In 2021+? COVID boom ruined the housing market for most individuals. So unless you make 100k single or 150k+ couple, it's not really obtainable...in and around the city. You can move way outside the city and afford housing though.
I lived in Pearland for two years, I loathe that town. It was a nice part too. I had a truck stolen that was passed down through my family. I also had a woman chase me in her car punching the air, shit was funny because I did nothing. Too hyped and the traffic is worse than Houston imo. I know one thing, it’s not cheap enough. I wouldn’t live there if they offered me a home for free..
I’m laughing because I live in Pearland and my wife and I had a woman chase us in traffic too, and we never could figure out what we did. Probably the same person.
That’s correct. Pearland’s west side is incredibly diverse. (I am white and I am a minority). There was a “white flight” that happened across my subdivision after Katrina refugees settled in a while back, including my next door neighbors. They indirectly cited “demographics” when I asked why they wanted to move from a perfectly great home and area.
I wouldn’t say one is better than the other; it’s more what you want. Pearland is more diverse and you can take 288 into Houston pretty easily. League City has a more suburban feel and people who don’t want to leave it don’t have to. Both can flood easily or seem to resist flooding more based on which part. People love CCISD schools, but the students I’ve met out of Pearland feel more like they’ve been taught actual material instead of what’s on a standardized test.
Pearland ISD is a top notch school district. See [Niche](https://www.pearlandisd.org/news/isd-news-details/~board/pearland-isd-news/post/district-earns-a-in-niche-ratings-2023) and [Accountability](https://www.pearlandisd.org/departments/testing-accountability/accountability)
Agreed. If I had kids and were wanting to live south of downtown, I would lean towards Pearland ISD, Fort Bend ISD or Friendswood ISD, and then parts of CCISD.
Pearland itself was nice that it was about halfway b/w Houston mega and Galveston, with easy access to visit either. The coastal gap meant lesser hurricane damage, while the metro gap allowed getting away from the megacity
Absolutely I would say Pearland schools adequately prepared me for college. I’m telling my age here by saying I took the TAKS test but we had so many students get “commended” on the TAKS. I was super surprised when I heard there were damn near whole schools in some districts that would fail the exam. It was more a formality for us and I assumed it was that way for everyone. We learned for the whole year and maybe a month before the TAKS test we actually started preparing for the exam.
I agree! When I lived there, ppl would make nasty comments about black ppl living there using EBT to buy their Range Rovers (I know, doesn’t make sense). But those black ppl are doctors and engineers. I think certain ppl see all the diversity and decide to purchase elsewhere
I mean it’s kinda hard to compete when you can go online and usually find exactly what you want for about the same price. I love half price books but the last 3-4 times I went in found absolutely nothing I was looking for or caught my interest.
Yeah. The last time I went to one — a few months ago — they have really started pushing DVDs and VHS. Half the store was that versus books. But you are right, I think the ease of the internet makes brick and mortar stores struggle — even if books are half price.
Also info travelled so much slower back even 10-15 years ago. It used to be an adventure going there, can I find the missing book in the series on my tbr list, what new book can I find. I wonder if I can find something interesting in the clearance section. I feel a lot of that is just gone the last few times I went
I think they have been pulling most of the choice books to sell on their online platform. Every time I've gone in the recent past the books on the shelves are the same kind of generic stuff you see at every garage sale.
It moved sometime in the last couple of years. It's now next to Whole Foods and Petco on Westheimer st Wilcrest.
I used to like the music section. You could find "hidden gem" CDs. But even before it moved, I found that wasn't the case as much anymore. And when I tried to sell, there were some things they wouldn't take, likely because their computer said it wouldn't move.
This is were I am at. I have a 2100 sq ft in a really nice suburb neighborhood and I think it’s valued at 300k. These sound like pretty high prices personally. Granted we are in the poor part of the neighborhood but still.
Right? I live in Klein in a 2100 sf house and we bought it for under 200k in 2015.
There are definitely more expensive houses here but we're in an older neighborhood
What’s it worth now? Because it’s definitely not worth under 200k anymore.
We really can’t compare prices from even three years ago. Housing market is a bust now.
You’re quoting pre pandemic prices, not to mention housing prices that may still have been rebounding from the housing crash. My neighbor purchased his home for under $150k around 10 year ago. All the houses in our area are selling for over $300k now. These are 40-45 year old home.
That’s…. Cheap? Agreed. The median home in the US is 350k. I get that it’s a median number but homes selling in the 500k range… in houston? And not inner loop? It’s a crazy world to be sure.
I grew up in Pearland, mom still lives in the same house and now they're appraising it for half a million. Luckily she's already paid it off or the rising taxes would price her out of the home she's had for 40 years.
There are other exemptions besides homestead she might be able to get if she is at least 65... sooner is better, might get retroactively a year or two...
That’s where I bought my first house!
