revive

Telfair is way overpriced though! Not sure about what the prices at Riverstone are though.

I found that Riverstone and Telfair prices are very similar. I ultimately chose Telfair; I feel it's a safer choice as it has a better location.

They have a community website: http://www.telfairlife.com/

We ultimately decided to build a house in Telfair!

As we were planning to visit Sugar Land earlier this month, I felt very strongly of NT and FC. Then we visited some pre-owned homes at NT and FC, which looked good enough for me (especially compared to our tiny 1 bed Chicago condo, which will sell for a similar price as a 4 bed resale house in SL). However, once my wife looked at new homes at Telfair, she immediately discarded the idea of buying a pre-owned home. What can I say?

Although the price of the home we bought costs $100K more than what we initially intended to spend (albeit slightly bigger size), I figured that it maybe money well spent, considering the nicer kitchen & overall features we'll have, better technology & insulation, newer feels, no hassle of remodelling. Plus, this is an opportunity to build our 'dream home', where we can customize it to suit our lifestyle. We're pretty excited and hopefully everything will turn out well during the construction.

Hello,

We'll be moving from Chicago to Houston this Summer. After comparing few locations, I really like SL because of its mature neighborhoods, shops, FBISD, and diversity. Our budget is 300-370K, looking for a 4-bed, 3000+ sqft home (with a pool if possible), in a good school district, nice neighborhood and a good highway access. I hope you can offer some expert advice on my questions:

- Which locations should I look closely?

- I like one particular home in New Territory, and another one in Woodbridge Estates. I haven't seen many postings about NT or WE in this portal, so I'd like to know your comments on them.

- I'm amazed by the price difference between new constructions and comparable pre-owned homes, where new constructions may price $50-100K higher. What is the reason of such a huge price difference? Does that mean builders might be willing to offer huge discounts?

- I'm perplexed by the high tax rate for new constructions (e.g. Plantation Settlement tax rate is around $3.3 per $100, which is twice of downtown Chicago). Is this also the case with other new constructions, like Telfair, Riverstone?

- How much is a typical pool maintenance expense per month?

Thanks!

Wow! What part of Chicago are you moving from? I'm currently living downtown in River North and I've lived in Houston here and there over the past years.

Hello there,

Thanks for the tips. Nice to hear from a fellow Chicagoan. We live in South Loop (wow I just noticed the same abbreviation). I've lived in a townhome and a condo in South Loop during the past 5 yrs. Smaller living space but very convenient location, as you can walk to everything. But now with a newborn we're pretty much convinced that we want a real house in the burbs. I thought Sugar Land would be nice, and the distance to downtown Hou isn't that bad either. It's prob similar with from Oakbrook to downtown Chicago.

Thanks for the reply!

Can you apply for homestead exemption in other communities as well (e.g. First Colony, Telfair)? Can you do that every year?

Any thought on how to calculate the tax dollars? Thanks!

One more tax question:

I've heard a couple of different information re. tax rates in New Territory. One said 2.57%, another said 3.86%. Which one is correct?

And then, I saw a listing in NT with price $365K and tax $8,393, which implies a tax rate of 2.3.

Let's say that it's true that NT tax rate is 3.86. Does that mean the assessed price will automatically increase based on whatever price I end up paying for that property? Hence if I buy it for $365K, then taxes will increase to $14K (=$365K x 3.86%)?

Thanks!

Thank you all for the replies. They are very helpful.

I wasn't aware about the 0% state income tax in TX; that alone is enough to compensate for the higher property tax. I'm now more convinced to buy a pre-owned home in a good location rather than a new development, given the huge difference in price and taxes. I think the advantages of a new home do not warrant the extra moneys.

Does anyone know about Woodbridge Estates, up on Hwy 6? Does its proximity to the airport mean noise pollution?

Also, how much is a typical pool maintenance expense per month?

Hello,

We'll be moving from Chicago to Houston this Summer. After comparing few locations, I really like SL because of its mature neighborhoods, shops, FBISD, and diversity. Our budget is 300-370K, looking for a 4-bed, 3000+ sqft home (with a pool if possible), in a good school district, nice neighborhood and a good highway access. I hope you can offer some expert advice on my questions:

- Which locations should I look closely?

- I like one particular home in New Territory, and another one in Woodbridge Estates. I haven't seen many postings about NT or WE in this portal, so I'd like to know your comments on them.

- I'm amazed by the price difference between new constructions and comparable pre-owned homes, where new constructions may price $50-100K higher. What is the reason of such a huge price difference? Does that mean builders might be willing to offer huge discounts?

- I'm perplexed by the high tax rate for new constructions (e.g. Plantation Settlement tax rate is around $3.3 per $100, which is twice of downtown Chicago). Is this also the case with other new constructions, like Telfair, Riverstone?

- How much is a typical pool maintenance expense per month?

Thanks!