cdipaolo

I'd look at Nottingham Forest and Nottingham based on your price range/requirements.

Looks like it is being developed by Greenwich Management: http://greenwichmgmt.com/poc.htm

I echo Jeebus' thoughts about homes on Wilcrest - they will go for a discount because they are less desirable. If one is desperate to get into a neighborhood, those would be the cheapest way besides just finding the smallest house that needs a lot of repair work. I also agree about Walnut Bend/Lakeside that someone mentioned - in my opinion if you're going to be in the area there will be less crime, better home appreciation, better schools and (often) less traffic in the neighborhoods off of Memorial compared to Briar Forest/Westheimer. Taxes for a house that is appraised at $265k has total property taxes of about $6500 in 2005 (including county, city, schools, etc.) "Regular" maintenance is hard to say for a home that is 40-50 years old. More than "regular" maintenance is the number of big projects that will need to be done - there can be houses that age with new windows, new siding, new insulation, redone kitchen/baths, new flooring, etc. that will require negligible maintenance. Then there are those that will need all that plus a new roof.... I commute to the Galleria from roughly Kirkwood between Memorial & I-10. I leave early and come home early to beat traffic. I leave at 6:15 am and sit down in my office at 6:35 am taking I-10. I leave at 4:15 and am always home by 5:00 (again taking I-10) even if traffic is unusually heavy and the entrance ramp to 610 being closed by my office. I would think this would improve after the construction is done. Hopefully by 2008/2009 the construction will have paid off and I-10 will actually be more of a "plus" than a "minus". I'll put in one more plug for Nottingham - Wilchester/Memorial/Stratford schools and every other street is a "horseshoe" street that doesn't go through to Kirkwood which makes it very difficult to cut through. Prices are (in general) lower than Wilchester and there are probably more homes in your size range. Best of luck in your search!

http://www.houstontx.gov/police/cs/beatpages/cs20g50.htm includes Nottingham and Wilchester http://www.houstontx.gov/police/cs/beatpages/cs20g40.htm includes Lakeview Forest and Lakeside Place http://www.houstontx.gov/police/cs/beatpages/westside.htm is the general homepage for all the different neighborhoods. Let me know if you want more information on Nottingham or Wilchester as I know those the best and have lots of friends in that specific area. We liked everything north of Memorial between Wilcrest and Gessner when we were looking - the further in you get the more expensive, obviously. Another neighborhood to consider is Nottingham Forest.

I live in Nottingham (which I very highly recommend on all the counts you mentioned). How big of a house do you want? Are you concerned about schools (some you mentioned are in Houston ISD, others in Spring Branch ISD). There aren't many houses under 300k in Briargrove Park from what I remember (we looked last summer). Walnut Bend and Lakeside will probably lag behind Briargrove Park and any of the Spring Branch ISD areas: Nottingham, Wilchester, Wilchester West. I'll see if I can come up with any localized crime statistics...

Yes, the houses in neighborhoods like Nottingham, Wilchester, Memorial Plaza, etc. are mostly between 1955-1965 from what I remember. I guess you'll just need to balance age of the home with length of commute. There are some Memorial homes that have been gutted and upgraded significantly. The "tear down neighborhoods" in Memorial where you can find new homes will cost more than 350k (Gaywood, Rustling Pines, etc.)

Observer - if you are considering 350 in your reasonable range, you should consider the Memorial area. They have great (Spring Branch) schools and the commute would likely be shorter than First Colony.