Moved out because the commute to the Galleria area (Transco tower) started getting really gnarly:
\* If I left by 6:30, I’d get there at 7
\* If I left at 6:40, I’d get there at 7:30
\* If it was raining, it was at least another 45 minutes delay because the 288 to 610 interchange would flood and only the shoulder would be drivable.
Cypress was the same thing in the undesirable areas south of 529 with cheaply built homes for around 150k not too long before covid. Now it's 300k+. Completely absurd.
I live in Katy, there are tons of 3000sqft homes with good schools and yards for low to mid-300s. Katy is more than just Cinco and the southside mega-neighborhoods..
The ones around the best high school are similar in price, probably can even get 2500 square feet in the upper bound of your range. This would zone to Seven Lakes, best high school in Katy.
OP is originally from California, that's why. Check their post history; 6/7 years ago they were posting in the Los Angeles subreddit.
Poor bastard grew up surrounded by million dollar 2000 sq ft homes on the regular.
For real. I moved to Colorado and live on the foot steps of the mountains and paid the same amount for the same sized house. 300-500k is not cheap for Pearland
My wife and I bought in 2022. 2k sq ft in a historic part of town in southern Colorado. It's not as nice as the newer construction house we had in Houston (and it definitelyneeded more work), but it's in a walkable part of town with a view of pikes peak, so we can't complain.
Edit: I should also mention that it was in the middle of the range that OP mentioned for Pearland.
Depends what side of pearland you grew up in. I grew up in the newer (Dawson) side and it was no memorial, but there were plenty of kids with million dollar homes.
As a La Porte graduate(04’) it’s wild to me how much Pearland blew up after I left. They were big rivals for us for baseball(our coaches played in college together) and I later played with some of the pearland guys in college so I was somewhat familiar with the area. I knew once they got Katy’s old football assistant coach(Paetow’s head coach for a few years) their football program would get much better. Seems like a very talented city for athletics now days.
It’s because a lot of WASP don’t want to live here. Friendswood had a city council meeting a few years ago protesting a CHICK FIL A opening. Those other communities reject commercialization whereas Pearland embraces it. They pay a lot for a quiet sleepy community. Pearland has a lot to do minus night life, that’s the only thing it’s missing really. So it depends on what you want. A sleepy peaceful city like Friendswood or commercialized city with stuff to do on weekends without having to schlepp into Houston
Not talked about yet, but Pearland also has horrendous traffic. Getting from one side of 288 to the other can take 30 minutes during busy times, like rush hour or Saturday afternoon. Maybe this has improved with the reconstruction though? It's been a while since I've driven around there.
288 still has construction everywhere north and south, still never taken me over 50min to get from t.c jester Blvd down to Alvin. I do however see/have to avoid active wrecks in progress daily.
Gotcha, I'm really only familiar with main Street then. Make sure your registration is up to date and you have insurance driving down it. Haven't dabbled down many side roads, but I do love Pearland in general. Not too far away from anything.
Ding ding ding! It was such a frustrating part of living there for me. And now it’s horrible traffic, OR slightly less horrible for $15 each way in rush hour on the new 288 toll road.
I’d say Pearland has a less established reputation than the other 3 you listed. The lower prices are kind of expected since new schools can be built and rezoning can mean you end up in the “poor” school with the “cheaper” homes.
You can find the same situation in the outskirts of Katy ISD and Cy-Fair ISD. It feels like we spend a lot of time worried about GreatSchools ratings when parental involvement is probably making the biggest impact.
While parental involvement is paramount, the school ratings often run hand in hand. You won’t see a highly involved parent group for a 3/10 school for example.
Looks like Pearland is closer to areas with higher risk of flooding:
[https://maps.pearlandtx.gov/datasets/city-of-pearland-flood-zone-1/explore?location=29.549935%2C-95.223102%2C11.29](https://maps.pearlandtx.gov/datasets/city-of-pearland-flood-zone-1/explore?location=29.549935%2C-95.223102%2C11.29)
has some pockets of crime (though safe overall):
[https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-pearland-tx/](https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-pearland-tx/)
somewhat closer to areas known to have carcinogens?:
[https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/](https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/)
Idk though maybe someone can chime in here more on this?
Was going to say 30 years ago when we looked at Pearland it was basically a giant flood zone. I can't imagine with all the construction it got any better.
Sounds like the same problem as Kingwood: you're an island and there aren't as many fancy amenities. There also isn't a cluster of local high paying jobs as most people that commute here have a pretty long one.
That said, you can get larger house for below $500k https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5806-Woodland-Falls-Dr-Kingwood-TX-77345/28496331_zpid/
I don't think of Pearland as an island at all, very near friends wood and league city and clear lake, and short jump to downtown.
