Raise a family in Little Elm (Lewisville, Flower Mound: new house, neighborhoods, good schools)

[Tebow Time]

We might be moving to the area and are very interested in some new neighborhoods in Little Elm. These would feed to Frisco ISD schools, which are supposed to be great. It sounds like the metro area has been expanding and Little Elm/Frisco are not really out in the boonies like they used to be. I've never been there so what do people think of them?

Are they close to a lot of restaurants, shops, etc or is it pretty isolated? One area we like is south of 380 just off of FM 423, The Preserve at Frisco Ranch.

thanks

[Squirl]

Little Elm is very far out.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Far out from downtown but not far out from shopping, etc. My son lives in the general area the OP mentioned, Little Elm but Frisco ISD. They are close enough to everything you need on a daily basis except the culture of downtown. I have visited a lot over the past 2 yrs that they have lived there. They take the kids to the Ft. Worth Cattle Yards, to the Frisco Fire Safety Town, but it is an expedition to get to the acquarium (an hour on the DNT), botanical gardens, museums, etc. They think it is a good trade b/c the kids are either elem age or below, it's a convenient and family-friendly area, and it is pretty safe. It's also much cheaper than areas closer in to town.

There is a trade-off for everything. You can get a really good price on a 3-5 y/o house in that area, no need to waste money on brand-new. If you have to move in less than 10-15 yrs, you will be competing with the new houses. I've seen 5 y/o houses as nice/same size as the new ones listed for $130-$150K where new is $200K+. If I can ever sell my house, that's where I am moving just to be close to my grandkids. I personally would prefer Lakewood/the M Streets, etc but it's too far from where my family is.

[Tebow Time]

Thanks.

What we are looking for is a place with decent sized lots (we were really turned off by the small lot sizes at Castle Hills), where we can get a new home for 200-300K, and a place with really good schools. We also liked Lantana a lot but it is a bit too expensive for us. Is Lantana any closer to town than Frisco Ranch? Are there any places closer in that have new homes available? We have looked at Flower Mound, Lewisville, etc and can't find much in the way of large communities with a lot of new homes.

I guess with small kids we won't be going many places other than school, church, kids activities, friends houses, etc. So as long as there are all of those things in Frisco then it might be ok.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I think the lots are small but you can get one of the ones on a curve which are larger. My granddaughters are in Girl and Brownie Scouts. Their Catholic church is active with celebrations at various times of the year. Almost all of those developments have community pools and playgrounds, sometimes more than one. At that price you could be in Grayhawkè and the city of Frisco. Frisco has a rec center with an indoor swimming pool but I am not sure where it is.

They bought a Landon house and it is very well built. One of the realtors I had a private conversation with said Landon was a good builder. I am sure there are other good buikders, I am just mentioning the one I know of.