Three things I just don't understand about Texas real estate (Dallas: buying a home, established neighborhood)

[skids929]

-Rear entry garages

-Tiny lots with giant pools consuming the entire backyard

-A giant house literally shadowing your backyard.


I am assuming that these are things that are not favorable conditions overall for resale since I see them on sub $400k homes in desirable areas. Allen and Frisco seem to have alot of rear entry garages, and Frisco seems to have alot of what I call Sardine lots.

No offense to anyone who lives like that, but I just don't get it. Looks like an awful way to live when the only breathing room is inside your house.

The older homes (1995 and up) I see in Flower Mound for the same prices look like they are zoned with a little more thought.
More established neighborhoods, trees, and looks like the topography is different, more hills and trees on that side of the metroplex.

Question is, are there considerable differences in topography and zoning in the FW suburbs as opposed to the North Dallas area suburbs?

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by skids929

Rear entry garages

Tiny lots with giant pools consuming the entire backyard

And another giant house literally shadowing your backyard.


I am assuming that these are things that are not favorable conditions overall for resale since I see them on sub $400k homes in desirable areas. Allen and Frisco seem to have alot of rear entry garages, and Frisco seems to have alot of what I call Sardine lots.

No offense to anyone who lives like that, but I just don't get it. Looks like an awful way to live when the only breathing room is inside your house.

Welcome to the big city. Many cities require a rear, swing entry or side entry since it cleans up the front and looks better.

Back in the 1980's they built some very nice homes on very nice old fashioned lots, that's when our population was about 2-2.5 million and the airport was way out in the country. You seldom ever saw a 2 story house.

DFW really started to boom in the early ninety's and about 1993 the price of land started going up due to some shortages & high demand. Since then newer the house in most cases the smaller the lot.

Coppell is a great example since they require rear entry and alleys - the alleys eat up about 25 ft of potential yard. I get people all the time saying they want a house in Coppell with a yard and a pool.

My response is usually you had to decide if you want a pool or a yard but not both.

DFW is over 6 million people and growing fast - You gotta stack them in here somewhere.

[Affirmed09]

I hated the rear entry garages too when i got here and thank god we found a house that didnt have one...I dont get the concept either since the fronts of some of those neighborhoods are too close to the neighbors up front so i dont like those either

[Prince Mongo]

I think houses with rear facing garages have much better curb appeal, or at least detached garages that you can't see from the street.

[pappy97]

My wife and I liked the look of the rear entry garage (As in the look of the house from the front), but we didn't like those narrow "streets" to get into your garage. Many of those "streets" have garages on both sides, but are only one lane wide! We have an SUV and those "streets" are definitely not large-vehicle friendly. We too are happy to have a front facing garage.

[5stones]

Don't like garages on the front of the house. It's ugly all you see out your front windows is basically a parking lot.
I don't like the alley's here either since they take up so much of the already too small yard.

Side entry great! keep the yard and don't have to look at the cars.

The detached are ok too since most are set back and you don't see the cars.

Hate, cars parked on the street too, esp when the streets are narrow. looks cluttered and nasty.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by skids929

-Rear entry garages

-Tiny lots with giant pools consuming the entire backyard

-A giant house literally shadowing your backyard.


I am assuming that these are things that are not favorable conditions overall for resale since I see them on sub $400k homes in desirable areas. Allen and Frisco seem to have alot of rear entry garages, and Frisco seems to have alot of what I call Sardine lots.

No offense to anyone who lives like that, but I just don't get it. Looks like an awful way to live when the only breathing room is inside your house.

The older homes (1995 and up) I see in Flower Mound for the same prices look like they are zoned with a little more thought.
More established neighborhoods, trees, and looks like the topography is different, more hills and trees on that side of the metroplex.

Question is, are there considerable differences in topography and zoning in the FW suburbs as opposed to the North Dallas area suburbs?

It sounds like they're nature haters.

[MurphyPl1]

Murphy:

No rear entry at all, handful of J-swing. Vast majority side entry

1/4 acre lots in most of the city. Or larger. Oldest section is 1 acre minimum. Rolling Ridge Manors is 1/2 minimum. Lots of pools that aren't consuming the yard.

No giant houses shadowing the backyard. The setbacks and streets are laid out to maximize distance between homes.

Not a ton of trees in the newer parts of town, but blame the original settlers who decided to plant corn on this flat land. Now we have new trees and a fun city festival called Maize Days instead.

[loves2read]

you need to understand that house design is fractured between

the city that sets the zoning/density limits for a development and bases lot of decisions on tax revenue that the subdivisions will generate and the population density it will add to infrastructure, schools, and the like

the developer who buys the land and tries to get as many houses as possible on as many lots so that he increases his profit margin at a lower cost per unit--vs having larger lots, fewer homes and either no profit or higher cost to buyers--which means a high end development--and those are not as easy to sell out...
and who often makes design choices based on some imaginary buyer's wants/dislikes w/o really thinking through the process and often choosing based on "faddish" trends...

the consumer who is always the last to be consulted in the process usually and has almost no power since s/he has many variables to satisfy and often has to "settle" of buying a home that is the lesser of evils...

In the Mid-Cities area in Tarrant county--Hurst, Bedford, Colleyville, Euless, much of FTW, NRHills--there are few neighborhoods with alleys--and depending on the age/size of the home you can find front loaded garages, J-drives, or rear-entry but coming in from the front with long driveway...

the size of the lot is just function of the price of the land and usually the city's and developer's agreement to downsize to the smallest saleable lot for house size--
ever town has different ratio of concrete to lot and sometimes it varies within the city by neighborhood-so some subdivisions have more side yard width--or set backs from the streets--

often times developers will present their initial plans for a development with lot sizes to be avg of .25 or more--but by the time they add in streets and common areas and have to fiddle with lot size for cul de sacs and irregular size lots--most lots have shrunk to under .25 and often .2--
that is a small lot when you have to get a J-Drive or rear-entry garage...and a house that has 2K-3K sq ft.

We looked a LONG time to find a newer home in Mid Cities area that had a decent sized back yard and not lot of over-look from houses behind...

Southlake and Colleyville--especially those older ones like Highland Meadow subdivision--
have larger lots and no alleys--but they usually have a price tag of 400K and over
but it is a buyer's market

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by skids929

-Rear entry garages

I prefer rear or side-entry garages personally. I also like having an alley. It keeps the street from being cluttered up with garbage cans.

-Tiny lots with giant pools consuming the entire backyard

The others explained it well...builders looking to maximize profits by squeezing in as many houses as possible. Many yards are too small to have a pool without sacrificing the entire yard. My house was built in 1957 and sits on a quarter acre so it could have a pool and keep a yard if the side-entry driveway was not cutting the yard in half.

-A giant house literally shadowing your backyard.

Builders maximizing profits & square footage + McMansion fad = no privacy. If you want privacy move into a neighborhood of all-ranch homes with 8-9 ft wood fencing.