Houston .... schools and houses?

[nowwearethirtysix]

We have been living abroad for a very long time in a long list of different countries and currently live in SE Asia. We love it here but DH"s company will probably require him to move to Houston in summer 2012. He knows Houston fairly well but I've never been. We have 2 DDs, aged 3 and nearly 7 and we'd like them to stay in a British or international school. I've heard that the British, Awty and Village schools are good - does anyone have any experience of them? Or other recommendations?

Also we will probably buy a house there after renting for a while. DH's office is near Memorial park on the west loop so would need to be between there and schools. We're used to being very close to everything so the distances will be a change for us but can you recommend family friendly areas to rent? Budget would be $5k to $7k a month ...

Also any other points to consider....?

Hi nowwearethirtysix, can't really help you with schools as my dc go to local schools here; as far as locations go - if you want to be really near Memorial Park, Awty school is on Interstate 10 and west loop (west side), but the other schools you mentioned are further away to the west. Really there would not be a huge distance for commuting, but it takes ages because of heavy traffic - basically, allow 45 minutes to drive anywhere in Houston. There are "nice" but pricey areas to live near to the west loop, but something to look out for is property tax if you are going to buy. It is a % amount on the value of your home (I think ours is about $12,000 a year) - most of this money goes to the school district where you live... so if you are going to send your dds to a private school, it seems a shame to pay so much in tax to something you would not benefit from. We live in a "good" school district (Spring Branch ISD), and our tax level is high, but you may want to consider areas which fall in Houston ISD since you would not be using their schools - tax rate lower, quality of schools not very high.This would mean areas around Memorial Park, River Oaks, Bellaire, even the Heights - this is still an up and coming neighbourhood if you know what I mean. Housing is not cheap in these areas, as, despite the poor schools, there are a lot of high value homes there. Alternatively you could live further west - Katy, Lakes on Eldridge - more expats here, nearer to British schools, much cheaper rents, and house prices, but a longer commute to work. In terms of being "close to everything" - the car is king here, so you would expect to drive everywhere.
Try houston association of realtors website for house costs - I think you should find something very nice for your budget. www.har.com

Thank you wentshopping

DH is in Houston at the moment trying to get the lie of the land and mentioned Lakes on Eldridge and Royal Oaks, which is attractive as it's gated and DH is away a lot on business - sounds funny but we live on a gated community now and we're kind of used to it (although it's not a priority). Interesting about property tax. We had started with private schools as our package will cover these but they're still working out property allowance and rent vs buying....

The distance thing is going to take some getting used to - I don't drive more than 20 minutes for anything at the moment and DD2's school is less than 5 minutes away from us. DH's commute is less than 10 minutes....

We should really be looking at local schools too I guess... We were hoping to stick with an international or British system as it will be easier in the long run (we are likely to move again in time).

Thanks again wentshopping, will look at HAR .... can anyone let me know about private schools in Houston?

Nowwearethirtysix did you end up moving to Houston? We're set to move in January and have just found a house to rent in Royal Oaks. We're looking at the Village School and British School when we get there. The British School has space for DD1(5) and DD2(3) but not sure about the Village School, which comes highly recommended by DH's colleagues put there. PM me if you want to chat.