Home Buying Texas Style (Dallas, Irving: hardwood floors, lease, chapel)

[940]

For the price and for having almost 3100 sq ft, this house really has no "WOW" appeal..

For one thing, someone mentioned that it looked like a townhome..I agree even though I can see that it isn't. The front definitely has no curb appeal landscape-wise, and the front door/entrance just looks awkward. I'd look into doing a little landscaping and maybe even changing out the boring solid door for something with leaded glass. That would also help to solve some of the issues mentioned here concerning how dark the inside looked.

I'd also get some paint on the walls. That's the fastest and most inexpensive quick-fix that anyone could do for a home. Just make sure the colors aren't garish but more on the warm side..something that might help to make crown mouldings or baseboards pop.

The kitchen is tiny for a house that costs $225K. You can actually see the other countertop in the lower corner of the picture, across from the refrigerator. It seems there's hardly any room for more than 1-2 people, as has been mentioned already. Just an awkward layout with the stove right next to the doors that will be opening/closing on the refrigerator. Also, a little paint, once again, will help to bring out the neutral backsplash that now seems to disappear into a sea of "blah-ness!" One plus that I did read was that the kitchen does have a walk-in pantry, however that alone won't carry this awkward and small layout.

It's also strange to me that there's not another living area/gameroom upstairs for a house this size. One thing also, the living room, which isn't even as popular nowadays as it used to be, is 14x19 while the kitchen, which sells the home more times than naught, is a measley 12x11.

The scary part is that this house has had its price dropped twice and I still think it's overpriced. Makes you wonder what the original price was...

[FarNorthDallas]

I'm guessing maybe the fridge is supposed to be facing the other way? Maybe this fridge is too big for the fridge spot and they had to turn it? The cabinet above it makes me wonder.

They should make a point to advertise the fact McCoy is back to being Exemplary. Love the idea about getting a better front door. I wonder what we are not seeing (at least on ebby) - back yard, bathrooms.

It's hard for me to believe it was built in 2006.

[FarNorthDallas]

Also the appraisal district says it has 4 bedrooms and the sq footage is 2,425.

[Spree]

>. Also the appraisal district says it has 4 bedrooms and the sq footage is 2,425. <<

That's better tho it seems even smaller - 2000-2200 sq feet. I'm in a 2600 sq ft house and it seems vastly larger than this house.

[cmdavis]

Thanks guys, I'm moving from Fl if any of you know how the market is here you will understand that the price is a steal in fl, my price range is from 150k to about 200k. My faimly size is 9 with a new one on the way. Can't find anything here. also I'm not an expereince home buyer. Carrollton I decided on because they(CFBISD) are going to help with my son that has ADHD.

CM

[sonshinelife]

I have to say you will be glad you chose CFBISD for your child. I'm employed in the district and we have a lot in place for children with special needs. Welcome to the Carrollton area. I'm not sure where your son will be attending school but you might consider talking to some of the real estate pros. I'm sure you could find something in your price range. Maybe more so in the Farmers Branch or southern Carrollton area. There are some larger homes in the FB area that might fit your criteria for large family space.

warning:
You'll read some posts where some people have issues with FB and Carrollton because it is older but honestly you can find some quality schools in most of the district and find homes that fit your need as well. Your home is what you make of it. :-) Good luck.

[cmdavis]

yes I am happy also, the lady that is in charge of placement of children that are past kindergarden has already been in contact with me and I am not in Tx. yet, any suggestions on middle schools I will have 3 in middle and 2 in elem. I have read most of the post, the neg and the pos. as it stands now Carrollton is where I want to relocate to.
CM

[loves2read]

then they are doing some good teaching there--to raise up to exemplary--my local school will probably drop below recognized because of one subgroup--3 boys, same family, different grades--all having trouble learing--they refuse to test them for special needs because they say it is "language" problem--they have been here 3 years--and one still does not know the alphabet--it is not a language problem--they would have as difficult a time passing a standardized test in any language--school district has phobia about minorities in special ed--it "looks bad" if there is large number ---it is a really good school but if anyone looks at homes in the neighborhoods and then at TAKS scores they will probably pass--thinking it is just mediocre...
those 3 kids gave the whole school a hickey...

rgarding the SQ FT and TAD records--this was tract house--builder probably submitted spec plans and then enlarged upstairs after plans were approved--so house may have more sq footage than TAD--also might be why the downstairs is so cramped--they could not enlarge the footprint/first floor concrete without the tax authority knowing right away house would have more than spec plans--probably has no attic storage...

