Houston456

Thanks for all the leads.

Does anyone know about church operated Pre-K/DayCare programmes near TMC ?

We are planning to send our kid (2+) to some sort of pre-K/Daycare/Montessori and would like to get feedback on the Programmes/Places around TMC area.

We need only 2 or 3 days a week and trying to find out whether that is an option.

Specifically, anyone has feedback on 'Childrens Hour Montessori' / St Nicholas school in Medical center area ? Also, I heard there are some programmes operated by Churches.

Appreciate feedback with a note about fees they charge.

I have lived in 'luxury' and 'non-luxury' apmts and I can say its all the same (more-or-less). Its not like the difference between 1-star motel and a 5-star hilton.

Another marketing gimmick.

When you go to starbucks and order a 'TALL' cup, you know that is the SHORTEST size. LOL!!

According to the maps I have, those are supposed to be 'luxury' apartments, but they still will be noisy and an eyesore. Too bad the current owners didn't check things out closer before they bought, because the maps of SCR I have (which came from the SCR visitors center) clearly showed those apartments going in there.

I'm not really surprised that many homes are for sale in SCR at discounted prices, but the fact that many of them are on the EAST side of SCR (away from the landfill), seems noteworthy. There must be several factors at work here, which are combining for a synergistic effect on the market prices.

It appears landfill/Foreclosures are hitting hard on SCR. This house (3,814 sq.ft) in SCR is listed for 240K. ie, around $62/ sq.ft. Granted, it's a foreclosure but asking prices this low is a definitely a sign of what lies ahead IMO

Since landfill expansion is not granted yet, this makes me to think that landfill will dent the image of SCR whether it expands or not. HUGE number of foreclosures adds oil to the fire. I doubt how much damage could be reduced by having an HEB/Accademey/WholeFoods/StarBucks/Barnes-Nobles/PresidentialHeadsPark/etc nearby.

Also, this particular house is on the EAST of Kirby and EXTREMELY adjacent to the new apartments. If you look at the first pic, you can see the apt JUST behind the fence. It appears that buyers (who bought in 2003-2004) were not aware that an apartment is going to built next to their backyard and now when they SEE it, many are trying to sell their homes but cannot find a buyer.

Yep. This is the one. Thanks for the pricing info.

We talked to the sales rep about building SAME floorplan there (lake view too) on last October and after all their INCENTIVES/whatever sales rep offered 295K. NOT A PENNY LESS.

At that time we were unaware of the landfill or its expansion. Glad that she did not offer $260,601

Houston456 and BWShultz, I assume this is the house that you referring to. If so, it sold for $260,601 in August.

Just a couple stats from my little corner of SCR, Brookglen. My wife and I moved into our house in May 2006 as the 13th of about 72 homes. Right now, there are about 35 homes built or lots sold. So that's about 22 sales in 18 months. I'm sure that is much slower than they'd like. Especially when Perry in the adjacent subdivision is at about 75/110 homes built right now. Granted, Perry keeps a larger inventory but the homes are ready to move in now and that seems to be a priority for Perry. For me, I just like to see homes spring up. I still don't have a neighbor to my right, despite the lot being bigger than average for no premium. There have about 10 consecutive homes built with smaller lots. Someone please build next to me! It doesn't makes sense!

We were watching BrookGlen for sometime and there is something intresting. RYLAND had a 1.5 story inventory home (lake view) on White falls drive listed for 345K last January. We saw (in their HoustonChornicle ad) the same house listed for 273K few months before. That is a PURE 20% markdown. That is the day I confirmed Houston market is weakening. (It appears that house is sold now).

there are certain sub-divisions within the SCR area that are really turning properties.

Do not want to go off-topic, but curous to know what are those sub-divisions ?

Well, I am quite sure that SCR is badly hit by the Landfill issue and galore of forclosures.

I know of 3 people, who have either backed-out or changed their mind about building in SCR. Someone who does his/her own research can easily see that west of SCR is kissing the proposed landifll and would not want live next to it.

I drove around some plots on the WEST OF KINGSLEY during October 2006 and also on last month. I was not shocked to see that not much houses have been built during this one year period.

