75214 Lakewood area or 75209 area or where? (Dallas, University Park: 2010, house, safe neighborhood)

[Texan by Choice]

Hello,
I am a mid-40s single female relocating to Dallas. I have a couple of dogs and am looking for a small house (1500-1900 sq ft). I have looked in the area left of the North Dallas Tollroad (left of University Park) in the 75209 zip code and found a very nice small, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house for $390,000.

I also looked in the Lakewood area (not sure really where I was at, but was in zip code 75214 area). Found a house I really like - 2 bedrooms for about $370,000.

I can't pay more than about $380,000 for a house, but would love something smallish, 3/2, in a safe neighborhood where I can walk my dogs around, and also be close to restaurants/shopping and downtown.
And, importantly, I want a house that will hold its value, because I may need to resell the house in a few years if my company moves out of downtown.

Really trying to weigh living left of Univ Park v. living in Lakewood area. I would like to live close to downtown, and both of these areas seem to fit the bill.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated. (And thank you for listening to one more story about where to live in Dallas )
Thank you.

[nsumner]

Well, the area west of University doesn't have much to walk to. Watch out also for aircrafts noise since it's close to Lovefield. I do like that it's a 3/2.

In Lakewood, depending where though, the values have always held very well and see appreciation every year. Price would have to be determined by doing a market analysis on the property to find out what it's worth then you decide what you want to pay for it. This is true for any home anyway.

With dogs, most of lakewood would be a no-brainer since you have several parks and can be a hop away from White Rock Lake...

Naima

[Macbeth2003]

Both areas would seem to meet your criteria, but the feel of the neighborhoods is quite different, almost opposite. I'd come down and spend some time exploring both.
University park has beautiful areas for dog walking,etc; however if you like to walk to restaurants, coffee shops etc, it doesn't have much.

University Park is very much like a nice suburb, that happens to be close to downtown, Deep Ellum, Uptown, etc. Lakewood/75214 is a little more like a small town that happens to be close to Downtown, Deep Ellum, White Rock lake, etc.

i realize you wouldn't be in UP but you would be in that kind of area.

[billdfw]

I don't think you can go wrong with either area. It's a matter of personal preference. Not to make your choice any more difficult, but you might also like homes in the M Streets area (zip 75206).

[lh_newbie]

FYI:

- 1500-1900 sq for $390K or less? You can pretty much pick your location.
- Property taxes on $390K in Dallas, TX = $9,000/year. It's always good to be aware of this.

I live in Lake Highlands, so let me pimp my area. Haha:

I've seen some places in that size range in Lake Highlands, 75231 area code, in Merriman Park Estates (West of Skillman, South of Walnut Hill) that has a beautiful park in the neighborhood that has the White Rock Trail going straight through it (about 2.5 mile walk on the trail to White Rock Lake) - and that can be had for $225-250K for the size you're looking at. With the Lake Highlands Town Center and DART rail station opening in 2010, the property value should be rock solid and only improve the walkability of the neighborhood.

[Texan by Choice]

Thank you all. I look forward to looking around the M Streets and Lake Highland areas in the near future!

[Boo_lew]

Another area to consider that is next to Lakewood is Hollywood/Santa Monica. The zip is 75223, the area begins with Valencia St. as the southern border. Neighborhood website is www.hsmna.org

[pattiwacks]

I live in Junius Heights Historical Neighborhood just west of Lakewood. You can not beat this area.

[eastdallasson]

I would definitely say look at Hollywood Heights and Junius Heights neighborhoods. Junius Heights can provide you with a nice old house probably plenty of options in your price range of appropriate size and is probably going to be more walkable than lakewood. the m streets are great too.

[Kootr]

You may want to contact member "Lakewooder" as he is very familiar with Lakewood and the surrounding areas...and has been very gracious in offering help to numerous people concerning the areas you're interested in. Send him a private message (include a link to this thread) and ask him to reply on this thread to your questions...