London UK to Houston transfer - SW Houston house search help (Bellaire: renting, insurance)

[Meyerland]

My advice for the SW part of Houston is look for a home zoned for elementary schools like Parker, Kolter, Lovett, Herod etc.... That way you have time to figure out the magnet system before middle school. Maplewood South, Barkley square, and Marilyn Estates are good and a bit cheaper than Meyerland. You might find a larger lot in ParkWest or Westbury.

You could also get a nice home zoned in the Memorial area west of the beltway 8.

[Ridin8ude]

I think I managed to find Marilyn Estates but can't work out Maplewood South or Barkley Square can you give me something to find them? I assume they're parts of 77096? At least not obvious to me when I look at Google Maps.

I find the schools confusing because on some sites schools like Lovett/Herod appear not so great, but others are decent, and see on here people seem to be fine with them. Maybe it's the difference between being 10 on paper and just being ok in the real world when compared to somewhere like Kolter or Bush or whatever.

Main concern with all those Meyerland homes is the flooding, seems like many have remediated but not lifted them? Seems crazy to me

Originally Posted by Meyerland

My advice for the SW part of Houston is look for a home zoned for elementary schools like Parker, Kolter, Lovett, Herod etc.... Maplewood South, Barkley square, and Marilyn Estates are good and a bit cheaper than Meyerland. You might find a larger lot in ParkWest or Westbury.

[fnh]

In my opinion this is the best site to evaluate school performance, with detailed methodology and complete data sets provided:
School Rankings | CHILDREN AT RISK

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by Ridin8ude

I think I managed to find Marilyn Estates but can't work out Maplewood South or Barkley Square can you give me something to find them? I assume they're parts of 77096? At least not obvious to me when I look at Google Maps.

I find the schools confusing because on some sites schools like Lovett/Herod appear not so great, but others are decent, and see on here people seem to be fine with them. Maybe it's the difference between being 10 on paper and just being ok in the real world when compared to somewhere like Kolter or Bush or whatever.

Main concern with all those Meyerland homes is the flooding, seems like many have remediated but not lifted them? Seems crazy to me

On Har.com you can search by subdivision; just enter "Maplewood South" or whatever, and you'll get only the houses in that subdivision.

The only nice thing about the crazy flooding in the Meyerland area is that the area has now been truly tested. If a home didn't flood in the last couple of years, it's probably going to be okay in future storms.

[Ridin8ude]

Yeah I haven't figured out how to make that subdivision thing in HAR.com work - I'll try again.

Good point about the flooding - I've found at least 2 houses in Meyerland which claim they weren't flooded, but it seems a mystery to me cuz they are right in the middle of homes that flooded...

busy with move preparation and getting rid of all of our junk on ebay, will think about houses again in a couple weeks time

[txdemo]

Originally Posted by Ridin8ude

Yeah I haven't figured out how to make that subdivision thing in HAR.com work - I'll try again.

Click on "More Search Filters" on home page of HAR. It's in smaller letters beneath the green "Search" button. Then you'll see "Subdivisions" on next page.

[ma23peas]

Originally Posted by Ridin8ude

Yeah I haven't figured out how to make that subdivision thing in HAR.com work - I'll try again.

Good point about the flooding - I've found at least 2 houses in Meyerland which claim they weren't flooded, but it seems a mystery to me cuz they are right in the middle of homes that flooded...

busy with move preparation and getting rid of all of our junk on ebay, will think about houses again in a couple weeks time

It won't work on your phone, you must search Houston area on your computer, then when you hit "More options" it pops up after the price and square footage. I LOVED Meyerland, great trees and nice community, areas adjacent to it are sometimes sketchy...but we would have seriously considered it had we a budget of greater than 700k...when I saw a 'fixer upper' that had flooded twice in April/May offered at 450k...I said, No Great investment opportunity there and some of my favorite architectural designs!

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by Ridin8ude

I think I managed to find Marilyn Estates but can't work out Maplewood South or Barkley Square can you give me something to find them? I assume they're parts of 77096? At least not obvious to me when I look at Google Maps.

