Tell me about Houston

I hope you like humidity! Big change from AZ.

 

Those are both suburban cities, 30 miles from town......LOL!

But it's great!

Lots of museums, cultural events, .... Buddy Guy just dropped in......it's a big place.

University of Houston
Houston Baptist University
University of Saint Thomas
Rice University

The humidity will keep your skin young forever!

Deep sea fishing in the Gulf out of Freeport and Galveston..

Clear Lake has NASA..

Come on by, I'll show you around......

 

West University (by Rice) and Bellaire are actual communties within Houston proper, I live in the Heights, by the bayou, and Lady Valeria is in Oak Forest, I have a map from the paper showing trending home values for the city if you'd like it..

Valeria's area went up 8% last year, not bad given market conditions nationwide....

 

It's a trade off really..the suburbs do offer the raw square footage but if your work takes you into the City ...well, that's 2 hours of your life a day you'll never get back! LOL!

I like the inner city as my commute is largely reversed and I leave and drive out as they are coming in!

So without knowing your field it's hard to say where you'd be best situated..

Woodlands is North, Sugarland southwest, Clear Lake true south..

Houston pricing is fairly stable in the inner areas, so no 'steals' there but lots of neighborhoods are going thru transition with properety being reused for larger homes (Bellaire is a good example)

I work down in the Medical Center, recently out in the Woodlands (Fox News) and now down in Sugarland/Richmond! LOL!
Out here it's true, it's a big house at good value, but you are in the middle of a rice field!!

So to me, a redevelopment of property in Oak Forest, Timbergrove, or the Heights would be ideal....new construction in those 'hoods as well...

My Realtor I have used is a small agency, Jay Stoneburner and Associates....I live in a dome tent, since my divorce.....


At least with 'home' in town, I am centrally located in the evenings for clubs and museum/cultural events.....

 

Big Tex provided a lot of good info.

Houston is really an up and coming city. It's being revitalized to really bring up the beauty and charm the city holds.

 

If you MUST live in the suburbs, don't forget about Pearland. There are some great deals on some of the new neighborhoods that are being built. Like 'Tex though, I'm of the "inner city" mentality, and love the diversity that inner loop offers.

 

Well Wylie, you are down there in River Oaks man, you got it made, in da' shade......

If he'll send me an address I'll color xerox this map, I stopped and made an offer on a little house in the Heights last weekend, I'll keep the little house and build a new 4 car garage with a Party Room on top.....

Gotta do SOMETHING, with all this booze I won.....

 

where in town will you be working? that's the million dollar question

 

No, no, no, man.....I only work in R.O. I grew up in the wards.....6th ward that is. I live in the Heights. Not too far from you actually, I'm on 10th and Studewood.

 

6th Ward....the old Drugstore......there's some nice Victorians back in there but most of them are pretty far gone, now......

Have you been to Beaver's?? They did a nice job renovating that old structure.....

 

youre job location will determine where you would probably want to live, but besides all that.. i have lived in Houston all my life and i love it. the weather is hot in the summer and i like it that way.. BigTex is right! the humidity will keep you looking younger lol.. he and I are actually 84 years old
the housing costs are extremely low, the restaurants are amazing and you have the airport with non stop flights to almost anywhere.

 

59N of town is Kingwood!

My lil' leasing agent hottie is a Kingwood girl, she asked once, when showing a unit "Are you looking for me..?", and I said "No baby but I'd like to find another one LIKE you..."

She's in a relationship ...LOL!

 

Two points:

1. If you have school age kids, you'll want to go to Sugarland or The Woodlands. I don't really have the time to explain, but HISD is so screwed up that there is no hope.

2. Real estate development is fundamentally different in Houston than just about any other major market. The basic problem is the combination of an unlimited supply of cheap land and an equally unlimited supply of dumb ass bankers. The result is that supply > demand -- always.

The other problem is that the development rules inside the city limits are changing, which is problematic because no one can explain the existing rules. The City just yanked a development permit one week after it had been approved because, apparently, some City mucky mucks found out about the project and didn't like it. (And yes, for you Houston types, I'm talking about the TOWERS!!!!) After investing millions into A&D costs, the developer is not real happy.