It appears the initial hype is not anymore. For Phase I, I have been told that there was a night camp-out on the Pre-opening sales starting day infront of Meritage Home since they have $260K houses. During the second phase all of them jacked up the prices by 10-15% eventhough there are clear indications are Houston market is coming down.

Also, all those flippers who bought in Telfair on Phase I, thinking that they can sell to someone else before closing, is having a hard time to sell it and builders are forcing them to close.

(Most) realtors and builder agents try to create the impression that Housing market is safe here. Also, 'you-are-throwing-away-money-if-you-are-renting'. Also, 'you-are-losing-out-on-equity'. 'You-are-losing-huge-tax-benefits'.

All nonsense.

A city-by-city study conducted by fortune mag tells that a $304K house today would be valued $308K AFTER five years.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/price_rent_ratios/

That is 0.2 percent appreciation per year.

What is the MONTHLY expense for MITI(Maintenance,Intrest,Tax and Insurance) to get a 0.2 % ANNUAL EQUITY ? LOL !!

Pardon my ignorance but could someone tell me where EXACTLY is it and the easiest way to get in/out from 288 South ?

It may be inresting to know where people are buying Groceries from ? I mean the 'default' grocery store for you ?

Pearland has its own school district. It was one of the top school districts in the area, not sure if that is the case anymore. Where in Pearland is it zoned to Alvin?

Some masterplanned communities (at least one - ShadowCreekRanch, at least some parts of SCR (to be specific) is zoned to Alvin ISD

also, I am trying to chose between 59/6 (of Sugarland) and 288/FM519 (of Pearland). I think it should have been titled WEST Pearland vs WEST Sugarland

Well I can eliminate one of your Sugar Land cons. Sugar Land actually has a very low crime rate. You can't believe everything you hear on tv. There are several threads on this site about Sugar Land's crime stats, look them up and you'll see. It's no surprise why Sugar Land was named the 3rd best place to live by CNN/Money just last year.

As you can tell I prefer Sugar Land. I haven't been to Pearland much but it seems more like Katy (meaning unmanaged sprawl) to me. Sugar Land is more like its own town with organized growth, little traffic, and already very mature. Furthermore, the traffic situation is only getting better with 59, whereas 288 is getting worse.

Feel free to ask more specific questions. I can answer them for you.

EDIT:

Here's some of that info I was telling you about:

Thanks.

I tend to agree. Media quotes everything outside the loop on Hwy 59 as "South West" which may make sugarland look prone to crime.

I've created a thread in the sugarland section of this website comparing pros and cons of Sugarland and Pearland as we are trying to chose one of them. (Actually I have posted the same in this section also but mods have deleted it considering it as double post.). Following is the link to the other post

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...showtopic=13522

Would appreciate your feedback.

We are getting ready to enter market for a home and trying to decide between Pearland (Hwy288/FM518) and Sugarland (Hwy59/Hwy6). I tried to come-up with pros and cons of both.

Ofcource, I would have missed something or got something incorrect. As you may infer, I am little biased toward sugarland but I would be more than happy to change that if needed.

Add your comments please.

Pearland

Pros

* Near to Downtown/Medical Center/Galleria (Easy access to these palces on non -peak hours)

* Just started booming

Cons

* 288 getting worse day by day (May take 40 minutes to downtown on peak hours)

* 288/518 area getting over crowded

* Brazoria county, meaning hefty home insurance premium (windstorm)

* Flooding in 288 when it rains heavily

* Alvin/Pearland school District (some MasterPlannedCommunities Zoned to Alvin)

* Average price of homes near 288/518 is $85 sq.ft.

* Landfill expansion issue (the news itself, irrespective of whether it expands or not)

sugarLand:

Pros :

* Established area for family living

* fortbend ISD and good established schools

* No (Few) flooding issues

* No high insurance costs (flood/windstorm)

* 59 upgrade/constructon completed till Hwy6 - Traffic not as bad as 288 or 290 or I10

* ALT 90 becoming another freeway by end of 2008 (?) and would provide alternate route to Medical Center / Downtown/ Galelria (if needed)

* Average price of homes near 59/6 is $90 sq.ft

Cons :

* Alarming crime rate (though it varies by n'hoods)

* Far from Downtown/Galleria/Medical center (Delayed access to these palces even at non-peak hours)