Relocating to Houston, TX
Moving to any state can be both exciting and stressful all at once and Texas is no exception. The word “Greater” is used for a reason in describing the Houston Metro area because it covers such a wide swath of geography extending from the beautiful wooded areas of Conroe and The Woodlands all the way to Galveston Beach in the Gulf of Mexico. As the nation’s fourth largest city, working and playing in Greater Houston, can mean driving over an hour one-way for a job, an evening out, or another event. With such a wide geographic spread in distance and landscape, it’s critical to decide which area of Greater Houston will meet your needs based on your lifestyle. You want to choose a Realtor not only familiar with your desired area, but one who can also speak to the activities, schools, events, and opportunities around your chosen neighborhood.
GREATER HOUSTON SCHOOL DISTRICTS
For many Houstonians sending their kids to public school, it is all about the school district. If you don’t have kids, then your options are almost limitless, just be prepared to spend hours driving hundreds of miles to find the perfect neighborhood.
Determining which school districts are the best so that you can move into one of those districts is a little bit of a treasure hunt. The STAAR is the big statewide exam given from grade 3 to grade 8. Even with all the focus put on the STAAR, you are not going to be able to download a single sheet that ranks every school district in Greater Houston from best to worst on the Texas Education Agency site. For obvious reasons, this data is made somewhat difficult to obtain in just one click. There would be a lot of context lost with a single ranked sheet from high to low. You’ll see in some cases where the elementary schools do really well on STAAR in a particular district, but then those results don’t translate all the way up through middle school and high school for the neighborhood you may be looking at. So would a parent prefer an “excellent” middle school, but just a “good” high school, or would they rather have a “good” middle school, but an “excellent” high school? Standardized tests used for college admission, like the SAT can further complicate the story of “who’s school district is best?” Lastly, even within certain school districts, one that has a large number of high schools will inevitably have some differences in performance across them – perception plays a big role in Houston like many other Texas cities. In general some school districts that tend to rank high across all grade levels each year are the following, but please do your own research if good schools are critical:
It should be no surprise that these same areas tend to have home prices that can be well above the Houston median home price.
HOUSTON COMMUTE TIMES
Working and playing in Greater Houston may mean you live in The Woodlands, TX (far north) but commute to a job in the Texas Medical Center. You may live in Clear Lake, but work at a plant in Texas City. You could live in Sugar Land, but work in Downtown Houston. All of these commutes can easily be an hour, depending on traffic. While it’s not uncommon for people to take an hour to get to work, that can be a long distance in Houston when you’re driving on the Beltway 8 tollway at 70 mph. Most Houston residents want a bigger-sized home with a decent backyard for a reasonable price, which will tend to put them away from the major job centers where most companies are based. We lived in Pearland (south of downtown Houston) for several years, but I commuted to a job on the west side of Houston past the beltway. Downtown Houston, The Houston Medical Center, The Woodlands, West Houston, tend to have denser areas of companies that employ large numbers of people. Google Maps is very good at estimating commute times and is usually only 3-5 minutes off at most. Click on the “directions” arrow icon and enter your neighborhood then place of work to see a typical commute time.
HOUSTON LIFESTYLE (LIVING, PLAYING, DINING)
Houston doesn’t have one look-and-feel, the metro area is simply too big. Living as a couple on Jamaica Beach in Galveston is going to be totally different than living in Katy, TX which is known for being a family-friendly suburb with great schools. Houston does its share in contributing to the national past-times with the Astros, the Texans in football, men’s and women’s professional soccer teams (Dynamo and Dash), and NBA Rockets. Houston is also known for its world-famous mega churches, like Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, which used to be the basketball arena for the Houston Rockets.
Houston also enjoys the benefits of being close to Galveston which sits right on the Gulf of Mexico. While Galveston is a city in its own right, the majority of people on the beach during any given weekend will be coming from the north. Galveston has a Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Moody Gardens. And we cannot forget Houston’s space roots to the east with the Johnson Space Center, actually closer to League City, Clear Lake, and Friendswood than Houston proper.
The restaurants in Greater Houston are too many to list, but we have all the national chains and local hot spots to compete with any major city and the list is constantly evolving. Dining out is entertainment in Texas and Houston holds true to that with other Texas cities like Dallas and Austin. Houston unfortunately got the “fattest city” award at one point in time, partly due to its plethora of restaurants.
