Coppell vs Castle Hills (Dallas, Plano: for sale, houses, neighborhood)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Big G

We've gone over this territory before, but...

Until you sell that "older/much smaller" house and move away from the Park Cities, the value and appreciation is just an entry on a ledger, while the bigger and newer house in a place like Castle Hills is a tangible thing you can use and enjoy.

Of course it is....but you also get to enjoy top-notch city services AND one of the premier school districts in the area.

To some families, size/age is well worth the "sacrifice" for their kids' education.

[ufcrules1]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Of course it is....but you also get to enjoy top-notch city services AND one of the premier school districts in the area.

To some families, size/age is well worth the "sacrifice" for their kids' education.

The thing is it's not like the schools around CH's are bad. The elementary and high school are both exemplary rated and the elementary school is right in the middle of the neighborhood and the high school is 1/4 of a mile outside of it. Talk about convenience! The Schools may not quite be on the same level as Coppell but nice enough for plenty of doctors, lawyers, pro athletes, and other professionals to live here and send their kids to school there. Also, there is an extremely good private school 3 miles down the road. Taxes are at 2.6% compared to 3% in Coppell. So there are quality schools here, plenty of homes to choose from, and your money goes a lot further.

[Coppell Dad]

To be fair, the Castle Hills area is in Lewisville ISD with a Tax Rate of $1.42/$1,000 as compared to the Coppell ISD Tax Rate of $1.279/$1,000. The reason most people believe that the taxes in Coppell are higher is that the homes in Coppell ISD have higher appraised values, the tax RATE is actually lower. Real estate in Coppell ISD has held its value better than most of the North Texas area and continues to see appreciation even in a depressed economy. We landed in Coppell to raise our kids and take advantage of the best schools in this part of Texas, but we stayed because it's a great place to call home and even now that the kids are grown, its a great investment. I encourage you to check out my hometown, I think you will find all that the the CH folks are promoting and more.

[Big G]

To be even more fair, Castle Hills doesn't have to pay city, community college, or Parkland taxes, like Coppell does. (There IS no "City of Castle Hills" - it's unincorporated on purpose.)

On the other hand, they DO have to pay taxes to a somewhat-bogus (and not particularly accountable to anyone) "fresh water district" set up by the developer to pay for the construction costs of the development - roads, streetlights, etc.

Add all those up, and you arrive at the fact that the tax rates of Coppell and Castle Hills are almost the same - within 0.1%. So taxes aren't as big a consideration as you might think. It's more about the "value for money" vs. school quality and city services.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Coppell Dad

To be fair, the Castle Hills area is in Lewisville ISD with a Tax Rate of $1.42/$1,000 as compared to the Coppell ISD Tax Rate of $1.279/$1,000. The reason most people believe that the taxes in Coppell are higher is that the homes in Coppell ISD have higher appraised values, the tax RATE is actually lower. Real estate in Coppell ISD has held its value better than most of the North Texas area and continues to see appreciation even in a depressed economy. We landed in Coppell to raise our kids and take advantage of the best schools in this part of Texas, but we stayed because it's a great place to call home and even now that the kids are grown, its a great investment. I encourage you to check out my hometown, I think you will find all that the the CH folks are promoting and more.

Agree with all that you said except tax rates:

Coppell ISD rate for 2010 is $1.4242/$1,000 (not the $1.279 you quoted).
Add that to $.69046 Coppell City tax and $.62333 Dallas County taxes and the total Coppell Tax burden is $2.738/ $1,000. That is one of the highest tax rates in DFW for a nice area with great schools --> Highland Park's 1.96%, University Park's 2.02%, Plano's 2.08%, Frisco's 2.18%, Southlake's 2.24%, Flower Mound's 2.24%, etc.

http://dallascad.org/forms/2010rate.pdf

[Big G]

In the poster's defense, Coppell ISD just raised their tax rate a few months ago - clearly ahead of the curve, given what's going down in Austin.

Also, the "fresh water districts" of Castle Hills charge a 0.90% to 1.00% tax, depending on which phase you're in. Tack on the Lewisville ISD taxes of 1.43% and the Denton County taxes of 0.27%, and you're up to 2.60% to 2.70%, right up there with Coppell.

[chvelo]

It seems kinda silly to be arguing about whether Coppell or Castle Hills is better without any sort of list of features or amenities that she or her husband values. And most important is location. If you work in Grapevine, then Coppell would be the natural choice. If you work in Addison, Castle Hills would be better. And really, it's not like if you live in one place, you somehow miss out on the other - we live in CH but go to Coppell several times a month so the kids can play at the "woody park", to shop at Market Street and to visit friends. We have friends that live in Coppell and we when visit them, Coppell seems very nice and when they visit us they think CH seems very nice but neither of us want to move. And somewhat ironically, CH residents for some reason use the Coppell YMCA for things like Adventure Guides/Adventure Princess (Indian Guides and Indian Princess in old money) and Coppell YMCA life guards work at the CH pools during the summer.

[ufcrules1]

It really just comes down to personal preference. My wife and I prefer CH's for some of the reasons I have listed above. The original poster will just have to check out both and see which one they like better. In the end, I don't think you can go wrong with either. It just a matter of what sacrifices you want to make. With an under 400k budget, the original poster is not going to have an easy time finding a home in Coppell and will have to settle for a home that is 12 years old or older.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ufcrules1

. With an under 400k budget, the original poster is not going to have an easy time finding a home in Coppell and will have to settle for a home that is 12 years old or older.

Oh the horror!! Having to live in a home built in 1999!! Yuck- I could hardly live with myself to make THAT horrible sacrifice.

What are you going to do when your home is 12 years old? Bulldoze it?!

[ufcrules1]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Oh the horror!! Having to live in a home built in 1999!! Yuck- I could hardly live with myself to make THAT horrible sacrifice.

What are you going to do when your home is 12 years old? Bulldoze it?!

I said 12 years or OLDER. More than likely it will be even older than that. They won't have the option of building their own home and design it the way they want, they will more than likely need to upgrade the AC unit, appliances, fence, roof, and several other things before long, etc. On top of that, they will be paying a premium for the house.

Not the end of the world, but things to consider. Not to mention they will probably have to look for a long time before finding something. In the end, is it really worth it? Maybe.. but it clearly wasn't for us. If I had it to do all over again, I would have came right to Castle Hills again. I wouldn't even consider Coppell for all the headaches involved in finding a home there. I also feel Castle Hills has a lot more to offer.