need 3800 plus s/f 4 bedrm home $700,ooo+ (Dallas, Plano: foreclosures, new house)

[lh_newbie]

HP, UP and Lakewood are all areas in close proximity to downtown that will fit your req's; Colleyville is over near DFW and Grapevine. Any of the areas listed here will offer what you are interested in. Obviously, now you have to do some driving around to get the feel of the areas.

[loves2read]

echo the Colleyville area but might consider Southlake--there are homes in your price range there and my realtor tells me that even if sales have slowed, prices are higher than last year...Southlake and Colleyville have excellent school systems at this time and as long as wealthy people move into those areas, they will probably stay that way...
Lots of nice houses in that price range in Keller, some custom some high-end tract builder like Highland/Drees homes...developments like Tuscany, Southern Oaks and others have good size lots and many w/trees...
good MLS search site will give you starting point and you can check the TEA Region 11 web site for current TAKS scores...

Southlake, Colleyville, Keller, did pretty well in FTW newpaper story about how schools did when you factored in how much OVER the minimum TAKS score in each test area, districts did...shows which ones are barely getting by and which ones excel...
Think Keller ISD in general is going through real transition now--hard to speculate long term what will happen--think that resale market will be more specific to certaom subdivisions and specific schools--not in general upside like Southlake...but Southlake is also smaller...
Northwest ISD in Haslet/Trophy Club area is also growing--has the new IB charter school--so might consider that...that is probably makeable commute to Dallas depending on where you are working...

Weatherford and other areas west of FTW is really a difficult commute if you are working in Dallas--it is almost an hour from the Mid-Cities now...factor in another 40 min from Aledo...don't see that as any viable choice...

[lh_newbie]

I just saw on the news this morning that Talented and Gifted (TAG) in DISD scored as the #1 HS in the country. Pretty awesome!

[momof2dfw]

"The Hills of Breckenridge is really nice. Not sure about upside on that area though ? Is it really that exclusive ? "


I think it is very exclusive. The rises in real estate values in that area are HIGH! For example here are a few and their appraised values:

1. in 2003 - $430K 2007 - $971K
2. in 2006 - $630K 2007 - $897K
3. in 2006 - $428K 2007 - $1MIL+ (I don't wanna pay their taxes )
4. in 2005 - $730K 2007 - $1MIL+
5. in 2005 - $500K 2007 - $748K

That is just a few. With the land being gobbled up and people wanting be close but not in the city and in a good area and school district these are only going to go up.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

I just saw on the news this morning that Talented and Gifted (TAG) in DISD scored as the #1 HS in the country. Pretty awesome!

Two years in a row they are the TOP #1 High School in the nation. WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stargazer]

Hey there, I use to live in Cedar Hill and know what your going through and how you are feeling. We liked the area so well but when we had kids wanted to move closer to Dallas and decided to private school our oldest. It worked.



We use to live over in Waterford Oaks and that was our first house. We then decided to move to Thouroughbred Hills over in Duncanville and was there for 3 years before moving to Florida. We made our way back to Mckinney but are trying to look into moving closer to Dallas.

[socketz]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

"The Hills of Breckenridge is really nice. Not sure about upside on that area though ? Is it really that exclusive ? "


I think it is very exclusive. The rises in real estate values in that area are HIGH! For example here are a few and their appraised values:

1. in 2003 - $430K 2007 - $971K
2. in 2006 - $630K 2007 - $897K
3. in 2006 - $428K 2007 - $1MIL+ (I don't wanna pay their taxes )
4. in 2005 - $730K 2007 - $1MIL+
5. in 2005 - $500K 2007 - $748K

That is just a few. With the land being gobbled up and people wanting be close but not in the city and in a good area and school district these are only going to go up.

This is good info. That's a very nice area, just wasn't aware that it fell into my 'exclusive' classification. I love the builders in there.

Do you have access to the MLS ?

I looked at homes in my new area and when the community opened a couple of years ago to now there is about a 75-100k delta.

This is why per the other thread I'm confused as to why some think that there are no areas that will appreciate in DFW.

[momof2dfw]

This is good info. That's a very nice area, just wasn't aware that it fell into my 'exclusive' classification. I love the builders in there.
There are only 2 houses in there that I don't care for. The floorplan is a major turnoff and has very limiting appeal to a wide range of people. I know a good many people that live in there. You have doctors, attorneys, local business owners and early retirees.

Do you have access to the MLS ?
Thru my mom. I look on realtor.com pretty much as they usually have just about every listing out there. To find the apprasied value I go to the Dallas County Appraisal Districts website, www.dallascad.org

I looked at homes in my new area and when the community opened a couple of years ago to now there is about a 75-100k delta.
I saw your question on the other thread about the increase of prices on builder homes in a new phase. What happens here is that a buyer can chose between a house already lived in, no choosing any colors, lot, brick, etc OR they can build one that they had more control over for either the same amount of money or a little bit more. This is what makes selling a home here in an area that still is being built in so hard. In that case you have to REALLY stand out.


This is why per the other thread I'm confused as to why some think that there are no areas that will appreciate in DFW.
I'm baffled by that too as I know of MANY areas that do appreciate. I'm the nerdy kid that even in high school was scanning the real estate section in the Sunday paper .

[socketz]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

This is good info. That's a very nice area, just wasn't aware that it fell into my 'exclusive' classification. I love the builders in there.
There are only 2 houses in there that I don't care for. The floorplan is a major turnoff and has very limiting appeal to a wide range of people. I know a good many people that live in there. You have doctors, attorneys, local business owners and early retirees.

Do you have access to the MLS ?
Thru my mom. I look on realtor.com pretty much as they usually have just about every listing out there. To find the apprasied value I go to the Dallas County Appraisal Districts website, www.dallascad.org

I looked at homes in my new area and when the community opened a couple of years ago to now there is about a 75-100k delta.
I saw your question on the other thread about the increase of prices on builder homes in a new phase. What happens here is that a buyer can chose between a house already lived in, no choosing any colors, lot, brick, etc OR they can build one that they had more control over for either the same amount of money or a little bit more. This is what makes selling a home here in an area that still is being built in so hard. In that case you have to REALLY stand out.


This is why per the other thread I'm confused as to why some think that there are no areas that will appreciate in DFW.
I'm baffled by that too as I know of MANY areas that do appreciate. I'm the nerdy kid that even in high school was scanning the real estate section in the Sunday paper .

I also have a friend in Murphy that just moved into a new Sotherby and it increased in value 40k over the period of 6 months it was being built.

I have about a 1/2 dozen other examples. So I'm not losing my mind.

I agree that if you buy in a community that's building, you need to wait till it's built out to sell, otherwise, you lose your shorts or wait a long time to sell.

When does Firewheel built out ?

[Lakewooder]

The best appreciation rates are in Lakewood, Park Cities and North Dallas. Buying a suburban home where you have to compete with builders when you sell and massive foreclosures are going to kill your chance at making money on your house. You might even lose your shirt.