First time home buying - Coppell, Flower Mound, Grapevine & West Plano (Andrews: middle school, square footage)

[Back2Texas]

My husband works near the Las Colinas urban center. I work from home, so I can live anywhere.
We initially moved to Texas about four years ago and bought a house in La Villita (Las Colinas, CFBISD). We moved last year, partially because we had outgrown our house, partially because our daughter was starting kindergarten and we were not thrilled with the schooling situation. The CFBISD elementary schools are generally pretty good, but Bush Middle School has a pretty bad reputation.
We started our search in Coppell, but ended up in Flower Mound. We have three kids and were therefore looking for a minimum of 5br+study or 6br, which is tough to find in Coppell. We found we could get more for our money here in Flower Mound. We insisted on living east of 2499, which eliminates a lot of the traffic concerns -- my husband doesn't have to drive at all on 2499 to get home. It does put us in the DFW flight path, so there's plane noise for sure, but we don't mind it.
Personally, I've lived in both Flower Mound and Valley Ranch, and I like Flower Mound better. Just something about the feel of the community. For example, we were recently involved in the construction of Fort Wildflower here in Flower Mound. It was awesome to see the community come together on that, literally hundreds of volunteers over a 5-day period. And now it's awesome to see the kids in the community getting to use it. There's nothing like that in Valley Ranch.
As for Vickery, we considered it, because we looked at LISD's new dual-language immersion program for our daughter, and it wasn't offered at our home campus (Bluebonnet). So we were able to ask for a transfer to a campus that offered it, and Vickery was one of them. The reason the test scores are so much lower is that it's split enrollment. About 75% of the students live in Lewisville, and go on to Hedrick Middle and Lewisville High. The other 25% live in Flower Mound, and go on to Forestwood Middle and Flower Mound High. The school has a significant low-income population and a significant ESL population (mostly from the Lewisville side) -- every teacher is ESL certified because they have so many kids who come in speaking limited English. I was very impressed by the principal and I think they do great things with what they have, but it's definitely a *very* different environment from the other Flower Mound schools.
Hope that helps. Good luck.

[ritholtz]

Hi Back2Texas,
Thanks for detailed information and explanation of vickery elementary situation. Your analysis of Coppell, VR and FM is spot on. Coppell is expensive. Prices in VR and FM are pretty similar except FM has some nicer homes. Other than lack of community feel in VR, we are also looking for more diversified school than VR elementary. FM is also little far from our workplace. Buying convenient home within our budget seems to be very difficult.

[ritholtz]

Any feedback on Suncrest lakeside / Suncrest vista homes built by Lennar in FM. Any one familiar with this builder. These new homes are available in our price range. They seem to be priced like some pre owned homes we checked in Wellington and Bridlewood. Elementary and Middle schools are exemplary. School demographics seems to be similar to high achieving schools in FM. It is near to Lewisville. It has relatively smaller homes around the boundary. High school is Marcus HS which is not exemplary.
Couple of homes we liked in Wellington area went under contract quickly as we were thinking about pros and cons of pool. We are planning to make a quick offer if we like any house next time.

Thanks.

[Morgan427]

I don't know about Lennar specifically but that's not an area I would choose at all. I would pick Bridlewood or Wellington over one of those new homes anyday. Their areas are just much better. There's a reason why you can buy a brand new home for what you would pay for an older home somewhere else in Flower Mound-location and desireability. Marcus High School is a great high school, I wouldn't worry about whether you are zoned to it or Flower Mound High School. The only con I really see for Wellington is that its elementary school is very overcrowded. It's the biggest in LISD and thus their middle school also is very overcrowded. Bridlewood Elementary is excellent and it's a smaller school and so is their middle school.

[adixyz]

Bridlewood is a great sub-division but its generally out of your price range. Some of the older sub-divisions in Bridlewood might have houses under 400K. The teacher/ student ratio per class is almost the same in most public schools in FM, Coppell or Plano feeding any 4A/ 5A schools. I will not worry too much about overcrowded or the high schools. Your kids are small and there are too many variables in life to worry about the high schools now. Both Marcus and FMHS are excellent. Desirability & Amenities in Wellington & Bridlewood makes them go faster than other neighborhoods.
Lennar is a good builder. I haven't heard anything negative about them unlike Grand Homes. If you do not want to compromise on newer homes and like the Suncrest lakeside / Suncrest area, go for it. For the same or a little extra price, personally I'll prefer to go with a few years older homes in more desirable sub-divisions.

[ritholtz]

Originally Posted by Morgan427

I don't know about Lennar specifically but that's not an area I would choose at all. I would pick Bridlewood or Wellington over one of those new homes anyday. Their areas are just much better. There's a reason why you can buy a brand new home for what you would pay for an older home somewhere else in Flower Mound-location and desireability. Marcus High School is a great high school, I wouldn't worry about whether you are zoned to it or Flower Mound High School. The only con I really see for Wellington is that its elementary school is very overcrowded. It's the biggest in LISD and thus their middle school also is very overcrowded. Bridlewood Elementary is excellent and it's a smaller school and so is their middle school.

We are actively looking into Wellington / Bridlewood area. We liked couple of homes. They went into option contract before we make the offer. These Lennar homes are located near Lewisville boundary. It is surrounded by small homes to the boundary. Probably, that is the reason for low price. This project seems to have some homes with bigger lots. And, It is going to add few more miles to office travel compared to Wellington area.

Thanks.

[ritholtz]

Originally Posted by adixyz

Bridlewood is a great sub-division but its generally out of your price range. Some of the older sub-divisions in Bridlewood might have houses under 400K. The teacher/ student ratio per class is almost the same in most public schools in FM, Coppell or Plano feeding any 4A/ 5A schools. I will not worry too much about overcrowded or the high schools. Your kids are small and there are too many variables in life to worry about the high schools now. Both Marcus and FMHS are excellent. Desirability & Amenities in Wellington & Bridlewood makes them go faster than other neighborhoods.
Lennar is a good builder. I haven't heard anything negative about them unlike Grand Homes. If you do not want to compromise on newer homes and like the Suncrest lakeside / Suncrest area, go for it. For the same or a little extra price, personally I'll prefer to go with a few years older homes in more desirable sub-divisions.

Thanks Adixyz. We are checking homes in more desirable sub division. We are also exploring other alternatives. Homes in Suncrest prices seems to be good compared to the older homes in these subdivisions. I am trying to see cons for these homes considering they are also feeding into exemplary schools. We checked new homes near recreation center by First Texas and KH homes in Wellington. They are 450k + homes.

[ritholtz]

Any feedback on 1st texas homes. They seem to build homes only above 4000 sq.ft. They are doing some new construction near FM rec center.

[ritholtz]

Wondering about Wilson Elem rating in Coppell ISD. Every elem school is exceptional accept this.

Any one bought short sale homes. My realtor steering me away from these type of sales considering slim chance of closing actual deal.
Thanks.

[ritholtz]

Any feedback on new homes coming up near Riverside and Royal lane in Las colinas. My office is near to this place. All along we are looking for homes in Coppell and FM. We are ignoring this place considering schools. Are we missing something.
Any info on quality of the Highland Homes builder for last 10 years. Thanks.