DINK couple moving to Houston (Spring, West: real estate, custom home, find a job)

[HereWeCome!]

Hi everyone, I've been reading the posts for a few weeks now as I research our move to Houston. My husband has accepted a job on Bammel a few miles west of 45. I've been keeping notes, but now I've gathered info from so many sources I am starting to get very confused!

We're in our early 40's w/no kids. I'll be telecommuting for a year, but I hope to find a job at one of the universities or as an education consultant/researcher.

I am wondering about the Champions area--ease of getting around, well-built and maintained houses, housing values hold up, access to entertainment, restaurants, downtown, etc. I'd be interested in learning some pros and cons of living in around here.

In terms of other suggestions:

Price point is mid to upper 300's. We care about:
* quiet (ish) neighborhoods
* ideally, lush (ish) backyards
* good quality construction
* good schools (for resale value)
* diversity of thought/politics/experiences welcomed
* not completely populated by families with kids

The house doesn't have to be new, but we'd like it to be updated. So an older area w/neighborhoods with renovations going on would be welcomed.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated!

[John84]

Originally Posted by HereWeCome!

Hi everyone, I've been reading the posts for a few weeks now as I research our move to Houston. My husband has accepted a job on Bammel a few miles west of 45. I've been keeping notes, but now I've gathered info from so many sources I am starting to get very confused!

We're in our early 40's w/no kids. I'll be telecommuting for a year, but I hope to find a job at one of the universities or as an education consultant/researcher.

I am wondering about the Champions area--ease of getting around, well-built and maintained houses, housing values hold up, access to entertainment, restaurants, downtown, etc. I'd be interested in learning some pros and cons of living in around here.

In terms of other suggestions:

Price point is mid to upper 300's. We care about:
* quiet (ish) neighborhoods
* ideally, lush (ish) backyards
* good quality construction
* good schools (for resale value)
* diversity of thought/politics/experiences welcomed
* not completely populated by families with kids

The house doesn't have to be new, but we'd like it to be updated. So an older area w/neighborhoods with renovations going on would be welcomed.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated!

My family moved to Champions a few months ago and we like it. To your careabouts:
1) With the wall along most of 1960, Champions South is pretty quiet. Champions West and East are set behind retail centers, so they're also somewhat protected from the 1960 noise. Champions North and Northwest are set far back enough that there's little to no noise. As for through traffic, I'd say it's limited. I've lived in NW Houston almost 25 years and before I moved to Champions, found very little reason to cut through the neighborhood. In fact, I was pretty unfamiliar with most of this area before I moved here. That said, certain roads have a bit more traffic than others. Whereas some have roundabout cross streets (Champions South), other neighboorhoods only have the same entry and exit (Champions North and Northwest, for example). There is the train parallel to Cutten that can sometimes be heard. Finally, half the neighboorhood is in a golf course (or around the relatively unknown large-sized pond of Champions East), both of which contribute to the reduced level of din.

2) No problems on the having a lush backyard - Champions is old growth, if a suburb can be called that: plenty of big trees of a wide variety throughout the neighborhood. If you're lucky enough to be on the golf course, you're basically looking out on one of the top classic courses in the nation.

3) Good quality construction (with a later point about not needing new but updated, or homes under renovation). That's the one interesting thing about Champions and one of the aspects that attracted us to the neighboorhood. Most of the neighoorhood went up in the late 50s to early 70s, but there are are homes either being renovated or completely demolished and replaced with rather resplendent homes, admittedly on the pricey side. It's clear that this is happening near the Galleria area; and while it's not unique, but I haven't seen too much of this in the suburbs.

Note that I don't think the replacement is indicative of the quality of construction of the older homes, just that people want to live in Champions and are willing to build a new home in an old community. We've been pleased with our home (older / not replacement) - structurally sound, good foundation, but if you do get an older home, be prepared to maintain it to some degree (as you would with any house). There's been a couple of things we've had to do (some minor -- GFCI, some not so minor - replacement of old furnance). Be sure to get a home warranty.

