First-time home buyers turning to Maplewood
Houston’s Maplewood neighborhood is becoming increasingly popular with firsttime homebuyers.
“First-time buyers want to start families; they want a nice home in a nice neighborhood,” real estate broker Mark Levin of Keller Williams said.
They can find that in Maplewood, Levin said, at affordable prices.
The average home price in Maplewood is $370,000, but homes can be found as low as $190,000 to $260,000. On the higher side of the spectrum, homes are in the $600,000s. Prices are lower
Those prices are considerably lower than those of the houses in nearby Meyerland, where the Houston Association of Realtors puts the average home price at $553,378.
Maplewood, which was developed during the 1950s and early 1960s, has 524 homes.
“Maplewood is very large, and it’s very, very diverse,” said Levin, a Houston Heights resident who has been worked in real estate for 19 years and has been selling homes in Maplewood for about 15 years.
“It’s also a very family oriented neighborhood.”
Resident Craig Murphy agrees.
The Maplewood Civic Club board member and his family have lived in the neighborhood since 1998. Improved property values
“It was sort of unfashionable when we moved here; now we’re going through a mini-Renaissance. We have such a cross-section of people, doctors and engineers and lawyers. We have families and retirees.
“It’s also appealing in that the property values have im-
proved,” Murphy said.
“They’ve tripled since we bought.
“It makes you proud you made such a smart decision when you did.”
Another plus with buyers are large lots, ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 square feet, which allows room for a pool.
The homes themselves typically have three bedrooms and 2 ½ bathrooms and average about 2,150 square feet.
During the last six months, Levin said, the average price of houses on the market was $358,361, which came to $157 per square foot for a 2,270-square-foot house. Average time 39 days
The average time on the market for Maplewood homes has been 39 days.
Murphy said he once discussed the houses in Maplewood with one of the original homeowners.
That man told him that when they were built in the 1950s, the houses in Maplewood were considered a step or two above starter houses, meaning they had two-car garages as opposed to one-car ones and had brick exteriors.
“That’s the reason most of the neighborhood is intact.
“There were really wellbuilt houses that were meant to last.” Location is important Not only are buyers drawn to Maplewood itself, Levin said, they also like the location.
“You’re close to the freeways,” he said.
“You’re only 10 minutes from the Galleria and about 10 minutes away from the (Texas Medical Center).”
Location always has been a big plus for Maplewood, Murphy said, adding that he also loves the diversity of the surrounding area.
“You have every ethnic restaurant you can imagine within arm’s reach. Want to go to a Chinese grocery store? It’s five minutes away. An Iranian restaurant, a Nigerian restaurant: they’re five minutes away.” School choices
Also important to families buying here, Levin said, are their choices of Houston Independent School District Schools.
Some of the more sought-after options in the Maplewood community are Herod and Lovett elementary schools, Pershing Middle School and Bellaire High School, Levin said, and prices for homes served by those campuses reflect that. Sections of Maplewood also are served by Braeburn and Herod elementary schools; Fondren, Long and Pin Oak middle schools; and Sharpstown High School.
Unlike surrounding neighborhoods like Maplewood North and Maplewood South, Maplewood does not have its own park or pool, Murphy said, but it does have nearby options.
“We have access to the Bellaire pool, and a lot of people use the Jewish community center pool nearby,” he said. More information
Maplewood is served by the Maplewood Civic Association, maplewoodcivicclub.org/