Concerns with Villages of Woodland Springs (Irving, Grapevine: for sale, foreclosures, to rent)

[Soonergirl]

My husband and I are considering buying a house in VOWS and we noticed that there are six sex offenders living across Keller- Hicks road. Is this a bad area? Does anyone have any insight on this? We are not from Texas and would appreciate any information.
Other questions: How noticeable are the trains and do they create major traffic problems?
Where is the nearest emergency room?

Thanks for your help.

[Guingirl]

Well you need to visit before you make ANY committments anywhere. There is just too much available to do yourself the disservice. There is a trailerpark that situated by VOWs and when we looked that is where the offenders were too.

With that said, and I have kids and not trying to downplay any risk or concern, because it should be, but there are offenders "everywhere" these days. And honestly you can only control who your neighbors to some extent when you move in because you are choosing to live there, but people move in and out and you can't control that.

There is a train that is parallel to 377 and it is a very active track. (We don't live over there, but my daughter goes to preschool over there so we travel over there quite a bit). I have only been stopped by the train once.

There are quite a few train lines running through this area, but they are only supposed to block the tracks for a maximum of 10 mins. You might hear them. The only probelm is that if on an odd time, the trains just sit on the tracks. I know that on some spurs that has happened, but I don't know about that one particular track.

Not sure about the nearest ER.

[daisies76]

We just moved here from Florida in September and I must say that I highly recommend renting first and not buying until you can really learn the area and decide from there. We are absolutely not fond of renting, but I am so glad we made that decision because I have heard from many people that it's not easy to sell your home quickly if you end up buying in an area you later wish that you didnt. We are in Keller so I am very familiar with the area you are talking about.

That would concern me about the sex offenders, especially having children.

As far as the trains... VOWS is right near the tracks and trains are VERY busy going thru there. I dont live near the tracks so I dont know how that affects sleeping, etc, but that could affect resale.

Emergency centers... there is an Urgent Care facility right off 377 in Watauga which is probably less than 5 min from VOWS. When my daughter recently broke her arm, we went to Baylor ER in Grapevine, that was about 15 min down the road off Hwy 114. (and just to add.... they were WONDERFUL to deal with compared to the ER's in FL)

Do you know where you will be working once you get here? Traffic is a huge concern during conventional commute times. I work in Irving which is normally a 25 min drive with no traffic, but when I get off at 5, I am not home until 6:15ish. I hate it and I may look into working somewhere closer.

I have a friend that lives in VOWS and he likes it a lot, me personally, I would look around at all the other areas around because there is just so much to choose from out here and if you havent already moved here, you may feel cheated by buying so soon, and missing out on other opportunities. I have heard that there are a lot of houses to rent in VOWS, if we were considering moving to that neighborhood, we would probably try to rent in there first to get a true feel.

Good luck,

~D

[loves2read]

there are lots of homes for sale in Woodland Springs--many of them are foreclosures--some bought by investors in TX and out of state for a market that fell just when they were getting into it--some are from people who just can't afford their risiing mortgage rates--
Woodland Springs was meant to be a quality development done by some local builders--some of the homes are very well built and some are tract homes--you can check the builder history by doing a TAD.org search under the address--
it is difficult to get in and out at certain times of the day--the trains do impede traffic and are likely to get worse since rail traffic seems to be increasing as a response to the rise in gas/diesel prices for trucking goods---
there is also just a LOT of traffic in that area on 377 (which will be under construction for a couple of years in different spots)--
Schools are Keller ISD but you are actually living in FTW city so you get their police/fire/EMT service--
if you don't plan on moving for about 7-10 years and find a house that is quality built you might be very happy...
our daughter's best friend has a mother in law who bought house in Woodland Springs about 3 years ago--it is fairly close to the railroad tracks but they seem very happy with it and they would be what I consider good neighbors--but if you drive through the area you can see that it is "spotty" -- some streets are fine and others don't look that good--
think it has not "gel-ed" so to speak ... and there is so MUCH housing in that area--the only trees are in one part of Woodland Springs--If I were really considering buying in that area, I would only think of getting a home with trees--that would be high priority for me--but you might have different ones...

[grannydad]

I am an older woman living in the mobile home park between the VOWS developments off Keller HIcks. I have been here for 2 1/2 yrs and have had no problems nor heard of any in the immediate area. I know several people in VOWS and have heard no complaints. I know the offenders are a concern but Keller Hicks is about 5 miles long so the ratio is really not too bad. I doubt you can go anywhere and not find some in the immediate area. I have only been caught by the train 3 times in all the time I have been here. I definately would not consider this a bad area. I moved from San Diego county and see no graffiti or anything questionable that I saw every day there even in supposedly GOOD neighborhoods. Both of my sisters are now living in here too. They are one block over in Crawford Farms development. CF may be a little nicer over all than VOWS, but same schools, same taxes etc. There aren't any of the lower end houses, price wise in CF, nothing under $200,000. The development is pretty well completed but there are houses for sale. I have seen a few areas in VOWS where the yards aren't as well tended as most, but it is a huge development. Certainly not a bad area. No low cost housing or apts and the schools are relatively new. Hope this helps. Good luck