Dale

PS I came to Houston 30 years with a plan. I was only going to stay one year. Did I mention that this was 30 years ago?

 

All good info above. I've been here for over 10 years now, had my house for more than 5. As much as my husband and I talk about moving every summer, I just don't see it happening any time soon. This city has a combination of factors that make it incredibly attractive - one of the lowest costs of living in the country, abundance of affordable and good-quality housing, booming job market in a variety of industries (it is no longer just aerospace and energy, hasn't been for many years), a huge selection of restaurants - in short, it is a good place to live and work, no so much to visit.

If you are a car or motorcycle fan, you will be disappointed as the city is flat as a pancake and you have to drive/ride for 40 miles (at least from where I am) to get to any decent roads and scenery. If you are an outdoor fan (which I know many AZ folks are), you can forget about your typical outdoor activities for about 5 months out of the year where it is hot enough to grill BBQ on the sidewalk.

Places to live - huge selection but in my mind it would also depend on where you think you'll end up working. Conroe, Woodlands, Sugarland, Pearland are all nice affordable suburbs but I work long hours and a 2-hour a day commute was a deal breaker. Heights are great although arguably overpriced, but it is the last frontier to inside the loop living within a quick shot of downtown (BigTex - you should stop by my husband's shop, Metric Motorcycles, it's on West 27th and Shepherd, should be close to where you are).

I am a huge fan of Southwest Houston, especially from around 610 loop and further out - Bellair, West University, Meyerland. There is no zoning, so no matter how nice of a neighborhood, a "bad area" could be just around the corner, but it's like this almost everywhere inside the Beltway and the developed communities with deed restrictions are usually quite nice. Home prices are some of the lowest in the country, probably lower several times than in any other major city of comparable size, but my home hasn't appreciated in a couple of years, and in good years we're lucky to see 1-2% appreciation.

So be warned - this city sucks you in and doesn't let go, but I'm glad to call it home.

 

Come to the Woodlands...cant beat it..born and raised there and i enjoyed every minute.well actually i was born in Conroe cause the woodlands hospital was not there yet but my parents brought me straight to the woodlands...

 

We never traded employment information...that's right up the street, or down the Loop anyway...LOL!
I live next door to the FBI Headquarters......keeps me from throwing wild parties....

As I was trying to explain, there's several "sleeper" neighborhoods...I do agree about the Heights...but Timbergrove is just to the west and Oak Forest just to the north has seen a lot of activity......West University and Bellaire have excellent access/mobility but bring your checkbook there too...

I have been driving around looking, and tossing a coin, it landed standing on edge, meaning "move back to Austin"....LOL!

You have an email......

 

The 'Ashby High Rise' Dr. Who?????

Man, you know how to pizz a whole neighborhood off!

Of course, Rice did the same thing to Southampton on the other side of campus...LOL!

 

+ Cheap housing
+ Big properties possible
+ Decent schools
+ Well connected airport
+ Doesn't snow/ get unbearably cold in winter
+ Friendly people
+ No state taxes
+ Decent restaurants
+ Can drive Ferrari all year round

- High energy bills (Heating/cooling)
- Boring countryside
- Not too much to show visitors from elsewhere
- Crazy drivers - though much better than LA/Phoenix/SF
- Long commutes possible - about on par with Bay Area, but better than LA

There are several great areas for every budget. I live in the Woodlands and am very happy here.

 

Depending on where you want to be, Bridgeland is a new neighborhood in Cypress area. The designer of the Woodlands is the designer of Bridgeland. It is going to be a 10,000 acre community. Tons of lakes, great place to live, right by the freeway(290).
If you are going to be going into Downtown and you don't live there, like BigTex said "you are going lose about 2 hours a day just driving" but that is with whatever freeway you take. Lots of people are moving out to Bridgeland because the area isn't built up that much and the comps are going to skyrocket in a few years.

 

It is funny to see all these people that live in the Heights area, well I vote for Garden Oaks just north of the heights and south of Oak Forrest... I don't live near the FBI headquarters but no one seems to complain about all the noise I make.....

 

Ditto on The Woodlands Great place to call home