One particular thing I like about Champions is the variety of architecture of the homes. They are not cookie-cutter and some are really interesting designs.

4) You're in the CyFair School District, one the better school districts in Texas. Yeager is probably not the best elementary in the district but it's still a good school. Bleyl and CyCreek are decent junior high and high schools, respectively. CyCreek is undergoing renovations soon. Disclaimer: I graduated from both several years ago.

5) It's hard to comment on this. We probably haven't lived here long enough to comment on the diversity of thought / politics. We talked with our very nice neighbors about the last Texas primary, voted for opposite parties and joked about it. We also acknowledged we were Catholic to our fellow Methodists (a real stretch, to be sure). But all of this is just fairly weak ancedotal evidence to prove tolerance so take it with a grain of salt.

6) While I believe there's a trend of younger families moving here with kids, I'd say that the neighborhood is mostly older families to empty nesters.

I agree with the other benefits you mention about the Champions area--ease of getting around (right next to FM1960/FM249), housing values hold up, access to entertainment, restaurants (Champions Village / Willowbrook), downtown (I-45 is probably the best path on the weekend, though 290 is an alternative).

I'd say the biggest issue you'll have is finding a home from a limited quantity to choose from. Champions ranges from about $150K to upwards of $2-3M. With your 350K-399K price range, there's not a lot of middle ground. You've probably already checked out har.com and noticed that East and West comprise of 10 homes in the 150K-low 200k range. South has 1 and North also has 3 in that range, then it zooms right up to the 400Ks and beyond (7 of those in North, 4 South). I only see 2 houses right now in the 300Ks. One (320K) is in the one of the two inner circles of Champions South - pretty secluded and the other (359K) is off Coral Ridge.

ADDITIONAL EDIT: there's also one $342K at 13123 Paradise Valley that didn't come up in original subdivision searches.

I wish you good luck in your search.

[Supermac34]

Champions, Champion Forest, Memorial Northwest, Champion Woods, Gleanloch, Windrose, Spring Creek Oaks/Forest, and the dozens of other neighborhoods in the immediate area, etc. are all places to check out.

77379 on Houston Real Estate - Houston Homes, Houston Home Value and Houston Relocation and surrounding areas.

Stay North of 1960 and West of I-45.

All Klein schools are good except those that feed Klein Forest. Cy Fair is good as well.

[SkyeAnjel]

Most of Champions is in the Klein School district. There are homes in Wimbledon Champions, Estates at Windrush, Champion Forest, Champion Woods, in your price range. A little further out is Augusta Pines, The Preserve, Windrose. All of these are great neighborhoods as well as parts of Memorial Northwest , Glenn Haven Estates, Memorial Creek and Gleannloch Farms. You may be able to find a home in Brentwood Lakes Estates which is a small neighborhood with just a few streets and custom homes, resale is excellent in there.

[John84]

As long as we're mentioning those in the immediate area of Champions-proper, the original neighborhood is bookended by Champions Park and Champions Park North to the west and Huntwick/Woods of Wimbledon / Brandonwood to the east. There’s also Champions Bend, Champion Villas and Champions Colony (the latter two are patio homes though) to the immediate northeast. All nice neighborhoods.

[therewego]

So, is Klein still considered a good school district? I was talking to a friend that is unhappy w/Cy-fair yet she said Cy-Fair was better than Klein, that Klein is not good anymore. I was a bit taken aback by that more for the interest of resale. Also, I looked up our school in SchoolMatters - Home and it was in the 95%... JUst wanted to know others' opinions; or was she just being a little competitive w/me?

[Beto]

Originally Posted by therewego

So, is Klein still considered a good school district? I was talking to a friend that is unhappy w/Cy-fair yet she said Cy-Fair was better than Klein, that Klein is not good anymore. I was a bit taken aback by that more for the interest of resale. Also, I looked up our school in SchoolMatters - Home and it was in the 95%... JUst wanted to know others' opinions; or was she just being a little competitive w/me?

It is, try looking on GreatSchools.net for more info.