RE: Houston: Suburbs vs in the Loop
I'm probably about your age, and also still a student so I can relate on the "why am I wasting money on rent again" question that pops up every month when you sign away a large chunk of your paycheck.
I bought a condo about a year and a half ago (just as the markets were starting to crash - my loan rate went up about 1/4 pt every half-day while they were trying to lock it down. ick.)
I'm paying almost twice what I paid to rent a really small, 1960s apartment a block or two from the science museum, on Binz. That place had perpetual roaches, mice, wife-beating neighbors, car thieves and anything left out got stolen pretty quick. That said, it was super cheap and I could walk to Rice. So that was my year of living really inside the loop (3rd ward). It was interesting, but it was time to go after I called the cops on the wifebeater for about the 4th time. The major plus was that it was pretty real city living. I had neighbors of every race and nationality, pretty much. And the walk through the museum district was beautiful every morning.
I now live down in "condo -land" just north of the 610 loop by Almeda. I LOVE my house, I wish I had bought it immediately upon starting grad school. There is NO WAY I would live further than 3 miles from Rice, because wasting your life on a commute is totally insane to me. So I still live "in the loop" but I like to think I get a lot of the advantages of "suburb living" without having to drive all the way the heck out there. I do agree with those that say for kids it's necessary for the schools, though.
Anyway, a couple of tips on choosing a house/condo if you decide to go that route:
1) don't buy the fixer upper. I'm handy with a table saw and nail gun, and I had it in mind to buy something needing some work because fixing it up would be "fun". I ended up buying the nicest place I looked at after a deal fell through on a fixer. I was REALLY LUCKY because unless you have money to burn, even DIY house repair is expensive. The additional problem is that with the housing market so unsteady, you may not be able to turn your invested improvements (which could be thousands) into actual return come time to sell. For me, it took me a year just to redo a powder bath. So the time is a significant factor also, and you need to have a lot of it.
2) condos can be better than houses for single people (no lawn-mowing), but some of the companies that manage them are very poorly run, and it's crucial to find out exactly who they are and find out if there have been complaints. Also find out about the monthly fees, which shouldn't be more than the mortgage! (something I found frequently in my search). If they don't have an assoc meeting at least twice a year, I'd be worried.
3) Get renters/contents insurance!! I did not do this, because I still had a bunch of dorm furniture, and I totally got burned after Hurricane Ike caused a lot of damage. The condo assoc does a "special assessment" to help cover the deductible for the insurance company ($1200) and most people with contents insurance get that covered. I had to pay. :(
That was a way longer comment than i expected, but I will say that the pluses of home-ownership are pretty big (being able to paint your walls a wacky color, or strip that awful texture, or have a garden, or buy a heavy piece of furniture because you don't have to worry about moving it - all very nice).
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Houston: Suburbs vs in the Loop
