Best way/locations to look for buying a townhouse?

start on har.com

 

HAR.com for Houston area real estate. Filter on townhouse.

And Trulia.com has a "crime map" overview that shows which areas are safer with specific crimes marked.

Me personally, I'd rent before buying a townhouse in the burbs. The whole point of a townhouse is to be in town, where land is more scarce and therefore homes need a smaller footprint. Townhouses in the burbs tend to just be small houses where people with (relatively) low income live; that or they are hardly cheaper than nearby single family homes - especially once you consider the monthly maintenance fee - that cater to people who don't want yards and/or want a gated community, but that doesn't sound like you. But that's me and not you, and I haven't specifically looked at townhouses in JV so I am not as informed as you likely are.

Also make sure you're not in an area that gets flooded often. My aunt who lives in Jersey Village has had her house flooded 4-5 times and it's always a terrible thing to go through.

 

Ok. Well couple things:

Property values aren't guaranteed to go up; in fact, property values in the Energy Corridor have been going down (slightly) and I would expect the downfall to continue until O&G rebounds.

Finding a sub-$100K townhouse in the Energy Corridor (with a reasonable monthly maintenance fee) might be tough. I'd suggest looking on Kirkwood, between Memorial and Briar Forest. There is a townhouse complex right on the east side of Kirkwood. Wood exterior, blueish IIRC. I lived there for a bit. The complex is ok, but you're given a ****ty company you have to use for TV/Internet. You can pay for ATT instead but you'll still have to pay for the other too. No Rockets games and internet is worthless. You might could find one under $100k but it will need a good bit of TLC.

 

Don't forget to factor in HOA dues and property taxes into your mortgage payment.

 

If you don't want to be controlled by an HOA, don't buy into an HOA.