Houston Utility/Cable/Internet Service 77469 (Rosenberg: sales, credit, new house)

[freshtexan]

Hi guys, it's been a while since my last thread asking you'll about house hunting. And now we will be moving to our new house in the 77469 area. Right after moving in, we have to sign up for electricity/water/gas/internet/cable etc...

Electricity: Our house is around 2600 sqt, and just two people will live there. So i guess the usage won't be much, probably around 1000 kwh. we are currently living in a 700 sqt apt, and use around 500 kwh the past two month. So there are two electricity plan with Gexa now. Plan 1: use under 1000 kwh, get $40 credit. Plan 2: use under 1000 kwh, get $20 credit; use between 1000 and 1500 kwh, get $90 credit, it's 1.1 cents on average in this range. What do you guys think the usage will probably be? I think Plan 2 is a good compromise.

Water/gas: i know nothing about this, is it similar to electricity that i have to shop around? or it's pretty straight forward?

Internet/Cable: oh here it comes. I am sensitive to numbers and enthusiastic about comparing price and value, so this is so over whelming considering how many providers and plan I can choose from. I only need one tv in the house, no dvt needed, need internet fast enough since we watch a lot videos online. the following are what I researched:

Directv: i can go with Costco and get $300 cash card, the TV is $55 per month for first year, and jumped to $90 second year, only on this note, I think the $300 is worthless. Plus I have to get internet from ATT and this will add installation cost. Plus ATT internet has a usage cap.

Dish TV: this is probably the best deal i researched, $49.99 for two years locked. no installation fee or other fees. but the problem is I still have to get internet separately and pay installation

Comcast: I am a current customer and paying over $150 for tv and internet, and internet sucks in my apt. Somebody say the speed will go up in a house. My bundle only worth $119, they are so much hidden fees. I still want to try comcast only because it's bundle for new customer is $79.99 for the first year and $89.99 second year. Once a sales in our apt said he can get me the new customer deal even i am currently using it, I just need to disconnect and reconnect through him. Anyoen can confirm?

Oh, this is a lot information. thanks if you are still reading. Greatly appreciated if you can throw your opinions.

[batmanwannabe]

I just moved in to the same area (77469) two week ago. My place is about 4000 sq ft. but i'm coming from an 2900 sq ft home in SugarLand.


Electricity: We just moved our TXU energy from our previous home. Our bill has been max $130 (for May) this year, with the summer and everything. Keep in mind, my Sugarland home is the opposite of energy efficient. Old A/C, old vents, etc etc. TXU has been pretty good, we're paying 7.9 cent per Kwh at 2000 kwh. I don't think we're getting any credits but I guess it's my fault for not looking into other options.

Water: Call the City of Rosenberg (832 595 3400) a couple of days before closing and let them know. They'll ask you to come in but you can also ask them to E-mail you the forms. You gotta print it, sign it, scan it and send it back to them. Then after you close, send your closing disclosure (I blacked out all the numbers with money) and send it to them. They will also send you your trash and recycle cans.

Gas: I think you can only go with center point. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. But I don't think our bill in the last house ever exceeded $100. It was about $30 on average.

Internet /Cable: Internet is HUGE for me as I do a lot of my work online and remotely. I had comcast so I just moved service and I still get great speeds (about 170 mbps on wired) that I got in my SL home and I have the blast plus speed with security which i'm paying $99 a month on, before tax. Comcast customer service is terrible but their internet has been consistent as far I've had them. This is a two year term contract.

BEWARE: Comcast added a lot of bogus "installation" and "Activation" charges that they didn't tell me about before hand. I got some of them waived but still had to pay additional out of pocket. It was a pain but i had to go through various online and on phone support to get the price down. Honestly, having them for so long you kind of get used to fighting them. But there really isn't any better option to internet right now.

As for Cable TV and Dish, I don't use any of that so I won't be much of a help there. Either way, the area is great despite the terrible traffic during rush hour.

[anveshkm]

Comcast is always $30-$50 for 25-50mbps speed which is more than sufficient for most users (2-3 videos running on 3 devices)..

[freshtexan]

Thanks, Batmanwannabe, all answers are useful to us. You even answered our question about the trash can and recycle can.

I think i will go with Comcast on internet since I found out today I am qualified for new customer since I am currently not in contract and move to a new address.