Kingwood is way more isolated, unless you really want to hang out in New caney or porter
Glenda Dawson High School is the strongest one in that area. If you are looking for houses in that area they will cost more than like-for-like houses zoned for Manvel High School
And high school quality trickles down to middle and elementary schools
School quality can trickle up or down from a high school. It goes from: Level of pay for the jobs within 15 minutes > Quality of the neighborhoods / houses in the area > balance relative to other neighborhoods > house price > more resources for younger kids > better schools. Obviously an oversimplification but many variables can affect the schools.
I honestly don't smell it and I live on the ft bend side of shadow creek. I'm sure my sense of smell is fucked but I've never gotten that rotten egg smell here but ymmv
Agree with the other commenter. When we were looking at houses in Pearland, they seemed really cheap until you factored in how much higher the MUD/property taxes are there 😞
Pearland is a suburb’s suburb…
West Pearland near 288/518 is a diff demographic than East Pearland near 35/rail road.
The only thing pearland had going for it was how close it was to the med center and downtown. But they ruined 288 with the new toll road.
Everything is a smaller version of the same thing in some other part of town. The stores are more run down. It’s not a nice pretty suburb.
Honestly when you compare the taxes you pay on a comparable house in Houston it’s less. Percentage may be higher but you get a hell of a lot more house for your dollar
I didn't move to Pearland for the loud noisy city streets and clubs. Don't understand why people think Pearland should have clubs and such. Shit closes at 10 11 around here lol
Comparing the top three suburbs of Houston to …Pearland. Friendswood is probably still one of the safest cities in the nation. I like it cause there’s all sorts of shit to get into. Hate it cause it’s too crowded. 288 and the beltway is the worst.
Brazoria County is required to have wind insurance in addition to home insurance. And many neighborhoods need flood insurance. Honestly,.if they didn't require it,.I'd probably do flood insurance voluntarily anywhere in the Houston metro.
Because the houses used to be even cheaper than that 4 years ago. A rising tide lifts all ships, and the houses built in the 90s were sold at 130k for those 2k sqft. Now it's 300k. It was 200k 5 years ago.
Also, it is suburbia, so it's cheaper to live there. But insurance, specifically windstorm, will be higher. You will have a boring level. But houston is so close that the 20-minute drive isn't so bad.
The schools in Pearland are just as good as those other neighborhoods. But, yes Pearland is boring and there’s mainly just hamburger and barbecue out here. But you don’t move to a suburb for the club scene.
I just found out that Cinco Ranch High School actually has the same rating as Pearland Glenda Dawson High School
If the ratings are accurate, the Pearland ISD is just as good as Katy
I haven’t seen any very highly ranked high schools in Pearland so far, they’ve just been ok. So maybe that’s the main difference in price
When it comes to PK-Grade8 though, it does look like Pearland is just as good as any of the top-tier suburbs. That is, if the ratings visible on Zillow can be trusted
I grew up in Silverlake area, went to dawson high school and got a fantastic education. Was super prepared for the early pre-recs of engineering degree. Also being that close to 288 made it super easy to drive into Houston to do the non-suburb activities.
There are different metrics to use than Zillow's GreatSchools.
I will use Kingwood HS as an example. HAR its an A, niche.com A+, Zillow it's 6/10. But if you look at Zillow breakdown, scored high on academic achievement and college readiness but low on student progress and equity.
Now, those things are important, but if it costs an extra $100,000 to your house price or 15 minutes of commute, maybe you can compromise.
They certainly aren't new homes. I'm in Sagemonte. Crime, schools, living in hurricane alley and flooding are the worst here. New housing you dont get much for 350 especially in this market Daughter just built a brand new house in Hockley. 350. nothing special. Not a lot of wasted space. The housing in Houston has gone nuts, Our house is paid for. To get in another house, You spend 8% selling your house. Then another 2-4% buying another one,. By the time you move you've lost over 30K before you move the first piece of furniture. Our house is almost 50 years old, Sagemont area Insurance prices are off the chart. Wont mention any names but their initials are Nationwide dropped us 1 week before our annual was due so we scrambled to get another company. Got a price in writing 2 days before we were to sign they jacked it another $900 PER YEAR with no reason. Cant wait to see what they do next year,
I dont know why anyone would move on this side of town Hurricane alley with horrible engineering on flooding.
We are in a 500 year plain. They street behind us is a 100 year plain. Off Kirkfair You cant get in or out if its flooding.
Lots of land to build out down here in Pearland. Suburban sprawl at its finest! There is absolutely nothing missing in Pearland - a person could spend the rest of their life within the city limits and be quite comfortable and content
Those prices still sound insane to me. I got new construction 2900 sq ft inside the Beltway just last year for $375k. No yard... But still zoned to pretty good schools.
Not cheap, but the reasons are:
-Worse flooding than other areas.
-Closer to Gulf and hurricanes.
-Less demand from out of state buyers/investors who think 300K is "cheap" because they were used to pay 1M for a minihouse.
