Advice for communities in the Missouri City Area (Austin, Sugar Land: house, neighborhoods)

[Christine1804]

We are looking to move to Missouri City area to lessen my husband's commute (Jersey Village) and stay close to friends\family and our church which is close to Hwy 6 and 288. We are downsizing and I may even stop working so we want to be under $230k. We are looking for a safe community and good schools. I love Sienna but prices are high. I've heard mixed reviews on Quail Valley. We've also looked at the Vicksburg Village Of Shiloh neighborhood. Any thoughts on the neighborhoods I've mentioned and/or other neighborhood suggestions? Any advice is appreciated.

[Failed Engineer]

Quail Valley and Lake Olympia are good choices in that budget. I'd choose Lake Olympia over most of Quail Valley, but there are pockets of QV that are nicer than Lake Olympia.

Quail Valley does have residents that have influence with FBISD and if there is any north of Hwy 6 neighborhood that has a chance to remain at Elkins HS long term, it's QV (despite LO being closer and the natural fit for Elkins). For property values, that would be a big bonus. Personally, I think all neighborhoods north of 6 currently zoned to Elkins will be moved to Hightower within the next 5 years and that area just has a iffy long term outlook.

Ultimately, $230k is not that far from the lowest end of Sienna and especially if you can keep working to afford it. That's your best option by far.

Vicksburg is already zoned to Hightower I believe so the prices are already lower. Nonetheless, I wouldn't buy in that general area outside of QV and LO.

[ipuck]

There are a couple neighborhoods near Austin Parkway that I found to be nice and affordable.

Lake Colony, and Heritage Lakes. You might be able to found something small for under 250k.

There is also that Colony Lakes near Oilfield I found to be nice and close to your price range.

Maybe even Highlands by 59 on Hwy 6.

[ipuck]

Originally Posted by Failed Engineer

Quail Valley and Lake Olympia are good choices in that budget. I'd choose Lake Olympia over most of Quail Valley, but there are pockets of QV that are nicer than Lake Olympia.

Quail Valley does have residents that have influence with FBISD and if there is any north of Hwy 6 neighborhood that has a chance to remain at Elkins HS long term, it's QV (despite LO being closer and the natural fit for Elkins). For property values, that would be a big bonus. Personally, I think all neighborhoods north of 6 currently zoned to Elkins will be moved to Hightower within the next 5 years and that area just has a iffy long term outlook.

Ultimately, $230k is not that far from the lowest end of Sienna and especially if you can keep working to afford it. That's your best option by far.

Vicksburg is already zoned to Hightower I believe so the prices are already lower. Nonetheless, I wouldn't buy in that general area outside of QV and LO.

I would stay away from anywhere north of hwy 6 for resale value and just the property is going downhill due to school zoning. Family is not going to move there, and especially when they re-zone to Hightower within this next 5 years. I will be shocked if they don't do a straight line zoning on Hwy 6 as the dividing line.

[Failed Engineer]

Originally Posted by ipuck

There are a couple neighborhoods near Austin Parkway that I found to be nice and affordable.

Lake Colony, and Heritage Lakes. You might be able to found something small for under 250k.

There is also that Colony Lakes near Oilfield I found to be nice and close to your price range.

Maybe even Highlands by 59 on Hwy 6.

Highlands would have easily been my recommendation as well, but was trying to stick to the Missouri City area for proximity to the church.

Lake Colony and Colony Lakes are very good recommendations. Not sure on the $230k limit (prices have appreciated there quite a bit the last few years from the Riverstone bump), but they would be worth stretching for over QV/LO. I'd actually recommend Lake Colony and Colony Lakes over Sienna for similarly priced homes.

In general, I'd try to go as west, south of 6 as my budget would allow.

[Failed Engineer]

Another area you could consider is neighborhoods zoned to the Dulles trio of schools just east of the schools. I don't know the name of all of them but Lexington Settlement and Applecreek Bend are two of them. There are more.

[Christine1804]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will be looking into them!

[ilikeme]

The Village of Shiloh in Vicksburg is a nice neighborhood also, and the schools are decent. I have a very close friend that lives there and am over there all the time.

[Christine1804]

So we found a house in Quail Valley we like that is on the golf course but is zoned to Lantern Lane Elementary. It doesn't have great ratings and the school is not very diverse. Anyone dealt with this school?

[ipuck]

Originally Posted by Christine1804

So we found a house in Quail Valley we like that is on the golf course but is zoned to Lantern Lane Elementary. It doesn't have great ratings and the school is not very diverse. Anyone dealt with this school?

I would say there is a huge difference in quality of education between Lantern Lane and any of the other elementary schools on the First Colony and Sugar Land area.

There is a reason you are getting a bigger bang for your buck with that house compared to rest of Missouri City.

At the end of the day, if you are comfortable with your kids getting a soso education surrounded by kids and parents that don't value education, then I guess it is ok. If not, then you should look at the suggestions provided earlier.