TAK Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 OK, HAIF, the family and I are looking to move this year. I need your feedback on the following Pearland / Missouri City areas. Lakes of Savannah Sienna Plantation Lake Olympia Lakes of Highland Glen Shadow Creek Ranch Silverlake Sunrise Lakes Avalon Terrace English Oaks Rodeo Palms Other? We're looking for a fairly large home, 2500+ sf, 4/2/2 (or more, as my wife and i both work from home and need home offices) 1998 or newer - max price = $230k or so. Good schools (actually, projected to be good for the next 20 years - work on that one for me VicMan! - we have a 5 month old and will have another child in the next couple of years) We would want to have an easy commute to Houston when we do come. We want to have basic amenities nearby (grocery store, retail - although we could live without Wal-Mart being too close ). We'd really like to be nowhere near an apartment complex or a proposed one. (We've had enough of that). And it wouldn't hurt to have plenty of parks/playgrounds/ball fields for the kids to be kids (thinking ahead.) Those are the most important things. Secondary would be strong home appreciation, diversity, and not terrible traffic in and out of the neighborhood. So, those of you in the southern suburbs, give me your feedback... Thanks! TAK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 OK, HAIF, the family and I are looking to move this year. I need your feedback on the following Pearland / Missouri City areas....Pearland is growing at breakneck speed. Right now, Silverlake and SCR are nice because they have, as far as I know, all that stuff you say you want; however, try to project forward a few years and I think you're looking at a traffic nightmare at least. 288 is good for the moment but I think in 5 yrs it'll be terrible. Missouri city... personally I don't care for it. It's got a pretentious feel to it... but if you don't mind that it might do OK for you. It's not growing quite as fast as Pearland (for the moment) and with the Fort Bend County toll road, it should be pretty quick to get into Houston. For that area, I'd say Olympia and Sienna are OK But Sienna adds several miles to your travel and there's only 1 way in and out... if it grows much that could be a problem for you.Stephen, who used to install CATV in those areas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blocked writer Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 OK, HAIF, the family and I are looking to move this year. I need your feedback on the following Pearland / Missouri City areas.Lakes of Savannah Sienna Plantation Lake Olympia Lakes of Highland Glen Shadow Creek Ranch Silverlake Sunrise Lakes Avalon Terrace English Oaks Rodeo Palms Other? We're looking for a fairly large home, 2500+ sf, 4/2/2 (or more, as my wife and i both work from home and need home offices) 1998 or newer - max price = $230k or so. Good schools (actually, projected to be good for the next 20 years - work on that one for me VicMan! - we have a 5 month old and will have another child in the next couple of years) We would want to have an easy commute to Houston when we do come. We want to have basic amenities nearby (grocery store, retail - although we could live without Wal-Mart being too close ). We'd really like to be nowhere near an apartment complex or a proposed one. (We've had enough of that). And it wouldn't hurt to have plenty of parks/playgrounds/ball fields for the kids to be kids (thinking ahead.) Those are the most important things. Secondary would be strong home appreciation, diversity, and not terrible traffic in and out of the neighborhood. So, those of you in the southern suburbs, give me your feedback... Thanks! TAK For me, that's such a tough question to answer for someone I don't know personally. I will say that I live in Silverlake and I like it. The Silverlake/Silvercreek community is pretty close knit and there are always neighborhood-wide activities. There are a ton of young families with young kids. I like being in Pearland ISD because I like the direction they are taking and the fact that it's an Exemplary district. That said, I think Shadowcreek is a beautiful neighborhood that is much larger with more amenities. You should also look at Southern Trails which is right across 518 from SCR. It is smaller community and has beautiful homes in your price range. From what I can see so far, that neighborhood is going to be really pretty. There isn't much to Rodeo Palms. I honestly am not that crazy about it. I know someone that lives in Avalon. It's really a cute little neighborhood. I like it and you're not quite as close to the dreaded Wal-Mart. They have one park and pool but it's a small neighborhood. I would strongly recommend that you check the school ratings in all of the neighborhood. I think that would give you a better idea of where to go. I also think Sienna is gorgeous. I love the trees, again many amenities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAK Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 I drove through Silverlake and Sunrise Lake last week. I liked Silverlake, but I *hear* it is too crowded. That's not really a big problem for me, as I don't commute. Sunrise Lake is not for me.I am a "young family" (35 with a wife and a 6 month old). A nice community with kids is what I'm looking for. Of course, when it's important to have good schools and amenities for my son 10 years from now, there will probably be a change in whatever neighborhood (because of the nature of houston's economics - boom and bust). The only reason to move to the burbs is for the wife and son. By myself, I could stay in the hood (ie, close to the city) forever. I'm going to try to check out SCR and/or Sienna this weekend... i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyB Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I'm in the process of purchasing a home in Pearland now, and I can offer some insight, based on our property search. Note that we were looking for a house that has nice features like