moving to Houston (Pearland, Katy, Richmond: real estate, houses, purchase)

[mserrano40]

Our family is moving from Elmhurst, Illinois to Houston.
We are considering Sugarland, Katy, Richmond, and Pearland areas.
I will have a daughter in high school who loves the fine arts and volleyball and 2 boys on autism spectrum ages 17 and 18 years old.
On paper it's hard to choose areas.
We want a diversified area with a good high school, doesn't have to be THE Best high school.
Looking for a great community where young adults with special needs can have options.
I would appreciate any feedback. We work in computer industry and my husband is looking into ministry opportunities.
Thank you.

[Spartacus713]

Job location?
Budget for house purchase price?

[mserrano40]

Work is based out of home, we go out to client site.
Budget for home max 430,000.

[Spartacus713]

Originally Posted by mserrano40

Work is based out of home, we go out to client site.
Budget for home max 430,000.

I would figure out where the facilities are for the autism that you want to access are going to be and plan from there. Your daughter will graduate highs school soon and you don't seem to be fixated on that anyway. You can find at least one adequately good high school in most of the locations you listed.

If you find the autism related resourced you like in the Katy area, you might consider there. You can get a nice house in Katy for 430,000. Not a mansion mind you, but something quite new, with all the bells and whistles, that is sufficiently large for any reasonable purpose and very attractive.

Anyone moving to Houston would do well to organize their decision making around minimizing their commuting time to the greatest extent possible. If you don't, it has the real potential to positively suck the life out of you.

[Foodie1980]

When look at real estate, be mindful of real estate taxes. Since TX does not have state income tax, the state collects the majority of its revenue through property tax. New subdivisions often time have an added MUD (municipal utility district) tax. That's the bond raised to put in water, sewer pipes and electricity, ect... to the subdivision. Property tax can range somewhere from 2.7% - 4%.

With Houston real estate went up 10-30% annually for the past few years in some areas, don't forget to claim your homestead exemption. In Harris County, this exemption allows the first 20% of the appraised value is tax free and cap the increase at 10%/year. We live downtown, some of our neighbors weren't aware of this exemption and properties in our area have gone up on average 25%/year the last 4 years, they saw their houses went up $100K in appraisal, that's an addition $2,680 in tax/year. Our tax rate is 2.68% in our area.