OT: Moving to Houston...where to live?

[PhD Griz]

Hey guys...

i've never visited the rockets board on realgm much....

but I know other team boards have always been very kind when an out of town poster is moving to that town...

I'll be moving from Memphis to Houston in the fall (likely September)....sometime in July or August me and my wife will have to find a house to live in a time frame that is a little uncomfortably short...

Our working plan is to try to buy a house inside the 610 Loop.....any thoughts on that decision? Living inside the 610 loop is due to each of our jobs being located in it and not wanting to commute much (my job will be near the Greenway Plaza, near Richmond I believe and hers will be near Memorial Drive and I-45, near downtown I believe)

I've only been to Houston once, and that was for the job interview....

Judging solely on internet searches, we are learning towards finding a house in Houston Heights....can anyone give me info about living in that neighborhood?

any other suggestions on where to look for a house at...or where not to look at?

thanks guys....

[elmdawgg69]

Now would be a great time to buy property in the loop if you have money. There honestly is no better place than inside the loop. Galleria-area is 5 mins away. Downtown is 10 minutes. You can take back routes/shortcuts to avoid traffic. I'd recommend you living around San Felipe, inside the loop. That would be central to yours and your wife's work. The Heights are a good place to live too. If you need a realtor or anything, send me a message.

[PhD Griz]

thanks for the replay, elmdawgg69....

we will probably be looking to get a realtor within the next month or so....

[bubba]

try a little subdivision called river oaks. that is filled with some older, but very nice homes. not sure what your budget is but if you got a few million to throw down, river oaks is very nice.

[kevC]

Hmm... if you don't mind me asking, how old are you? Any kids? I'd say for a young family the Memorial area would nice.

[Baller 24]

I'd say stay in the North West part of Houston, Cypress area is a very nice place to raise kids, grow up, etc. Good area, good houses, nice schools, etc.

[PhD Griz]

thanks for the replies everyone (even the ones joking about living in river oaks)

i am 28, my wive is 31.....

school district isn't much of a factor since right now we are not planning on having kids....we both put in too much work to get our degrees to take the chance having kids would derail our career aspirations....

changing topics a bit...

how is the public transportation? In Memphis it is horrible, but b/c of me still being in grad school, we have made it work with only 1 car. I have this pipedream of not needing to buy another car....

[kevC]

Hmm... that would be REALLY hard unless you live right next to the Metro rail or have work on the few places that the metro bus stop by... The Metro rail is useful if you live next to it. I'm a student at Rice University and use the Metro rail very often but if you're planning to not live near downtown it would be really hard without a car.

[RoxFan08]

Houston has a very, very bad case of urban sprawl. Trying to make it work without a car will be difficult to say the least. Not saying its impossible...but I don't know anyone who's ever made it work.

As for housing, I'd just suggest using your best judgement. Clean and safe are top priorities along with location, at least for me.

[Optimism Prime]

thanks for the replies everyone (even the ones joking about living in river oaks)

i am 28, my wive is 31.....

school district isn't much of a factor since right now we are not planning on having kids....we both put in too much work to get our degrees to take the chance having kids would derail our career aspirations....

changing topics a bit...

how is the public transportation? In Memphis it is horrible, but b/c of me still being in grad school, we have made it work with only 1 car. I have this pipedream of not needing to buy another car....

The what?

No, really, in Houston you're going to need a car.

[Nachbar_is_God]

If you don't mind me asking, what is your budget? You guys will def. need to pick up another car because there is no way to get around Houston efficiently without a car. They are working to improve public transportation, but the the Metro makes so many stops it takes forever to travel just a few miles.

here is a good website where you can search for listings. http://www.har.com

[moofs]

Metro scares me, aside from the all-but-useless light rail. Ever been to the bus stop at 45/San Jacinto at 2am? Take a bodyguard or three.

[Ribalding]

I had a house in the Heights for 6 years.

Nice neighborhood. And while the suburban home prices are in the toilet (as they should be), the Heights has barely seen a blip. Maybe a %10 drop in new construction costs. 5% in existing, older homes. Anyhow...here are the zip codes you'll want to look in:

77008 Heights
77009 Heights
77004 Midtown/UH
77023 (wrong side of downtown for the Greenway Plaza area, but still close in.)
77002 downtown - lots of lofts.
77003 downtown-ish. Lots of lofts.
77007 semi-Heights
77017 Washington Ave. corridor.
77007 Montrose
77098 Montrose

77023 and 77004 are the only ones you'd still consider transitional...but not for long.

[Amel]

if you need a car

look no further than

http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/

he hee

[moofs]

Hm, I may need to consult with you as well. Looking to buy a house sometime in the next year or two. I won't have as much spare cash to throw around as a pair of DINKs though, so currently looking to save up a nice down payment (until i consult with some realtors soon to get a better idea what the best plan might actually be). Go go 77006!

[MaxRider]

public transportation is bad in Houston
stay away from the southwest area
rainfall in that area is awful
plus people there don't know how to drive

[A.J.]

Live in the Northeast side.

It is closer to Toyota Center.

[PhD Griz]

thanks for all the replies guys...

especially Ribalding with the zipcode recommendations....that really helps...

and yes, i've got it...public transportation (like in memphis) is not going to be a viable option....guess I need to start looking at hybrids or other small, fuel-efficient cars....

i've also heard that flooding during heavy rains is a serious concern...true?

and as for the budget question, we are looking at 275K being a Max price....but we haven't researched mortgage details enough to know if that is a good ceiling or not...

[Ribalding]

http://www.houstontx.gov/category5.jpg : There's your flood zone map.

275 will get you into any of the zip codes listed earlier. Some (like Heights and Montrose and Washington Ave.) with less square footage than others, of course.

Check out Metro's plans for light rail expansion. There's only one line now, but I use it almost every day to get from midtown (77004) to downtown (77002). Love it. They're adding 3 or 4 routes in the next few years, including one along Richmond Ave. (Greenway Plaza) and one from the Heights to downtown. Just a thought.

Too bad Bill White's getting term-limited out of the mayor's chair. He's awesome. And there's no telling what kind of mouth-breathing (Please Use More Appropriate Word) we'll get to replace him. (Not a lot of dem bench strength in H-Town, as you might imagine.)

[JordansBulls]

I live in the heights now but will be moving in the Central north area in a month since I work way out in the Woodlands.