HOUSTON WEATHER AND GEOLOGY
The weather and terrain near The Gulf can make national news in any given year. In 2017 Hurricane Harvey changed the lives and landscape of Houston forever. It is tied with Hurricane Katrina as the costliest storm in the United States due to heavy rainfall that inundated the Houston Metro Area and surrounding areas. Over 107 people were confirmed dead as a result of the hurricane. In buying a house, it’s important to work with your Realtor to identify flood prone areas. While Harvey was a 500-year flood, it is obvious that these types of events may come around sooner than once every 500 years. Even if drainage is good in your neighborhood, it must also be good in the neighborhoods around you to not be completely impacted. The April 2016 floods also crippled the city effectively shutting it down and that was from a spring rainstorm, not a Hurricane like Harvey or Rita in 2005. If you live even a few miles south of Downtown Houston, you may be subject to windstorm requirements when building a home. Windows can’t be placed in certain areas of your home and the roof must be reinforced in case a tornado comes through. Again, having the right agent with an inspector who lives or works in a neighborhood often can tell you whether your house is susceptible to floods, wind damage, or other natural disasters.
DECIDE WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT IN HOUSTON
Whether you’re relocating with a company or coming down on your own, don’t just work with any real estate agent that is presented to you. Find someone that can identify with your lifestyle, maybe someone who has also moved from out-of-state. You’ll find, a real estate agent that truly understands your needs will be able to help narrow down the vast array of choices you’ll need to make before signing the contract. Don’t think of a Realtor as someone to just open the front-door to your potential home; use them as a valuable partner. Be honest with them on what you really want versus what you really need and they’ll help steer you in the right direction. Houston can feel like the most un-Texan city of all the major Texas cities, but that’s actually a good thing. Demographics continue to change in every major city, especially in the south which still enjoys a lower cost of living than most parts of the country. A city once known as the Oil & Gas capital of the U.S. is seeing growth in other areas. Most Houstonians secretly hope that the city doesn’t get too much national exposure so that we can keep the diverse opportunities and unique areas of Houston our own. In the end, a real estate agent can help when they know what you’re truly looking for – which saves you time and money, especially when on a quick house-hunting trip.
GREATER HOUSTON SCHOOL DISTRICTS
For many Houstonians sending their kids to public school, it is all about the school district. If you don’t have kids, then your options are almost limitless, just be prepared to spend hours driving hundreds of miles to find the perfect neighborhood.
Determining which school districts are the best so that you can move into one of those districts is a little bit of a treasure hunt. The STAAR is the big statewide exam given from grade 3 to grade 8. Even with all the focus put on the STAAR, you are not going to be able to download a single sheet that ranks every school district in Greater Houston from best to worst on the Texas Education Agency site. For obvious reasons, this data is made somewhat difficult to obtain in just one click. There would be a lot of context lost with a single ranked sheet from high to low. You’ll see in some cases where the elementary schools do really well on STAAR in a particular district, but then those results don’t translate all the way up through middle school and high school for the neighborhood you may be looking at. So would a parent prefer an “excellent” middle school, but just a “good” high school, or would they rather have a “good” middle school, but an “excellent” high school? Standardized tests used for college admission, like the SAT can further complicate the story of “who’s school district is best?” Lastly, even within certain school districts, one that has a large number of high schools will inevitably have some differences in performance across them – perception plays a big role in Houston like many other Texas cities. In general some school districts that tend to rank high across all grade levels each year are the following, but please do your own research if good schools are critical:
- Katy Independent School District
- Friendswood Independent School District
- Pearland Independent School District
- Clear Creek Independent School District
- Humble Independent School District
- Conroe Independent School District
- Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District
- Klein Independent School District
- Spring Branch Independent School District
- Fort Bend Independent School District
It should be no surprise that these same areas tend to have home prices that can be well above the Houston median home price.
