Majestic Oaks?

[billyandshan]

Hello all. My husband and I have viewed these forums for info on the "Great Northwest" for over a year now, and we wanted your opinions on a personal matter. We are a young family who bought our very first home in the Majestic Oaks subdivision (corner of Louetta and Cutten) 2.5 years ago when what most attracted us were all of the beautiful trees in the area! As you all know, the beautiful trees have been reduced to almost nothing, "luxury" apartments have been slapped up on one side of the entrance to our neighborhood, and some sort of medical plaza is going up on the other side. Now I read that more apartments (lower end than the current??) or possibly high end townhomes (please God...at least give us high end townhomes) are being slapped up next to the railroad tracks? I also read that Cutten is going to eventually be extended to alleviate traffic in other areas. That's great for the other areas, but would obviously only worsen the traffic directly through the middle of our neighborhood. I would also like to state that our $145,000 at the time we bought it, corner, cul-de-sac lot backs up to the as yet undeveloped tree line that eventually reaches the railroad tracks.

With all of that said. First of all, where can I get the future development map of the area that you're all referring to? Second, do you think that the various Vintage construction is going to have a positive effect on our property value...or a negative one? Third, if you were us would you wait it out for a couple of years, let the Vintage establish itself and then move before the apartments get old and rundown. Or would you cut your losses and get out quick?

Any insight you can offer would be of tremendous help. Thanks so much.

[jm1fd]

I don't see all the new single family construction helping values of existing properties....but it probably won't hurt them either.

As for the apartments....they're probably bad news, but they won't turn ghetto for many years.

I'd say you've got several years before you need to worry.

[SamBanker]

I would have to agree with jm1fd. The subdivision has some good things going for it and we still have many years before the long term affects of the vintage are felt in the area.

A couple of things to keep in mind

1. A lot of houses are for sale in that area and in that subdivision right now. That could hurt you "BUT" those houses are not sitting on the market very long which does show that there is still interest in the subdivision.

2. They are going to have a hard time extending cutten past were it dead ends. They have some serious eminent domain issues to work out, and there are so many other road project right now I don't see that being a high priority for quite a few years.

3. Majestic Oaks and Charterwood HOA's hold the keys in helping people keep there real-estate values high in that area. They are going to have to do more in enforcing and adding deed restriction (forcing people to keep up there properties) to sustain the long term values in those areas.

[mrfootball]

Your in Klein's school zone right? That, first and foremost will be the largest determinate of you maintaining/building property value. I think you're safe. Klein HS zone is nearly built out, and the 77379 zip code is one of the most affluent in Harris County.

The apartment being built will cater mostly to young adults, and professionals.

Your neighborhood is also abutting to a new neigbhorhood with $500k-$1M plus homes going up...not a bad thing IMO.

BTW...I'm going to be posting the contact information for people who wish to report Developer Violations that do not comply with Harris County's new Landscape Regulations. These developers are supposed to be following the new code, yet few are because they know that enforcement is lax. However, if you report them, they will check them out and shut them down, if they do find violations.

[PureAuteur]

I assume that these landscape regulations do not include anything about clear cutting of trees, because companies like NewQuest are still ruining our county/city. These guys are such a nuisance. They are only interested in making a quick buck and probably have close ties to Rick Perry. Someone should create a negative ad campaign about them.

MrFootball- what are the details of the landscape regulations that you know about?

[H-Town Man]

I would sell now. Once they finish that shopping center, traffic on Louetta is going to be bad - maybe as bad as 1960 at Willowbrook (think of Christmas time). Then they will want to widen the road, and of course the only way to add lanes without acquiring right-of-way is to take out the median. There go all those trees. Suddenly Louetta is starting to look alot like those busy streets in other parts of town that people used to move out here to get away from.

And then, what happens when those trees on the other side of your fence are gone? Look at how many other neighborhoods along Louetta this has happened to. The problem is that in the developer's paradise that is suburban Houston, nothing is safe. Neighborhoods are beautiful one day, then the area gets overbuilt, then those who can afford it move out, then property values decline, then the demographics change....

