Buying Home In Dallas Area (Lakewood or Valley Ranch/Las Colinas) (Plano: apartments, HOA fees)

[boarder846]

Hello everyone,

I've read various threads on this forum for months now and have learned a lot. My wife and I are looking to buy in and around Dallas and thought we would reach out for everyone's incredible advice:

We currently both work downtown and live in Uptown. I grew up in Plano and her in Coppell so we're familiar with those two suburbs. We have looked pretty extensively in and around the M-Streets, Lakewood, and Hollywood Heights areas and love them. We are looking to spend less than $350k and are really trying to focus on keeping our commute to downtown as reasonable as possible (aka ideally less than 20 minutes). While we don't have any kids, yet, we would only buy a home that fed into a good elementary school. We are less concerned about middle/high schools at this point as you can only plan so far in advance. With Stonewall Jackson and Lakewood Elementary being the two elementary schools in this area we both think it would be a good place to buy but are having trouble finding a 3 bed, 2 bath in our price range that is updated with a 2 car garage with some character (we love the tutors and cottages).

So in looking at other areas I have (in an amateur way) narrowed other down other areas I would consider. These are:

Lake Highlands (I am really not wanting to move north of 635 and know that there are a few specific elementary schools to consider)

Hackberry Creek in Las Colinas (I know Las Colinas Elementary is a strong school and the same $350k budget from above will buy you a pretty strong home here. Big downside though are the large HOA fees for the gated security)

Valley Ranch ("VR") (only talking about the parts that feed to Coppell ISD)

My problem after mentioning VR is that a lot of people might then say "well what about Coppell"? I just feel like Coppell will add another 10-15 minutes to a commute compared to Hackberry Creek. Please let me know if you disagree with this or have experienced the commute.

I appreciate any and all advice! Thanks!

[TurtleCreek80]

Lake Highlands is south of LBJ, FWIW. Its loose boundaries are Greenville/ 635/ Northwest Highway. It definitely is within a 20 minute commute to downtown.

Your budget will go a lot further there than Lakewood considering the items on your wish list (2 car garage, 3 br, updated, etc).

It may just be me, but Las Colinas feels a lot further than 20 minutes from downtown. I think because you are basically forced to commute via highway whereas coming from LH or LW, you can hop on 75/30 but there are also dozens of alternative routes on side streets (Abrams, Gaston, etc) that make the commute easier/ faster moving.

You may also add some of the NW Dallas neighborhoods that ultimately feed into WT White HS. Zip 75229, the neighborhoods around ESD and some of the other private schools do have strong public elementaries like Pershing and Degoyler. Your budget would get you a 3-4 br updated ranch on a bigger lot than in LW within 20 minutes to downtown via tolltroad or Inwood. Sparkman Club Estates is a great neighborhood in this area worth looking into.

[Falafelosophy]

Both Hackberry and Lakewood can work for you so prioritize your requirements according to what matters more to you.

[Lakewooder]

I'm not sure why you have Las Colinas competing with Lakewood. They are so different. As TC suggests, I would rather go with the WT White area to stay inside LBJ. However, it really does not have the community feel of Lakewood. Plus Lakewood is much closer - and seems to be appreciating faster than almost any other area in DFW.

[boarder846]

Lakewooder - I by no means am trying to make it a competition between any of the above areas. I've read many comments on other forums by both you and TC and appreciate all the advice I've already indirectly been able to take away from you two. I was more so just mentioning areas my wife and I are considering and are asking for individual's opinions. I completely agree that Lakewood and Hackberry have vastly different vibes and feels. Ideally, my wife and I would choose Lakewood first if we could but I don't think our budget is going to currently allow us to break in at the moment.

TC - I didn't make it clear in my original post but yes I'm aware that Lake Highlands extends south of 635. From the research I've done, it looks like Moss Haven and White Rock Elementary are going to be two of the better elementary schools in the area. Are you familiar with any other schools or areas in LH to consider?

