Park Cities / Univerity Park home off Preston would you buy? (Hillcrest: real estate, house)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

I would pass. During our recent home search, we looked at a number of homes and some of them backed up to far less trafficked roads than Preston, and the noise was more than I was willing to put up with. With a home like that, schedule a showing around 5:30-6:00 pm, at rush hour, and see if you can tolerate the noise.

We toured one home in McKinney that backed up to Lake Forest Dr... a two lane road that doesn't get anywhere near the traffic that Preston does. Had a nice outdoor area, big pool, outdoor kitchen... and tons of noise from passing trucks and motorcycles. Could hear the motorcycles inside the house too, it was a definite deal breaker.

On the flip side though, the house was priced significantly below comps in the area because of the road, so if you're not someone that would be bothered by road noise, then you could get a good deal on it.

I 100% agree with you, but fwiw Lake Forest Drive in McKinney is probably comprable to Preston Road south of Lovers....Preston may even have less daily traffic and the speed limit is a true 30mph (or beware the wrath of UP Police!) vs 35-45mph in McKinney. Preston Road in Collin County is far more congested and noisy than in the Park Cities/ Preston Hollow.

[GreyDay]

Go 30 mph, not 32. You have been warned.

[HockDad]

I would not buy it for investment purposes, but only if I was desperate to get kids in HPISD and it was the only way I could afford a home.

[mami2emily]

I always think in terms of resale value and also ease of resale. That type of lot is a no for most people...even if it's in Volks Estates. Preston Road is very very busy. I'm sure you could make it work, but when it's time to sell you will have a hard time.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by HockDad

I would not buy it for investment purposes, but only if I was desperate to get kids in HPISD and it was the only way I could afford a home.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say yes and no. As far as investment, it's been pretty difficult to beat anything in the Park Cities area in terms of investment in DFW.

As far as desperate to get their kids into HPISD, if someone is looking at a "larger" house in UP, they can probably find a more reasonably priced home in other parts of HPISD this is not directly located on a major thoroughfare.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

I'm going to go against the grain here and say yes and no. As far as investment, it's been pretty difficult to beat anything in the Park Cities area in terms of investment in DFW.

As far as desperate to get their kids into HPISD, if someone is looking at a "larger" house in UP, they can probably find a more reasonably priced home in other parts of HPISD this is not directly located on a major thoroughfare.

As a counterpoint - and I know OP isn't in this situation, but it's relevant to your train of thought - if a family is in a financial situation where they are stretching to get into the Park Cities or stretching to find the cheapest bigger house/lot, they could be placing themselves into a risky situation should the financial situation erode and the house needs to sell ASAP. Even in a good market, those Preston Road houses can take 5-6 months to sell. In a bad market, I've seen two of those houses sit for 12-24 months. Waiting for 6 months to sell your house when carrying costs are $9,000++ per month could lead towards bankruptcy quickly.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

As a counterpoint - and I know OP isn't in this situation, but it's relevant to your train of thought - if a family is in a financial situation where they are stretching to get into the Park Cities or stretching to find the cheapest bigger house/lot, they could be placing themselves into a risky situation should the financial situation erode and the house needs to sell ASAP. Even in a good market, those Preston Road houses can take 5-6 months to sell. In a bad market, I've seen two of those houses sit for 12-24 months. Waiting for 6 months to sell your house when carrying costs are $9,000++ per month could lead towards bankruptcy quickly.

Very good point.

[MenardMQ]

Even in a good market, those Preston Road houses can take 5-6 months to sell. In a bad market, I've seen two of those houses sit for 12-24 months. Waiting for 6 months to sell your house when carrying costs are $9,000++ per month could lead towards bankruptcy quickly.

An inside the fairway home sitting on the market that long, even on Preston, sings of an obstant seller that is hoping for more, but doesn't care about losing holding costs to hold out for more. It is the principle of the matter for them - even to their demise. Many park cities owners "feel" that they have nothing to lose by waiting out a downturn.

[GreyDay]

Good to hear varying opinions. Thanks. Seems like by and large, making the move to a more stately home even one off Preston carries baggage. I was talking myself into how cool it was to see the house right off the street until I noticed you could almost see folks at dinner eating.

I agree with rrbcfy, homes priced right should move quickly, anything else, you're asking too much.

HPISD is fine. Even if we didn't utilize the schools we'd likely live here mostly due to the ease of selling vs. a bigger place in PH whenever the time came.

[bencronin04]

I've never heard of this "fairway" you always refer. It makes sense, just I've never heard it spoken of.