7 Things to Prepare For Before Moving to Houston Texas

I woke up this morning to another tree down in my yard, the generator running since midnight, and my 10-year-old daughter crying in the hallway because the lightning sounded like a Civil War cannon going off in her bedroom. This is Houston. Not the hurricane you're worried about, the windstorm on a random Tuesday night in May that snaps a 40-foot oak branch, flips your neighbor's pool toy into your palm tree 100 yards away, and knocks out power for half the block. I've been here 6 years now, moved from North Idaho without a clue what I was walking into, and I've learned the hard way what you actually need to prepare for when relocating to Houston. It's not what the brochures tell you. It's the stuff nobody mentions until you're standing in your yard at 1 p.m. with a chainsaw, sweating like a dog, wondering why your power bill was $800 last August.

This is the raw version. The storms that come through 15 times a month. The fire ants that build a new mound every time it rains. The mosquitoes that treat my wife like a dart board. The property taxes that doubled during COVID. The power grid that kicks your generator on more than you'd think. And yes, the heat, but also the trade-off of never being stuck inside for a 6-month winter. If you're moving to Houston from out of state, especially from somewhere cold, you need to know what you're signing up for. I'm going to walk you through the 7 things I wish someone had told me before I bought my first house here, and I'll show you exactly what I did to make it work.

Table of Contents

• Storms and Power Outages: It's Not the Hurricanes
• The Heat and Humidity (and How to Survive It)
• Bugs, Snakes, and Fire Ants
• Power Bills and the Texas Energy Grid
• Property Taxes and How to Fight Them
• Insurance Costs and Desktop Appraisals
• Which Houston Suburbs Deal With This the Most
• Conclusion

Storms and Power Outages: It's Not the Hurricanes

Everybody asks me about hurricanes. I've lived through one, Hurricane Beryl, and we had trees down everywhere, no power for 3 or 4 days, and a mess to clean up. But here's the thing: I've been here 6 years, and we've had one hurricane actually hit. Harvey was before my time, and that was one of the worst. But what nobody tells you is that it's these random windstorms and thunderstorms that wreak the most havoc. I've had my generator kick on 12 to 15 times in the last month alone. Not from hurricanes. From storms that roll through in the middle of the night, drop 2 inches of rain in 20 minutes, and knock out power because a tree branch hit a line somewhere.

A few days ago, we had a windstorm that tore through and dropped another oak tree in my backyard. I hadn't even fixed my fence from the last one. This morning, I woke up to branches in my golf simulator, my neighbor's pool toy stuck in my palm tree, and a fresh mess to clean up. The lightning here is something else. If you've never heard it in the South, it sounds like it's happening in your bedroom. It rattles the windows. My daughter came downstairs crying because a couple years ago, we had what they call a microburst, not a tornado, not a storm, just 5 seconds of terror on a perfect day, and it tore down a tree that hit the corner of our patio and landed in the pool. She's been nervous ever since.

If you're moving to the north Houston area, Montgomery , Magnolia , Conroe , The Woodlands , Kingwood , this is what you're going to see. Lots of trees, which I love, but those trees come down. My first piece of advice: get a generator. I have a 24-kilowatt unit that runs the entire house, and it's been worth every penny. Some new construction communities and builders are even offering at-home generators with the purchase of a home now because outages are so common. If the house you're buying doesn't have one, put it at the top of your list. Life goes on when you have power. When you don't, you're sweating in the dark waiting for the utility company to show up.

The Heat and Humidity (and How to Survive It)

The heat is real, but it's not what you think. Some summers, it's already mid-90s by the end of April, and by the time school lets out in May, it's 105 degrees. Those summers are miserable, dry, hot, no rain from May until October. But when you get storms and rain through May and June like we're having now, the summer shrinks down to July and August, maybe a little bit of September. That's way more bearable. I grew up in North Idaho, just south of Canada, and I'll take a hot summer over a 6-month winter any day. Up there, the winter is cute during the holidays, but once January 1st hits, you're stuck inside until early spring. Here, I get to use the outdoors from October through May. My 10-year-old daughter is in the junior PGA program, and we're out playing golf all winter. That's a trade-off I'll take.

But the humidity is what gets you. It's not just hot, it's thick. You walk outside and you're sweating immediately. If you're moving to Houston, you need to prepare your house for it. When we moved into this place, we had single-pane windows, and the house was impossible to cool. Our power bill was insane. To replace all the windows would've been $30,000 or $40,000, so someone told me about storm shades. I got them installed on the back of the house for $1,900, and they changed everything. Before, the sun was so strong through those windows that it actually bleached our dark hardwood floors light. You can still see the difference where a rug used to be. Now, with the shades down, the house stays at 74 degrees even at 1 p.m. and our energy bill dropped by hundreds of dollars a month.

If you're buying a resale home in The Woodlands or Kingwood or any of the older popular areas, check the windows. Single-pane windows are common, and they'll cost you a fortune to cool. Storm shades are a cheap fix that actually works. We only did the back of the house because that's where the sun hits all day. The front doesn't get it as bad, and we didn't want that look from the street. But on the side that gets blasted, it's a complete game changer.

Bugs, Snakes, and Fire Ants

You're going to see bugs. A lot of bugs. Mosquitoes, fire ants, mud daubers, bees, hornets, it's part of living here. My wife does not do well with mosquitoes. I'll sit outside and maybe get one or two, but she gets swarmed. It's like she played goalie for a dart team. We had a mosquito spray system installed that runs along the fence line, and it helps. There are little nozzles mounted on the house and fence, and they spray a repellent on a timer. The previous owner had it, but it wasn't working, so I fixed it. You can get a company to come fill the 50-gallon drum for $250, or you can do what I did and buy the mix on Amazon for $30 or $40, pour it in the drum, and fill it with water. It's the exact same stuff.

