Jerseygirl

The OP asked about roaches/tree roaches. How big are they, have you found them in your house...if so how many?

Bink

Roaches? I haven't seen any in my new house but then I pay someone to come and spray every other month so I don't! Money well spent (about $30/month)!

In my old house I would see tree roaches, they ain't small (I've seen ones that were maybe 4-5") and come in to look for water! They're more prevalent in the slightly older neighborhoods that are more developed with lots of trees.

I would recommend getting a contract with a pest company if you don't like creatures in your house. We had mice in our garage and under our AC slab outside recently and the pest company came round and sorted that little issue out for us for no additional charge.

Weeze

Roaches. Lots of the little buggers. Huge. Oh, and the tree ones attempt to fly at you twice a year in our backyard.
I once found a fire ant on the toilet seat. I do not wish to repeat that experience.
Are we leaving killer spiders, snakes, scorpions and odd Texas bugs for another day?

ChocolateBabz

Fire Ants, I forgot about the Fire Ants and earwigs, seen a fair few of them...

sybil580

wow thank you everyone for the replys! each and everyone of you have given me food for thought.

Everything else seems possible/do-able but roaches OH MY GOD I would rather fight a snake than have one of these things within 20 ft of me. So extermination is a must. Someone kindly mentioned the price which is affordable

From experience of living in tropical areas, the mozzies go after people that have 'sweet blood'. People who eat more sweet things or atleast thats what they say and i actually believe it. So stay away from the sweeties if you dont fancy bieng bitten!!

Another thing that just occured to me, do any of you have a cat that was brought over from scotland? Did she/he manage to aclimatize easily? Im worried about my outdoor cat and weather she will be able to stand the heat.

Yes i work in the EC so whats the closest place to be able to buy a 4-5 bedroom house with a pool? preferably a new/recent build?

Many thanks for all your responses! i appreciate the time you folks are taking out to help others thru the transition!!

Bink

Katy would be the natural choice to commute to the EC. LOTS of choice with varying budget. A few on here live there (I'm a bit further north in Cypress) and can probably help with specifics.

What's your budget? I'd recommend renting before you buy. You may struggle to find a new house that has a pool, you may have to pay to put that in yourself if you buy.

Also, carefully consider how many bedrooms you'll really need - it's different from the UK where all rooms that could be used as say an office are called bedrooms. We have a 4 bed house (and that's how it was listed) but it has a separate dining room, office, game room and media room on top of the living space, kitchen/breakfast area and bedrooms...!

Weeze

HAR.com is the equivalent of ASPC.
You will struggle to buy straight away if you require a mortgage though, we are just buying now and have been here two and a half years.
For new builds in Katy, you are looking at the new Cinco developments which are at the West end of the rest of Cinco. Spring Green Boulevard/Fry/Cinco Ranch Boulevard.
As well as looking at Katy, you could look at the energy corridor itself. Lots of choice there too. Not so sure of new builds though.
Oh, and the property market is MENTAL at the moment, not sure when it will calm down again, but if you aren't viewing within the first 24 hours and putting in an offer, you are getting it.

Bink

I know a few people that have relocated here from the UK where the 'big' companies (One was an Oil company, the other a multi-national Oilfield service company) have sorted a mortgage for them with no credit history. I don't think it's the norm though and depends on the company.

I like you, had to wait 2 years to be able to do it.

Weeze

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Houston%2C_TX
Oh, and of course check out this fabulous guide to Houston.

Bink. We supposedly had that thanks to Mr Weeze's employer. Never happened though.

ChocolateBabz

Cats - we adopted 2 when we moved over. They are indoor cats, to be honest I wouldn't let them out. Heartworm (which they get from mozzie bites), fleas and ticks can be a problem for pets over here and I would rather not take the risk even though they are vaccinated/on medication. Also there are coyotes and on top of that I see dead kitties and dogs on the road every week. I am convinced the truck drivers use them as target practice, either that or it's the fact that Houston drivers are nuts and/or drunk!

Add to that our H.O.A. rule of no free roaming pets and they are stuck indoors, I don't think they would appreciate the heat anyway.

ChocolateBabz

If you haven't found them har.com for property and city-data.com's houston forum both have lots of additional info.

Oh qnd we got our mortgage after 6 months, we were signing the contract to build our house on the flight over from Aberdeen. But we are not normal hahaha...

Bink

Yeah that's pretty much my view to be honest. I left my cat in the UK . Have 2 here but they both are indoors cats too. One would like to go outside, but the other just isn't well suited to being let outside and I can't let just one of them out. I too would be afraid they would get hurt on the road or by coyotes.

Bink

You just have to look at your pic to realize that!

Michael

Most states in the US can call a room a bedroom if it has a window. If it doesn't have a window, it then can't be called a bedroom. Other requirements apply.

Here is a summary of the codes for Seattle.

1) All bedrooms must have one operable escape or rescue opening. Almost always, this is a window.

2) The window can not be any higher than 44 inches from the floor. Many basement ‘bedrooms' I see violate this.

3) If the window is below the ground level, a window well that follows specific codes must exist.

4) The minimum size of the window is 5.7 square feet, with a minimum height of 24 inches and a minimum width of 20 inches.

5) A smoke detector must be installed in the room. In new construction this smoke detector must receive power from the building wiring. This also applies if you add a bedroom to an older house.

6) No opening (door) is allowed between a bedroom and a garage.

7) The area of the window must not be less than 8% of the area of the room. So the window in a 14×14 foot room must be no less than 15.68 square feet. Note that this applies for all habitable rooms - not just bedrooms.

Most interesting, though, may be what is not required for a bedroom. Current codes do not state that a bedroom must have a closet, though typically they do. Nevertheless if a room meets the above requirements but does not have a closet, it can still be considered a bedroom.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/6549...tes-a-bedroom-

Bink

Useful info. I was just clarifing that in the UK you may want 4 bedrooms so you have a master, 2 guest rooms and then the 4th room to be used as an office say, whereas at least here in Houston, it's very common to get a 4 bed house that still has the extra rooms. So whilst you may look for a 5 bedroom house in the UK so you have a couple of flex rooms, you may only want a 3 or 4 bed here given that you get the flex rooms on top.