Coppell vs Castle Hills (Early: new house, to buy, school)
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Agree on the trade offs. We also considered CH along with other towns but went for FM. Both have excellent master planned communities and family/kids neighborhoods. However it was the schools (I rate FM schools better than Coppell & Southlake), lower property taxes, centralized location and a more sub-urban that made us choose FM inspite of a higher home price. We were getting a similar sq. ft house ( a new one) in CH at a lower price than a similar existing home in FM. New homes in FM are currently offered by builders like Toll starting at 450K. Another 30 homes were recently approved in Wellington SD (probably the only land left in Wellington SD) starting at 400K. I see a substantial difference in price between existing and new homes in FM which doesn't seem to be the case in CH.
I think CH is a great location for anyone working near Plano and fine with other personal factors. For me the commute time was lesser from FM compared to CH. Again it depends on your work location and the area within CH or FM you are looking. We wanted to be at a walking distance or very close to schools. You want at least one end of your life in control from logistics perspective- either the office or schools. Lucky if you get both.
Thanks Adixyz, good to hear this from a FM'r since that town is still tops on our list, love it there. We're coming back down in May to take a better look at Wellington and BW, then make our way over to CH. I have literally scoured the FM market for over a year and I am intimately familiar with the housing stock there and the market in general. You get less in terms of home (not our primary focus) and maybe more in terms of other factors. Really I need to be in a certain price point because of the fact I have to buy myself out of my current home when I sell most likely. It's going to effect our liquidity, so unless we rent and recover, we would have to buy less house, say $330k max. You tend to compromise alot at that price point in FM for the criteria we want, not to say it's not there, just gets scooped up quick if it is.
Excited to see CH to make a comparison of the two locations.
Front facing garages are a problem because they create an inhumane space due to the fact that they overwhelm the other features of the house and dominate the facade with an aluminum door. In CHN, these problems have been avoided by the use of designs that set the garage door back from other features of the house and the fact that all of the doors are wooden.
I think they have done a great job under the circumstances to make it look very appealing there and the homes are selling like crazy. It's also much nicer than many surrounding communities. Is it good for CH's as a whole in terms of diversified product and absorbing expense for the other districts? Absolutely. But please don't kid yourself, it's not quite as nice as the other phases of CH's. Everyone has their preferences though, I simply prefer rear garages and wouldn't want to live in a neighborhood with front entry garages. I feel it makes neighborhoods look cluttered up. Putting your trashcans out front doesn't look all that great either.
I personally would much rather buy an existing home (2-4 years old) in the other phases than to buy brand new in CHN. With that said, I still think it's a great place to live.
I actually really like the garage doors in CHN and my husband and I have agreed that we're getting carriage-style doors when the time comes to replace our garage doors. We have a detached garage (didn't want a rear, attached garage) at the back of our property and the doors can be seen from the street. They don't look bad, but they aren't as classy as carriage doors.
I think the homes in CHN look more like each other than they do in the older part of the neighborhood. There were more builders in the older part of the neighborhood, so greater diversity in the housing stock. But they are good about not building too many of the same plan, and they do have a cool amenity center up there.
Homes are selling like crazy in CHN! The location is especially great if your commute takes you anywhere off 121. And the Bridges of CH will make that area very valuable in the future.
Is there a way to do a streetview on CHN? I have been able to literally drive around older parts of CH when I have an home listed on MLS. Are there any CHN homes on the MLS listed? Then I could see what it looks like up there suppose. Although who knows when the streetview was shot. Lemme try coming in off 121 somehow.
Older parts of the neighborhood look phenomenal, but If anyone has a listing in CHN let me know. thx!
Is there a way to do a streetview on CHN? I have been able to literally drive around older parts of CH when I have an home listed on MLS. Are there any CHN homes on the MLS listed? Then I could see what it looks like up there suppose. Although who knows when the streetview was shot. Lemme try coming in off 121 somehow.
Older parts of the neighborhood look phenomenal, but If anyone has a listing in CHN let me know. thx!
It's so new.. so I think street views will be hard. See below. This will give you an idea of homes in Castle Hills north. Another thing I would like to point out that you can take with a grain of salt is.. wooden garage doors look great when you first put them up, but when years pass.. they will look like crap if you don't keep them up (staining, etc). Now you may say.. "But I would keep mine up and would never let it get ugly" well that is nice but your neighbors might not. An ugly neighbors house can make yours look like crap too.
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Notice how these 2 below are smaller and less attractive (strictly my opinion). I think they are cute.. but a little less prestigious. You wouldn't find any homes like this in the other phases of CH's. Also, don't forget to check out the lot sizes.. they are tiny! Some of these homes don't even have a back yard really.
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Last edited by FarNorthDallas; 04-07-2011 at 07:30 PM..
Reason: you can't link to realtor websites other than realtor.com
I'll bet there are HOA rules on how one must maintain garage doors.
I went to a friend's house in the Reserve of CH a couple weeks ago and they have no yard whatsoever.
I hate to tell you this.. but the HOA isn't that great here. They do a very good job with the pools, parks, etc. but they don't enforce rules very well with regards to peoples yards getting out of hand, cars parked on the street in the same place for more than 48 hours, etc. I've been here for about 2 1/2 years. Give it some time and you will see for yourself.
Now, luckily since this area is a little more prestigious, you don't run into as many neighbors letting things fall apart. There is a big "keeping up with the joneses" thing going on with relation to residents keeping their front facade looking good.
With regards to the reserve. That is a gated community that for the most part is attractive to OLDER empty nesters that don't have kids.. hence the no /tiny yards. Why would someone want virtually no yard with kids?
Whats interesting to me is how people have nothing but good things to say about CHN and then end up in the other phases of CH.
As I understand it, the HOA has the ability impose fines and I bet if enough people complained about something that was a real eyesore, something would happen. I have noticed they don't enforce rules about parking on the street, but it's not something I get worked up about because I just don't care. I haven't noticed that people have let their houses go to seed but maybe it's as you say, keeping up with the Jones'.
As I understand it, the HOA has the ability impose fines and I bet if enough people complained about something that was a real eyesore, something would happen. I have noticed they don't enforce rules about parking on the street, but it's not something I get worked up about because I just don't care. I haven't noticed that people have let their houses go to seed but maybe it's as you say, keeping up with the Jones'.
You noticed they don't enforce the rules about parking on the street in the short time you have been here? Maybe what I am saying has some truth to it with regards to them not keeping up with other things too? When you call them there is ONE girl who answers the phone and emails and she never gets back to people in a timely fashion, sometimes not at all. There are close to 2600 homes here and growing. One person answering the phone and getting back to people doesn't cut it.
You are in the honeymoon phase.. give it some time.. haha.
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