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Moved from Austin to Dallas in 2009. Have one special needs grader "Child 1", one TAG kindergartener "Child 2". When we moved, I called around to the various Dallas area ISDs to talk about Child 1's needs. Got nowhere with DISD (big surprise), never got a call back from RISD (actually, finally did but it was 2 months later and we'd already moved), and got a long email from HPISD from someone who responded (while she was on vacation) inviting me for a visit! Done. We moved to UP and rented a SFA. Fast forward 4 years later, we are stronger financially, have sold our house in Austin, and are ready to buy. Unfortunately, so is everyone else. Small cottages in UP/HP that we could have purchased three years ago are becoming unreachable. The frenzy is ridiculous. There are a few that were off the market before they were on the market. We've been shopping for a year and despite multiple asking-price, and over-asking-price offers, we have landed nothing in the Park Cities. I'm very in touch with what's on the market, the streets, prices, have seen hip pockets, etc., so it's not for a lack of trying. We're not "Park Cities people", but the community and the schools have been really great to Child 1 - who physically looks different and has some learning/social challenges, though is mainstreamed.
So, while we're still (sort of) waiting for a miraculous property to come open in UP, I'm also facing facts. We want to buy a house and settle. I don't want to rent for the next 12 years just to be in UP. While I think that there are some great opportunities in HPISD, I'm not sure that bringing my children up in a 99% white wealthy demographic is a realistic view of the world (though lots of those kids are multi-generational bubblites, so maybe it's ok for them), and from what I've seen most of the kids from suburban Dallas and HP all go to the same colleges anyway.
We've talked about Richardson ISD on and off, but I'm now starting to really look at it seriously because our options are running out. I'm just not familiar enough with RISD yet, to make any real determinations about what RISD schools and neighborhoods might be the best for Child 1 to grow up in. I have no worries about Child 2 (who reads chapter books and does multiplication, etc), but I would like a strong TAG program for her so she doesn't get bored.
I've driven the northwest corner of RISD (city of Dallas to the west and over to the Reservation to the east), and my real estate view is so warped after studying Park Cities for a year, that I can't tell what a good price is or what the better neighborhoods are, or what... Apparently the Reservation is a hot commodity, but I'm not sure why...it looks the same as lots of other stuff over there to me. Can someone enlighten me?
What would be really helpful is a rundown of all the neighborhoods in that northwest corner of RISD by name/location and a short demographic/house value & quality/school/neighborhood description. (Oh, and the reason we are focusing on the NW corner is that hubby works in Coppell and I think we'd like to be zoned for Pearce.) Can someone assist? And if anyone has any suggestions for outside the area I think I want to look at, please feel free...
My ideal would be a 2500+ sf house with a nice sized yard in an area where houses are well maintained, kids play together, people say hi to their neighbors, have the occasional block parties or school fundraisers, decorate for Halloween and Christmas - you know, just neighborhood-ish. While we've been willing to go to higher prices in the bubble, I don't want to get stuck with an expensive home in Richardson/Dallas, so I think we would not want to spend more than about $425K up there, but would prefer to spend less.
Any thoughts?
Last edited by Willsson; 04-19-2013 at 07:35 AM..
Reason: Per OP, revised identifying names
I've driven the northwest corner of RISD (city of Dallas to the west and over to the Reservation to the east), and my real estate view is so warped after studying Park Cities for a year, that I can't tell what a good price is or what the better neighborhoods are, or what... Apparently the Reservation is a hot commodity, but I'm not sure why...it looks the same as lots of other stuff over there to me. Can someone enlighten me?
What would be really helpful is a rundown of all the neighborhoods in that northwest corner of RISD by name/location and a short demographic/house value & quality/school/neighborhood description. (Oh, and the reason we are focusing on the NW corner is that hubby works in Coppell and I think we'd like to be zoned for Pearce.) Can someone assist? And if anyone has any suggestions for outside the area I think I want to look at, please feel free...
My ideal would be a 2500+ sf house with a nice sized yard in an area where houses are well maintained, kids play together, people say hi to their neighbors, have the occasional block parties or school fundraisers, decorate for Halloween and Christmas - you know, just neighborhood-ish. While we've been willing to go to higher prices in the bubble, I don't want to get stuck with an expensive home in Richardson/Dallas, so I think we would not want to spend more than about $425K up there, but would prefer to spend less.
Any thoughts?
Cottage king always says "move to Plano."
I live in Richardson; you want to look in zip codes 75080 (part Pearce, part RHS) and 75248 (Dallas but zoned to Richardson ISD).
I'd look at Highlands North on the west side of Coit just south of Campbell and Canyon Creek. Be careful with Canyon Creek as it straddles the Dallas and Collin County lines; anything in Collin County is zoned to Plano schools. Anything in Dallas County in Canyon Creek is zoned to the Pearce feeder pattern.
