Best areas of Cedar Hill? (Dallas, Austin: crime, mortgage, custom home)

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by southern living

except for certain pockets in the metroplex, length of days in the market has gone up in almost all areas because of the rise in foreclosures. This is true everywhere and not unique to cedar hill.

Clearly, their are more people moving in than moving out as pop. has gone up and median income has gone up (according to money magazine). People are voting with their feet. This would never happen if the place had bad schools or was unsafe

despite continued negative perception,due mostly to ignorance, the fact is the area is BOOMING. why? because anybody who actually comes out and checks the place out for themselves and sees what it is about like what they see.

again, population is up, and median income has risen. as per money magazine, median income in cedar hill is comparable to lewisville, carrolton e.t.c. cedar hill has just gotten better and better. If you are interested in SW burbs, check them out for yourself

Southern Living, I couldn't agree with you more! People are definitely voting with their feet and many are choosing to live in the communities in southwest Dallas County.

These are the latest population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and North Central Texas Council of Governments. Since both agencies use different methods to calculate estimates, the numbers may vary slightly.

April 1, 2000 Official Population (U.S. Census Bureau)
Cedar Hill: 32,093
DeSoto: 37,646
Duncanville: 36,081
Lancaster: 25,894

July 1, 2007 U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates
Cedar Hill: 44,422 (an increase of 12,329 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2007]: 38.42%)
DeSoto: 46,857 (an increase of 9,211 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2007]: 24.47%)
Duncanville: 36,286 (an increase of 205 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2007]: 0.57%)
Lancaster: 35,213 (an increase of 9,319 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2007]: 35.99%)

January 1, 2008 NCTCOG Population Estimates
Cedar Hill: 44,900 (an increase of 12,807 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2008]: 39.91%)
DeSoto: 48,100 (an increase of 10,454 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2008]: 27.77%)
Duncanville: 38,400 (an increase of 2,319 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2008]: 6.42%)
Lancaster: 35,800 (an increase of 9,906 since 2000; Growth Rate [2000-2008]: 38.26%)

When compared with the other "first-ring" or "inner-ring" suburbs (those that share a common border with Dallas), Cedar Hill has grown at the fastest rate since the year 2000 and Lancaster is second. Grand Prairie and DeSoto aren't that far behind.

The numbers don't lie.

[Acntx]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Did I say anything about "safe"? I said resale is bad. I get listings in Cedar Hill all the time from home owners moving out of the area, and investors getting rid of their inventory in the area, and the days on the market are LONG and the prices we're selling the houses for are equal to or less than what they paid. I said RESALE is bad, and said nothing about safety. You must be worried about the safety in that area if that's what was on your brain.

Since I don't like confrontation, I am going to leave that last sentence alone.

Originally Posted by Grainraiser

Checking it out for yourself is always the best thing to do. Check out a neighborhood on the weekends and the weekdays. Your eyes will never lie to you. One size does not fit all and everyone has different preferences so just because you would not pick a certain area does not mean it's not perfect for someone else. I gave my opinion to the OP based on what they wanted not what I think they should do. I suggest others do the same.

Well said, Grainraiser! Seeing is believing.

[southern living]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

I would love to meet this person and shake their hand! I always tell my clients before considering anything south of I30 to think long and hard about how long they plan on living there. The resale in the southern cities is horrible and has been for the past 3 or so years. If you're going to be there long-term, more power to you as current resale doesn't effect you just yet, but I highly recommend looking at the school information before making any decisions.

as i stated earlier, the time it takes to sell and the prices has suffered everywhere, not just in cedar hill, due to foreclosures. This is true all over the country. its a buyers market and everyone knows it. The data on schools has been posted and speaks for itself.

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Did I say anything about "safe"? I said resale is bad. I get listings in Cedar Hill all the time from home owners moving out of the area, and investors getting rid of their inventory in the area, and the days on the market are LONG and the prices we're selling the houses for are equal to or less than what they paid. I said RESALE is bad, and said nothing about safety. You must be worried about the safety in that area if that's what was on your brain.

You have clients in cedar hill who have hired you in good faith yet you tell everybody who tries to buy south of 1-30 to NOT do it? You are either a very bad agent, (since this comments hurt your listings), or a fraud (since these lies hurt your own bottom line).

this brings your credibility into question

again, there are more people moving in than out, and in general, they are more affluent as median income has also gone up

[vorsprung]

Originally Posted by southern living

VORSPRUNG:"I do wish to help them, and I am being honest when I say I feel that the CH public schools (I have not spoken for the private schools) are sub-par compared to wealthier areas."

