Houston. Help Neobull decide if she wants to move here.

[angelbears]

Welcome to the bible belt. Red state, where the only thing you love more than God is money and everyone is a christian at least for one hour a week. A little sarcasm from a reformed southern baptist.

Cost of living is cheap here. A gallon of gas is running 3.75 and a local grocery store has whole chickens this week for .67 a pound. No personal income tax but a high sales tax at 8% + on the dollar.

If you have kids or if you are thinking of having kids, I would choose the area I moved to by the quality of the school district. Harris County has 22 school districts, some are very good but some are very bad. Usually, the better schools are in the suburbs. If you have a certain area in mind I will be more than happy to let you know what I know about them.

We do have a minor league hockey team and here is a must see website for amateur hockey. http://houstonhockeyinsider.com/

Many dog parks but I have never been to one. So I'm not sure how good they are. www.houstondogpark.org. BSL does not have a foot hold here. YET! Different areas have different rules, so you will want to check into that before you decide to move there.

HEAT AND HUMIDITY about 5 months out of the year are pure hell. The rest of the time is really pleasant, most winters are mild.

Oh, have a mentioned that I have 2 Filas. There is a reason for that. As with any large metro area, you are going to have higher crime rates. Once again where you live will dictate that. Some areas are pretty safe but there are areas you don't even want to adventure into.

Traffic, OMG, terrible.

World class medical center, if you have good insurance or your filthy rich.

Overall Houston, for a huge metropolis is a decent place to live.

If you know what area of Houston you may have to move to I can get more specific and would be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. I hope others will chime in here.

50 year native. I have loved and hated every minute of it.
Robin

 

[NeoBull]

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I don't want to move there, but we might have to with my husbands job

How is Sugarland as far as schools, crime, things to do, etc? Katy? Cinco Ranch? Four Corners? What would you recomend in that general area?

I think I'd want to be near Sugarland since they have an ice rink, so I guess what would be the best place to live within about a 30 mon drive of there?

 

[angelbears]

Like most areas around here, Sugarland has suffered from rapid growth. Lot of construction, congestion and the ISD has suffered from growing so fast. The flip side is the ice rink and they just opened a minor league stadium and team this year.

I like katy a lot more than Sugarland. The schools seem a little better. They are on the tailend of their growth spurt. I-10, the major freeway into Houston is the best in the area, a little less traffic.

If you are going to be going to the ice rink more than once or twice a month, I would definitely look in the sugarland area. Traffic can be a booger, so what should be a 30 min trip, turns into 45 min.

www.har.com is the best website for searching for homes in the Houston area.

 

[NeoBull]

Well right now I'm on 2 teams and my husband is on 2 teams, so we're at the rink 4 times a week! So Katy's too far from the rink to be reasonable? Are there any smaller areas around Sugarland?

---------- Post added at 01:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 PM ----------

Or areas close enough to sugarland but with more of a small town or country feel to them?

 

[NeoBull]

Or areas close enough to sugarland but with more of a small town or country feel to them?

---------- Post added at 01:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 PM ----------

What do you think of Richmond? Sugar Creek? Probably short sales: http://search.har.com/engine/7219-Belford-Park-Ln-Richmond-TX-77407_HAR59483794.htm and http://search.har.com/engine/715-Montclair-Blvd-Sugar-Land-TX-77478_HAR85327961.htm ??? I don't know what you should be able to get for your money around there as far as housing...

 

[NeoBull]

What do you think of Richmond? Sugar Creek? Probably short sales: http://search.har.com/engine/7219-Belford-Park-Ln-Richmond-TX-77407_HAR59483794.htm and http://search.har.com/engine/715-Montclair-Blvd-Sugar-Land-TX-77478_HAR85327961.htm ??? I don't know what you should be able to get for your money around there as far as housing...

 

[angelbears]

I really like SugarCreek but I like older more established neighborhoods. I dabble in real estate but I buy rental properties, so I limit my searches to 110k and less. I'm just not going to be very helpful but IMO if you search around enough you can find comps. at about 10 to 20% less. I have never submitted an offer at list price, I've read that in some states you have to offer above list, if you really want the house(pre recession), not here. Now bidding on foreclosures isdifferent.

Couple of more things. Flooding is a huge problem here, so use due diligence. I don't think the Sugarland area has problems but because of all the new construction I would keep it in the back of my mind. National flood insurance is available and I strongly suggest it.

Play with har.com a lot. You can set all kind of perimeters, that will help give you a more clear picture of an area your looking at.

 

[NeoBull]

So at those prices do you think those homes are probably short sales?

---------- Post added at 09:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 AM ----------

Here you're lucky if you can find a condo for 110k! A really old condo that needs a lot of updating lol...

 

[NeoBull]

Here you're lucky if you can find a condo for 110k! A really old condo that needs a lot of updating lol...

---------- Post added at 09:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 AM ----------

And the houses I posted the links to would probably be like 500+k? Thats why I'm wondering if they actually go for that or are short sales...

 

[NeoBull]

And the houses I posted the links to would probably be like 500+k? Thats why I'm wondering if they actually go for that or are short sales...

 

[angelbears]

The first one was a foreclosure or a short sale. I couldn't tell. A foreclosure is when the bank already owns it and has moved the occupants out. Short Sale is usually still occupied and is still owned, the bank has usually agreed that the owners can take less than is owed and the bank will eat the difference. I have made offers on short sales and they are jokes in my book. I never had one approved and they generally go into foreclosure. Every once in a while I hear of someone getting one. Since the house is vacant I would guess that it is a foreclosure. The second one is not a foreclosure or short sale.

Sorry I just reread your post and you know the difference.

Told you the cost of living was low. Our real estate market was not hit half as hard as most places. We have stayed pretty even but stagnant. I bought a move in ready, with nice upgrades, on the small side at 1,200 sqf. in a desirable neighborhood for 65k. I get 1,100 a month for it. Maybe that will give you some kinda of reference. Now that was a foreclosure and it was a steal, if I was to sale it I would put it on the market for 99k.

You can go on har and they have data for homes that have sold in that sub. They will give you a price range. So you can get a good ideal of the going market value.

 

[NeoBull]

DANG! There's a house a street over from us for sale for 205k... 988sqft, 3bd, 1ba, zero curb appeal... lol

 

[angelbears]

We do have areas like that. They are usually inner city and old neighborhoods. The closer you get to downtown, generally the higher the cost.