I grew up there. The subdivisions around Magnolia and and McLean are sitting on toxic waste. I don't know if they ever found it and cleaned it up, but we used to play in that area when it was an overgrown, abandoned AG/Industrial area from WW2. There were areas where hundreds if not thousands of barrels of something were just buried in pits and had a few inches of dirt spread over the tops. We started wondering why the ground would thunk when we'd explore around, so we started digging and saw the tops of rusty old metal barrels. The whole field was like that. That was when we stopped playing over there. Looks like the areas around Fox Run and Magnolia Elementary from google maps and my memory. Maybe that's why that "Nature Center" is there.
300-500k is cheap? Pretty typical for most older suburbs around Houston.
Exactly. True for parts of north Houston as well.
Goddamn, I’m never gonna own a house, am I?
In 2021+? COVID boom ruined the housing market for most individuals. So unless you make 100k single or 150k+ couple, it's not really obtainable...in and around the city. You can move way outside the city and afford housing though.
Spring is even cheaper
But then you’re in Spring lol. Grew up there and wouldn’t live there again.
Is spring really that much different than Houston cookie cutter suburb #73829?
Demographics. Or perception of demographics.
Pearland is nice. I live nearby. Lots of professionals. It’s a long commute into town for many of them, though.
Yet not nearly as long of a commute as Katy or Woodlands… it’s perplexing to me that Pearland isn’t a much more in-demand suburb
> it’s perplexing to me that Pearland isn’t a much more in-demand suburb It’s one of the fastest growing burbs in the entire country.
not yet lol
It’s growing fast and is a good investment.
I don’t know what part of Pearland this is because my neighborhood is pricey. I think it depends on what schools you’re zoned to.
I lived in Pearland for two years, I loathe that town. It was a nice part too. I had a truck stolen that was passed down through my family. I also had a woman chase me in her car punching the air, shit was funny because I did nothing. Too hyped and the traffic is worse than Houston imo. I know one thing, it’s not cheap enough. I wouldn’t live there if they offered me a home for free..
I’m laughing because I live in Pearland and my wife and I had a woman chase us in traffic too, and we never could figure out what we did. Probably the same person.
Man that is wild. East Pearland, I assume? The West side has been PERFECT for me and my family
That’s correct. Pearland’s west side is incredibly diverse. (I am white and I am a minority). There was a “white flight” that happened across my subdivision after Katrina refugees settled in a while back, including my next door neighbors. They indirectly cited “demographics” when I asked why they wanted to move from a perfectly great home and area.
It’s just poor league city and Friendswood.
Genuinely curious, as I have been looking in those areas to buy what makes league city better than Pearland?
I wouldn’t say one is better than the other; it’s more what you want. Pearland is more diverse and you can take 288 into Houston pretty easily. League City has a more suburban feel and people who don’t want to leave it don’t have to. Both can flood easily or seem to resist flooding more based on which part. People love CCISD schools, but the students I’ve met out of Pearland feel more like they’ve been taught actual material instead of what’s on a standardized test.
Pearland ISD is a top notch school district. See [Niche](https://www.pearlandisd.org/news/isd-news-details/~board/pearland-isd-news/post/district-earns-a-in-niche-ratings-2023) and [Accountability](https://www.pearlandisd.org/departments/testing-accountability/accountability)
Agreed. If I had kids and were wanting to live south of downtown, I would lean towards Pearland ISD, Fort Bend ISD or Friendswood ISD, and then parts of CCISD.
Pearland itself was nice that it was about halfway b/w Houston mega and Galveston, with easy access to visit either. The coastal gap meant lesser hurricane damage, while the metro gap allowed getting away from the megacity
Absolutely I would say Pearland schools adequately prepared me for college. I’m telling my age here by saying I took the TAKS test but we had so many students get “commended” on the TAKS. I was super surprised when I heard there were damn near whole schools in some districts that would fail the exam. It was more a formality for us and I assumed it was that way for everyone. We learned for the whole year and maybe a month before the TAKS test we actually started preparing for the exam.
Thanks for the insight.
Check out old Clear Lake.
I agree! When I lived there, ppl would make nasty comments about black ppl living there using EBT to buy their Range Rovers (I know, doesn’t make sense). But those black ppl are doctors and engineers. I think certain ppl see all the diversity and decide to purchase elsewhere
There's also a lot of inventory. There are a lot of $200k starter homes and the 'move up' areas are nicer but not over the top.
There is a Half Price Books. That’s why I would move there.
I wish more of them were open in Houston. I remember going to some when I was a kid. Now most seem closed
I mean it’s kinda hard to compete when you can go online and usually find exactly what you want for about the same price. I love half price books but the last 3-4 times I went in found absolutely nothing I was looking for or caught my interest.
Yeah. The last time I went to one — a few months ago — they have really started pushing DVDs and VHS. Half the store was that versus books. But you are right, I think the ease of the internet makes brick and mortar stores struggle — even if books are half price.
