New homes at Richmond avenue, your opinions (Houston, Alamo: apartments, condos)

[higces]

I saw some new houses they are building close to Richmond av with Hwy 6 (east side), it is a gated community, and it seems good, but I have some concerns, How good is this area? I have hear that next to the west oaks mall it has become kind of ghetto, What are your opinions about this area? is the ghetto area in the west side of Hwy 6 or it is also here?

There is a website:

New Homes Texas, Houston, Harris County, TX by Brighton Homes® @ Briargreen Terrace

[houstonfan]

It's nice and safe as long as you're inside. I wouldn't let your kids walk around outside the community at night though. Anyway, I would be concerned about resale value. If you plan to live 10yrs+, you'll probably be alright but if you plan to sell back in 5yrs, I think you'll have a hard time. I like the community though, some nearby apts and condos aren't good, but I wouldn't describe that community as ghetto.

[higces]

Originally Posted by LeavMeAlone

No, it's not ghetto. It's a nice area. Richmond can be a little sketchy inside the 610 loop, but that's far enough away. You're not in Houston, are you? Are you in the U.S? It's always much better to personally visit the area you consider moving to. But I can tell you this much - it is not ghetto.

Thank you, Yes I am in Houston already, and already visited the comunity it seems nice. I was only concern because a friend said that around the west oaks mall has become bad.

[higces]

Originally Posted by houstonfan

It's nice and safe as long as you're inside. I wouldn't let your kids walk around outside the community at night though. Anyway, I would be concerned about resale value. If you plan to live 10yrs+, you'll probably be alright but if you plan to sell back in 5yrs, I think you'll have a hard time. I like the community though, some nearby apts and condos aren't good, but I wouldn't describe that community as ghetto.

You gave me valuable information, thank you very much

[AmberAzeneth]

Originally Posted by higces

Thank you, Yes I am in Houston already, and already visited the comunity it seems nice. I was only concern because a friend said that around the west oaks mall has become bad.

Higces, I hope you find a great home for you and your family in this neighborhood if this is where you choose to purchase your home. Good luck.

[TheEconomist]

The homes with 3 or more bathrooms are a better deal. I think the houses with 2 bathrooms are a bit pricey for what you get. Also, there's no landscaping. I think for that area you can get a better house in a developed community for similiar prices. I vote no.

[houstonfan]

I assume you want a newer neighborhood that is gated. If so, communities in that area synopsis: North of Westheimer, in zip 77077, you belong to better schools. Thus, along Eldridge in the energy corridor, houses are much more expensive, maybe by 50-100k for a similar house if one existed. Cheeaper neighborhood do exist just west of Dairy Ashford between Westheimer and Briarforest, but the area is not as desireable and I don't think there are gated neighborhoods of single homes.
South of Westheimer, btw beltway8 and Hwy 6, you really only have two neighborhoods that I consider relatively desireable and safe for families with children and in your price range of around 150-250k. School is AISD so take that into account. I think the only two nice ones are Shadowlake and Briargreen. (There are a few nice townhome communities, but i"m assuming you want single homes).
The scoop about Briargreen, IMHO (and i'm not a realtor nor do anything related to that industry, so please take this just as opiinion) : It's nice, was originally developed by Sueba to be a bunch of custom homes. They were built of good quality by Metropolitan Custom Homes, but on a small scale for retired couples or prof singles, etc. The concept was good, but it failed and they built very few homes before they abandoned the project. Sueba has since then hired another custom builder to step in but they've also built few homes. The community has been in development for about 7yrs and only less than 50% of the lots have been sold I think. Now the developer brought in a tract builder (K.Hov/Brighton Homes). KHov, by the way, have several names under it's umbrella name and Brighton is the lower quality line..but I still think they're adequate, esp if you have an inspector watching out for you during the construction.
The reason why i think the community has failed in the past is the pricepoint was too high for that area (used to be $250-$300k when custom builder was there) and for the type of lot and floorplans. The lots were narrow and as a result, the single story floor plans had tiny rooms. For that pricepoint, people could buy in better school areas or bigger yards or better floorplans, etc. And the community backs to ugly apartments and a busy street on the other side. That's prob why it failed. It's a shame because it was a very stately looking community in that area. KHovs usu have better floorplans and better prices so I think they're probably selling well. As for the future resale, I don't know. In the past, some of those custom homes couldn't resell, even at a loss. I took a look at some of those custom built houses, and they were nice, but the bedrooms were tiny and floorplans didn't make sense at all. I don't think it'll appreciate any until all the lots have been built out. Once it's built out, who knows? It is very convenient to shopping and the energy corridor and Shell and Hwy6/Westpark, and is a pretty good energy efficient home (assuming KHov have better floor plans) at a reasonable price. There isn't much room in the Energy corridor to build any more, so I can see how it could hold value once the community has built out, though I doubt it'd appreciate much.
Shadowlake is an older community that is still safe and family friendly, imo. But it's older and most houses don't have all the energy features of new houses and the prices are a bit higher than briargreen.
In both communities, consider the high taxes, I think shadowlake is now over 3%!!
Make sure you check HOA, taxes, and resale records with your realtor (I've seen some houses sit on the market for like 2yrs...they get relisted but total time was 2yrs and i'm not sure it even sold.)

[westres1]

I wouldnt buy in the area due to resale. It is zoned to Alief and the area is not that great. I go to the mall for the Alamo drafthouse but thats it.

[tdhg566]

If you're looking to buy in a gated community, be SURE you understand what your community fee is and what your association or management company is responsible for fixing (like the streets, a big ticket item).