Possible Move to Houston, TX Area

[claymore504]

I am in Katy, TX. We live in the Kelliwood area to be exact and really love the neighborhood. Neighbors are really close and we all get together often. The downside is we live in Harris county. Super liberal politics and "leaders". Ft. Bend county is better, which is a little west and south of us. The entire west side of Houston has been growing fast for many years. I grew up in the area (parents moved us here in 1982) and it has changed GREATLY! If I would like to not be so close to Houston, but due to my son's medical issues we are in the med center all the time. If land is what you want, the closer to Houston and west of Houston will cost you the most.

 

[Brains]

There are a couple nice neighborhoods in that area ... Town Lake & Bridgeland.... but the insurgents use that area to prey on the better off people.

Find a place not run by democrats.

I lived in Bridgeland for 10 years, moved to Spring in October. It was wonderful in 2010, not so much in 2020. Too many left coast immigrants have ruined it, now all anyone does is trash the place and complain. They even had to start putting gates on the park entrances.

 

[Havok1]

I would buy somewhere with a Montgomery county address. Property taxes in Texas are high but we have no state income tax, and there is also the homestead exemption so most people actually pay significantly less than the advertised property tax rate.

 

[benenglish]

Proximity to national forest for hiking with my dog is a plus. Huntsville looks attractive.

Yeah, you'll have to get farther out (like to Huntsville) if you want convenient access to Sam Houston National Forest. If you're planning to make a day trip of it, you don't have to go quite that far away from Houston.

Perhaps you should just split the difference and locate halfway between your daughter and SHNF?

 

[Katydid1984]

I was born and raised in Katy, I no longer live there but it was a nice place to grow up.

 

[toddnjoyce]

If you want to shoot on your own property, make sure you the property isn’t subject to Texas Local Government Code restrictions, in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality, in a platted subdivision, or subject to deed restrictions.

 

[benenglish]

If you want to shoot on your own property, make sure you the property isn’t subject to Texas Local Government Code restrictions, in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality, in a platted subdivision, or subject to deed restrictions.

If I could find a real estate web site that allowed me to use those search criteria, I'd recommend it. Anybody know of one?

HAR.com allows searching for "No HOA fee" but that criteria seems to break their algorithm and generally turns up no results.

ETA: I just went back and checked and I'm wrong. Specifying "No HOA fee" works fine. In the greater Houston market area, there are 216 single-family detached homes listed with the "No HOA fee" filter turned on. In the grand scheme of things, that's not many but it appears the feature works. I don't know why I've had problems with it in the past. I assume I was just stacking it with too many other criteria.

 

[Sasquatch]

We're in Magnolia, which is a ways west/northwest of Spring, and west/southwest of Conroe. Montgomery County was far more attractive to us than Harris County when we were looking to make our move. My dad & step mom live in Tomball, which is in Harris County (as is Spring) - Harris County has higher property taxes, and is run by communists.

In Montgomery County we have lower property taxes, the last budget the county passed was a "no increase" budget, which was a plus. And the county isn't run by commies. Conroe is the county seat of Montgomery County and the largest city in the county. Its got all you want as far as shopping, etc. It sits right on Lake Conroe, easy access to I-45, and except rush hour, traffic isn't bad and you can get into Houston, Spring, etc easily enough.

I've seen Magnolia mentioned a few times as far as a place to look. We love it here - but I'll tell you this - it is rapidly changing. Right now its a small town - with a large unincorporated area still considered Magnolia. They are working on building three new huge developments now, that are in various stages. One IIRC is still in planning, but they've broken ground and started building on the other two.

They're also expanding FM 1488, which we live off of. Its going from a two lane road, to a five lane road, and I understand that will be from FM1774, all the way down to Hempstead at Hwy 290 eventually. They're planning for a lot more expansion here in Magnolia, and in the Waller county communities adjacent to us like Field Store, Waller, etc. Property values are going to shoot up pretty rapidly.

We have friends in our neighborhood who have seen their property value already go up by $100k in 5 years, due to development that has already taken place, plus the Coof factor.

Real estate, like cars new & used, is a sellers market right now. There are still deals to be had, but most properties are going fast, and are going for list or better price.

I know of a home close to us, two houses down actually, that is being relisted. Their last deal fell thru at $600k (I guess the buyer lost his job or something and lost financing) - its a beautiful giant 3 bed home with fenced acreage in log cabin motif.

If you like the idea of rapidly increasing property value (which means increasing property taxes) and living in an "up and coming area" - Magnolia is a wonderful place. I understand we're set to get a Wal Mart within the actual city limits, near the intersections of 1488 and 1774. Not sure how I feel about that, as that area already has stupid traffic 6 or 7 times per day thanks to the train tracks at that intersection, plus the average traffic in the morning and afternoon when people are going to and from work and school. They're also building another shopping center featuring an HEB on the eastern edge of the actual city, near one of the new "master planned" housing developments.

I think we got lucky when we did buying last year, and finding our little slice of heaven here.

You might also look at the town of Montgomery, which is due west of Conroe. Its a smaller town, still pretty convenient, and its easy enough to get down to Spring from there by various routes. You'll probably get more land/home for your money in Montgomery vs Conroe at this point, and you can run into Conroe for shopping if you don't like the market in Montgomery with just a 15 minute drive or so.