granite countertops, tile in all the wet areas, that was larger than 2600 square feet. We were very picky about features like this, so it made it hard to find something in our price range (less than $250,000). We also didn't want a tiny yard.Silverlake -- The neighborhood seemed very nice... lots of kids, lots of trees. However, they are a little older, and most don't have some of the nicer features that we were looking for. In fact, the common thread of the Silverlake homes, for us, was that they kitchens needed to be updated.Silvercreek -- I never looked inside these homes, but the pictures are very nice, and I LOVE the neighborhood. However, it was out of our price range.Sienna Plantation -- LOVED some parts of this neighborhood, and the houses were very nice. The neighborhoods that we could afford weren't the ones that we really liked. I can see eventually moving to Sienna Plantation when we can afford to buy in those nicer areas. So beautiful.SCR -- We looked at soooo many homes here. There were a lot that were ALMOST right, but none actually fit. Either the yard was tiny (I'm talking 10 feet back from the house) or the features weren't nice. If you like Shadow Creek Ranch, with your price range, I would check out Dakota Blue Homes. They were very nice and affordable.Southern Trails -- This is where we're buying. As soon as I went into the neighborhood it felt right. We were able to find a David Weekley home that is almost 2900 square feet with everything we want, the yards are decent, and the section is right by the amenity center, with this great pool and park. Also, most of the houses are on cul-de-sac streets. The prices they have advertised on the net are way higher than what we got ours for. We got ours for about $25,000 less than what they had on the net -- it ended up being $235,000. I'm sure this goes for all the new home builders. Also, the builders that are in this neighborhood are the best (Trendmaker, David Weekley, Newmark, and Ashton Woods). I think this will drive our property value up in the long run. We're not there yet, but we will be soon! If you go to SCR today, be sure to check in Southern Trails, too. Good luck and I hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAK Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 Thanks, Tammy!I hadn't heard of Southern Trails, so I will put that on the list. (just looked online - $750 HOA Dues - Yikes!!)Most of your analysis is in line with what I've noticed looking at HAR - that is, it costs more to get what I want or I will have to do some kitchen updating - which I'm not opposed to doing, and have somewhat planned for...Having said that, I am also going to look closely at foreclosures. If I can get a little more for my money and do the cosmetics, I'm good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAK Posted February 26, 2007 Author Share Posted February 26, 2007 I checked out Southern Trails last weekend. Seems like a nice place. Proximity to SCR could be good or bad. It will be close to the Town Center, which also could be good or bad. I'm going to look into it a little more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Smarts Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Thanks, Tammy!I hadn't heard of Southern Trails, so I will put that on the list. (just looked online - $750 HOA Dues - Yikes!!)Most of your analysis is in line with what I've noticed looking at HAR - that is, it costs more to get what I want or I will have to do some kitchen updating - which I'm not opposed to doing, and have somewhat planned for...Having said that, I am also going to look closely at foreclosures. If I can get a little more for my money and do the cosmetics, I'm good.Why do you say Sunrise is not for you?I bought a foreclosed home in Pearland, it was the best decision I made. I saved about 20k on the current market value and only needed to make 2.5k in repairs/upgrades to the home. The rest I did to it was by choice. It sounds to me that buying a foreclosure would be good for you. Some people are completely opposed to buying a house that needs any types of repairs, but if you are like me, then its worth the extra k's in savings. Good luck. The trick is finding the right realtor who can show you the "right" foreclosures for you. As some need modest repairs and some are horrendous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAK Posted February 28, 2007 Author Share Posted February 28, 2007 Actually, Mr. Smarts,I've done some more digging and found a couple of foreclosures that I am considering, one is in Sunrise Lakes, the other in West Oaks. Now I just have to hope we like'em and they last long enough for me to get my act together...i said Sunrise wasn't for me because the few homes I looked at had either small yards, or in the case of one house (that i can't imagine will sell anywhere near market) has a multi-story commercial building being built right behind it - i don't want to look at that, or have that looking at me - not in the burbs...fyi, i'm a realtor, too, so I've plenty of info, but thanks for the offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAK Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 Fortunately, I work at home, so no commute - except to the airport once or twice a month.I don't mind West Oaks for what I would get - a larger yard, closeness to the schools, closeness to the ball fields...Sunrise Lakes would put me close to the new High School, but I have another 13 years before that's a concern, and I imagine we'll have moved by then... As a college football fan, the proximity BW3 is a significant positive in my book.Having said that, one of the homes in Sunrise Lakes looks like it could be a real deal... I'm afraid it may not last - I'm going to look at it today. I'm not (mentally) ready to make an offer, but if it's right (meaning, if the Mrs. likes it and I don't notice any real issues with the structure or surroundings) I might make an offer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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