Buying a house in Houston, Texas

U.S.A. Texas

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Hello everyone! I am an RN in Connecticut and is seriously considering about relocating to Houston, Texas. We were thinking about buying a starter home there. It is just me and my husband, no kids yet. :) What community do you guys think we can purchase a cheaper but nice house while considering all aspects in it like safety and a great community to live? How much does houses cost there? Let's say a 2-3 bedroom house with 2 car garage and 2 bathrooms? Or anything similar that is just good for 2 people to live and will start a family soon. I need your input. Thanks so much.

Specializes in L&D, mother/baby, antepartum.

Nurse-in-me,

I think you can probably see that no one will ever agree on the best place to live in Houston. That choice is obviously very personal. As someone who recently moved to Houston, I will give you the following advice:

Move here and rent first. The only way you can make an informed decision is to live in the city and decide what's best for you. I wish I had done just that. My husband and I have both lived in big cities and thought that Houston would be no different. Unfortunately, we don't really like it here (sorry ya'll, I'm an Austin girl for sure!) and now we have to sell a house and move. It would have been easier to relocate if we had never bought a home.

All that said, everyone will be able to give you great advice, but the best way to make it happen is to live it yourself.

Oh, and if you are looking for homes and hope to have kids at some point, here is a WONDERFUL website to use to research the schools in the area (http://www.greatschools.net). It's a nationwide site so you can use this anywhere in the US.

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Can someone shed some advice on the Bellaire area 77031 zip code and commuting to the Medical Center from there? Is there a tollway to get out of there to the loop? Is it a safe area and are the schools good? THANKS for any input!

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if 77031 is correct on the google maps site, stay away...

look north of west belfort and east of hillcroft. for someone starting out in houston, look at the apartments around the medical center.

if you really want to be over there, you could take south braeswood all the way to the medical center...

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Thanks for the response but I wished you elaborated more on why I should stay away!!! If it's that horrible please PM me. I just want to be somewhere "Central". I have family in Katy, Missouri City, and Southwest Houston. Katy is toooooo far. My cousin commutes into the Med Center from there and ugh! It's a nightmare for her. I don't want that. My cousin in Missouri City pays a toll to get out of there to go to work. I really would love some input on somewhere to live that has an easy commute to the Med Center.

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Specializes in L&D, mother/baby, antepartum.
Thanks for the response but I wished you elaborated more on why I should stay away!!! If it's that horrible please PM me. I just want to be somewhere "Central". I have family in Katy, Missouri City, and Southwest Houston. Katy is toooooo far. My cousin commutes into the Med Center from there and ugh! It's a nightmare for her. I don't want that. My cousin in Missouri City pays a toll to get out of there to go to work. I really would love some input on somewhere to live that has an easy commute to the Med Center.

I don't think that 77031 is the zip code for Bellaire. Bellaire is a very nice area (77401 I believe). I'm getting ready to join the Air Force and my recruiter's office is over there. On my way from Sugar Land I drive down Bellaire Blvd. The area near Hwy 59 isn't so hot, but as you drive down Bellaire Blvd toward 610 it gets really nice. The commute to the Med Center from there would be pretty good. You wouldn't have to get on a freeway which is always a plus.

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Thanks for the response but I wished you elaborated more on why I should stay away!!! If it's that horrible please PM me. I just want to be somewhere "Central". I have family in Katy, Missouri City, and Southwest Houston. Katy is toooooo far. My cousin commutes into the Med Center from there and ugh! It's a nightmare for her. I don't want that. My cousin in Missouri City pays a toll to get out of there to go to work. I really would love some input on somewhere to live that has an easy commute to the Med Center.

there are a bunch of low income apartments and government housing mostly in that area. my suggestion would be to drive around at around dusk... generally stay east of hillcroft and north of west bellfort and you will be okay. meyerland is a nice area, bellaire is nice but once you are west of the city of bellaire all the way to beltway 8, it rapidly becomes dodgy.

one thing to consider is where are the foreclosures are. those areas will devalue more rapidly in general.

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Specializes in ICU, CVICU.

Move here and rent first. The only way you can make an informed decision is to live in the city and decide what's best for you.

I think this is GREAT advice. We are moving to Sugar Land in a few weeks and we are renting. Houston is just too big to buy a house right away without knowing where you want to live and without having a job lined up. That's just my opinion.

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