posted by Vicman

I wonder if anyone in the neighborhood ever considered petitioning moving from Alief ISD to Houston ISD.

Would it be worth its while to try to get better property values by switching from Alief to HISD? Would HISD want the extra tax revenue from the houses?

I suspect anyone who lives there or wants to live there isn't interested in public schools. Frankly, I just don't get the appeal, there are plenty of other places to spend a million or two on a house.

[Vicman]

They can still be interested in trying to raise or maintain property values. There was hardly anybody in Northgate Forest who had children at all, let alone those in public school, and yet many in the subdivision wanted to move over for the sake of their property values. Being zoned to Ashford/West Briar/Westside would probably command higher property values than Outley/Budewig/O'Donnell/Alief high schools.

Originally Posted by ToyYot

I suspect anyone who lives there or wants to live there isn't interested in public schools. Frankly, I just don't get the appeal, there are plenty of other places to spend a million or two on a house.

[elnina]

OP: Your budget? In what part of town are you working?

[NYCtoHOS]

Thanks everyone! I was eying one of <$750k villas as we do travel often, prefer a smaller home <3,500 sq ft, don't care for a big yard, and will likely opt to just put future kid(s) into private school although a nice public school option is always nice to have. Given everyone's feedback, is there any neighborhoods with the Mediterranean look like this aside from Royal Oaks? Work is downtown.

[EasilyAmused]

Great walled townhouses with that feel in 77007. CACERES? some name like that.