Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Dallas
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-15-2016, 10:08 AM
 
14 posts, read 13,452 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

We are family relocating from Mid-West to Coppell, TX by end of July. Chose Coppell for school district.
Need help with buying a home:
Price Range: $350 – 500K.
1. What are the features we must absolutely look for when looking to buy a home? By features I mean
a. Safety features – (such as storm windows, or anything to be safe in tornado warnings etc.)
b. For ease of selling (after say school years), what features should be there? (for example, here in
mid-west, a 3 car garage, or a granite counter top are standard features buyers expect when
houses are prized more than 350K)
2. Regarding heat – if all bed rooms are upstairs, is that terrible in summer? Do the upstairs rooms get
too hot? Related: for this reason, are ranches a bad option?
3. Which are the top quality home builders?
4. What is the average price per square foot for 10 - 20 year old houses ?
5. Any other tips for a family that lived in Midwest for a long time and not much of an idea about living
in Texas

Thank You
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-15-2016, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,819 posts, read 26,732,998 times
Reputation: 10541
Do you have a Realtor? If so, they should be helping you answer these questions.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 11:31 AM
 
Location: DFW
40,930 posts, read 48,959,201 times
Reputation: 54922
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristieP View Post
Do you have a Realtor? If so, they should be helping you answer these questions.
This and good luck with Coppell. It's only a city of about 37k people and everyone who moves to DFW looks in Coppell for a home. They are hard to find in your price range and sell with multiple offers.

Keep your options open for other areas. Buying a home here now is brutal. An agent in our office listed a home in Plano and had 59 offers before they stopped taking them.

Price per sqft? $150-$200. What little new construction you find starts about $600k
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 12:13 PM
 
3,478 posts, read 6,532,822 times
Reputation: 3239
You wont really have much of a choice in all of those things with the limited inventory. The main thing I would suggest is a foundation inspection as the area can have issues.

Quote:
1. What are the features we must absolutely look for when looking to buy a home? By features I mean
a. Safety features – (such as storm windows, or anything to be safe in tornado warnings etc.)
You can install an in ground garage tornado shelter for about $5k if you want, but it would be very rare to find one already installed in a home here. Most people go into an inner room, usually a bathroom, in a tornado warning.

Quote:
b. For ease of selling (after say school years), what features should be there? (for example, here in
mid-west, a 3 car garage, or a granite counter top are standard features buyers expect when
houses are prized more than 350K)
Upgraded interior is probably the biggest. Again, something you could do yourself if you find a home you like that isn't updated but in your desired price range.

Quote:
2. Regarding heat – if all bed rooms are upstairs, is that terrible in summer? Do the upstairs rooms get
too hot? Related: for this reason, are ranches a bad option?
Not if you have a good A/C system in. The age and efficiency of the system are something to consider when buying.
Quote:
3. Which are the top quality home builders?
Cant speak to this one. Very little new construction in Coppell and it is basically out of your price range.
Quote:
4. What is the average price per square foot for 10 - 20 year old houses ?
Others answered.
Quote:
5. Any other tips for a family that lived in Midwest for a long time and not much of an idea about living
in Texas
Coppell might not be as cheap as you are hoping, but it is a popular area for a reason--we love it here! Other than what has already been mentioned, realize it is a pretty small town with a relatively limited inventory, so you might not get quite as much choice as you hope.

One huge caveat: MAKE SURE YOU ARE ZONED TO COPPELL ISD. That is absolutely the biggest resale item to consider. ISD boundaries do not follow city lines in Texas. There are homes in Coppell (usually north of hwy 121 and east of MacArthur Blvd.) that are zoned to less desirable districts and priced accordingly. Right now they offer open enrollment at the elementary level, but I doubt this will last forever and you shouldn't count on it. Riverchase and Coppell Greens come to mind as the neighborhoods, but make sure you do your due diligence and double check.

You are also going to find alley garage systems throughout a lot of Coppell. Some people hate it, but if you try and limit your home search to front garages, you are going to have a very tough time
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 12:21 PM
 
14 posts, read 13,452 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks mSooner. I was asking about builders, so from existing home inventory, we need to figure out which builders we may need to stay away. Not to build new homes. As of now I have shortlisted 14 homes that we can take a look. Two of those are new construction already built: in Irving, but zoned to Coppell. We are going down this week to go see these homes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 12:23 PM
 
14 posts, read 13,452 times
Reputation: 10
To ChristieP, We did not choose a realtor, wondering whether it is worth to get into a contract with a particular realtor or stay open. Not sure about that yet.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 12:29 PM
 
Location: Frisco, TX
50 posts, read 61,162 times
Reputation: 46
My friend recently relocated from LA and had a tough time finding a home in Coppell. Most of the sellers want the listed price or more for their homes. They even lay down a clause on the agreement that, if the appraised price is less than the listed price, then the buyer pays the difference. The Coppell market is very competitive!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 12:30 PM
 
Location: Frisco, TX
50 posts, read 61,162 times
Reputation: 46
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoveFamily View Post
Thanks mSooner. I was asking about builders, so from existing home inventory, we need to figure out which builders we may need to stay away. Not to build new homes. As of now I have shortlisted 14 homes that we can take a look. Two of those are new construction already built: in Irving, but zoned to Coppell. We are going down this week to go see these homes.
Don't be surprised if half of those homes will be sold, by the time you go and see them
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 01:41 PM
 
3,478 posts, read 6,532,822 times
Reputation: 3239
Quote:
Thanks mSooner. I was asking about builders, so from existing home inventory, we need to figure out which builders we may need to stay away. Not to build new homes. As of now I have shortlisted 14 homes that we can take a look. Two of those are new construction already built: in Irving, but zoned to Coppell. We are going down this week to go see these homes.
Living here, I haven't heard of any to specifically avoid

Fox & Jacobs built most of the homes in the late 70s/early 80s and they aren't great, but I think you are above that price point
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-15-2016, 02:41 PM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,819 posts, read 26,732,998 times
Reputation: 10541
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoveFamily View Post
To ChristieP, We did not choose a realtor, wondering whether it is worth to get into a contract with a particular realtor or stay open. Not sure about that yet.
You are going to need a realtor to even look at houses. The market in Coppell is super hot, and you need to be able to look at homes the day they list if you want any hope of finding one this summer.

Do be aware that Coppell has some of the highest property taxes in DFW...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Dallas
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:59 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top