Well I graduated from Alvin in '03 and I can say that I will never let my kids go through that system. Alot of work needs to be done to improve the school system and I don't see anything happening soon.

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that's the way it is with all big masterplanned communities

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Except that this is Houston, one of the biggest BOOM/BUST towns in the nation. And it's been booming the last few years. The bust part will be here in a few years and all that development will come to a screaching halt.

And like someone else mentioned, never invest in the burbs. They almost never go up. And real estate is really over priced right now. The $120k house I purchased in KC 10-years ago appreciated $80,000 (I sold it last week). No WAY my house value could have gone up that much in 10-years. I just hope the house I'm getting ready to move in doesn't kill me when I sell it in a few years.

agracer,
You might be surprised. My parents made a mint selling their Pearland house. If they choose to sell their Friendswood house, they will get approx $100k over what they paid for it.

I don't get how people can say that the real estate market in Houston is in a bubble and is going to burst. 1st, we have probably the most affordable market of any major metro area. 2nd, projections show that the houston area will add 1 million more people in the next 15 years. Interest rates will for sure cool things down, but as far as home prices taking a dive? I don't think so. Especially in the Pearland area. Houston to some extent is a boom and bust town, but nowhere to the level it was back in the 80's. Sure the energy industry drives things here, but this is a MUCH more diversified economy. Pearland has a direct link into the medical center, and the medical center industry will be expanding up and down the 288 corridor. Healthcare my friends is recession proof.

We bought our first house in Silverlake right before they started building more of the higher end houses, i.e. they no longer built houses in our price range. We sold our house 7 years later at a 40% profit.

over the past century Houston has grown by 4300%, whereas the rest of the nation has grown by lees that 300%...

Hosuton is no boom/bust city even with the oil bust in the 80's we still grew...