Information about Wylie, TX? (Plano, Garland: days on market, 2011, apartment)

[b4tunate]

Hi All,

I recently moved to the DFW area, currently living in Plano, but looking for a house. I hear a lot about Wylie, TX, but don't know much about it in terms of diversity. I am a black female and my husband and I have a daughter and we'd be concerned if there wasn't enough diversity in that area. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Grainraiser]

What part of the city do you work in. Wylie does not have a large black population but you certainly won't feel along living there. It has really grown over the years but still has a small town feeling. It's a solid middle class community.

[KantLockeMeIn]

Frisco is less diverse than Wylie... Richardson moreso than Wylie... but Wylie offers more of a quiet lifestyle, until the sprawl kicks into overdrive.

Our daughter goes to a Wylie ISD school and there are a good number of people from all backgrounds...

[FarNorthDallas]

Here is a list of school districts in that area and the percentage of kids that are African-American:

25.9% Richardson
18.7% Garland
14.2% Carrollton-Farmers Branch
13.4% Wylie
11.7% McKinney
11.1% Frisco
10.4% Allen
10.3% Plano
2.4% Lovejoy

[FalconheadWest]

Where are you working? With Wylie's growth, if you had to live off 78, where you work is very important. If you stick more to the area off 544, that's a much better drive.

Have you made the drive several times during different hours of the day to make sure you like the drive? Many people try to go straight for newer, less expensive houses, until they've lived there about 3 months, and then they're kicking themselves for not realizing how far the drive really is, multiple days in a row, not just once or twice. I made that mistake when I bought in Sachse, but that's just because being a Realtor, I drive all over the place, and it wasn't convenient to be in Sachse, so I'm back in Richardson off Bush and Renner, only 6 miles away from Sachse.

Anyway, I always suggest making the drive as many times as you can when you're looking out in any of the further suburbs so you know what you're getting into.

Let me know if you have any questions, unless you're already working with a Realtor, then I wouldn't want to interfer.

[tstal]

Rowlett may be an alternative for you as well, depending on your job/commute. It is another of the cities that has experienced recent growth. There are a number of newer communities and it is still relatively close to George Bush and access to the rest of the Metroplex.

Good luck,

Tom

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by tstal

Rowlett may be an alternative for you as well, depending on your job/commute. It is another of the cities that has experienced recent growth. There are a number of newer communities and it is still relatively close to George Bush and access to the rest of the Metroplex.

Good luck,

Tom

I could not safely recommend Rowlett right now. They have one of the highest property tax rates in the area. Their budget is a MESS!!!! They are losing employees including a lot of key personel in the city along w/ a huge chunk of emergency personel (fire/police) due to the mayor not supporting them and or pay increase to even bring them up to the norm for the area. They are cutting city services as well but have a HUGE mess in road construction w/ more on the way (190 construction thru there has not even started and when it does it will be worse than EVER!). They are also looking at taking out a HUGE multi-million dollar loan in the next 2 years.

To get to 190/George Bush right now it is a crawl of very slow moving traffic all the way down Hwy 66 to Rowlett Rd which then turns into Firewheel Pkwy in Garland and THEN finally 190. I go the opposite direction of those poor people everyday and I'd HATE to be on the other side.

[FalconheadWest]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

I could not safely recommend Rowlett right now....

Not that I'm "recommending" Rowlett, but think about the appreciation that's going to happen as soon as Bush opens in 2011. No one thought Carrollton's values would skyrocket like they did, but Carrollton used to be a great place for under $100k. Now, I would bet anything anywhere near $100k or under $120k is a foreclosure in dire needs of being fixed up.

I think the areas of Rowlett right off Bush are going to increase, not drastically, but nicely. It's best to get there now at the lower prices, and watch the appreciation in 5-7 years, just in time to move again...

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Not that I'm "recommending" Rowlett, but think about the appreciation that's going to happen as soon as Bush opens in 2011. No one thought Carrollton's values would skyrocket like they did, but Carrollton used to be a great place for under $100k. Now, I would bet anything anywhere near $100k or under $120k is a foreclosure in dire needs of being fixed up.

I think the areas of Rowlett right off Bush are going to increase, not drastically, but nicely. It's best to get there now at the lower prices, and watch the appreciation in 5-7 years, just in time to move again...

Still a no go. I'm from Carrollton. Parents sold their house there a year ago that they purchased 31 years prior. Their house WAS updated as well and well cared for. Nothing of the original cabinets, flooring, light fixtures, plumbing, etc was left of the house. All fairly new and above the norm for the area. BEFORE 190 came all the way thru they could have gotten MORE for their house than they did last year and it hasn't gotten better either. Carrollton's values have NOT "skyrocketed" at all. Folks could have gotten over $150K several years ago. They listed it for around $140K and were lucky to get what they did. Oh, and mom is a realtor in that area so she knows the market

Same goes for the market in Rowlett. Their values were nose diving before the ARM mess started. We built our house there in 97. Moved back to Garland 5 years later. Kept the house thinking inlaws might need to move closer up to us. Put it on the market finally in 03 for LESS than we paid for it and even NOW 5 years later the value of it is even LESS than we sold it for. We are talking a desireable area, GREAT floorplan, huge yard, upgrades galore, etc. The values are still going down there and they are seeing a HUGE amount of foreclosures and the houses on the market do not move at all - been like that for several years.

Tack on the highest property tax rate in the Metroplex as well as one of the highest Water Rates (the city raised rates several times this year) and the entire mess that is going on with the city - I'd RUN from there.

[FalconheadWest]

I guess it all depends on where in Rowlett you're talking. I've sold several houses in Waterview this year, and most were on the market a very short time.

I've also sold about 5 houses in Carrollton in the past 4 months, and I got my sellers awesome prices. One sold so fast, they're in an apartment renting while their house is finished being built! And my parents live in Carrollton in the Homestead and I pulled comps for them 3 weeks ago and the average days on market in The Homestead was 37 days.

You can't tell me things are declining and not selling when they are. I don't know what type of clientelle your mom works with, but I have a diverse clientelle in many different price ranges, and the only thing I can't seem to sell is this 1 bedroom condo I have listed on the M-streets, but that's because it's only 1 bedroom. It takes a special buyer to want only 1 bedroom.