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Old 07-02-2012, 03:27 PM
 
61 posts, read 155,884 times
Reputation: 32

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We are currently looking for house to purchase in west Allen. Since both of us will work in downtown, we would like to be closer to 75 so that we can take advantage of the HOV lane.

Star creek seems to be a very nice community. Any thoughts about it? How about the price/sqf, is it too high? It looks more expensive than many parts of west Allen. Will houses in this community holds its value better in the long run? Newer construction, better builders (highland, darling, huntington). But the lots are really small. We relocated from the east coast, to our surprise, some SFH lots are even smaller than a Townhouse we used to live.

The elementary school currently star creek feeds to is Cheatham. Since it's pretty new (opened in 2010), I could not find any review/rating on schooldiggers or greatschools. Anyone can share some insider information about this school? How it is compared to other west allen elementary (Evans, Boon, Kerr, Green, Norton)? My Realtor believes it will be a good one as all others in West Allen since the houses feeds to it are expensive. Does this statement make sense?

Curtis middle. Cheatham elementary feeds to Curtis middle. It's the only elementary in West Allen feeds to Curtis, which is in East Allen. So far, from all the resources I can get, Ereckson seems to be better than Curtis. Not to mention, Curtis is located on the very east side of Allen, less convenient. I am a little concerned to purchase a more expensive West Allen home but have to send kids to the less desirable East Allen middle. Any thoughts? Correct me, if I am wrong.

Thank you for any thought/suggestions!
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Old 07-02-2012, 03:52 PM
 
119 posts, read 247,152 times
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I can't answer some (most) of your questions, but I can tell you about the traffic from Star Creek. I apologize if you already know about the traffic issues. We live just a bit further down Stacy (a little past 121). My husband works in the White Rock Lake area of Dallas and his drives are horrendous some days. It can take him upwards of 1.5 hrs when he's stuck in traffic, which happens at least once a week. Accidents are frequent in the HOV too, or someone stalls into the HOV which is a pain. I'm not sure what times you travel, but it can be bad even for me, and I work just off of Spring Creek Parkway. There are alternative routes that you can take like Greenville that seem to move pretty quickly most days.

That being said, Star Creek is gorgeous, albeit the small lots that you mention; however, community pools and such make it so you really don't need a pool or anything that would take up a lot of space in the backyard.

We don't have kids so I can't help you with the schools.

Sorry that I can't help you more--I just really wanted to warn you about how bad the traffic can be.
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Old 07-02-2012, 05:39 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,197,831 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tracenat View Post
I can't answer some (most) of your questions, but I can tell you about the traffic from Star Creek. I apologize if you already know about the traffic issues. We live just a bit further down Stacy (a little past 121). My husband works in the White Rock Lake area of Dallas and his drives are horrendous some days. It can take him upwards of 1.5 hrs when he's stuck in traffic, which happens at least once a week. Accidents are frequent in the HOV too, or someone stalls into the HOV which is a pain. I'm not sure what times you travel, but it can be bad even for me, and I work just off of Spring Creek Parkway. There are alternative routes that you can take like Greenville that seem to move pretty quickly most days.

Sorry that I can't help you more--I just really wanted to warn you about how bad the traffic can be.
OP, I really hope you read this and let it sink in. Especially if you BOTH work downtown and have kids in Allen schools (which can be 1+++ hours away in traffic.....which happens outside traditional "rush" hour on 75), you have very little flexibility to pick up a sick kid from school or get to any parent-teacher meetings or respond to any emergencies at home (pipe burst, etc). With 1 parent working downtown and doing the Allen commute, it's a tough slug. But with both parents, it's almost unthinkable. And I'm glad tracenat responded first since she actually lives there and has a commuting husband! Hopefully you will take it to heart.

Oh yeah, and there really is no "advantage" to the HOV lane on 75. Many cars have 2+ passengers and many "rebels" just drive in the HOV lane anyways when solo. I would say it maybe moves 5mph faster than the reg lanes, but not like 20mph faster. Plus, when there's a wreck in the HOV lane, watch out. You won't be going anywhere for hours if you're stuck in the HOV lane behind it.

There are other closer in neighborhoods & suburbs with new housing, good schools, and a MUCH shorter commute.

Last edited by BstYet2Be; 07-03-2012 at 02:09 AM.. Reason: correction per OP
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Old 07-03-2012, 08:41 AM
 
61 posts, read 155,884 times
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Tracenat, Turtlecreek80, Thank you both so much for your input! Yes, it's a painful debating whether to move to Allen/plano. We currently live in the village, we really love the surrounding restaurant/shopping and especially the easy commute to work. But the nearby school is really not good. We cannot afford to buy in HP nor UP. Our kids are young, 3yr/1yr. So there is another 2yrs before my older one go to school.

I've read a lot of posts on this forum (super informative! thank you all). Lakewood seems to be a really nice place to live. We also have coworkers live there. lakewood elementary is great. But I just cannot find a decent one with 4BR, at least 2Bath (I have lowered my expectation from 4bath ), within our budget (~400K). Anyone can suggest a more realistic expectation from what you can get in lakewood within our price range? Neither of us is handy, we would like something in good shape with least repair and move-in ready.

We also have coworkers live in Allen. Some of them with stay-at-home wife, some of them live a little south, say, south of McDermott, some of them have much older kids. In our case, both of us commute and two young kids. It's really different and challenging. We used to live in the DC metro area when we have no kids. So long commute is not something we are not familiar with. But now, with TWO young kids. It totally different.