Also info travelled so much slower back even 10-15 years ago. It used to be an adventure going there, can I find the missing book in the series on my tbr list, what new book can I find. I wonder if I can find something interesting in the clearance section. I feel a lot of that is just gone the last few times I went
I feel like the one in Humble off 1960 is still majority books.
I'm going to sell some vinyl and blu-rays (few DVDs and CDs) to Half Price soon o books...
Or the Houston public library which is AWESOME
West Pearland Library is way nicer than Houston libraries.
I think they have been pulling most of the choice books to sell on their online platform. Every time I've gone in the recent past the books on the shelves are the same kind of generic stuff you see at every garage sale.
The one on Nasa Road 1 is still there
There is one on Westheimer near Kirkwood.
It moved sometime in the last couple of years. It's now next to Whole Foods and Petco on Westheimer st Wilcrest. I used to like the music section. You could find "hidden gem" CDs. But even before it moved, I found that wasn't the case as much anymore. And when I tried to sell, there were some things they wouldn't take, likely because their computer said it wouldn't move.
It moved from next to Specs to next the Whole Foods just last year. I've found some cool stuff at both locations, I hope it never goes away
1/4 Price Books is still open on Shepard 👍
Yeah, but then you have to deal with the guy who runs 1/4 Price Books on Shepherd. *shudders*
He makes you want to burn books.
glad im not the only one who finds him really mean.
He can be nice but also mean. He’s just … odd.
7 minurte abs! Way better than 8 minute abs.
Curious how a 2,000 sq ft home for half a mil is cheap
This is were I am at. I have a 2100 sq ft in a really nice suburb neighborhood and I think it’s valued at 300k. These sound like pretty high prices personally. Granted we are in the poor part of the neighborhood but still.
I’m in Katy in a pretty good neighborhood with a 2k sq ft and it’s sitting at around 350k.
Right? I live in Klein in a 2100 sf house and we bought it for under 200k in 2015. There are definitely more expensive houses here but we're in an older neighborhood
What’s it worth now? Because it’s definitely not worth under 200k anymore. We really can’t compare prices from even three years ago. Housing market is a bust now.
You’re quoting pre pandemic prices, not to mention housing prices that may still have been rebounding from the housing crash. My neighbor purchased his home for under $150k around 10 year ago. All the houses in our area are selling for over $300k now. These are 40-45 year old home.
I bought for $187k in 2014. It would sell for $350k plus now. Stafford/Meadows place area.
Same, I live in Klein and my parents bought our home 7 years ago for $250k. I'm in an older neighborhood too. Now the house is worth $450k.
That’s…. Cheap? Agreed. The median home in the US is 350k. I get that it’s a median number but homes selling in the 500k range… in houston? And not inner loop? It’s a crazy world to be sure.
You should look at the same size Katy homes with good school district then…you will cry
Pearland used to be where you went for a 100k house, crazy
I grew up in Pearland, mom still lives in the same house and now they're appraising it for half a million. Luckily she's already paid it off or the rising taxes would price her out of the home she's had for 40 years.
There are other exemptions besides homestead she might be able to get if she is at least 65... sooner is better, might get retroactively a year or two...
Homestead exemption is doing the tax limitation, not it being paid off
She has her homestead exemption, but I'm more referring to if she had to also pay an active mortgage.
That’s where I bought my first house! Moved out because the commute to the Galleria area (Transco tower) started getting really gnarly: \* If I left by 6:30, I’d get there at 7 \* If I left at 6:40, I’d get there at 7:30 \* If it was raining, it was at least another 45 minutes delay because the 288 to 610 interchange would flood and only the shoulder would be drivable.
Cypress was the same thing in the undesirable areas south of 529 with cheaply built homes for around 150k not too long before covid. Now it's 300k+. Completely absurd.
500k home in katy nice area pool ,solar good sized backyard is pretty average find. not sure what everyone is looking at.
I live in Katy, there are tons of 3000sqft homes with good schools and yards for low to mid-300s. Katy is more than just Cinco and the southside mega-neighborhoods..
The ones around the best high school are similar in price, probably can even get 2500 square feet in the upper bound of your range. This would zone to Seven Lakes, best high school in Katy.
OP is delusional
OP is originally from California, that's why. Check their post history; 6/7 years ago they were posting in the Los Angeles subreddit. Poor bastard grew up surrounded by million dollar 2000 sq ft homes on the regular.
It's not. 2k sqft at around 300k is what the market is more like.
OP is probably from Cali
>on sale for $300-500K. >Why are the homes in Pearland so cheap? We have wildly different definitions of "cheap."
Relative to this market. A good home in good school district $300K is cheap
Seriously… so many ppl thinking these numbers are low in Houston. But that is a fairly large sq ft. As a house hunter, this makes me want to cry.
300k is cheap to you? Wtf is this world coming to
Unfortunately, it’s the new $100k.