HOUSTON COMMUTE TIMES
Working and playing in Greater Houston may mean you live in The Woodlands, TX (far north) but commute to a job in the Texas Medical Center. You may live in Clear Lake, but work at a plant in Texas City. You could live in Sugar Land, but work in Downtown Houston. All of these commutes can easily be an hour, depending on traffic. While it’s not uncommon for people to take an hour to get to work, that can be a long distance in Houston when you’re driving on the Beltway 8 tollway at 70 mph. Most Houston residents want a bigger-sized home with a decent backyard for a reasonable price, which will tend to put them away from the major job centers where most companies are based. We lived in Pearland (south of downtown Houston) for several years, but I commuted to a job on the west side of Houston past the beltway. Downtown Houston, The Houston Medical Center, The Woodlands, West Houston, tend to have denser areas of companies that employ large numbers of people. Google Maps is very good at estimating commute times and is usually only 3-5 minutes off at most. Click on the “directions” arrow icon and enter your neighborhood then place of work to see a typical commute time.
HOUSTON LIFESTYLE (LIVING, PLAYING, DINING)
Houston doesn’t have one look-and-feel, the metro area is simply too big. Living as a couple on Jamaica Beach in Galveston is going to be totally different than living in Katy, TX which is known for being a family-friendly suburb with great schools. Houston does its share in contributing to the national past-times with the Astros, the Texans in football, men’s and women’s professional soccer teams (Dynamo and Dash), and NBA Rockets. Houston is also known for its world-famous mega churches, like Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, which used to be the basketball arena for the Houston Rockets.
Houston also enjoys the benefits of being close to Galveston which sits right on the Gulf of Mexico. While Galveston is a city in its own right, the majority of people on the beach during any given weekend will be coming from the north. Galveston has a Schlitterbahn Waterpark and Moody Gardens. And we cannot forget Houston’s space roots to the east with the Johnson Space Center, actually closer to League City, Clear Lake, and Friendswood than Houston proper.
The restaurants in Greater Houston are too many to list, but we have all the national chains and local hot spots to compete with any major city and the list is constantly evolving. Dining out is entertainment in Texas and Houston holds true to that with other Texas cities like Dallas and Austin. Houston unfortunately got the “fattest city” award at one point in time, partly due to its plethora of restaurants.
HOUSTON WEATHER AND GEOLOGY
The weather and terrain near The Gulf can make national news in any given year. In 2017 Hurricane Harvey changed the lives and landscape of Houston forever. It is tied with Hurricane Katrina as the costliest storm in the United States due to heavy rainfall that inundated the Houston Metro Area and surrounding areas. Over 107 people were confirmed dead as a result of the hurricane. In buying a house, it’s important to work with your Realtor to identify flood prone areas. While Harvey was a 500-year flood, it is obvious that these types of events may come around sooner than once every 500 years. Even if drainage is good in your neighborhood, it must also be good in the neighborhoods around you to not be completely impacted. The April 2016 floods also crippled the city effectively shutting it down and that was from a spring rainstorm, not a Hurricane like Harvey or Rita in 2005. If you live even a few miles south of Downtown Houston, you may be subject to windstorm requirements when building a home. Windows can’t be placed in certain areas of your home and the roof must be reinforced in case a tornado comes through. Again, having the right agent with an inspector who lives or works in a neighborhood often can tell you whether your house is susceptible to floods, wind damage, or other natural disasters.
DECIDE WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT IN HOUSTON
Whether you’re relocating with a company or coming down on your own, don’t just work with any real estate agent that is presented to you. Find someone that can identify with your lifestyle, maybe someone who has also moved from out-of-state. You’ll find, a real estate agent that truly understands your needs will be able to help narrow down the vast array of choices you’ll need to make before signing the contract. Don’t think of a Realtor as someone to just open the front-door to your potential home; use them as a valuable partner. Be honest with them on what you really want versus what you really need and they’ll help steer you in the right direction. Houston can feel like the most un-Texan city of all the major Texas cities, but that’s actually a good thing. Demographics continue to change in every major city, especially in the south which still enjoys a lower cost of living than most parts of the country. A city once known as the Oil & Gas capital of the U.S. is seeing growth in other areas. Most Houstonians secretly hope that the city doesn’t get too much national exposure so that we can keep the diverse opportunities and unique areas of Houston our own. In the end, a real estate agent can help when they know what you’re truly looking for – which saves you time and money, especially when on a quick house-hunting trip.