Looking for a new home situation. Currently have great house in Meyerland area but also have five kids and private school is getting to be problematic on the old wallet. We've decided to sell....

Looking for 3,500 sq feetish, $425kish....not a monster commute but realize its going to be worse. Family friendly with lots of kids, good elem and middle school options -

Any general impressions on:

Cinco Ranch: Areas to target/to avoid?
Firethorne?
Richmond/Fulshear area?
Cypress?

We are in Seven Meadows and like it a lot. No new homes going up that I'm aware of, but it's a nice neighborhood and I've noticed more for sale recently with the end of the school year approaching. Can't really go wrong with Cinco, either. They have built (and are still building) a TON of new homes west of 99 in Cinco Ranch West that probably fit your criteria. Grand Lakes is hit or miss in my experience when we were looking 6 years ago. It has some nice areas, but didn't seem quite on the same level of homes across the board as most of Cinco and Seven Meadows.

Cross Creek Ranch off 1093 is booming again after a few years of stagnacy - I believe they are now in KISD which is a big draw obviously. Lakes of Bella Terra seems to be nice as well, but I'm not sure on their situation after middle school being south of 1093.

Check Riverstone. Not sure where you work but it's probably 35-40 min to get to Meyerland area. My GF lives in Sugarland so I am all too familiar with the commute into town. She is moving from New Territory to Riverstone this Summer.

Just moved from your area out to a new development off Gaston. I work in the Galleria Area, so yeah the drive sucks, but it's completely worth it once you get home.

I would check out some of the new neighborhoods west of 99 and try to get in the Seven Lakes or Thompson High School area.

Ps .. welcome. You'll like it out here

We live in Woodcreek Reserve and love it. Great neighborhood, solid home builder (Ashton Woods), good-size lots, and quite a few Ags. Quick access to I-10, good schools, and actually in the city of Katy. Falls right into your price range too.

I have been in Cinco for a couple years now. If I had your budget I would look at the area around Cinco Ranch Blvd/Falcon Landing/Spring Green. Some real nice areas there. Close to Tompkins HS. Other area if wanting more established area would be in old Cinco east of 99, west of Mason sandwiched between Cinco Ranch Blvd and Westheimer. Great access to stores, YMCA, and 99/Westpark. Those are probably my two favorite areas. We have a fantastic realtor (Ag) my wife works for if you're interested in just hearing about his opinions!

We recently found a home in Silver Ranch after looking into different neighborhoods in that area.

I would avoid neighborhoods southof 1093 and areas just north of 1093 such as Westheimer Lakes (Cross Creek Ranch does seem nice though). They put up a multitude of apartments at 99
and 1093 and continue to build more.

We also weren't thrilled with the area east of 99, north of Highland Knolls.

They are building some really nice houses in your price range at Roesner and Gaston as well.

Here is a map of the areas we focused on.

http://i59.tinypic.com/s400g0.jpg

Agree with 10and BOUNCE.

We bought in Cinco two years ago, east of 99, and really like the location. We are a stones throw from LaCentera, Villagio, Lifetime, the Y, and the Parks in Cinco. Also have just about every grocery very close by.. The traffic getting home west of 99 is a bit worse, and we like being close to everything. You can get new house for the same money a bit further west though. To each their own.

We just purchased a home in Bella Terra for about the price range and square footage you are looking at, and love our new home! My work hours are 7-3:30 in the med center, so my commute doesnt really hit too much traffic, not too bad. Being next to westpark and 99 is pretty awesome for the commute! We really like Bella Terra, and two of our neighbors just moved in from cinco ranch and prefer it in Bella Terra because the commute is easier and the community is friendly.

Where do you work?

We live in Grand Lakes just east of the Grand Parkway and it's great. We moved out there 4 years ago from your neck of the woods. If your looking for new construction you'll have to go further west as the youngest houses east of the GP around here are approaching 10 years old. In Cinco Ranch further north, the youngest houses east of the Grand Parkway are probably approaching 15 years old. Cinco Southwest and Cinco Northwest has the new construction.