I think he's just as confused as me to have the only consideration to be University Park or Richardson. What's wrong with continuing to rent? Is your commute a consideration at all? I would think renting a home you are unable to purchase means you are coming out way ahead on the financial front. And the "not UP people" comment seems sort of odd, considering that the median home sales price in the DFW area is around $200k and you are buying at double that. So you want to be near "these rich people", but not "those rich people".... Also Plano seems like a decent option considering that the areas DGeek suggested all basically border Plano, and Plano has lower property taxes.
Richardson is a fine place to live and we all have our reasons for choosing where we do, I'm just sort of confused at the reasoning you provided.
I think he's just as confused as me to have the only consideration to be University Park or Richardson. What's wrong with continuing to rent? Is your commute a consideration at all? I would think renting a home you are unable to purchase means you are coming out way ahead on the financial front. And the "not UP people" comment seems sort of odd, considering that the median home sales price in the DFW area is around $200k and you are buying at double that. So you want to be near "these rich people", but not "those rich people".... Also Plano seems like a decent option considering that the areas DGeek suggested all basically border Plano, and Plano has lower property taxes.
Richardson is a fine place to live and we all have our reasons for choosing where we do, I'm just sort of confused at the reasoning you provided.
I'm not condemning Plano at all; the OP asked about Richardson so I'm giving him/her info about Richardson. Plano is just as nice a place to live.
I know several families with special needs children and the most common public school decision seems to be HPISD v RISD. Both do an outstanding job with special needs. FWIW, all but 1 family I know picked HPISD and the one who ended up in RISD would have done HPISD if they could afford to be there....they have a mid-five-figure annual therapy bill for their daughter which prohibits even renting in HPISD since they have 4 kiddos and can't realistically cram into a cheap 2 BR apartment to be in the district.
Pearce is an excellent school- one of the top in the area- but if your kids are both thriving in HPISD, why move? Keep renting and don't panic about housing. Something will work out in your budget- maybe not in this frantic market, but I have a feeling prices will slow down or slightly retract when the jumbo loans solidly cross the 4% range later this year. It took my cash-paying friends 13 offers and almost 2 years before they found their sub-$1M home in HPISD this spring.
Not you, the OP. And they didn't condem Plano (or anywhere else) they just had a really narrow list of choice areas to live and the reasoning for picking those two (over say Garland or Lakewood or Irving or Carrollton or any number of other places) didn't make sense to me.
You didn't condem anywhere either; your Richardson advice was solid.
I know several families with special needs children and the most common public school decision seems to be HPISD v RISD. Both do an outstanding job with special needs. FWIW, all but 1 family I know picked HPISD and the one who ended up in RISD would have done HPISD if they could afford to be there....they have a mid-five-figure annual therapy bill for their daughter which prohibits even renting in HPISD since they have 4 kiddos and can't realistically cram into a cheap 2 BR apartment to be in the district.
Pearce is an excellent school- one of the top in the area- but if your kids are both thriving in HPISD, why move? Keep renting and don't panic about housing. Something will work out in your budget- maybe not in this frantic market, but I have a feeling prices will slow down or slightly retract when the jumbo loans solidly cross the 4% range later this year. It took my cash-paying friends 13 offers and almost 2 years before they found their sub-$1M home in HPISD this spring.
Gosh...I'm not sure if that makes me feel better! Thanks though.
Not you, the OP. And they didn't condem Plano (or anywhere else) they just had a really narrow list of choice areas to live and the reasoning for picking those two (over say Garland or Lakewood or Irving or Carrollton or any number of other places) didn't make sense to me.
You didn't condem anywhere either; your Richardson advice was solid.
Well, I didn't go into every single detail, but we have limited our choices based on a number of factors including the commute, the special needs services reputations, the proximity to our kids' summer care/activities/things we like to do, the types of housing neighborhoods we like, etc. So, while it's nice that everyone wants to suggest other options, we have been here 4 years now and have considered various areas thoroughly. Really, I was just looking for Richardson neighborhood info from insiders.
I've driven the northwest corner of RISD (city of Dallas to the west and over to the Reservation to the east), and my real estate view is so warped after studying Park Cities for a year, that I can't tell what a good price is or what the better neighborhoods are, or what... Apparently the Reservation is a hot commodity, but I'm not sure why...it looks the same as lots of other stuff over there to me. Can someone enlighten me?
Why is the Reservation hot? It's a tight neighborhood with nice affordable homes that feed into good schools. it is convenient to the essentials, like shopping and medical care. People tend to stay and houses don't come on the market all that often. There are young couples/families that grew up in the Reservation who are biding their time in my neighborhood just to the south until their parents are ready to downsize give up the house to them. It also has a neighborhood name people remember. My impression is that the similar nearby neighborhoods are equally competitive.
If you haven't looked at Canyon Creek to the east and north of UTD and the streets with the Civil War battle names (not sure whether that is considered part of Canyon Creek or not), you should. The houses are larger. Some have been rebuilt from the pier and beam up or have been significantly expanded. You might also be interested in Waterview Preservation and the area just to the east (Creekdale, Beechwood, Lakeview, the West Shore circle). Many rebuilds there as well. One is being built right now. Those feed into RHS, though, not Pearce.
Good luck.
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