[sonshinelife]

Middle schools in my order of preference would be Blalock,Polk, Perry, Long, Vivian Field, Bush at this moment. You have to remember that Middle School is the hardest as this age is the trickest. I hear VF is on the uprise. Perry, VF, and Bush all wear uniforms. Basic khaki's and colored polo shirts without logo's. I think blue and red are in place at all three schools. Long may wear uniforms as well as Blalock but I'm not really sure. The principals at all of the schools have decent reputations within the district.

Perry offers a robotics team that often goes to state/nationals and they have the LEAP (G/T) program(for the very G/T kids) for the district. It is the oldest school in the district. All the schools offer G/T but LEAP is just the program for the top kids throughout the district. Bush and Polk are the newest schools. All the schools have technology that is state of the art as all schools in CFB do from elem. to h.s.

All our elementary schools feed into middle schools and then high schools. You can go onto the web site for CFB and locate feeder schools. For example McKamey feeds into Polk and Newman Smith. Las Colinas feeds into Bush and Ranchview.

[momof2dfw]

1. Probably a ton of other houses for sale in this one little neighborhood. I'd also be willing to bet that a lot are rentals or will be.

2. Homes across Jackson from here a much older (MUCH older) but sadly probably MUCH better built AND have larger yards.

3. Tiny and I mean TINY lot, 32x96. Can you even put a swingset in that backyard? Probably not. A small plastic kiddie pool would probably fill up the entire backyard. Driveway is probably super short too.

4. Small rooms. VERY small rooms. For a large family if you like living on top of each other then it might be fine. I'd rather have less rooms that are larger.

5. Tax rolls have it valued right at asking price. It is also one of the higher valued homes per tax rolls for that area. No thanks. That means your house is going to be the "ceiling" for DCAD.

6. Yard neglected. If they have not taken care of the yard especially last year and watering the foundation.......... YIKES! It was VERY possible and easy to keep your yard, shrubs, etc alive last summer and looking good while still abiding by the water restrictions. They just flat out turned the water off.

7. As for the kitchen and the deal w/ the fridge. It was too tall to fit in underneath the cabinets so they just left it out in the middle of the floor. LAZY! (see #6 for another example of laziness). This is an easy fix by just removing the bottom trim piece of the cabinetry and then VIOLA!!! The fridge fits into its rightful spot. This alone could kill a sale. People need to SEE how it is REALLY supposed to be. Sticking a giant fridge into the middle of an already small kitchen just makes it that much worse.

8. The walls need to be painted a nice soft light taupe and not starck white. It would warm it up.

9. Not within walking distance to any school. Even to walk to the elem. school (McCoy) one would have to walk down a major street. Same for the high school (Newman Smith). Oh, back when I was at NSHS they moved the boundries for NS and RLT to Jackson. RLT was losing attendance so they moved it farther north to Jackson. Plenty of people got ticked about that as they were right there by NSHS and far from RLT. Double check the school boundries.

10. I'd go farther north or farther south. Right here your in an area of a lot of hodge podge. 1950's older homes then the newer (late 1970's) custom homes (McCoy), townhomes and then w/ the little spaces left over you will find developments like this where they have squeezed in as many homes as possible. The terrain is not real good in that area. There is a small natural underground water source underneath the homes just west of NSHS and I don't remember how far west it went. Many of the homes in that area have had to deal w/ foundation issues. The older 1950's homes across Jackson have been pretty safe from this issue.