Katy - Westheimer Lakes North - opinions? (Cinco Ranch, Richmond: salons, rentals) - Houston - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

ccokstate · 10-03-2014, 04:25 PM

We are looking to purchase a home in either the Katy or Richmond area, in the 150-180k range. We are currently looking at a house in Westheimer Lakes North and are wanting to find some opinions on this neighborhood. I hear there is a Walmart Supercenter being built beside this neighborhood, and that it is currently being fought against, but IS going to be built...is this negatively affecting peoples home values in WLN?
The neighborhood in Richmond that we are currently looking at a home in is Waterview Estates, in the back where the cheaper homes are.
Other neighborhoods in Richmond we have considered but that don't currently have a home we are interested in are: Waterview, Waterside, Fieldstone, and occasionally a Long Meadow home we come up in our budget. There aren't too many neighborhoods in south Katy that have homes in our budget, that I see.
Is WLN considered a much better neighborhood than the Richmond ones, solely based on the fact that it is a Katy location? And is the walmart supercenter going to negatively affect WLN, perhaps so much so that we should more heavily lean towards the Richmond homes?

Would love opinions!

ccokstate · 10-04-2014, 10:28 AM

No opinions???

deckhanddavy · 10-04-2014, 10:57 AM

I have a couple opinions, probably not very positive, but I live close by. WLN has the most affordable homes in the 77494 zip code. This area of Katy is bustling with the highest amount of new buildouts, retails and homes. With that said, we were considering buying a home in WLN in 2011 when it was fairly new. We also looked at the gated WLS section. What detracted us was how many of the homes were not being kept up, run down cars being parked in the streets that were eye sores, and large recreational vehicles parked on drive ways and on side streets. It seemed as if the HOA either had loose restrictions or didn't uphold it's rules upon the home owners. These type of issues bring down home value and make the neighborhood less desirable. WLS was even worse, despite how nice some of the homes were. Things just werent being kept up and maintained. This was in 2011. I haven't driven through either neighborhood in a couple years, so things may have improved. We chose Cardiff Ranch because of the small, close knit community feel, and I feel fairly lucky that the people here are really community driven and go out of their way to improve the neighborhood.

As far as the Walmart debacle. I think it's silly. It going to be built off 1093, which will soon be the Westpark tollway. So, if it goes there or not, that area will be littered with retail and other new buildings, despite what we like or dislike. What concerns me most is what is going to be built along 1463 over the next couple years. There are a lot of new retail strips popping here that I don't necessarily agree with. Such as 3 mechanic shops within a mile radius, 3 donut places, salons, etc.. This is why zoning exists to prevent weeds of retails from ruining the look and feel of places such as this. I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Rip808 · 10-04-2014, 11:49 AM

I think the new HEB that is coming along 1463 will bring in desirable retail. It will probably be a really nice HEB because of the demographics it will serve. About WLN, if that is all you can comfortably afford, it is an ok-good neighborhood. It does have A LOT of rentals. If you have kids, they will attend some of the best schools in KatyISD so that is a big plus. I would not buy a house that will backup to the Wal-Mart though, too much trucks going in and out all day. So if I only had the choice of going with WLN and Richmond, I would pick WLN hands down. Best wishes in your decision.

ccokstate · 10-04-2014, 01:57 PM

Did either of you have recommendations for other areas in the <200k range? Any recs are appreciated!

usc619 · 10-04-2014, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccokstate

Did either of you have recommendations for other areas in the <200k range? Any recs are appreciated!

Are you opposed to resale on the north side of I10? How many bed/bath are you looking for?

ccokstate · 10-04-2014, 02:49 PM

Resale is what we have mostly been looking at, so not at all opposed. The 2 houses we have our eyes set one now are 2012 (in WLN) and 2008 (in Waterview Estates). We would like at least a 3 bed/2 bath. I'm not opposed to the north side of i-10, I had just heard that the south side is where resale is the best. Resale matters to us A LOT, as we could possibly be moving in 5 years or so.

usc619 · 10-04-2014, 03:02 PM

I just did a quick search and it seems that your best options are going to be south of 1093(Richmond) or north of I10(Katy) in that criteria. If you're dead set on resale value, I guess WLN will due.

lane_change · 10-04-2014, 03:57 PM

I live in WLN and have never noticed any of the issues mentioned in this thread. Never seen any RV's parked anywhere in here. Regarding "run down" cars...nope. Most people on my street have new cars, not saying no one has run down cars, but I've never noticed anymore cars of that nature than I've seen in any area. Now I can't speak for the entire area because frankly I don't visit the entire neighborhood. I drive the main drives in and out and I drive down my section. I agree that WLN is one of the cheaper areas that are zoned Katy ISD. Our house here would sell for low-mid $300's but if we went 1 mile up 1463 to build the same house on a similar lot, it would cost over $400.

The negatives out here are traffic...it just keeps getting worse. It's not just WLN, but SW Katy in general. It is growing faster than the infrastructure was designed to support. I don't think the community features here are as nice as Cinco Ranch, but then again the price per sq/ft here is quite a bit less....so pick your poison.

ccokstate · 10-04-2014, 04:09 PM

usc619, Id be curious as to what neighborhoods are recommended north of i-10? Thank you for your help!

lane_change, Nice to hear from someone in the neighborhood! Do you hear much complaints or chatter about the walmart/shopping area being built? Are you happy you bought in the area?

Would resale be considered better in WLN, since its Katy ISD, than in Richmond (say, waterview estates)?
Thanks for all input!!

Oh and no, the house does not back to the walmart, I believe i measured on google map and it is about 1500 ft away from the edge of the site for the walmart.