Howdy Ags!

My wife and I have been married for around 18 months. We've rented thus far, but my mentors have advised me to consider buying a home. We are leasing for the next 13 months, so we have time to explore our options.

Do y'all have any advice/ neighborhood suggestions for two newlyweds in Houston?
Our income is +$100k combined, $25k in savings (money market), around 8% going to 401k.

To admit my own bias, I have been deferring this purchase until I know we are going to be in Houston for an extended amount of time. Renting gives us mobility a house purchase, as I understand it, would not.

Thanks for y'alls time!

Where are you living currently?

Where do you two work?

What kinds of things do you two like to do outside of the house?

Living in Houston area south of downtown.
My wife works near City Center, whereas I work on the southern part of the 610 loop.
We enjoy being active and outside; hiking, working out, walking with our dog. Areas like College Station offer a great balance between space, outdoor activities, and city attractions.

I'm assuming by the total income that you'll be in the $250,000 - $300,000 price range. My wife and I are at the higher end of that going up to $350,000. We'll be buying in a couple months and have studied all the major areas.

Katy just seems overcrowded. It was the overwhelming favorite but we are both extremely turned off when considering the price per pound for what you get, the lacking road expansion (99 should have been made to 4 lanes 10 years ago), and the feeling that you really aren't getting anything special for your money, live around the same amount of people as closer in, yet are farther from everything.

Sugar Land just isn't our thing, but I do like Greatwood and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Pecan Grove would be perfect but it takes forever to get anywhere. 30-45 minutes to city center isn't our thing.

We're not big fans of south Houston as most of where we spend our time is west and north. If we had to though, it would be Friendswood.

The Woodlands is too far north but can't find anything else wrong with it.

We've pretty much settled on Cypress, likely somewhere off Telge would be ideal. Great value for the amount of house you can afford, good schools, plenty of retail, and seems to still be in the "growing" phase as compared to Katy's "nearing the end of growing" phase.

We also really like Gessner north of I-10 and Westchase. But we're not likely to be the private school type and the schools alone are a huge turn off. That and you get a smaller, older house likely not upgraded for the same price as a 3,000 SF, 2010 built house with huge backyard in Cypress.

Ideally, if you could wait until you're in the 400,000 price range so many options closer in that aren't dull open up to you.

Sorry for the long winded reply. But we're in the thick of this, I'm a Realtor who studies these areas, and I felt like my experience could help.

Nm

You wanting something newer or would an older, established neighborhood work?

Do not buy now. Save more money go rent a house in sharpstown or sugerland.

I am a Realtor in Houston and would agree that the Cypress area is a great location for all the reasons listed. It's actually where I live. However, it would be a long commute to where you are working now, even if you work off hours. It is, however, much closer to College Station.

Great information all!

Mazag is correct, finding something within the loop has usually been in the $400s, so while that has the lowest commute cost, the housing is outside of our budget.

We have friends that live in Katy, and the 1-1.5 hour commutes remove that area from consideration. My wifes parents lived near Friendswood and enjoyed their time there.

The good news is we have 13 months to look around the other areas mentioned in the thread, but it's possible we will be renting while we live in Houston.

Thanks for all of y'alls time!

I would not buy right now if I were you. Hold off, keep saving, and buy when the time is right.

jc100 said:

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Great information all!

Mazag is correct, finding something within the loop has usually been in the $400s, so while that has the lowest commute cost, the housing is outside of our budget.

We have friends that live in Katy, and the 1-1.5 hour commutes remove that area from consideration. My wifes parents lived near Friendswood and enjoyed their time there.

The good news is we have 13 months to look around the other areas mentioned in the thread, but it's possible we will be renting while we live in Houston.

Thanks for all of y'alls time!

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Good luck!

We live in Spring Branch (Gessner and Kempwood). The area is nice but older. Many will say that this area is "the next Heights". While there is certainly retail development occurring in the area, I'm remaining skeptical. There are more underlying issues here than a lack of coffee shops and patio bars.

You might find something within your budget in this area that would be a great starter home to grow into. It's true that the schools in this area are not the best. We lucked out because my wife is a teacher in the memorial area and our kids will get to tag along with her and then keep going with the students in their classes.

Our neighborhood didn't experience much in the way of house flooding during Harvey however the streets fill up with water to the point that you can't leave cars in the front of the house and many areas are not passable. All that to say: do your research when it comes to flooding and drainage.

Spring Branch is fine, but the commute to the South Loop would not be fun.

There's not going to be a perfect commute for either but something on the Southwest side would probably be a better compromise.