Moving to Houston
 

I was hoping someone could offer some advice. We are looking to relocate to Houston since I have been offered a position at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Can any Houstonians out there offer any suugestions on areas to look for homes that are within a reasonable commute to the medical center. We are also hoping to stay in a "reasonally priced tax rate area" Our children are grown so schools are not an issue. We are wanting to stay under 300K.
Thank you so much for your help!!

Yes, you can do under 300K. For new home, the Silverlake area in Pearland down 288 is not far, though traffic is somewhat slow.

Closer to the Texas Medical Center, you can get older houses (40-50year old) from just under 200K in the area along the Braes Bayou (N & S Braeswood; inside or just outside the 610 Loops), just to the SW of TMC. It's a few minutes drive to work - depending on what kind of parking priviledge you get with your position.

Those are the areas where most of my colleages here live or are planning to buy.

Property tax rate is high everywhere. City of Houston may be a little better than other municipalities.

Congratulations on your new job! I recently moved to Texas as well and all I can say is be very aware that the property taxes are very HIGH. When you're looking at houses be sure to figure that into your monthly payments. We were looking at $400K houses here in Austin and property taxes were around $12K a year! I'm not sure what the property taxes are in Houston but I'm sure they're similar to Austin. Again, best of luck to you.

My sympathies on your having to live in Houston, but MD Anderson does terrific work. Good luck to you.

Property taxes vary considerably depending on the school district you are in . . HISD is the lowest in the area. . outlying developments are usually much higher.

Property taxes are higher than most states, but Texas has no income tax and that usually offsets the higher property taxes.

Welcome to God's country

Rich

Yeah, I keep hearing how not having an income tax offsets the high property taxes but I'm not buying it. Other states don't have income taxes yet their property taxes are nothing like those in Texas. Of course, everyone's tax situations are different so you just have to figure out for yourself if you'll end up paying more or less with high property taxes and no income tax. Also, brandtfl, I just wanted to say that you may read and hear a lot of awful things about Houston. Please try to ignore all of that and make up your own mind once you get there.

Thank you all for your replies. I guess there is a lot to consider. I really appreciate all of your input.

Do you want a home or could you do a townhome? Property around Med center almost $300,000 just for the lot-can get some older homes in Bellaire/West University maybe. Townhomes you can get fairly new for under 300 around the museum area/West U area which is near the med center.