What's the catch with home prices?

[paletexan]

I found this amazing mansion for the same price as a house half it's size in Raleigh,NC.

Realtor.com Listing

What is the catch?

Also, what are some great locations and neighborhoods in Houston convenient to ethnic areas (saw pics of Little Saigon), freeways, outdoor activities (like lakes, hiking, etc)? I am in my upper 20s and looking for a single family home (not necessarily a huge lot) convenient to much of the city. I was born in Houston, and moved to NC when i was a few months old (what a shame). I'm hoping I can move back, but know zilch about the city now.

[Greens!]

I found this amazing mansion for the same price as a house half it's size in Raleigh,NC.

Realtor.com Listing

What is the catch?

Also, what are some great locations and neighborhoods in Houston convenient to ethnic areas (saw pics of Little Saigon), freeways, outdoor activities (like lakes, hiking, etc)? I am in my upper 20s and looking for a single family home (not necessarily a huge lot) convenient to much of the city. I was born in Houston, and moved to NC when i was a few months old (what a shame). I'm hoping I can move back, but know zilch about the city now.

that house is in the Summerwood area in east Houston. As far as location goes, that is about as cheap as it gets living that close to the beltway. The reason is that this particular side of the city is much less developed than the rest of Houston. But also, that is pretty close to what you would normally pay for a home of that size in suburban Houston.

As far as excitement goes, the west side if the city is the most exciting and there are always the suburbs. There are several master planned communities depending on what side of Houston you want to live on. The Woodlands is about 32 miles from downtown, Clear Lake City is 18, I think Cinco Ranch is about 25.

[paletexan]

that house is in the Summerwood area in east Houston. As far as location goes, that is about as cheap as it gets living that close to the beltway. The reason is that this particular side of the city is much less developed than the rest of Houston. But also, that is pretty close to what you would normally pay for a home of that size in suburban Houston.

As far as excitement goes, the west side if the city is the most exciting and there are always the suburbs. There are several master planned communities depending on what side of Houston you want to live on. The Woodlands is about 32 miles from downtown, Clear Lake City is 18, I think Cinco Ranch is about 25.

Thanks for the reply.

What makes the west more exciting, I imagine Houston is sprawling suburban landscape outside of downtown out to the beltline? What kind of commute times would we look at from Summerwood to downtown, nice restaurants/entertainment, or other useful areas of the city?

[Greens!]

Thanks for the reply.

What makes the west more exciting, I imagine Houston is sprawling suburban landscape outside of downtown out to the beltline? What kind of commute times would we look at from Summerwood to downtown, nice restaurants/entertainment, or other useful areas of the city?

from summerwood, it shouldnt be more than 30-45 minutes to downtown at rush hour. coming in from katy its more like 1.5 hours. the westside is where the most development is but really it is everywhere. if you look at a aerial picture of the city, the geographic center of the development is around BW8 and I-10W so the development goes way past the beltway, if you live inside of highway 6/1960 on the west side, that is considered to be in-town. the west is more exciting because the big money is there. I remember reading somewhere that 77024 (Between BW8 and I-610) was the 2nd wealthiest zip code in the US. and there are lots of interesting resteraunts, museums etc there as well. From the NASA/Clear Lake area, it is about 35 minutes to the Galleria(Uptown) on a good day, and an hour on a bad day, and 15-20 minutes to downtown with good traffic and 1 hour at rush hour, so it varies.