Developments like The Vintage will postpone this process for awhile, but the fact is, it's never going to be as nice as it is now. It's possible to have a crummy area next to an expensive neighborhood - look the area around Northgate on 1960. Folks can tell you about when everything on 1960 west of 45 was nice. Now 1488 is where 1960 was 25 years ago. It's a cycle.

[mrfootball]

While I agree this has occured over in the Spring ISD zone, I do not agree that this will happen at the area in question.

You're ignoring the primary predictor of future property values - schools.

The schools in that zone are great, there are relatively few apartments zoned to KHS, and those that are aren't the type to feed in hundreds of low income, ESL students. In other words, there's no significant ghetto cluster. The Klein HS schoolzone is nearly built out, there just isn't much if any room for a bunch of add'l apartment complexes in that particular zone that would suddenly upset the regular demographic mix.

Secondly, you're ignoring the fact that this is a high-end retail center that's going to add some really neat new amenities. (cool restaurants, shopping, parks, etc) There will be a carryover effect to the surrounding area. The Demographics are decidedly anglo (over 70%), and over six-figures HH income out to a 5 miles radius (nearly twice the population of The Woodlands)...you could go even further North, West or East - doubling that population study and still retain these good demographics. From this rather wide area, you still have only 3% living at or below poverty level. There are few areas of town that can boast numbers this good from this large a drawing area.

Area Demographic Study 2006

Third, there are going to be add'l mid/highrise corporate buidings, as well as the 10,000 daily HP campus workers and new $400M Data center being built in the immediate area.

Lastly --- and perhaps the best news, there is movement to create the Cypress Creek Improvement District which will begin regulating and enforcing and investing in efforts to address all of the issues that aggravate those of us in Unincorporated Harris County.

[mrfootball]

PureAuteur, attached are the new County Landscape Regulations.

landscape_regs_info_package.pdf

[billyandshan]

Thanks so much for your responses so far!

Mr. Football: Yes! We are in Klein ISD.

Can anyone address this blank treeline behind my property? I'm talking specifically about the stand of trees between Majestic Oaks and the railroad tracks. Can anyone confirm what is in the works for this area? I've read manufactured homes, I've read low end apartments, and I've read high end townhomes? Big difference!

I also get the idea that the Vintage has mapped out their intentions for the area. Does anyone have a link for this information?

Thanks again!

[billyandshan]

http://www.vintageparkhouston.com/map.php?map=aerial

Found this link, which definitely names Patriot Homes as the developer of the property behind my home.

Does anyone have anymore info on Patriot Homes? I'm getting nervous here. I know I've read on here that Patriot Homes is a builder of manufactured homes. WHY WOULD these high end developers choose to place manufactured homes in the area? Please tell me this is wrong!

I also see that there is going to be yet ANOTHER group of Sueba apartments on the South side of Louetta. Does anyone know what type of apartments these are slotted to be?

[houstongirl]

http://www.vintageparkhouston.com/map.php?map=aerial

Found this link, which definitely names Patriot Homes as the developer of the property behind my home.

Does anyone have anymore info on Patriot Homes? I'm getting nervous here. I know I've read on here that Patriot Homes is a builder of manufactured homes. WHY WOULD these high end developers choose to place manufactured homes in the area? Please tell me this is wrong!

I also see that there is going to be yet ANOTHER group of Sueba apartments on the South side of Louetta. Does anyone know what type of apartments these are slotted to be?

I also am near the wooded area between the railroad and the subdivision. They are currently clearing the area to begin building. Last weekend, we spoke to the people out there working on it & saw the actual site plan for the area. There will be single-family homes built there, but I'm unsure as to price range, etc. The person surveying the site said they will be "nice homes" and that it's planned by Kickerillo and "they only build good homes."

We'll see....

[Guest danax]

http://www.vintageparkhouston.com/map.php?map=aerial

Found this link, which definitely names Patriot Homes as the developer of the property behind my home.

Does anyone have anymore info on Patriot Homes? I'm getting nervous here. I know I've read on here that Patriot Homes is a builder of manufactured homes. WHY WOULD these high end developers choose to place manufactured homes in the area? Please tell me this is wrong!