Does it work? Yeah. You'll still get some mosquitoes, but if I go behind my fence where the spray doesn't reach, I get swarmed. So it definitely makes a difference. Mosquitoes are just something you're going to have to live with here. My wife and her friend Jess both get eaten alive. I don't know if it's pheromones or what, but some people attract them more than others.

Fire ants are the other big one. After every rainstorm, you get these massive ant nests that pop up in your yard. You need to go out and check because if you step on one, they'll bite you and leave these little pimples on your foot. For me, it's not too bad, but my wife's whole foot swells up. I had to put ant killer on a bunch of them after the storm a couple days ago. You'll also see mud daubers, those brown spots on your patio or under your eaves, and birds nesting everywhere. I keep getting bird nests in my garage, in my son's motorcycle helmet, and up in the corners of the patio. I love the little birdies, but they make a mess. You're also going to see snakes, especially if you live near water or in a wooded area. It's just part of it.

Power Bills and the Texas Energy Grid

When I moved here, I didn't know you pay a middleman for power. I'm used to paying the power company directly. In Texas, there are like 10,000 middlemen, and you have to shop through all these different companies and plans. I picked one without really understanding it, and I ended up spending $800 in August. I had this night-and-weekend plan where power was free on nights and weekends, but during the day they jacked up the rate like 5x. We were home all the time because it was summer, so we got destroyed.

I found a company called Energy Ogre that shops your power for you. They ask you about your schedule, when people are home, when they're not, and then they find the best plan. It's $10 a month, and they've saved me so much money. Every year, they reshop plans and get me the best deal. If you're someone who likes to search and get your own deals, go ahead, but I don't have time for that. They've never made me pay a contract-breaking fee, and they're always signing me out of old plans and into new ones. I've been using them for years, and I can't recommend them enough. If you want to try them, I have a referral code that gets you a free month.

The power grid here is also something you need to understand. Outages happen a lot, especially in the north Houston suburbs where there are a lot of trees. That's why I keep saying: get a generator. It's not just for hurricanes. It's for the random Tuesday night storm that knocks out power for 6 hours. When you have a generator, life goes on. When you don't, you're sitting in the dark.

Property Taxes and How to Fight Them

Property taxes in Houston hit me hard. I didn't know coming here that you have to fight them. During COVID, they were doubling valuations left and right. My house went up by $100,000 or $200,000 in valuation, and if you don't do anything about it, you just have to swallow that pill. That can be thousands of dollars a year. I talked to a guy who fought his own taxes, but you have to file all this paperwork and show up to court. I didn't want to do that.

There are companies that fight your property taxes for you. Some of them charge 50% of what they save you, which is crazy. If they save you $2,000 a year, you have to pay them $1,000. I found one called OwnWell that does it for 25%, and they do a really good job. A lot of it's automated, you just drag your files in, and they handle the rest. They fight it down, and you save money. If you're buying a home in Houston, you need to know this. The property taxes here are no joke, and they do these desktop appraisals that can inflate your valuation by a huge amount. You have to stay on top of it.

Insurance Costs and Desktop Appraisals

Insurance is the other big cost that nobody warns you about. To me, insurance is the biggest scam on planet Earth. It's crazy how much it's going up, especially in Texas and Florida, and we don't even use it that much. After storms like this, claims go up, and then everyone's rates go up. I've shopped around a lot, Allstate, Progressive, combining vehicles, doing umbrella policies, and you can really start to shave things down. But you have to stay on it.

The other thing insurance companies do here is desktop appraisals. They'll value your home at $300,000 more than it's actually worth, and you have to cover the insurance on that. You need to find a company that will send an appraiser out to get the true value, because that can save you a lot of money. I've learned to constantly call and shop and figure this stuff out. It's annoying, but it's worth it.

Which Houston Suburbs Deal With This the Most

If you're moving to the north Houston area, Montgomery , Magnolia , Conroe , The Woodlands , Kingwood , you're going to deal with more of this. These are wooded areas with a lot of trees, which I love, but those trees come down in storms. You're also going to see more bugs, more snakes, and more power outages because of all the tree cover. That's the trade-off for living in a beautiful, green area with big lots and privacy.

If you're moving to a newer community with less tree cover, you might not deal with as much of this. But you're also not going to get those massive oak trees and that wooded feel. It's a trade-off. I personally love the trees, and I'm willing to deal with the storms and the cleanup. But you need to know what you're signing up for.

Conclusion

Moving to Houston is not for the faint of heart. You're going to deal with storms, heat, bugs, power outages, property taxes, and insurance costs. But you're also going to get big homes, low cost of living compared to other major cities, no state income tax, and the ability to use the outdoors for most of the year. I've been here 6 years, and I wouldn't move back to a 6-month winter for anything. But you have to prepare yourself. Get a generator. Get storm shades. Shop your power. Fight your property taxes. Stay on top of your insurance. And don't try to do this alone.

If you're relocating to Houston, reach out to us. We've built a relocation team that lives in every section of Houston, and we can give you the local perspective you need. We've helped hundreds of families move here, and we know what it's like to be in your shoes. Don't go at it alone. Call us, text us, email us, we're available 24/7. And if you want to start exploring the area, go to originalhoustontexas.com. We have over 800 visitors on there every week using it for an average of 30 minutes. You can explore all the suburbs, watch our vlogs and tours, and get a real perspective of what it's like to live here. It's totally free.