Cinco ranch vs Woodcreek (Houston, Taylor: real estate, HOA, countertops)

[sjabiev]

We are currently considering a house in Cinco SW and Woodcreek. Any advice on both? Also, has anyone had any problems with Taylor Morrison homes? Thanks a lot for the help!!

[stratfordspartans]

Originally Posted by sjabiev

We are currently considering a house in Cinco SW and Woodcreek. Any advice on both? Also, has anyone had any problems with Taylor Morrison homes? Thanks a lot for the help!!

Great builder... probably one of the very few that are least likely to go belly up anytime soon. I would go for Cinco SW over Woodcreek.

[ProudWife12]

I actually live in Cinco Ranch.....it is great, I will definately pick C.R

[Mitchum Carmex]

It is amazing to me how many people recommend Cinco Ranch to me. I had a discussion at work yesterday with some real estate minded people about the housing crunch and how it may yet affect Houston. Their collective opinion is that Houston in general will see some more downward momentum - but a location like CR will be insulated because there is a constant demand for good schools, and the overall value of a CR home... Mainly because the development will certainly sell out in the next couple of years and people trying to sell their homes won't be competing against new home builders.

Think about that when you drive around a relatively new development - will it sell out, or will you be living in a complex with multiple empty lots?

It all depends on your time frame.

I am interested in buying into the best possible neighborhood, with the best possible house - so that my investment will have the best chance to grow. My current home appreciated nearly 100% in 12 years - not outstanding, but doubling my investment has helped at this stage of house hunting. What if I buy a $400k house and in ten years its worth twice that?

I am also looking at Pine Mill Ranch - I think it has the possibility of being very popular because of the good schools and location.

[descovy]

Don't get me wrong, Pine Mill Ranch is a nice neighborhood, but I wouldn't buy a 400k house there. You are topped" out of a neighborhood that as of 2007 when we looked at PMR advertised as being in the 100-300k price range. In terms of resale investment, wouldn't you want to buy in the middle of the price range of any neighborhood?

One thing that appeals many is more house for your money than Cinco. A house in Cinco is around 80-100k / sq ft. A good point if a family of 4 can move up from 2000 sq ft to 2500sq ft... But seriously a home larger than 4000sq ft is not for everyone. That's a lot of house for anyone to heat cool clean and repair.

Good luck!

[descovy]

Back to OP both are very nice neighborhoods. We couldn't afford what we wanted in woodcreek so we ended up in Cinco. That should tell you something! Woodcreek Jr High is said to have an amazing principal and this is according to my Cinco neighbors that had hissy fits last spring at the thought of being rezoned there.

And I live in Cinco and very much love it. Our house has gone up in value since we bought in 2007... 221k to 255k when we appraised this spring.

Think of your commute route. Woodcreek may be a closer commute for an I 10 and northern routes, new builds in Cinco closer to Westpark tollway and southern routes.

You can't go wrong IMO

[spm6110]

Originally Posted by descovy

Don't get me wrong, Pine Mill Ranch is a nice neighborhood, but I wouldn't buy a 400k house there. You are topped" out of a neighborhood that as of 2007 when we looked at PMR advertised as being in the 100-300k price range. In terms of resale investment, wouldn't you want to buy in the middle of the price range of any neighborhood?

One thing that appeals many is more house for your money than Cinco. A house in Cinco is around 80-100k / sq ft. A good point if a family of 4 can move up from 2000 sq ft to 2500sq ft... But seriously a home larger than 4000sq ft is not for everyone. That's a lot of house for anyone to heat cool clean and repair.

Good luck!

I'm pretty sure the price range in Pine Mill Ranch goes higher than $300K...maybe not when you looked though...also I will have to say that recently looking at houses (newbuilds) in CR I didn't find many houses at $80-100 a sq ft...they seemed to be more towards the upper end of that once you actually looked into actual price vs. base price...with that said though it is Cinco and demand will always be there because of nice commercial developments, pools, etc...however if you're asking me your best bet is to find a nice neighborhood that borders Cinco, pay less for your house, enjoy their commercial developments, and take advantage of Cinco's appreciation as your house will follow (maybe not in lockstep).

