Blackfield

First,

A townhome owns the land and yard upon which his house is situated. If there is no maintenance fee there is often a contract entered into between the parties that share "improvements"

If the townhome has common walls and common roofs, etc. some townhomes have contracts for maintenance as well as colors, gardneing, etc others do not. If there is no contract for maintenance on each half, walk away. I have a friend who bought a nice $300K townhome in a trendy area near Washington, that had massive foundation problems. The builder went out of business, then the homeowners were left to fend for themselves. Since there was no contract, they had shared a common insurance policy to protect themselves from this. The other owner, filed the claim first, and got $49,000 to fix the problem. However, he didnt fix it, and bought a new car. My friend went to the insurance company,and they refused to pay again on the same policy. his only recourse was to sue the neighbor, who a few weeks later went bankrupt. So, my friend has a townhome that is falling on on one wall, that he cant afford to fix, that insurance paid to fix, but was not fixed, and now he cant do anything about it.

So be careful. I always strongly advise people to never share common walls, b/c you lose the ability to repair your house. Its for some people, but not me. I prefer more sound investments. Townhomes land values also go up more slowly than standalone homes. What you save upfront, you lose on the back end.

Though I have never used a buyers agent, I know of one at www.westurealestate.com

Its a good site for general houston info, and she is an exclusive buyers agent. *** I have not used her, only her sites info, so I make no recommendation.

Thanks for the insights and link, they are very informative.

Although I realize there is always such unfortunate stories everywhere, your friend's story makes me think twice about buying townhome.

I have to give this some serious thoughts.

i guess it depends on whether you're used to it. i live about a mile from one and it would wake me up regularly. now i'm more adjusted i guess. i was at the art car illuminated cruise (on heights) a few weeks ago and 5 trains went by in an hr. since it is an industrial area, you'll just have to be prepared for that.

if you're lookin to live the club life, then rice military wins. as for daily amenities, i'd probably give it to the west side.

I am done with the club life, . It is nice to be close to restaurants and Memorial park.

What kind of daily amenities on the west side are you referring to, that are lacking at Rice Military?

Perhaps, grocery store? I don't mind driving a little bit far, so it's no big deal for me.

That would be the horn.

Weekdays....I'd say at least 4x per day. Not sure about weekends and nights....

I think that's not a deal breaker. I would be at work during the day anyway.

Anybody can give me more insight to my original questions regarding townhome?

Definetly. A friend of mine lives on Floyd St. and the train is loud enough to make the TV difficult to hear.

jm1fd,

Thanks for the insight. The loud train sound, was that from the horn sound or the actual sound of the train passing by?

If you could hear the train passing by, it is pretty bad.

Can anybody give me an idea how frequent the train passes by during the weekday, weekend, and the night?

I am easily awaken as it is, I do not need train noise to make it worse, .

I know there is a freeway roar over on that side, yet those houses go fast and will appreciate greatly over time because of City Centre and the Energy Corridor. It's Rummel Creek Elem.

If you really want to be in this area, because you are thinking of future and family (you can't beat the schools anywhere in the metro area) then you may want to watch Nottingham Forest east of Dairy Ashford. It's much quieter there and it has an incredible neighborhood club and easy access to Terry Hershey Park. My boys live in the park.....therefore so do I.

The schools hold a huge resale draw for this area, and the houses have always been in demand despite the economy.

If you are looking for proximity to downtown and being near the "young life," then definately Rice Military.

One of the reasons I narrowed down to these two areas, is because the approximity to Memorial and Terry Hersey park. I would love to live close to either park. I do not have a family yet, otherwise, Rice Military is probably out of the question. Although I see many couples in their 50's live there.

The reason that I consider 77079 is because of the reasons that you mentioned above. I will check Nothingham Forest, east of Dairy Ashford. If I remember correctly, there are couple of houses listed at HAR, however it is out of my budget. It's on the 350K range.

How about this house?

http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y

i'd have to agree. are trains a turn off for you blackfield?

i think you have a valid point concerning the construction quality of the newer townhomes. they definitely aren't designed to last as long. unfortunately the developers have an affinity for the fake stucco. IMO i'd stay clear of anything stucco related and flat roofs. i went ot a party this past weekend in a 2 yr old townhome in midtown and they were already having leaks.

Hi Musicman,

Train noise is a concern, so I am looking at south of Washington area. Would you be able to hear the train, let's say from Feagan st?

I realize how the two areas are so different, I am still going back and forth on the location, .

East of the BEltway is 77024, and 300k is impossible to find. West of the Beltway is 77079. And you have to go way west or right on the freeway for 300k...and then it will cost more to make it liveable.

Your two areas couldn't be more night and day.

Thanks KatieDidIt, , yeap, I meant west of the Beltway, 77079.

I realize that my budget is lower than the average price, thus, it makes it difficult to find good candidates.

Based on your responses in the past, I know that you live there and know the area really well.

What do you think about the neighborhood close to Rummel Creek high school (north of Memorial drive)? I saw a listing at HAR with asking price of $275K.

I know it is closer to I-10, so the noise is probably bad.

Greetings,

This is great forum, I am glad I found it.

I have been following home prices in Houston with great interest in the past couple of years. Finally the wait is over, I am finally ready to purchase my first home.

The areas that I am interested in are Rice Military and Memorial-77079 (east of Beltway).

They both close to I-10, which is one of my criteria and within my less than 300K budget.

Due to my budget, I believe my choices are limited on both location.

I realize the two areas are opposite to each other, one is a dense area with townhomes, the other is houses with big yard and mature trees.

Currently, I am leaning towards Rice Military, partly because the thought of taking care of house with yards is daunting for me. The townhome is newer, so perhaps, it is easier to maintain. It is also closer to places that I usually go as well.

This brings up to my questions.

1. For townhome, do you own the land? I believe so, however I would like to confirm this with you.

2. If townhome shares wall and rooftop and there is no maintenance fee. How do the owners fix their homes in case of issues? My concern is this could potentially cause an issue with my neighbor.

3. From HAR.com, I notice that Rice Military's price/square foot has fluctuated over the years. Is that the trend that you see in the future as well? Although this is going to be my only home (thus people say it is not an investment), I still would like to see decent appreciation in years to come.

4. Townhome quality. I understand it varies between townhomes. When I see townhome, it looks like it is not build as well as house. I am not a structural engineer, so this could be well off. I am wondering if a townhome could last 50-70 years easily just like a house, with proper maintenance, of course.

5. How do you find exclusive buyer agent?

I learn a lot by just reading this forum, and I intend to continue learning from you.

Thanks in advance.