It is simply amazing what new home development can do these days. Walking into some of these new homes in Houston is like walking into a new age statement of technological marvel combined with classic design. How we got to this stage from the homes of yesterday is beyond me, but it was well worth the wait.

From the outside, some of these new homes look about average, but the creativity race that entered the realm of new home development about ten years ago has really pushed things forward. Now, when you enter a new home, you get more options than when you purchased your car, more perfected designs and more space saving ideas than can be crammed into a half hour home improvement show. This is living.

When I look at a home, I am looking for something that "says" a statement about who I am and what I'm all about. I'm not seeking a sterile environment that can't be lived in or so much technology that I have to try to outsmart my home. I want a space for everything and I want to feel as though my space is different from yours. Despite all these desires, I could never design the perfect Houston new home to culminate these natural desires. However, someone did.

I am definitely one that has an affinity for 100 year old homes with all their charm and character. When I was a renter I sought out these sorts of buildings and lived it up inside their unique decor and one of a kind structure. Have you ever tried to open a window that has been closed for 50 years or replace part of a structural piece in one of these homes? When it became time to seek out a more permanent housing situation, Houston's new homes held a much stronger attraction.

Not only do the windows slide up and down without the use of hammers, screwdrivers, and a few tools I never could identify beyond "that thing we use to open the windows," but the structure is sound, readily strong without the fear of opening up a wall and finding a colony of who knows what those creatures are sneaking out at you. Houston's new homes definitely have that ownership appeal.

Finding one of Houston's new homes to call my own would prove to be a great challenge, as with every new Houston gated community, every new housing development, and every new water community that sprung up there was more than could ever possibly meet the eye. So much for keeping it simple. It would now have to be a logical, list making, time consuming approach to even figure out where I would want one of these newly developed land sites to call my own.

After all, a home is a big commitment. Time, money, energy, and all the little extras that happen when you purchase one of Houston's new homes is a far cry from renting one place over another for a year at a time. Renting old homes was my lifestyle of non-committal behavior. I am growing up now and it's time to devote my financial commitments to something that will provide a return on my investment of both time and money. Houston's new homes shine like little stars in the sky and determining which little star to toss my lasso around proved to be a process of devotion.

Houston's new homes, not to mention their best places to live in Houston list, exemplify the basic scenario of be careful what you wish for. You wished for waterfront communities that offer elite services, they showed up. You wished for strong developments with individual houses rather than cookie cutter design plans, and they showed up.

You wished for the top of line pre-arranged technological advancements, and of course they showed up. Now what? How is a person supposed to choose the best of Houston's places to live when everything you keep wishing for keeps cropping up?

My solution was relatively simple, with the exception that it involved list making. I have decided that home shopping for one of Houston's new finer homes should be done with a list rather than a numerical figure. I know this seems a little off the mark, but it's my system.

Houston's best places to live list keeps making its way onto my list of "must haves" and "really wants." This means that I should be able to take my list to one of Houston's top real estate developers and hand them a list. It will be less than a week before they call me with my property. If only picking out my new puppy would be so simple.