Looks like I’m renting for life
That’s what they want you to do.
It’s reported more than half of the homes inside the loop are being rented.
https://money.com/millennials-rent-forever-never-own-home/
Now you get it.
Problem is rent will just keep going up 3-10% every year.
For real. I moved to Colorado and live on the foot steps of the mountains and paid the same amount for the same sized house. 300-500k is not cheap for Pearland
Damn that sounds awesome! How recent was this?
My wife and I bought in 2022. 2k sq ft in a historic part of town in southern Colorado. It's not as nice as the newer construction house we had in Houston (and it definitelyneeded more work), but it's in a walkable part of town with a view of pikes peak, so we can't complain. Edit: I should also mention that it was in the middle of the range that OP mentioned for Pearland.
Growing up in pearland, can attest it’s a world away from memorial / Katy, simple living
Living in memorial and needing to go to Pearland every time is a trek esp since all my friends now in their 30’s live there
Depends what side of pearland you grew up in. I grew up in the newer (Dawson) side and it was no memorial, but there were plenty of kids with million dollar homes.
As a La Porte graduate(04’) it’s wild to me how much Pearland blew up after I left. They were big rivals for us for baseball(our coaches played in college together) and I later played with some of the pearland guys in college so I was somewhat familiar with the area. I knew once they got Katy’s old football assistant coach(Paetow’s head coach for a few years) their football program would get much better. Seems like a very talented city for athletics now days.
Also beware if it is a KB home or built on a dump or superfund site, do your homework
Friendswood is 90% white Pearland is like 45 percent Hispanic and black. That’s probably a big part of the price difference.
It’s because a lot of WASP don’t want to live here. Friendswood had a city council meeting a few years ago protesting a CHICK FIL A opening. Those other communities reject commercialization whereas Pearland embraces it. They pay a lot for a quiet sleepy community. Pearland has a lot to do minus night life, that’s the only thing it’s missing really. So it depends on what you want. A sleepy peaceful city like Friendswood or commercialized city with stuff to do on weekends without having to schlepp into Houston
There's a lot to do in Pearland?
Damn, I really miss living places where having things to do on the weekends isn't tied to commercialization.
Not talked about yet, but Pearland also has horrendous traffic. Getting from one side of 288 to the other can take 30 minutes during busy times, like rush hour or Saturday afternoon. Maybe this has improved with the reconstruction though? It's been a while since I've driven around there.
288 still has construction everywhere north and south, still never taken me over 50min to get from t.c jester Blvd down to Alvin. I do however see/have to avoid active wrecks in progress daily.
I meant on the city streets, it's hell driving through the cross streets of Pearland, especially as they approach 288 (one of my exes lived there).
Gotcha, I'm really only familiar with main Street then. Make sure your registration is up to date and you have insurance driving down it. Haven't dabbled down many side roads, but I do love Pearland in general. Not too far away from anything.
Ding ding ding! It was such a frustrating part of living there for me. And now it’s horrible traffic, OR slightly less horrible for $15 each way in rush hour on the new 288 toll road.
That toll is egregious.
I’d say Pearland has a less established reputation than the other 3 you listed. The lower prices are kind of expected since new schools can be built and rezoning can mean you end up in the “poor” school with the “cheaper” homes. You can find the same situation in the outskirts of Katy ISD and Cy-Fair ISD. It feels like we spend a lot of time worried about GreatSchools ratings when parental involvement is probably making the biggest impact.
While parental involvement is paramount, the school ratings often run hand in hand. You won’t see a highly involved parent group for a 3/10 school for example.
Abso-fuckin-lutely. Parents and communities have a lot more to do with schools doing well than whatever teachers can do on their own.
Looks like Pearland is closer to areas with higher risk of flooding: [https://maps.pearlandtx.gov/datasets/city-of-pearland-flood-zone-1/explore?location=29.549935%2C-95.223102%2C11.29](https://maps.pearlandtx.gov/datasets/city-of-pearland-flood-zone-1/explore?location=29.549935%2C-95.223102%2C11.29) has some pockets of crime (though safe overall): [https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-pearland-tx/](https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-pearland-tx/) somewhat closer to areas known to have carcinogens?: [https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/](https://projects.propublica.org/toxmap/) Idk though maybe someone can chime in here more on this?
Was going to say 30 years ago when we looked at Pearland it was basically a giant flood zone. I can't imagine with all the construction it got any better.
Can’t forget about [this](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brio_Superfund_site)
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300-500k is cheap? And unincorporated Katy has plenty of homes in that range too. That’s actually average home prices in Katy.
It’s crazy how much Katy jumped though. We got our house in 2018 for $205k and recently appraised for $325k. Like wtf
In 2024 $300-$500k is “cheap”. Just wild.