I know a few people who live in Firethorne and think its great. FM 1463 will be bad if you commute but it is supposed to be widened from I-10 to FM 1093 by 2018-2019. That is zoned to Katy High School. The western side of Firethorne is / will be zoned to Lamar Consolidated ISD. Same with the western side of Cross Creek.

As someone asked, where do you work. I'm assuming you've already thought of this and that is why you are looking out west. If you have to commute to the Meyerland area, you don't want to live out in Katy.... That's my $0.02.

I live in Firethorne and it is a great neighborhood. I do agree, stay away from Whesteimer Lakes and Cross Creek Ranch is a great neighborhood as well.

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Where do you work?

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Again, this. And what is your schedule?

We're considering a move in the near future. I work north of the Galleria, and will try to avoid moving west of 99, if possible. I get the sense from some of the above posts that people think "it's better" west of 99, and that you should avoid neighborhoods east of 99. Which I don't understand.

CCR is very nice, and I guess if you work in Westchase the commute isn't terrible.

Firethorne is nice too, and wouldn't be a bad drive to the energy corridor, but if you're going downtown or the Galleria, my thoughts and prayers.

I really like all of Grand Lakes and Seven Meadows. Again, depends where you work.

Personally, my favorite part of Cinco is North Lake Village and South Lake Village; Around Peek Rd and Mason; south of CR Boulevard; north of Westheimer Pkwy. It's older, established, fully built out. Very nice mature trees. Convenient location.

For a number of reasons, KISD is thought to be superior to LCISD. It's got the brand recognition. But assuming you're good parents, raising decent kids, they'll do fine in LCISD. For the same money, you can get more house in LCISD. Lakes of Bella Terra is developing very nicely.

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I do agree, stay away from Whesteimer Lakes

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Curious, why do you say that? Wouldn't be my first choice either, but I wouldn't call it bad. Besides, with the OP's budget he wouldn't be looking there anyway.

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I do agree, stay away from Whesteimer Lakes

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Curious, why do you say that? Wouldn't be my first choice either, but I wouldn't call it bad. Besides, with the OP's budget he wouldn't be looking there anyway.

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Have a couple of realtor friends that work in the Katy area and they said resell values in those neighborhoods are not good compared to the surrounding areas. I know those homes don't fit the price range he was looking for, but people see they can get a 3500 sqft home for $350K rather than $425K some may jump on that. Just a fair warning.

Are they seeing people lose money when they sell their WL home? Or are the resells just not getting as big of gains as resells in CR? That's what I would expect.

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Where do you work?

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610 and San Felipe

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Thanks for the all the comments. We're in for a pretty big lifestyle change I think.

Good news - I can be somewhat flexible most days....

8 - 4:30 and I can work at home one day/week.

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my favorite part of Cinco is North Lake Village and South Lake Village; Around Peek Rd and Mason; south of CR Boulevard; north of Westheimer Pkwy. It's older, established, fully built out. Very nice mature trees. Convenient location.

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+1 for the area DCC99 recommended. We lived in Cinco Ranch near CR BLVD and Spring Green for a few years and really liked our home and neighborhood. However, if we ever moved back to Katy we would buy on the east side of 99 for the mature trees, established neighborhoods, proximity to restaurants and shopping, and slightly better commute into the city. Parts of Kelliwood are really nice too. Green Trails is a good choice for commuting.

I also would recommend an area with better access to westpark while also giving yourself the option of using 10. Only knock on green trails is that 10 is basically your only option. Westpark is still bad at times but having only 2 lanes is FAR less stressful than the zoo on Katy fwy.

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Are they seeing people lose money when they sell their WL home? Or are the resells just not getting as big of gains as resells in CR? That's what I would expect.

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Not losing money, just not doing nearly as well as the other communities mentioned in this thread.

