Buying house in UP (Dallas, Center: city hall, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[astropathtobe]

We are thinking about buying a house in UP that is not served by UP police, etc. Its on the west, north side - is there downsides to this? It seems to be on the street that is split (one side is UP, one isn't). Just curious if anyone has any experience with this? We are a little worried it would affect re-sale value.

[TurtleCreek80]

You’re talking about HPISD but city of Dallas? Those homes have never been in the city of UP and will never be in the city of UP so whatever the price difference is already priced in. The ISD is the important thing that people are interested in and that won’t ever change either.

Basically - it’s a slightly discounted way to get into the top public district and one of the nicest neighborhoods in the Dallas area with the minor inconvenience of not being able to have UP fire/police/sanitation services. You can still use the UP Pool and UP Library (open to all HPISD residents).

[astropathtobe]

Yes, its HPISD but I guess its city of dallas police and sanitation services. I am not sure if we can mention specific homes but its on Greenbrier, between douglas and lomo alto dr. I guess its already discounted for not being in UP and being closer to tollway but its hard to know what that discount should be?

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by astropathtobe

Yes, its HPISD but I guess its city of dallas police and sanitation services. I am not sure if we can mention specific homes but its on Greenbrier, between douglas and lomo alto dr. I guess its already discounted for not being in UP and being closer to tollway but its hard to know what that discount should be?

Your realtor can pull comps and let you know what the going rate is. I would guess slightly less than a 4400 block home in UP by 5%-ish.

It’s a pretty home. Price looks fair compared to UP/HPISD newer construction in the last block.

[JTC Mom]

I think it's priced well and it's very pretty. I also like that it's walkable to Hyer and Preston Center. That's a lot of good things! But, I would also say that I personally really appreciate having HP/UP sanitation and police. (I've lived in both and HP is better IMHO but both are great). I also like having access to city tennis courts, which I believe would not be available to a Dallas resident. Even though I feel that way, I would imagine that many people would not care much at all about being in Dallas, as long as they get HPISD schools.

[TeamLynn]

There is a difference. Park Cities PD dispatch quickly in most cases. Dallas PD is currently 700 officers short or something like that....I remember walking into one of those houses to show on a Sunday morning and it had been burglarized. Dallas dispatch said if there was no one in the house a detective would call on Tuesday....no one comes out..you just file a report over the phone probably. Very very different services. We'll see how things move forward, but in the current environment it is not easy to hire officers and there could be even less funding for PD in big cities....so there you go.

[JTC Mom]

Originally Posted by TeamLynn

There is a difference. Park Cities PD dispatch quickly in most cases. Dallas PD is currently 700 officers short or something like that....I remember walking into one of those houses to show on a Sunday morning and it had been burglarized. Dallas dispatch said if there was no one in the house a detective would call on Tuesday....no one comes out..you just file a report over the phone probably. Very very different services. We'll see how things move forward, but in the current environment it is not easy to hire officers and there could be even less funding for PD in big cities....so there you go.

There is a HUGE difference, for sure. The level of service for city services in HP/UP is unbelievable. A few examples...

1.) I once removed a built-in cabinet in my house and put the pieces of wood on the curb for bulk trash pickup. I called to double check that I had the correct day and found out that my bulk trash pick up day was the day before. I told the dispatcher I would move the debris into my garage until the following week, and she said, "well, then where would you park for the next week" and sent the bulk trash truck to my house within an hour.

2.) Once, late at night, when my husband was traveling I thought I heard my door open downstairs and got spooked. I dialed the police non-emergency line but then felt silly and hung up just as it started to ring the first time. Someone called me back immediately. I was pretty embarrassed but they told me it was better to be safe than sorry and sent an officer to my house in less than one minute. (embarrassing, yes and you might hate this, but I did appreciate it!)

3.) I have twice lived on a corner and the sanitation workers told me there is no need to put my trash cans out, that they are happy to retrieve them from and return them to the alley.

4.) When you have a question about anything city/town related, you can call city hall, speak to a person who will actually answer your question or help you figure out a solution. This is especially true in HP!


The services are a big reason I love living in the Park Cities. I do think the house you have found is a good one, but there are other good options in the same price range. So, if the high level of service appeals to you...just something to consider. Good luck!

[NTXPerson]

I agree with the others. Resale value shouldn’t be an issue since City of Dallas itself is valuable. However, if city services are a big concern to you, then HP/UP definitely has better services. HP and UP are tiny and therefore, their city services have less strain. Whereas Dallas is huge and has the typical strain on its services that most large cities have.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by TeamLynn

There is a difference. Park Cities PD dispatch quickly in most cases. Dallas PD is currently 700 officers short or something like that....I remember walking into one of those houses to show on a Sunday morning and it had been burglarized. Dallas dispatch said if there was no one in the house a detective would call on Tuesday....no one comes out..you just file a report over the phone probably. Very very different services. We'll see how things move forward, but in the current environment it is not easy to hire officers and there could be even less funding for PD in big cities....so there you go.

There's another angle on North Dallas vs. TPC. We strongly considered TPC in 2010. The RE markets were soft at the time as you know. Long story short we wanted a large lot - room for a big pool, space for big dogs, lots of trees, legit chip and putt area, veggie garden etc. and we were agnostic about the home being move in ready all the way to being a tear down.

At the end of the day 1 to 1.75 acre lots with any quality home in TPC were $1,000,000 more bare minimum most much more than that.

So there is a legit pro and con matrix to consider. For us.......I can buy a lot of fractional private security, private schooling etc. for a $1MM dollars.

[astropathtobe]

Originally Posted by EDS_

There's another angle on North Dallas vs. TPC. We strongly considered TPC in 2010. The RE markets were soft at the time as you know. Long story short we wanted a large lot - room for a big pool, space for big dogs, lots of trees, legit chip and putt area, veggie garden etc. and we were agnostic about the home being move in ready all the way to being a tear down.

At the end of the day 1 to 1.75 acre lots with any quality home in TPC were $1,000,000 more bare minimum most much more than that.

So there is a legit pro and con matrix to consider. For us.......I can buy a lot of fractional private security, private schooling etc. for a $1MM dollars.

What is TPC? I agree pricing is really high in that whole area but we are moving from east coast and really drawn to more walkable areas in UP/HP