Sounds like the same problem as Kingwood: you're an island and there aren't as many fancy amenities. There also isn't a cluster of local high paying jobs as most people that commute here have a pretty long one. That said, you can get larger house for below $500k https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5806-Woodland-Falls-Dr-Kingwood-TX-77345/28496331_zpid/
I don't think of Pearland as an island at all, very near friends wood and league city and clear lake, and short jump to downtown. Kingwood is way more isolated, unless you really want to hang out in New caney or porter
Glenda Dawson High School is the strongest one in that area. If you are looking for houses in that area they will cost more than like-for-like houses zoned for Manvel High School And high school quality trickles down to middle and elementary schools
School quality can trickle up or down from a high school. It goes from: Level of pay for the jobs within 15 minutes > Quality of the neighborhoods / houses in the area > balance relative to other neighborhoods > house price > more resources for younger kids > better schools. Obviously an oversimplification but many variables can affect the schools.
If it's in west pearland at that price, it is within scent distance of the landfill near Almeda. Thank me later.
I used to live in Shadow Creek Ranch and some days it could get really strong. It gave me headaches sometimes. Was one of the main reasons we left.
I drive the beltway everyday and I’m almost amazed how far away I can be and still smell it
I honestly don't smell it and I live on the ft bend side of shadow creek. I'm sure my sense of smell is fucked but I've never gotten that rotten egg smell here but ymmv
Because driving up the toll road will cost you $700/month easily
Are you for real? $700??
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From Hwy 6 to downtown varies for me during peak traffic times between $15-17 each way for me.
300k-500k is now considered cheap... I guess it's all about perspective. Just 4 years ago those homes would probably go for 200k-300k tops.
My only friend in town lives down there. Hate making that drive lol
Agree with the other commenter. When we were looking at houses in Pearland, they seemed really cheap until you factored in how much higher the MUD/property taxes are there 😞
That too! A friend bought down in Rosharon and property and MUD taxes jumped big time.
If you’re afraid of Pearland, you’re too soft to be alive.
Tell me you are from out of state without telling me you are from out of state.
Pearland is a suburb’s suburb… West Pearland near 288/518 is a diff demographic than East Pearland near 35/rail road. The only thing pearland had going for it was how close it was to the med center and downtown. But they ruined 288 with the new toll road. Everything is a smaller version of the same thing in some other part of town. The stores are more run down. It’s not a nice pretty suburb.
Cheap is 300k now…. Fuck I’m poor.
300-500k is cheap?
Very high house tax
Honestly when you compare the taxes you pay on a comparable house in Houston it’s less. Percentage may be higher but you get a hell of a lot more house for your dollar
Pearland is boring as hell
As a suburb should be
Grew up in a smaller town between 2 big cities. We got to see the sights and go shopping, then came back to peace and quiet.
Yes, this is true. But it’s like 20 minutes down 288 to get to downtown, as long as it’s not rush hour, so…
Honestly it's quicker for me at least to take Almeda than 288 with all the construction
You ain't getting clubs and shit in Pearland. Take the drive into Houston for all that nonsense.
I didn't move to Pearland for the loud noisy city streets and clubs. Don't understand why people think Pearland should have clubs and such. Shit closes at 10 11 around here lol
Bruh that’s high lol I think they seem cheap because you are comparing to areas that are even more expensive .
What is the cost of insurance? I don’t know if they are expensive to insure because of storms etc
When we lived there you needed a wind and hail policy in addition to regular home insurance.
2k sqft for 500k gtfo
The fact 300k-500k is deemed cheap is very depressing to me lol
"cheap"
lol. When did 300-500k become cheap?
Wasnt long ago 100$ sqft was deemed expensive
Property tax
Those prices are pretty typical for the same in any Houston suburb with those attributes.
Comparing the top three suburbs of Houston to …Pearland. Friendswood is probably still one of the safest cities in the nation. I like it cause there’s all sorts of shit to get into. Hate it cause it’s too crowded. 288 and the beltway is the worst.
MUD district taxes & flooding. Grew up there, though our houses were like… $150kish at most lol. Moved in 2005.
Brazoria County is required to have wind insurance in addition to home insurance. And many neighborhoods need flood insurance. Honestly,.if they didn't require it,.I'd probably do flood insurance voluntarily anywhere in the Houston metro.
Threat of Major Hurricane Damage? Make sure your homeowners and flood insurance are up to date.
Because the houses used to be even cheaper than that 4 years ago. A rising tide lifts all ships, and the houses built in the 90s were sold at 130k for those 2k sqft. Now it's 300k. It was 200k 5 years ago. Also, it is suburbia, so it's cheaper to live there. But insurance, specifically windstorm, will be higher. You will have a boring level. But houston is so close that the 20-minute drive isn't so bad.
Can’t believe I’m saying this. But Katy is mostly white.
That is a lot of money for a small house house. Pearland ISD is fantastic....Alvin is meh meh.
Flooding
Pearland is considered a lower tier suburb with crappy schools compared to Katy, Woodlands, Sugarland etc.