Thanks

[cmw2133]

Originally Posted by boarder846

Hello everyone,

I've read various threads on this forum for months now and have learned a lot. My wife and I are looking to buy in and around Dallas and thought we would reach out for everyone's incredible advice:

We currently both work downtown and live in Uptown. I grew up in Plano and her in Coppell so we're familiar with those two suburbs. We have looked pretty extensively in and around the M-Streets, Lakewood, and Hollywood Heights areas and love them. We are looking to spend less than $350k and are really trying to focus on keeping our commute to downtown as reasonable as possible (aka ideally less than 20 minutes). While we don't have any kids, yet, we would only buy a home that fed into a good elementary school. We are less concerned about middle/high schools at this point as you can only plan so far in advance. With Stonewall Jackson and Lakewood Elementary being the two elementary schools in this area we both think it would be a good place to buy but are having trouble finding a 3 bed, 2 bath in our price range that is updated with a 2 car garage with some character (we love the tutors and cottages).

So in looking at other areas I have (in an amateur way) narrowed other down other areas I would consider. These are:

Lake Highlands (I am really not wanting to move north of 635 and know that there are a few specific elementary schools to consider)

Hackberry Creek in Las Colinas (I know Las Colinas Elementary is a strong school and the same $350k budget from above will buy you a pretty strong home here. Big downside though are the large HOA fees for the gated security)

Valley Ranch ("VR") (only talking about the parts that feed to Coppell ISD)

My problem after mentioning VR is that a lot of people might then say "well what about Coppell"? I just feel like Coppell will add another 10-15 minutes to a commute compared to Hackberry Creek. Please let me know if you disagree with this or have experienced the commute.

I appreciate any and all advice! Thanks!

My family is in the same boat. We are leaning toward Lake Highlands/Merriman Park though. Better value, more updated, livable homes and still very, very convenient. Lakewood is the "it" community right now, but for us it was too expensive, and the housing stock by and large was disappointing compared to other areas. Las Colinas was nice but I couldn't justify that level of HOA fees, month in, month out, year in, year out. The schools issue, as least for the DISD areas, concerns us though and may lead us to look further out. We are also thinking about Northaven Park, Kessler Park, and parts of Preston Hollow.

To the extent you can, adjusting your commute time will help a LOT. I've noticed just coming in a little bit past 9 allows you to miss the brunt of rush hour and perhaps open up some new options.

[mSooner]

Hmm...as great as Hackberry Creek is, what about the school situation beyond elementary school, or do you think you will have moved by then? Everyone I knew that lived there (multiple people including my husband) went to private schools.

[beowulf77]

We just moved to Lake Highlands a few months ago and love it. We lived in Plano for several years and the difference is night-and-day. We actually met our neighbors within day of moving in and the people are very, very nice. The accessibility of the entire metroplex can't be beat either. I'd say stay south of Forest and east of Greenville but within Richardson ISD. My wife focused on Merriman Park Elem, Moss Haven Elem and White Rock Elem. We settled on the Forest Meadows neighborhood and I really do enjoy it.

Good luck OP

PS. The only thing I'd like to add is that you should get a static pressure sewer line test done on any new home. Most if not all of the homes down here have cast iron sewer plumbing and it can be leaky. They found 4 minor leaks in our home but we had the seller pay for repairs and we feel very good about it. Just a fact of life with these homes (ours was built in the 80s).

Seems like on M streets you are not going to get a very family-friendly home... that you can grow into (smaller unless you do the sorry tear-down/McMansion thing). If that is your plan again I recommend LH.

[TheCzar]

If you are working in downtown Dallas, Lakewood is your destination. There really aren't SFR in Las Colinas or Valley Ranch. All you will find there are a bunch of apartments with swingin singles. People sleep around here in this part of Dallas.

[boarder846]

Originally Posted by mSooner

Hmm...as great as Hackberry Creek is, what about the school situation beyond elementary school, or do you think you will have moved by then? Everyone I knew that lived there (multiple people including my husband) went to private schools.

Right now we are specifically just looking for areas with good elementary schools. I know a valid argument can be made for buying in an area with good schools from K-12 but this would even further narrow the areas we can potentially look at and would really require a better look at various suburbs or the Park Cities (which we can't currently afford). Oh decisions, aren't they fun?