Seabrook,Mont Belvieu, Deer Park HELP!! (Houston, Austin: HOA fees, insurance, low crime)

[tmolivinitup]

My husband is looking into accepting a job in Baytown, TX at the hospital. We currently live in Kingman, AZ and we all hate it!!! We are originally from Salt Lake City, Ut but there are no job opportunities there. I am a flight attendant for CO airlines so Houston seems to be like a great location for us. We have 2 kids and our main priority is to have them in a good school and my husband does not want to commute far. From what I can tell baytown is not that great and it looks like the closest towns that have good schools are seabrook, mont belvieu, and deer park. I would love any information that you may know about these. Our income together will be around 60,000 so we can probably only afford around 150-200 dollar house. My oldest daughter who will be in 7th grade only request is that the people and kids are friendly. They kids are very mean here in Kingman vs SLC. How are the people in Houston??? Do you get the southern hospitality feel at all?? Do you know how the kids are in middle schools?? Thanks you.

[tstone]

Southern hospitality is here, but mostly diluted IMO.

Remember property taxes are around 3% and insurance will be a little high in these areas. So you should add maybe $400/mo (tax) and $150/mo (insurance) to the mortgage to be safe. Then also flood insurance + HOA fees will run at least another $50-60/mo combined.

BTW, kids are mean everywhere, especially in a hormone-covered middle school. It's tougher being a girl... I remember as a boy if I got pushed I'd push right back. Unfortunately a lot of kids who become targets bring it on by their own mannerisms.

[tmolivinitup]

Originally Posted by tstone

Southern hospitality is here, but mostly diluted IMO.

Remember property taxes are around 3% and insurance will be a little high in these areas. So you should add maybe $400/mo (tax) and $150/mo (insurance) to the mortgage to be safe. Then also flood insurance + HOA fees will run at least another $50-60/mo combined.

BTW, kids are mean everywhere, especially in a hormone-covered middle school. It's tougher being a girl... I remember as a boy if I got pushed I'd push right back. Unfortunately a lot of kids who become targets bring it on by their own mannerisms.

Thanks for the reply. It is good to hear numbers about the extra taxes and stuff. I try to tell my daughter that it is just her age but she insists that it is worse here. I believe it is worse here in Kingman than SLC but not as bad as she makes it, she is a drama queen tweenager who is going trough hormones and puberty.

[Poltracker]

Barbours Hill schools in Mont Belview are supposed to be pretty good. Don't know much about the area. Deer Park is a great little city. Very low crime rate, great city services and responsiveness. The city has a number of nice parks and recreational areas considering its size this includes a city pool, gym, dog park, skate park, golf course, and general parks. The city also has a number of community activities that it sponsors, everything from aerobics to how to fish. There are also plenty of nice houses in your price range. I was very pleasantly surprised after moving here. Only 15 minutes to Baytown. Check out the city web site:City of Deer Park

[AlyB]

The Clear Lake/Seabrook area is very nice and CCISD has fantastic schools. The location is great (halfway between downtown Houston and Galveston) and Seabrook has lots of waterfront activities. You would have a bit of a commute to Intercontinental Airport, it is closer to Baytown and Hobby Airport. We have many friends who live in Seabrook and work in Baytown. Best of luck to you

[texas7]

Deer Park and Seabrook are both great areas to live with good school districts. A coworker moved his high school aged girls to Deer Park ISD from the toney Memorial section of Houston - they cried for 3 months before the move. Once they moved - the girls loved it and are extremely happy. IF you look in this area - be specific with the realtor about which school districts you want to look in.
Seabrook goes to Clear Creek ISD which is another excellent school district.

[southeasttexas]

I work in Mont Belvieu. Barbers Hill ISD is one of the best in the entire state, I am not kidding. For some reason, it stays mainly "under the radar" as far as Houstonians are concerned. It is located in Chambers County, and there are many new subdivisions being built, a number of them are in the 150-200K range. Mont Belvieu will have more of a rural feel, than DP and SB, IMO. Super easy 10 minuit drive to Baytowns San Jacinto Methodist, too.

[poodlestix]

I really don't see why so many people are down on Baytown. I have lived here for the past 4 1/2 years and think it's a decent place. Sure it's not gorgeous like The Woodlands or Kingwood, but so far it has been safe & friendly, and there are good restaurants, which is one of my criteria. We are in the Chambers County part of Baytown, so we have the lower taxes, and it's quick access to I-10, Highway 146, or 225.

[tmolivinitup]

Originally Posted by poodlestix

I really don't see why so many people are down on Baytown. I have lived here for the past 4 1/2 years and think it's a decent place. Sure it's not gorgeous like The Woodlands or Kingwood, but so far it has been safe & friendly, and there are good restaurants, which is one of my criteria. We are in the Chambers County part of Baytown, so we have the lower taxes, and it's quick access to I-10, Highway 146, or 225.

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you about Baytown. If it were just me and my husband I sure that is where he would want to move but we have kids and from all the research I could see Baytown schools were just average, which is not bad, but if we could get them in better schools and my husband just a short commute away then I think it is the way to go.

[poodlestix]

Actually, I have children also. My daughter attended Austin Elementary, which is considered a good school. She was always in the gifted program & the spelling bees. I think she's done well here, but you have to decide what's right for your own family.