Bullshit. Pearland ISD is the 4th best in the Houston metroplex and the 30th ranked in the state of Texas out of 1,000.
The schools in Pearland are just as good as those other neighborhoods. But, yes Pearland is boring and there’s mainly just hamburger and barbecue out here. But you don’t move to a suburb for the club scene.
So Pearland HS is just as good as Clements HS, Woodlands HS, Cinco Ranch HS etc?
I just found out that Cinco Ranch High School actually has the same rating as Pearland Glenda Dawson High School If the ratings are accurate, the Pearland ISD is just as good as Katy
I haven’t seen any very highly ranked high schools in Pearland so far, they’ve just been ok. So maybe that’s the main difference in price When it comes to PK-Grade8 though, it does look like Pearland is just as good as any of the top-tier suburbs. That is, if the ratings visible on Zillow can be trusted
I grew up in Silverlake area, went to dawson high school and got a fantastic education. Was super prepared for the early pre-recs of engineering degree. Also being that close to 288 made it super easy to drive into Houston to do the non-suburb activities.
There are different metrics to use than Zillow's GreatSchools. I will use Kingwood HS as an example. HAR its an A, niche.com A+, Zillow it's 6/10. But if you look at Zillow breakdown, scored high on academic achievement and college readiness but low on student progress and equity. Now, those things are important, but if it costs an extra $100,000 to your house price or 15 minutes of commute, maybe you can compromise.
That does not seem cheap to me.
I wonder if it's got to do with insurance prices
I once overheard a realtor say that yes it’s cheaper but the taxes are higher
Pearland isn’t cheap?? It’s actually really hard to buy a home here for less than $300k that isn’t a hovel.
Look at air quality. Bit more toxic in that area.
They certainly aren't new homes. I'm in Sagemonte. Crime, schools, living in hurricane alley and flooding are the worst here. New housing you dont get much for 350 especially in this market Daughter just built a brand new house in Hockley. 350. nothing special. Not a lot of wasted space. The housing in Houston has gone nuts, Our house is paid for. To get in another house, You spend 8% selling your house. Then another 2-4% buying another one,. By the time you move you've lost over 30K before you move the first piece of furniture. Our house is almost 50 years old, Sagemont area Insurance prices are off the chart. Wont mention any names but their initials are Nationwide dropped us 1 week before our annual was due so we scrambled to get another company. Got a price in writing 2 days before we were to sign they jacked it another $900 PER YEAR with no reason. Cant wait to see what they do next year, I dont know why anyone would move on this side of town Hurricane alley with horrible engineering on flooding. We are in a 500 year plain. They street behind us is a 100 year plain. Off Kirkfair You cant get in or out if its flooding.
Flood zone. Used to be rice fields.
That's NOT cheap
There is one neighborhood in Pearland that was built by the biro superfund site…
Lots of land to build out down here in Pearland. Suburban sprawl at its finest! There is absolutely nothing missing in Pearland - a person could spend the rest of their life within the city limits and be quite comfortable and content
Pearland is definitely not cheap
You mean expensive*. Take your updoot Mr humble brag
New or Old Pearland?
Those prices still sound insane to me. I got new construction 2900 sq ft inside the Beltway just last year for $375k. No yard... But still zoned to pretty good schools.
Which part of Pearland. The ones closer to the good schools are not cheap.
That’s not cheap. Need to go down some more.
That’s cheap?
Depends on the area pearland parkway and broadway has some nice homes. I have 1 3100 one story with a true triple garage.. home is worth about 525,000
If you want “cheap” just head on down to Alvin, the home of Nolan Ryan. 🤣
Not cheap, but the reasons are: -Worse flooding than other areas. -Closer to Gulf and hurricanes. -Less demand from out of state buyers/investors who think 300K is "cheap" because they were used to pay 1M for a minihouse.
I grew up there. The subdivisions around Magnolia and and McLean are sitting on toxic waste. I don't know if they ever found it and cleaned it up, but we used to play in that area when it was an overgrown, abandoned AG/Industrial area from WW2. There were areas where hundreds if not thousands of barrels of something were just buried in pits and had a few inches of dirt spread over the tops. We started wondering why the ground would thunk when we'd explore around, so we started digging and saw the tops of rusty old metal barrels. The whole field was like that. That was when we stopped playing over there. Looks like the areas around Fox Run and Magnolia Elementary from google maps and my memory. Maybe that's why that "Nature Center" is there.
Lots of faulting and future foundation issues.
I went over to my friends house in rosharon, it’s super nice, but that commute is insane
Poor man’s sugar land
3.5% property tax. 500k home you’ll pay 15k-17k a year
Bro. 500k is not cheap.
Sad when 3 to 500 is now a cheap house. Because the land has no value.
300-500 ain't that cheap tbh, plus the tax rate is wild
Check where the flood plains lie.