Alden Bridge in the Woodlands--pros and cons, resale potential? (Houston: for sale, real estate)

[alwaysflyin]

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to the board but appreciate the great collective wisdom on here. Thanks in advance for answering my questions.

My husband and I are looking at purchasing a house in the Alden Bridge area of the Woodlands. A few quick questions:

1) I know the drive to 45 is a bit longer. Will this be a real detriment to resale?
2) Aside from the drive to 45, any particular pros and cons of the Alden Bridge area? (not the Woodlands, we're pretty set on the Woodlands)
3) Any opinions of Buckalew elementary school? No kids yet, but hope to have them soon, and that is the school for this neighborhood.
4) The house we're looking at has a small, nice pool in the backyard. Will that hinder resale?

Thanks so much!

[DotLib]

I have had friends that lived in the AB area, and loved it...some very pretty homes there. I think its a pretty good spot for the Woodlands, so doubt you would have that much trouble when it comes time to sell...depending on how the economy is at that time...sorry, I cant help you with the schools. Dot

[TCU34]

Originally Posted by alwaysflyin

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to the board but appreciate the great collective wisdom on here. Thanks in advance for answering my questions.

My husband and I are looking at purchasing a house in the Alden Bridge area of the Woodlands. A few quick questions:

1) I know the drive to 45 is a bit longer. Will this be a real detriment to resale?
2) Aside from the drive to 45, any particular pros and cons of the Alden Bridge area? (not the Woodlands, we're pretty set on the Woodlands)
3) Any opinions of Buckalew elementary school? No kids yet, but hope to have them soon, and that is the school for this neighborhood.
4) The house we're looking at has a small, nice pool in the backyard. Will that hinder resale?

Thanks so much!

My parents (and myself until I moved away for college in 2005) have lived in 4 different houses in the woodlands dating back to 1990 so I'm pretty well versed in anything "Woodlands". I hope these help...

1.) The Woodlands is the Woodlands so really nothing will hurt the resale value much, and even though Alden Bridge may seem like like a hike to 45, its really not bad compared to various areas of Sterling Ridge, Indian Springs, etc. Also, AB is close enough to FM2978 and I have found that since my 'rents moved to Sterling Ridge that I tend to go "the back way" to many places and have much easier access to Lake Conroe, Tomball, 249 & 290 Areas. All places, that 5-10 years ago, was very much a drive and out of the way.

2.) Alden Bridge is a good place to live... It's not my favorite "Village" but there are some nice middle of the road homes here, probably one of the less pretentious Areas in the Woodlands, which is a GOOD thing. 10-15 years ago, Alden Bridge was considered the very BACK of the Woodlands, but now its more in the center so thats a good thing. You also have easier access to Research Forrest which IMO is much better to travel on than Woodlands Parkway. One thing I will say is that the Alden Bridge Village center is one of my least favorite center's (although rico's mexican is great). But hey, Cochran's Crossing and Sterling ridge aren't far. All in all it is a good place to start and grow a family.

3.) I don't have any personal experience with Buckalew (though I have driven by it often), but a majority of the elementary schools in the woodlands are excellent, so no problem there. There is also a good selection of Private Schools within 10 mins of you, from The Woodlands Christian Academy (My Alma mater) to John Cooper and The Woodlands Prep Academy.

4. If anything a pool in the woodlands will help the resale. My parents moved to a development less than a year old, and I kid you not, as we speak 5 pools are going in. Many people that move out here have kids, and even if you don't the pools are a good escape from the terrible summers. Now I don't have facts to back up the resale value theory, but I'm 95% sure it would increase it.

Anyway, I hope I answered some of your Q's. Feel free to ask me anymore questions. Even though I'm moving back to Fort Worth in a few weeks, The Woodlands is, and always will be my hometown. It was a great place to grow up and I am proud to call it home. I don't know where you're moving from, but I know many out of towners try to compare The Woodlands with Sugarland, Clear Lake, and Kingwood, but in my book, its not even close; The Woodlands wins by a landslide .

[alwaysflyin]

Fantastic information! Thank you so much to both of you.

TCU34, we are moving in from Nebraska. However, I've lived in Houston before as I graduated from Rice in the 90s and then returned again for one year to do a graduate school internship. But it's still been ten years since I've lived in Houston, and then it was in the inner loop near Rice. My husband and I flew down last weekend to look at real estate and check out areas and fell in love with the Woodlands. We are both so excited to purchase our new house and begin our life in the Woodlands. We saw seven houses in the Woodlands but the house in Alden Bridge was by far our favorite. We saw another we really liked but it backed right to Research Drive and there was considerable road noise.

Again, thank you so much for the information, and best wishes on your move.

[TCU34]

Yeah, good call on not going with the house that backed up to research forest. In the woodlands, the one thing that will hurt resale value is it backing up to a major road.

Back in 1990 when we first moved to the woodlands my parents bought a house that they thought was on a "green belt". Well that green belt was really what was going to be the gosling road expansion project to 4 lanes, 7 years later. So we went from being about 300-400 yards from a lightly traveled road to less than 100 yards from a major artery through the woodlands. When they sold the house in 2002 it took over 7 months and it only increased in value about $40k over that 12 year period, mostly because of the new road noise.


Anyway, I think you and your husband will enjoy the woodlands very much... If you don't mind me asking, what subdivision is the house in? I was driving on Alden Bridge Drive today, real close to bucaklew, when I noticed a house for sale with a pool.

[EasilyAmused]

They rezone the Elem. schools about every three years back in that part of TW. Don't count on any Elem. being the one you are going to go to.

Yes, you have to have a pool or you'll never resell the house.

[alwaysflyin]

Thanks again everyone--I went back and looked at the subdivision and it just says The Woodlands Alden Bridge--TCU34, if you like send me a PM and I'll send you the listing.

Yes, we loved this other house, but it's on Floral Leaf Court with Research Drive not behind it--and standing in the yard we could hear major road noise. Too bad because it would be our first choice if it were just somewhere else.

[texas7]

Boss lives there - loves his neighborhood but HATES his commute into downtown with a passion.

[alwaysflyin]

Originally Posted by texas7

Boss lives there - loves his neighborhood but HATES his commute into downtown with a passion.

Thanks texas7! We're fortunate in that we both work from home, so shouldn't be an issue for us. When we do go into the city, we can choose the non-commute hours so hopefully will shorten the trip.

[the_leslie]

Originally Posted by alwaysflyin

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to the board but appreciate the great collective wisdom on here. Thanks in advance for answering my questions.

My husband and I are looking at purchasing a house in the Alden Bridge area of the Woodlands. A few quick questions:

1) I know the drive to 45 is a bit longer. Will this be a real detriment to resale?
2) Aside from the drive to 45, any particular pros and cons of the Alden Bridge area? (not the Woodlands, we're pretty set on the Woodlands)
3) Any opinions of Buckalew elementary school? No kids yet, but hope to have them soon, and that is the school for this neighborhood.
4) The house we're looking at has a small, nice pool in the backyard. Will that hinder resale?

Thanks so much!

Alden Bridge is only 10-15 minutes from 45 via 242. Take Greenbridge from Research to 242 to avoid all of the lights down Research.
Buckalew is 1 of 2 most sought after elementary schools in The Woodlands.
As long as you don't fall into the pool when walking out of the back door then it shouldn't hurt your resale. Buyers want space around the pool, not something that was squeezed into a spot too small.
AB is a nice mix of newer homes and lots with mature trees. Sterling Ridge has newer homes but no trees. The other villages have same amount of trees as AB but older homes. I bought in AB for that very reason.