Looking at Lake Highlands/Lakewood/M-Streets for Relo w/ family (Houston: lease, houses)

[BGranberry]

I know there are other threads on here about these areas but most that I found are from 07 and 08 and I wanted to get some current takes on these areas. I am from the Dallas area but have been in Houston for the last 7 years so I am sure things have changed a bit.

We have 2 kids with one starting school within a year so elementary schools are important since we want to stick with public schools. We would need at least 3 beds and 2 baths and would prefer something updated in the $240-280k range. This probably excludes the M-Streets but any opinions on these areas would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[jennifw]

I would think your price range will exclude Lakewood also. If you search the threads, you might search on Lake Highlands. It will probably be more in your range and meet your public-school requirement. (don't get bogged down in the Lakewood/Woodrow discussions. I am sure you know there are lots of mixed feelings about public education beyond elementary in both M-streets and Lakewood area).

Good luck with your move. We moved from Houston nearly 8 years ago and absolutely love it. (we moved from Katy/Cinco Ranch. My life here is very different, but so great. (we are in Lakewood))

[Squirl]

To get insight to taxes, you can find homes in your price range on realtor.com and capture an address or 2 in the specific area you are interested in. Then go to the Dallas Appraisal District website Dallas Central Appraisal District and do a search on that address and you'll get a snapshot of the taxes for that house. This is not perfect, the owners may have extraordinary exemptions so you'll want to be mindful of paying attention to what exemptions/or not are on the property. (If the house is being leased, it may have no exemptions either, and if you occupy the residence you would have that exemption).

[TurtleCreek80]

If you want an updated 3/2, Lake Highlands is the only area of the 3 where you will have a wide selection in your range. You should do more research on the schools there (I'm not entirely up on them), because I know that some elementary schools are perceived as better than others in LH.

You may also want to keep an eye the Lakewood Elementary neighborhood that is just north of Mockingbird and east of Abrams. The streets south of the DART line are in Lakewood Elementary and you can probably find something there for $260-280k.

[thumpcbd]

In the Lake Highlands area (where I live) you are on the bubble of two areas

1. The area defined by Walnut Hill Rd, Plano, NW Hwy, Audelia, which has many houses in you price range, but $250 is the upper end of these houses. Also, this neighborhood is served by Lake Highlands Elementary.

2. The area defined by Walnut Hill, Audelia, NW Hwy and Goforth. (Just to the west of area one) and served by White Rock Elementary. This area is slightly nicer then #1 above, but you target house price is on the low end here.

Both schools and areas are excellent and it's only home prices that seperate them. If I could move, or afford it, I would be looking in area #2. It has even more trees, hills, and is prettier then where I live in #1 above.

Also, if in the RISD area if you want to see what school you munchkin will be in, or to make sure you not in DISD, use this map http://www.risd.org/Group/Global/Glo...cs/FullMap.pdf to see what school you're zoned for.

[BGranberry]

Awesome thanks for the info so far. If anyone has any of these zip codes or any input into the elementary schools in Lake Highlands I would love to hear it. We do love Houston but looking forward to getting back up to Dallas.

[Lakewooder]

Here is a map to make sure you are not in RISD:

http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/schoolinfo/eszones2010/Lakewood2010.pdf (broken link)

The area suggested by Turtle Creek is around Mockingbird and to the north. It's possible to find something in that range with some looking. It would be a very good investment.

http://www.dallasisd.org/demo/schoolinfo/eszones2010/JacksonStonewall2010.pdf (broken link) shows the M-Streets area and the Stonewall Jackson attendance zone (both Lakewood and Stonewall are Blue Ribbon Schools and have been named the best in Texas by Texas Monthly and Texas Businesss and Education Coalition). You might find something in that range in close proximity to the school - the more M-Street you get the more expensive it will be.