Don't worry, Patriot builds high-end manufactured homes .

There's no way they'd put up MF homes there. After the foreclosure blizzard for MF homes in the past 5 years, you can hardly even get a mortgage for them at this point.

[mrfootball]

The entryway they've carved through there looks like it will be nice. I'd be shocked if they put mfd homes in there. It really wouldn't fit and I doubt the developers would commit suicide like that.

There's a "Patriot Homes" on this link:

http://www.1stfamilyofrealestate.com/howar...aryland_md.html

It's part of the Lennar/US Home/Patriot family

Lennar wraps up acquisition of Patriot Homes

Baltimore Business Journal - January 24, 2002

Print this Article Email this Article Reprints RSS Feeds Most Viewed Most Emailed

Lennar Corp. of Miami completed its acquisition of Columbia-based Patriot Homes.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stori...21/daily40.html

Financial terms were not released.

Patriot Homes, which primarily builds single family homes that range in price from $200,000 to $300,000, has concentrated much of its work in Howard County, though the company has built homes in numerous other areas throughout Maryland and Virginia. The company had sales of $109.6 million in 2000.

Lennar has homebuilding operations in 14 states and had sales of $4.7 billion in 2000.

[H-Town Man]

Secondly, you're ignoring the fact that this is a high-end retail center that's going to add some really neat new amenities. (cool restaurants, shopping, parks, etc) There will be a carryover effect to the surrounding area. Area Demographic Study 2006

Actually, I didn't ignore that fact.

Developments like The Vintage will postpone this process for awhile

Gotta read the whole post. I agree with you about schools though.

[houstongirl]

I've now spoken with the crew supervisor working "in the woods." He told us they are clearing the area to build the subdivision that will be known as Vintage Royal. The section that is between Majestic Oaks and the railroad tracks is actually phase II of the neighborhood which will be directly across Louetta (at the corner of Louetta and Cutten). However, it appears from our side that part 2 has made significantly more progress than part 1.

Although the site plan online says it will be developed by Patriot Homes, this supervisor said that is incorrect and they will be Kickerillo homes. We're not exactly sure, but either way, I'm looking at new neighbors in the near future.

[mrfootball]

Sounds good. If that is incorrect, they need to update that website, pronto.

[billyandshan]

Passed a sign yesterday at the entrance that states that the area will be a 2 story townhome development starting in the 160's.

The trees that used to be behind my house are GONE! Last night I was looking out a 2nd story window at the progress, and I saw two deer run across the open. So sad.

We shall see.

[mrfootball]

It's befuddling that they would cut down the thick tree buffer that ran along the railroad tracks. Seems like it would've been a smart idea to shield that from view. A rather important detail, IMO, that could've easily been preserved. Overzealous loggers?

[psilverot]

Passed by earlier. The townhomes will be built by Portrait homes. There also a picture of how the townhomes will look like. It's not so great as I expected.

Passed a sign yesterday at the entrance that states that the area will be a 2 story townhome development starting in the 160's.

The trees that used to be behind my house are GONE! Last night I was looking out a 2nd story window at the progress, and I saw two deer run across the open. So sad.

We shall see.

Passed a sign yesterday at the entrance that states that the area will be a 2 story townhome development starting in the 160's.

The trees that used to be behind my house are GONE! Last night I was looking out a 2nd story window at the progress, and I saw two deer run across the open. So sad.

We shall see.

[houstongirl]

Passed by earlier. The townhomes will be built by Portrait homes. There also a picture of how the townhomes will look like. It's not so great as I expected.

A brief visit to the Portrait Homes site in Gleannloch Farms gave us a little bit of info. The salesperson said the new Vintage Royale properties will start in the $160's, but most will be closer to $200K. She also said they will be similar to the homes at La Villita they built in Las Colinas, in the Dallas area.

LINK:

http://lavillitalife.com/LivingInLaVillita/Townhomes/

On a side note, there were approximately 6 homes in Majestic Oaks that have been put on the market in the last 6-8 weeks. I noticed yesterday that all but one now have sold signs on them. Very interesting....