I find the schools confusing because on some sites schools like Lovett/Herod appear not so great, but others are decent, and see on here people seem to be fine with them. Maybe it's the difference between being 10 on paper and just being ok in the real world when compared to somewhere like Kolter or Bush or whatever.

Main concern with all those Meyerland homes is the flooding, seems like many have remediated but not lifted them? Seems crazy to me

Schools: Kolter, Lovett, and Parker are all very highly rated. My daughter attends Lovett and I can tell you it's one of the best in HISD (Kolter has more name recognition, but I have yet to figure out what makes it better). Herod I think is very good for vanguard, but I don't know about the zoned part...someone else can chime in on that.

Marilyn Estates, Barkley Sq, and Maplewood South all run into each other. You can't tell one from the other once you are in the area, other than the neighborhood signs along S Braeswood. They are all in 77096, so if you limit your search to that zip code you will gather them all, they basically are all around the JCC. 77035 is the alternative zip code, focusing on Willow Meadows in your price range.

Maplewood (south and north) is larger and straddles both Braeswood and Hillcroft. In your price range, I would stay east of Hillcroft and north of Willowbend. You can cross those streets and it's still fine, but you will be looking at the best houses in those areas.

Examples:
Marilyn Estates: 5503 Queensloch Dr, Houston, TX 77096 - HAR.com
Parkwest (part of Westbury, this is on the high side of home values in that area): 5623 Bankside Dr, Houston, TX 77096 - HAR.com
Barkley Sq: 5610 Valkeith Dr, Houston, TX 77096 - HAR.com
Barkley Sq: 5623 Rutherglenn Dr, Houston, TX 77096 - HAR.com
Willow Meadows, which is closer to 610 than the others: 4422 Lymbar Dr, Houston, TX 77096 - HAR.com
Maplewood South: 5802 Rutherglenn Dr, Houston, TX 77096 - HAR.com

The flooding in Meyerland is a problem without a short-term solution. They are widening the bayou, but these things don't happen overnight. My thought as a resident who didn't flood (no one around us did), is that if they got 1' of water at Memorial Day, and either didn't flood or maybe a couple of inches last April, that the house is reasonable to look at for the right price. There is a section close to 610 (basically between Millbury and 610) that's "low" and I wouldn't look at unless it's been lifted. Those houses will eventually be lifted or torn down, there's not much alternative IMO.

I pay a lot of attention to the real estate in the area, and have noticed a couple of houses I know flooded in 2015 that say "didn't flood April 2016." It's sneaky on their part, especially if they are flippers who will say they don't know the history of the house. I would not looked at flipped houses in the part of Meyerland and Willow Meadows right now. They are required to disclose flood history, so sticking to owner-occupied is best.

ETA: Here's one that absolutely flooded at Memorial Day...the owner sold to a flipper who (in the listing at least) makes no mention. The price is too good to be true as well, it should be $100k higher: http://www.har.com/8907-endicott-ln/sale_98426734

[Ghost Town]

I drove through Meyerland this weekend.
Yes, this area is good: nice landscaping, walking/biking trails, not congested.
But why is it so overpriced? Most houses there are old and look pretty depressive.
This area is also adjacent to some sketchy/dangerous neighborhoods.

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

I drove through Meyerland this weekend.
Yes, this area is good: nice landscaping, walking/biking trails, not congested.
But why is it so overpriced? Most houses there are old and look pretty depressive.
This area is also adjacent to some sketchy/dangerous neighborhoods.

Overpriced isn't something I would associate with Meyerland, at least not when compared to Energy Corridor, which is also on the OP's radar.

If you drove through the streets with major flood damage, closest to the loop, it is pretty sad looking right now with most of the empty houses either slated for demo or in process of being worked on (there are lots of new homes going in, so progress is being made). However, the rest of the area is far from that. If your definition of depressing is old 1950s-1960s houses, then OK. If they were all new, then it would unfortunately be as expensive as Bellaire.

There's VERY little sketchy adjacent to Meyerland. Farther down S Post Oak (past Willowbend), and then if you take Braeswood past Fondren. But those areas aren't adjacent.