|
Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
Hi to those living in the Houston TX area,
Me and my missus are planning to move to Houston after being transferred with my current employer. We are looking for advice on neighbourhood options in Houston. I will be working from home to start with and then somewhere near the Energy Corridor after a year or so. We are a couple in our 40s but enjoy eating & drinking out and both quite active (bikes, playing soccer etc.). Children are all adults now so schools not a big issue. We are planning a look-see visit later this month so any recommendations on neighbourhood options - either 2 / 3 bed quality apartments if close to the downtown area or a 3 / 4 bed house if in the suburbs would be appreciated. Guess our budget is in the USD 1500 - 2500 per month range. Any recommends on a good estate agent (realtor?) who we could contact whilst in town later this month would be appreciated too. Is there a good British / European ex pat community we could link into whilst we are in town? Thanks in advance for any constructive advice! David |
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
Welcome to BE!
I think you probably want to look at Katy, directly west of the Energy Corridor. It used to be that people here also recommended the area in and around Lakes on Eldridge, to the north of the Energy Corridor, but that area and many of the houses closer to the Bayou in the Energy Corridor suffered badly with flooding during Hurricane Harvey. Wherever you look, check out the Harvey flood maps. Personally, I prefer Cypress, where we used to live, to Katy, but if your main criteria are eating out and being near other expats, Katy is probably a better choice. Some people do live downtown or more likely in The Heights or Midtown and reverse commute, it depends on how much you want the city lifestyle. I would not use the same real estate agent to look at both there and Katy. |
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
yeah, here in Katy, pleasant area, quite a few biking and walking at the moment (even in this heat!), lots of soccer at the kids level, but suspect also for adults, either thru works teams or locally organized. quite diverse racially, so a mix of sports. restaurants not particularly good here, better closer to Houston if you don't mind the traffic. budget sounds about right, though its been a long time since renting for me. try har.com for real estate ideas.
|
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
Many thanks Owen and Strat. Good info. We'll widen our search to include Katy and Cypress. Any recommend on a decent realtor to contact ahead of our arrival next week?
Dave |
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
not really. think we used Joella Mullis, when we came here 8 yrs ago (ReMax) and she was fine with us. our moves were 'company moves' and in all three cases the realtors seemed professional and helpful.
|
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
I live in Cypress and like it. Katy is fine too, just seems to have less trees. They are both huge. I have a friend whose husband is an expat that lives in Lakes on Eldridge North, which I've heard didn't flood. Lakes on Eldridge is close by but separate.
You don't need schools so I'll suggest you live close to work in the Energy Corridor. |
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
You could also look into the Pearland and Manval area. Not far out of Houston at all to commute in daily.
|
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
A while back us swamp residents got together to create a guide to Houston. This is somewhat dated, but still informative: https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Houston,_TX As far as your specific questions, unless you know you’re going to be that way a lot then I wouldn’t look to live in midtown/downtown just because of traffic to the energy corridor, in time. Rentals could range from apartments in somewhere like City Centre (maybe https://www.domainatcitycentre.com/) or your 3-4 bedroom place out in the suburbs. With Katy being due west you have a few more traffic/driving options than Sugarland or Cypress, but all would be doable. They all essentially do the same thing, and have similar amenities. Somewhere like Lakes on Eldridge/LOEN is a little more isolated - you have the sub-division, but nothing around you. You can do sports in any of these, and eating/drinking out are all doable, either walking (City Centre) or uber/lyft (Suburbs). As as far as realtors go, it can be very area specific on who has knowledge. Recent experiences are worth more than those who last used one years and years ago too. There must be 10s of thousands of realtors in Houston and the surrounding area. You may need a realtor to get into any private rental to view, but you should be able to get into the apartment complexes no problem. You should also be able to get into open house viewings (typically on a weekend) if a seller is having one. To get a feel for what you could get with a house, you can always tour a house that’s for sale, if it’s in an area of interest. That might be one of your only options if you don’t have a realtor lined up. |
Re: Houston Neighbourhoods and Estate Agent?
OP - you got any questions following on from your visit? |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 10:30 pm. |
Powered by vBulletin: ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.