My husband has a pretty flexible schedule, but for me I'd better stick to the 8am-4:30pm schedule.

Option 1: We find a daycare in Allen with extended hours and breakfast, so we can leave together early in the morning, around 7am. And pick them up before 6:30PM, which is the longest hour most daycare/preschool can have. IF anything happens during the day, one of us can drive back (I guess in that case, it's not rush hour, we should be able to get there within 40min), the other one will either take the DART or ask a favor of ride from other coworkers. I can also find friends/backup sitters(has to be someone I can really trust) to pick up my kids when we are late. Does that sound doable?

Option2: Kids still in Allen. I (mom) get up early in the morning have the breakfast done and drive to take DART, get to the office before 8am. My husband can feed and get both of them ready to school. He can leave after 9am, when traffic gets better. I take off at 4-4:30pm, take DART, pick up both kids and cook dinner. Husband will take off after 7:30pm. Or, I can forget about DART and drive also. We have two cars. I personally don't really like this one, since the whole family will have less time together.

Option3: We have daycare/doctor close to our office. But I just don't know if our kids can take it since it's such a long commute for them, EVERYDAY. Plus, eventually, they have to go to the elementary school near home anyway. This won't last long.


That's all about our thoughts live in Allen.

I would love and open to find other places with easy resale down the road. Even for lakewood, the middle school is not as good as its elementary. That means we might need to move again before middle school. I just don't know the impact on our kids due to constantly moving and changing school.
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Old 07-03-2012, 08:50 AM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,171,805 times
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Look in Richardson or Plano. Allen is so far away, as the others said, your commute will be hell on Earth.

For your budget you can find a great house in Canyon Creek in Richardson zoned to awesome schools. Check out the 75080 zip code on any website.
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Old 07-03-2012, 08:57 AM
 
119 posts, read 247,152 times
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Sunball--can you look farther down in Allen, like by Watters Creek? Even that little bit helps. Stacy is really far, that's the issue. Like BigDGeek said, have you looked in Plano or Richardson? Homes are going really, really quickly right now--we've lost out on a few--but if you are fast enough you can get some really great homes, especially in that price range!

The other problem with that area is that it's going to just continue to grow and with how busy the Villages and the outlets are, and how crazy people drive over there, it's just going to get worse.

We are currently buying our first house (waiting to hear back on an offer today, actually, so fingers crossed!) so I totally feel your pain.

As for moving, we moved 12 times when I was a kid and I turned out just fine BUT, I'll never do that my our kids if we have them. Moving at a young age is much easier than as teens.
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Old 07-03-2012, 09:01 AM
 
61 posts, read 155,884 times
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Thank you BigDGeek, zipcode is helpful. I need to do more research. Are the schools you mentioned are: canyon creek elementary, Richardson middle, and pearce high?

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek View Post
Look in Richardson or Plano. Allen is so far away, as the others said, your commute will be hell on Earth.

For your budget you can find a great house in Canyon Creek in Richardson zoned to awesome schools. Check out the 75080 zip code on any website.
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Old 07-03-2012, 09:42 AM
 
61 posts, read 155,884 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by tracenat View Post
Sunball--can you look farther down in Allen, like by Watters Creek? Even that little bit helps. Stacy is really far, that's the issue. Like BigDGeek said, have you looked in Plano or Richardson? Homes are going really, really quickly right now--we've lost out on a few--but if you are fast enough you can get some really great homes, especially in that price range!

The other problem with that area is that it's going to just continue to grow and with how busy the Villages and the outlets are, and how crazy people drive over there, it's just going to get worse.

We are currently buying our first house (waiting to hear back on an offer today, actually, so fingers crossed!) so I totally feel your pain.

As for moving, we moved 12 times when I was a kid and I turned out just fine BUT, I'll never do that my our kids if we have them. Moving at a young age is much easier than as teens.
Thank you Tracenat, I wish you all the best with your house hunting! Wish you get that house!

I will check plano or other part of south west allen. It's no fun to tour the houses with two kids in such hot summer.......pain......
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Old 07-03-2012, 09:49 AM
 
41 posts, read 128,774 times
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Sun....
We have several same questions and similar situation with the kids.... We were considering Starcreek and Waterford Park as well. However, Turtle and new friends here on the forum helped answered some and provided great feedback about... Maybe it is better to look in west plano. They suggested great locations in west plano (great schools) within 400k range.

Please review the thread "Many Questions about North Dallas", currently on the second page on Dallas forum.
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Old 07-03-2012, 10:44 AM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,197,831 times
Reputation: 13140
What about Sunnyvale? It has lots of affordable new construction, bigger lots than Allen, an excellent small school system, about 30 min into downtown in rush hour, and close to shopping/entertainment in Rockwall (or easy to get into downtown/uptown for a date night), good highway access via 30/ 635/ Bush to central and north Dallas. Plus being near Lake Ray Hubbard is awesome, too!

Moderator cut: not permitted You can DEFINITELY find a 4/3 at minimum on a 1/3+ acre lot in a planned community (pool, trails, lake,etc) for $400k in Sunnyvale- and STILL get the exemplary school system you want.


Just a thought. Everyone does NOT need to move to the north burbs to find a great suburban life in the Dallas area. There ARE other choices out there....they just aren't discussed much on this forum for whatever reason....

Last edited by BstYet2Be; 07-03-2012 at 02:29 PM..
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