Grew up in South and North Lake Village in Cinco. So I echo the sentiment shared by everyone about that area. The only knock I have on Cinco is that it can take you forever to get to I-10 or Westpark from some of the more mature areas.

I currently live in Firethorne and really enjoy it out there. It's a lot of younger families out here. I also commute to 610 and San Felipe. I leave early enough in the morning where my average commute is typically 25-30 minutes. Unfortunately, in the evenings it averages 45 minutes to an hours using the toll.


We are zoned to Lamar, although, half of firethorne is KISD. Our thoughts are that it's the neighborhood and parents who make the school and with Firethorne being mostly upper middle class the new Lamar school in our neighborhood should be comparable to the neighboring KISD school.

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I would stay as far east as possible as it cuts down on the commute. Green trails, windsor and the various parts of Kelli wood offer price points from $350 k to a million.

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I completely agree with this. These are beautiful neighborhoods with homes that meet your criteria. The worst part of the morning commute on I-10 from Katy is Mason to Hwy 6. You can avoid most of that in any of these neighborhoods.

Traffic south of I-10, especially west of 99, during evening rush hour is a nightmare. If you're considering a home in that area, make the drive a few days in a row to get an idea of what you'll be facing every day. If you can deal with the traffic, it's a great area, but I would still recommend staying further east.

Are there any builders to avoid in the general area we're talking about?

Let me know when you're ready to list in Meyerland. I would love a shot at it.

That was going to be my destination until I got priced out of it a couple years ago.

Moved from Seven Lakes to Cross Creek and have been very happy with the decision. A little further out but my office is is Katy so commute isn't really an issue.

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Moved from Seven Lakes to Cross Creek and have been very happy with the decision. A little further out but my office is is Katy so commute isn't really an issue.

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Bragger, with your commute.

I guess that was the a perfect example of the infamous humble brag! Ha

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I guess that was the a perfect example of the infamous humble brag! Ha

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Just a bit, but you will be the only honest one on this thread about your "commute" from your house in Katy to work.

Every once in awhile I get the 8:00am galleria area meeting or OTC week once a year and have to choose between the I10 evil and Westpark evil and end up miserable no matter which choice I make... I'd have to be one of those that could start work at latest 6am to make that workable for my sanity. That being said, I get a lot of requests for 3pm meetings at our office to "save me the drive"!

Check green trails to minimize commute. This area is basically barker cypress south if ih-10.

Cinco ranch - greenway village is a great mature neighborhood.

I would stay away from the newer sections of cinco out past gaston. The commute from this area is terrible. Ih-10 to sh-99 south and then 15-20 minutes down falcon landing of cinco.

If you are looking that far west, i would look into firethorne or woodcreek first. My wife taught in both neighborhoods and both are great. I really like the bigger lots and smaller size if woodcreek.

We live in Cross Creek and absolutely love it. There is plenty of new construction and the schools are very close to home. There is currently an elementary in the neighborhood with plans to eventually have a new junior high and high school built as well. Right off 1093 so you have very easy access to the Westpark Tollway and the new Grand Parkway. Takes about 25 minutes to get to Sugar Land and 30 minutes to get to the Galleria (with no traffic).

Until recently my Husband worked for a builder and built in Cross Creek- the amount of growth and demand for this neighborhood continues to grow substantially so in 10+ years when you go to sell your house you should get a good return on your investment if the trend continues. (or at least that's what all his sales team would continue to tell him in their meetings)

There is also a wide range of houses in this neighborhood. You have many different options to choose from, 55' lots, 70' lots, 80' lots and even 110' lots.

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Right off 1093 so you have very easy access to the Westpark Tollway

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I don't get how this is a positive thing. You live off a road where you throw money out the window pretty much every time you leave the house and head towards town. And a majority of the time, you are paying to go 5 mph because it's only two lanes each way. It's a terrible road to live next to. The main reason we didn't move to CC was because we didn't want to spend $2500 in tolls every year. Nice neighborhood, but total waste of money using the tollway. Literally highway robbery.