Going to Houston for a few days to check it out - need advice (Spring: for sale, real estate)

[ginan]

Hi, my husband and I are possibly going to be relocating to Houston.

We want to relocate within 30-40 minutes from IAH.

From my research, these are the areas that we want to check out:

Kingwood
Woodsland (Grogan's Mill area so that it is close to the I-45 - what other areas are close to I-45?)
Spring (I see conflicting reports about this area - what are the "better" parts of Spring?)
Cypress
Lake Houston (this is part of Atascocita, right?)
Fall Creek

We want to see both properties for sale and properties for rent to get a feel of what's out there. Budget is 330K for sale, $1600 for rent.

We care mostly about nicely manicured areas, low crime, quiet. We don't need a lot of nightlife and are willing to drive for that.

We'll be there for 4 days so we need to make the best use of the time. Is it unrealistic to think that we can do all those areas with one real estate person? When I look on har.com whatever properties I get are listed by different realtors so I'm unsure how I can approach this - I want to find someone we can work well with first and foremost.

Thanks!

[Prey521]

Do you have any kids? Kingwood/Atascocita are great areas. Lots of traffic in both but you can still be at IAH within 25 minutes from either one, even with traffic.

[ginan]

Originally Posted by Prey521

Do you have any kids? Kingwood/Atascocita are great areas. Lots of traffic in both but you can still be at IAH within 25 minutes from either one, even with traffic.

No kids, Prey.

25 minutes is definitely doable.

I want to see as much as we can while we're there, of course, since nothing beats seeing areas in person. But yes, Kingwood is high up on the list...and definitely want to see Atascocita.

[analogkid84]

For a bit more depth, maybe post here as well: https://www.kingwood.com/message_board/ and https://www.atascocita.com/message_board/. There's plenty of daily traffic on these boards, so you should be able to get answers to specific questions. Technically, Kingwood is really city of Houston. That area was annexed some 20 years or so ago. I live in the Kings River area, across the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge from Kingwood but zoned to their schools. It really is more Atascocita though. Very quiet, as crime-free as neighborhoods will get in the area. Plenty of retail and from my house to IAH is easily within the window you desire. Good luck!

[ginan]

Originally Posted by analogkid84

For a bit more depth, maybe post here as well: https://www.kingwood.com/message_board/ and https://www.atascocita.com/message_board/. There's plenty of daily traffic on these boards, so you should be able to get answers to specific questions. Technically, Kingwood is really city of Houston. That area was annexed some 20 years or so ago. I live in the Kings River area, across the West Lake Houston Parkway bridge from Kingwood but zoned to their schools. It really is more Atascocita though. Very quiet, as crime-free as neighborhoods will get in the area. Plenty of retail and from my house to IAH is easily within the window you desire. Good luck!

Thank you SO much for those links, analogkid!

As I start looking at actual properties online I'm sure I'll have more questions I'm a little overwhelmed right now.

I did not have Kings River on my list - I'll add it! (although I did have Atascocita but it's kind of confusing because the areas seem so big :/ Would you mind giving me the zip code to Kings River, just to make sure I'm searching in the right area.

Thanks again.

[analogkid84]

Kings River is in the 77346 zip. Here's a point of clarity though, Kingwood and parts of Atascocita are made up of what are called "villages". They are really just neighborhoods, but originally as master planned communities, each village has its own HOA, community center, and pool. It's all fairly seamless though, but certain villages have a particular style/size/price range of homes. You can find out a bit more here https://www.kingwood.com/community/villages.php and here Kingwood Service Association - Home Page. One of the nice things about the Kingwood area are the Greenbelt Trails, https://www.kingwood.com/community/greenbelt.php.

[westres1]

One realtor should be able to show you properties in all these areas.

[ginan]

Originally Posted by analogkid84

Kings River is in the 77346 zip. Here's a point of clarity though, Kingwood and parts of Atascocita are made up of what are called "villages". They are really just neighborhoods, but originally as master planned communities, each village has its own HOA, community center, and pool. It's all fairly seamless though, but certain villages have a particular style/size/price range of homes. You can find out a bit more here https://www.kingwood.com/community/villages.php and here Kingwood Service Association - Home Page. One of the nice things about the Kingwood area are the Greenbelt Trails, https://www.kingwood.com/community/greenbelt.php.

That is SO helpful, thank you.

[ginan]

Originally Posted by westres1

One realtor should be able to show you properties in all these areas.

OK thanks westres.

So far I only heard back from one, and he said he *could* show me those areas in the time I'm there.

I'm thinking also I shouldn't stress too much about finding a great agent right off the bat - if they seem fairly helpful then that should be fine. And I'll see how much they know about the area / how we work with them once we're there.

[mikeyyc]

You can search HAR just by map, it's really good that way, with all your parameters. Size, garages, price, pool, etc. Helps separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.


I'd look, find a house you sort of like, or a realtor who's dominant in the area you're looking at, and reach out to them. There's no shortage of choices for realtors. If someone isn't eager, move on. They should be, if you're potentially looking at one of their homes.