Most people will be surprised to find out that south western burbs arent doing too bad. cedar hill,desoto e.t.c. according to money magazine have comparable median incomes with cities such as lewisville and carrolton. Its certainly no "cesspool"

I have been to waterford oaks elem, joe wilson, high pointe, permenter...all of them were clean and well run. My son attended waterford oaks.

I know TAKS data has its limitations as far as figuring out if a school is good, but its the only objective way of doing it. otherwise, we resort to he said/ she said.

the numbers are not biased. Can somebody tell me why they think red oak is better than cedar hill?...or duncanville? the data certainly does not support this concusion. I hate to say it, but im convinced its because these schools have a large minority population.

i want to be carefull and mention that i am NOT in any way crying racism. I just think a minority teenager with sagging pants and an askew hat on his head scares most people who cant relate to that. 99.9% of these kids are harmless

I think you are reading too much into my statements. I have not said anything about race, sagging pants, etc., and I have certainly not referred to any community as a 'cesspool'. My comments also have nothing to do with the quality of life, or the quality and safety of the neighborhoods. I'm not sure why you feel I have said or implied that. Also, I have not said Red Oak, or Duncanville have better schools. I HAVE suggested to the original poster, that they consider other cities in southern Dallas County as well. I have also said that if the schools are their main priority, they also look into other cities, even if it means a longer commute. This is an entirely fair statement, as my experience is that there are cities in the metroplex with better public school systems.

I am glad to hear that your kids have had a good experience in the CH schools. It also sounds like you are very involved in the education in your children. However, there is far more to a school than the numbers from a standardized test. I am simply relaying my experiences, as a professional educator, who has been to schools like Permenter on a daily basis, and has interacted with students, parents, faculty , and administrators a great deal. I have experience in the CH schools as well as schools in other districts in the D/FW area. Based on my own professional experience I can tell you that the public schools in CH, overall, leave quite a bit to be desired.

[southern living]

vorsprung,
You are entitled to your opinion and i respect that. I just believe its wrong based on my experiences and neighbors experiences. School data is the only way to be objective, despite its limitations

Im sorry about the "cesspool" comment. this obviously is not your comment. Onother poster made this comment months ago but its always stuck in my head because of how ridiculous it is.

Im also an educator so we atleast have that in common

[beth35]

My family moved to CH in 86. My parents sold their home at a loss 4 yrs ago. We sold ours at a loss 6 yrs ago and many people we still know there have not been able to sell their homes there. I would suggest Forney, Mansfield or possibly Midlothian if you have to move South. Having grown up in the Great Lakes Area before moving to CH you are going to find a big difference in the schools here so research them well.

[regular joe]

Originally Posted by beth35

My family moved to CH in 86. My parents sold their home at a loss 4 yrs ago. We sold ours at a loss 6 yrs ago and many people we still know there have not been able to sell their homes there. I would suggest Forney, Mansfield or possibly Midlothian if you have to move South. Having grown up in the Great Lakes Area before moving to CH you are going to find a big difference in the schools here so research them well.

Just because you sold at a loss or your parents sold at a loss doesnt make it true for everybody else

I sold my house in 2002 for almost 40K profit. My then neighbor who i kept in touch with over the years sold 4 yrs later for a profit. I enjoyed living in cedar hill, i just had to move for personal reasons.

I dont have a dog in this fight, but as someone who once lived in cedar hill, I know it to have been a great place. Its grown tremendously since i moved. they built some 250k and up homes in my old neighborhood

hope you make better real estate decisions wherever you moved to. or maybe you need to maintain your house better

[caligurltotx]

I know all these comments about the cities south of Dallas has peaked my interest in those areas even more. And seeing is believing so I will go see for myself what is fact. Also, whenever someone says something negative about an area I always consider the source!

[southern living]

everybody has an opinion and opinions can be biased. data, though never lies. beth 35 claims to have sold at a loss and average joe states that he and people he know sold for profit. what does the data say?

according to money magazine, the median house price rose from about 134K in 2005 to about 140K in 2008. this suggests that beths experience is not the norm

[southern living]

falconheadwest,

by your own admission, you stated that you tell every client you get not to buy south of 1-30.

also by your own admission, you state that you have listings in cedar hill.

again, you were hired in good faith by your clients. this must make you the worst agent ever. how do you even move these properties?

these kinds of comments would also hurt your own bottom line. it doesnt make sense to get listings in a location and then tell every potential buyer not to buy in that location.

this leads me to only one conclusion.

you are lying. i called you a fraud earlier and i stand by that. the fact that you have not bothered to defend yourself speaks volumes.

You have absolutely no credibility

It is because of your kind that there is even a north/south divide in dallas