 

[Brains]

My dad & step mom live in Tomball, which is in Harris County (as is Spring) - Harris County has higher property taxes, and is run by communists.

Spring is split, and since it was one of my nearly must-have's when buying last year, I'm in Montgomery County. (I'm in the Falls at Imperial Oaks)

 

[cygunner]

I remember the definition of hard times ended up with "Yankee with a U haul" headed for Houston?

 

[baboon]

Montgomery county is growing up real fast. It reminds me of the growth that Fort Bend went through. Which makes me think of Sugarland, Texas 30 years ago & today!The infrastructure will be needing upgrades. Hey 105 is a great place for wrecking vehicle.

Magnolia is crazy with growth. You have Old Magnolia & New Magnolia. Once again Sugarland comes to mind!

Conroe to Huntsville traffic has increased on 45. Huntsville is becoming pretty much urban. Personally I like not seeing national chains like Starbucks everywhere. H-E-B is my grocer of choice. Brook shire Brothers stores very. The Brookshire Brothers closest to my place is stuck in the 60’s.

What y’all consume will change greatly the farther away you go. We made our 30 minute trip for groceries this morning. No capers, tube tomato paste, shallots or Goo Off cleaner to be found. Even beer & booze selections are lacking.

I’ll take the peace & quiet, free roaming white plus the lack of Karen’s/liberals over the other crap!

 

[toddnjoyce]

If I could find a real estate web site that allowed me to use those search criteria, I'd recommend it.

Me too, but unfortunately I haven’t come across one.

 

[popsgarland]

Howdy and welcome to TGT.

 

[EZ-E]

We have to make the trip to Houston, usually once a month. I cringe, when we start to get into Huntsville wtih traffic & the development along I45. Back in the 90s.... once you passed Spring, you were getting rural as you went towards Conroe. Now Houston pretty much goes to Huntsville along I45. If you get 10 miles or so east or west of I45, you'll be somewhat rural. Property is also cheaper the farther away you get from Harris County. 10 years ago land in most of Montgomery County area was going for $3-5k per acre. Now some of those areas are closer to $20k an acre. There is one neighborhood close to the SHNF ... Texas Grand Ranch. 2 acre lots start @ $79k.


The Waller area is also blowing up. Cypress almost has merged with Waller in the last 10 years.

 

[Ellisj]

Greetings!

There might be a possible move to the Houston area. Wife wants to be closer to our daughter and grandchild. Looking at areas north or west of Springs, TX. Conroe, TX looks like a nice community. Property taxes seem high, though. Looks like that all over TX.

Any advice, guidance, do’s or don’t’s, where not live etc... I prefer to be west of Houston and away from the coastal area due to hurricane activity, flooding, storm surge etc...

I know it’s hot and humid. Bugs a big problem? Exotic wildlife? Places to shot? A net positive us a gun friendly and business friendly.

Any advice and guidance would be appreciated.


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My advice is to live close to work because traffic is unpredictable and horrible at best. If work is not a concern then the Conroe/Spring/Woodlands area is very nice with lots of space and trees. The Cops used to be bad but since BLM, maybe they quit violating everybody's rights. A Conroe Cop once gave me the George Floyd and I thought I was going to die. But hey, that's everywhere I ever lived. Galveston is beautiful but does get a hurricane a couple of times a century.

 

[Coiled]

A Conroe Cop once gave me the George Floyd and I thought I was going to die. But hey, that's everywhere I ever lived.

Singing too loud in choir again?
Seriously, obeying the law doesn't get you in that kind of position everywhere you ever lived so you're going to have to take ownership of your actions.

 

[Coiled]

Major expansion of I-45 from Conroe to the south side of Huntsville was completed in the last six months. 3 lanes each N&S plus L&R side shoulders has vastly improved traffic flow.

 

[baboon]

We have to make the trip to Houston, usually once a month. I cringe, when we start to get into Huntsville wtih traffic & the development along I45. Back in the 90s.... once you passed Spring, you were getting rural as you went towards Conroe. Now Houston pretty much goes to Huntsville along I45. If you get 10 miles or so east or west of I45, you'll be somewhat rural. Property is also cheaper the farther away you get from Harris County. 10 years ago land in most of Montgomery County area was going for $3-5k per acre. Now some of those areas are closer to $20k an acre. There is one neighborhood close to the SHNF ... Texas Grand Ranch. 2 acre lots start @ $79k.


The Waller area is also blowing up. Cypress almost has merged with Waller in the last 10 years.

Once a month! I still owe my buddy $4K from the stuff I bought from his dad’s estate. I know he wants the cash, but he might just have to settle on a check. And he is on lake Conroe. Even taking back roads it’s not a ride I want to do.

 

[Millerwb]

Retired USAF. Looking north and west of Springs, TX. Proximity to national forest for hiking with my dog is a plus. Huntsville looks attractive. Already impressed with Har.com (many thanks). Already with everyone’s advice getting a better and clearer picture.


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I work in Huntsville and live in Bryan/College Station. Huntsville in a nice area. Pretty country that can still be had at a reasonable price sometimes. Close enough to Spring that you could be there in around an hour. Less pollution that H-town (I grew up there from ‘65-‘89). Even where I live, I can be in Houston in 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on where I am going. Close enough for me.