Looking to move to texas and need some help!! (Houston: Valentine's day, real estate)

[love roses]

Temple is not an uncomfortable drive from Austin. I live in Hutto, NE of Austin and my husband used to work for a company in N. Austin, but due to some unforeseen incidents, ended up with a new job out of Temple. He just does the commute. I had to drive out there one night to get him and it wasn't bad at all. It's a pretty big area. Of course, it was dark so I couldn't see much of it but what I did see impressed me. I had no idea it was as big as it was.

[TiffaniMittag]

Hey-

I live in Corpus Christi...moved from a small town in Illinois....and frequently visit San Antonio and Houston. I like the small town feel with the ammenities of city, and I like the fact that I can get to the country or another big city easily.

I am a realtor here, so my advice to you would be to figure out how much you want to spend on a home along with a list of things you need in a home. Every market is defferent...San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Houston, etc. Then look at the records of the school districts, and decide where you would like to settle.

Moderator cut: no soliciting, please

Best Wishes,
Tiffani

[tincup305]

We know exactly what we want from a housing standpoint. We just built our dream house here in Ohio about a year ago, only probably with our dream is the winters. We could spend up to 750k on a house, which in Ohio got us ALOT house, would prefer not to be at the top of our price point though. Would be very pleased if we could find everything we want around 500k, would like to slow our life down a little. Want atleast 3000 sq feet more like 4000 would be great. 4 bedrooms minimum, 3.5 baths atleast. Really like the mediterrean style homes. Would prefer some privacy, but also realize subdivisions are nice with children. Really want a pool!! Of course location is important for resale purposes, always keep that in mind, you never know what the future might bring. lol But most important is finding the best school for my son. How is property taxes, insurance, hurricane insurance, etc in that area?? I am a little concerned about Corpus Christi because I have read some of the threads and the crime seems bad there, and what about spring breakers?? However, we are just very attracted to the water.

As far as Houston and San Antonio goes we have looked in those areas but honestly they are too big city for me. We have looked on the outskirts a little like Sugar Land, Katy, and Seabrook?? Anyone have any information on those areas?

We are planning to visit Texas in the next couple of weeks, we would just like to get some areas nailed down that we want to explore before we come out.

Thanks again everyone for all of your help and advice, its much needed and appreciated!!

[NOTAM]

dang! 750K? i could buy me a HUMONGOUS ranch. heck, i could probably even buy my county!!

Originally Posted by tincup305

We know exactly what we want from a housing standpoint. We just built our dream house here in Ohio about a year ago, only probably with our dream is the winters. We could spend up to 750k on a house, which in Ohio got us ALOT house, would prefer not to be at the top of our price point though. Would be very pleased if we could find everything we want around 500k, would like to slow our life down a little. Want atleast 3000 sq feet more like 4000 would be great. 4 bedrooms minimum, 3.5 baths atleast. Really like the mediterrean style homes. Would prefer some privacy, but also realize subdivisions are nice with children. Really want a pool!! Of course location is important for resale purposes, always keep that in mind, you never know what the future might bring. lol But most important is finding the best school for my son. How is property taxes, insurance, hurricane insurance, etc in that area?? I am a little concerned about Corpus Christi because I have read some of the threads and the crime seems bad there, and what about spring breakers?? However, we are just very attracted to the water.

As far as Houston and San Antonio goes we have looked in those areas but honestly they are too big city for me. We have looked on the outskirts a little like Sugar Land, Katy, and Seabrook?? Anyone have any information on those areas?

We are planning to visit Texas in the next couple of weeks, we would just like to get some areas nailed down that we want to explore before we come out.

Thanks again everyone for all of your help and advice, its much needed and appreciated!!

[tincup305]

ha, ha, I hope your reaction, means we can get a nice house for alot less with some privacy, and slow down and begin to enjoy life outside of work.

[NOTAM]

shoot yeah! heck for another 250K you can BUY the town of The Grove..an old ghost town here in Coryell County, currently up for sale. complete with swingin' doors saloon and all. (i posted pics of it, so if you search the forum under The Grove, you will read plenty of posts about it)

Originally Posted by tincup305

ha, ha, I hope your reaction, means we can get a nice house for alot less with some privacy, and slow down and begin to enjoy life outside of work.

[TiffaniMittag]

Spring Break isn't a huge deal in Corpus Christi. Many, many spring breakers choose to go to South Padre Island, about 170 miles from Corpus Christi. In fact, there are several areas here to choose from. Actually the crime rate is worse in San Antonio. Forbes has Corpus in the top ten for Texas...it is in the top three for smaller cities- Forbes.com: Lists
Check out Corpus Christi crime rates at Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed] as compared to some of the other cities.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Of course, it is best to go and see the areas you are interested in for yourself. If you end up in Corpus checking it out, look at the island and Port Aransas...the houses on Port A will have everything you are looking for...water, the beach, your style home. Port A is also very close to Corpus, so you can get into the city easily as well.

[tincup305]

Thanks for all of the info, I checked it all out, very helpful!! How are the schools in Port A?

[needsomeinfo]

Originally Posted by tincup305

As far as Houston and San Antonio goes we have looked in those areas but honestly they are too big city for me. We have looked on the outskirts a little like Sugar Land, Katy, and Seabrook?? Anyone have any information on those areas?

houston and san antonio are vastly different in terms of size. you can be in the city limits of san antonio and feel you are in a much smaller area than the houston area/burbs. you can get from far northen san antonio to the heart of downtown in less than 30 minutes, even with some traffic. not so for houston.

you might want to add northern san antonio and surrounding areas to your list... boerne, north on i-10, and san marcos, new braunfuls, etc. off i-35 between san antonio and austin.

eta: just saw you are in the medical field. san antonio has the medical center area, with many hospitals, clinics, ut health science center, etc. lots to choose from for a city san antonio's size. the med center is located on the western side, so if you want to work there, you could look for homes off i-10. less than a 10 minute commute from there and lots of very nice homes in your price range.

good luck!

[NOTAM]

yes San Antonio does have some great medical centers and of course SAAMC (the huge military medical center encompassing BAMC-Brooke Army Medical Center, Wilford Hall).

Originally Posted by needsomeinfo

houston and san antonio are vastly different in terms of size. you can be in the city limits of san antonio and feel you are in a much smaller area than the houston area/burbs. you can get from far northen san antonio to the heart of downtown in less than 30 minutes, even with some traffic. not so for houston.

you might want to add northern san antonio and surrounding areas to your list... boerne, north on i-10, and san marcos, new braunfuls, etc. off i-35 between san antonio and austin.

eta: just saw you are in the medical field. san antonio has the medical center area, with many hospitals, clinics, ut health science center, etc. lots to choose from for a city san antonio's size. the med center is located on the western side, so if you want to work there, you could look for homes off i-10. less than a 10 minute commute from there and lots of very nice homes in your price range.

good luck!