Cinco is a great place but I think it might be full of itself as a $30K+ premium for a 50 ft lot is just not for me...many will disagree of course because they paid that premium (and then some) and live there but it's just my opinion. Tell me this: if you live in a nice, developed neighborhood that borders Cinco, your kids go to the same school, you shop at the same places, then why would you pay the lot premium...many people ask themselves the same question...those people are potential buyers of your house then...I obviously don't live in Cinco but let it be known I am actually a big fan of the community so I'm not here to try and bad mouth it. Ultimately, I haven't heard anyone that has regretted paying the premium to live there but if you paid $30K+ wouldn't you convince yourself it was a good investment??? Who would want to admit it was a bad one...after all if people heard you thinking that then your house value would go down...therefore you have to keep up the show that you feel it was worth it....you sold yourself... but then again aren't people that live on the borders of Cinco selling themselves on their supposed value...that's the conundrum

[usc619]

Originally Posted by descovy

Don't get me wrong, Pine Mill Ranch is a nice neighborhood, but I wouldn't buy a 400k house there.
Good luck!

You can lead a horse to water.......

On another note, Woodcreek is very nice.

[sbhubbell]

I personally think Cinco is worth it. I didn't pay a premium really because I didn't buy brand new, I bought a two year old house. We didn't want to be in a neighborhood with ANY empty lots. The amenities in Cinco Ranch are incredible...9 pools to choose from? I'll give you another example of how well the HOA takes care of us...I commented to a friend that I couldn't believe how often the mosquito trucks have already been coming around spraying our 'hoods....twice in one night last week even! She lives in Pine Mill Ranch and her jaw hit the floor...she says they haven't sprayed her 'hood YET this year.

I just really dig the community vibe too...which you would only see if you are on the website and get the newsletter...constantly organized family activities and such. All kinds of little clubs.

Anyway...my 2 cents.

[BBall Coach]

Would it be unreasonable to assume that just because your friend hasn't seen the mosquito trucks, that doesn't mean that they haven't been there? Unless she is at home all day and up late at night there is a possibilty that she has missed the truck altogether. In my current neighborhood, the sprayers tend to come by at peculiar times of the night when the average person is sleep. I'm a bit of a night owl so I hear it go by, but 99% of the time my wife is in the bed and I'm sure she has no idea the sprayer came. Maybe she is right, I mean she does live there and I don't, but I will say this as far as my experience. I was in PMR this past Saturday and Sunday evenings playing with my daughter at the playground until the sun went down and did not see a single mosquito and trust me, this would have been a big concern of mines as my little girl has a very adverse skin reaction to mosquito bites.

The 9 pools thing is something I don't really get. Do you actually use all 9? If you do great, but I know for a fact that I wouldn't. I would most likely only use the one closest to me. I'm currently looking at homes in Cinco SW and I was very upset that there was not a pool in many of the subdivisions. I was told by the builder that it was down the street, but not walking distance. Several don't even have a playground within walking distance which means that I'd have to get in my car and drive to access these basic ammenities that I'm spending a ton of money for. I didn't like that at all. So I drove down Cinco Terrace and went to that park right there that is kind of close to 1093. Nice little park, but no swings...the swings were in a different little tot lot a few blocks away which only had swings. There were no slides or anything else to play on. Now I did have a bit of a bug adventure at this park a few weeks ago. The "love bugs" were everywhere and my daughter was all freaking out so I convinced her that they were nice bugs and she eventually ignored them. She went to crawl through a tunnel and started screaming and told me there was a bug in there. Of course, I assumed they were love bugs, assured her they were friendly, and told her to keep playing. She was in full hissy fit mode so evenually I got up to go look and there was one of the largest and hairiest spiders I had ever seen in there, no doubt feasting on the love bugs.

Anyways, Cinco is wonderful. There is no doubt in my mind about that. If there was no Cinco I probably wouldn't even be looking at this area. In fact, when I started the house hunting process I was only looking at 2-5 year old homes in Cinco Ranch and as I drove around, noticed that Seven Meadows and Grand Lakes were also very nice. I decided to build new when I quickly discovered that the majority of the houses I went to look at seemed marked up with practically no upgrades in the them as far as the flooring, countertops, etc. and the prices were just as high or higher than a new build with everything I would want including more square footage.

I agree with spm6110 in the idea that there are nice communities that surround Cinco and will likely thrive as Cinco continues thrive. Property values will continue to go up. Somebody said PMR used to top out at 300k...well I've seen homes in there recently listed at over 500k. I'm not sure what they actually sold for, but if that person was correct, it seems like a good sign to me. I also know that Perry Homes has had several price increases since they first started building in there which is also a good sign. In my opinion, things like 9 pools sounds good, but unless you actually use them all, why pay for them? They all pretty much do the same thing right? Considering that fact and that they are spread miles apart all around Cinco, I would be surprised to learn that the average person takes advantage of that. Some of the other ammenities seem a bit more appealing to me if they fit your lifestyle and you actually intend to take advantage of them.