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Old 12-21-2009, 10:33 PM
 
7 posts, read 9,824 times
Reputation: 11

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My wife and I are in the market to buy a house. We've been in Houston for almost 2 years now, but still aren't that familiar with the area. Right now we live in the Willowbrook/Champions area, but I work in the Greenway and she works on 290. So I make an almost 60 mile a day commute from work to home.


I do love it out here, but am trying to find a community as nice as this one that's a little closer to work. What would be a good area for us to consider?


Things considering:

I work really late most nights, so I like knowing that my wife and our cats are going to be ok while I'm gone, so we're looking, for the most part, a safe and nice community.

Somewhere where we can have a yard. I've been wanting a dog now for the longest time, but didn't want to get one while we were living in an apartment. I would like for he/she to be able to run around in a yard as well.


I don't necessarily have to live super close to work, even cutting my commute in half and making it a 15 mile one way/30 total a day trip would be very acceptable.



Hope these things help.

I appreciate the help and information


- Mike
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Old 12-21-2009, 10:57 PM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,699 posts, read 87,101,195 times
Reputation: 131673
Mike, you would need to do some research. Good start is here: Home Finder - Search for Houston Homes, Realtors, and Real Estate Tools - HAR.com , check the map, find your area, drive by in your time off and see if you like it, then start to check those areas using HAR.
But first of all, make sure that your financial status is in order, find out what is your price range, and what payments you can afford. Check your credit report and see if there is anything what needs to be fixed. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
Pay off your credit cards, and make sure that you will have enough money to put in up front.
Useful links:
HouseBuyingTips.com - How to Buy a House
Money101 Lesson 8: Buying a Home
Home Buying Tips, Tricks & Techniques - Buy a Home
House buying information

It takes lots of time and patience to find the right house, for the right price in an area you would feel comfortable. Take your time. Read all hints and tricks. Know pro and contras.
Good luck
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Old 12-22-2009, 05:32 AM
 
Location: A little suburb of Houston
3,702 posts, read 18,213,847 times
Reputation: 2092
You don't say what your budget is, but I would recommend somewhere like Timbergrove, Lazybrook, Oak Forest or Shepherd Forest. Good commute for both of you and a nice area. Also some nice trails to walk the future dog.
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Old 12-22-2009, 09:31 AM
 
Location: The Greater Houston Metro Area
9,053 posts, read 17,197,318 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Poltracker View Post
You don't say what your budget is, but I would recommend somewhere like Timbergrove, Lazybrook, Oak Forest or Shepherd Forest. Good commute for both of you and a nice area. Also some nice trails to walk the future dog.
Nice, older neighborhoods made up of 30ish professionals and people over 60. However, a basic not-so-updated house is going to run over $200K in Oak Forest and Shepherd Forest - higher in Lazybrook and Timbergrove.
It's hard to recommend without knowing budget.
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Old 12-22-2009, 09:58 AM
 
7 posts, read 9,824 times
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Thanks for the replies so far! As far as budget goes, I don't think we really want to get a house that's over the 200k mark.

We went to HAR.com and started looking around in the areas you mentioned. I have a co-worker who lives in the Timbergrove area, and I have another who actually lives in the Braeburn Valley area, but I haven't spoken to him about the area and how he feels about it.

Is Braeburn also considered a nice area? Any flooding problems or anything?


Thanks again for the help!
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:00 AM
 
381 posts, read 1,234,114 times
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Westbury might be a good fit. I think there is a sense of community and neighbors talk there, which helps one to feel safer.
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:21 AM
 
Location: A little suburb of Houston
3,702 posts, read 18,213,847 times
Reputation: 2092
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddness View Post
Thanks for the replies so far! As far as budget goes, I don't think we really want to get a house that's over the 200k mark.

We went to HAR.com and started looking around in the areas you mentioned. I have a co-worker who lives in the Timbergrove area, and I have another who actually lives in the Braeburn Valley area, but I haven't spoken to him about the area and how he feels about it.

Is Braeburn also considered a nice area? Any flooding problems or anything?


Thanks again for the help!
Braeburn and Westbury would be very bad ideas if the wife works off of 290. Getting past the galleria on 610 can be tough during rush hour.
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:40 AM
 
Location: The Greater Houston Metro Area
9,053 posts, read 17,197,318 times
Reputation: 15226
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddness View Post
I have another who actually lives in the Braeburn Valley area, but I haven't spoken to him about the area and how he feels about it.

Is Braeburn also considered a nice area? Any flooding problems or anything?
Braeburn Glen? Braeburn Valley? or Braeburn Terrace? Terrace is the closest to the Loop but tend to be smaller. Valley and Terrace sells faster than Glen. Beware of any short sale situations - there are some there.

Go to www.tsarp.org and plug in an address on the interactive map - it will show where the house is located on the flood map.

I wasn't being fair to Oak Forest earlier. If you go on the west side of TC Jester - the prices go down. I am so used to staying on the east side (for the appreciation factor). The west side will appreciate - just not nearly like the east side. However, if you move there and stay for some time - you will still be happy with the appreciation (just don't compare the two).

Also, you might consider Binglewood in Spring Branch.
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Old 12-22-2009, 11:00 AM
 
Location: A little suburb of Houston
3,702 posts, read 18,213,847 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cheryjohns View Post
Also, you might consider Binglewood in Spring Branch.
Glad you pointed this one out, I could not recall its name.
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Old 12-22-2009, 11:05 AM
 
Location: Charleston Sc and Western NC
9,273 posts, read 26,493,997 times
Reputation: 4741
Oh Binglewood might be a good choice. It seems to be getting pretty popular again. Traffic over to Greenway might be tough at times though.
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