Willow Park (Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington: mineral rights, real estate, new house)

[Power Strokin']

Greetings all...
On our ever lasting search for a home we have found Willow Park. What is the good, the bad, and the ugly? There are a couple of well kept brick ranches in the area that have caught our eye. A little updates and they would look great. Just thought I would check in and see what the gang thought. Thanks for anything shared.......

[loves2read]

guy who works in downtown FTW with my husband moved there several years ago when he relocated from MS--they wanted something a little more rural--they seemed to like the Aledo schools--bought a house w/about 10 acres a year or so ago in that same area so their two sons can have horses---he has second guy in his dept who lives out there --they had to dynamite the ground when he had pool put in--not a lot of top soil in most places...there is woman who has lived by Lake Weatherford close to Willow Park practially all her life--she loves it there and they have bought another house further out because of the growth around the Lake and closer to freeway so they have more privacy....their morning/evening drive into FTW and back is getting worse as more people move westward and it will get worse in years to come--the highway is fairly good but now it is taking about 25-30 min each way once they get on the freeway around Willow Park/Aledo....

1--water/drought situation is something you should be aware of---check where you get the water for your lawn--even if you have a well and overuse it, you will deplete your resources
2--drilling for barnett shale has become big business--your land may have sold off mineral rights and you could have well being drilled fairly close to your property---sometimes no way to tell until the deal has been done
3--shopping/entertainment outlets--right now Aledo and area around it does not have the same level of amenities that you have in suburb in FTW itself--some people don't care about this...there are Wal-Marts and CVS drugs and grocery stores--just not as many or as convenient
Not sure about the hospital situation--but I am sure Aledo has one---
4--Aledo is growing and has built really nice new high school and some others--don't hear much about their schools in FTW paper because it tends to have editions for specific areas like Arlington or MidCities--so the western edition would have more info about Aledo/Weatherford/Brock ISDs...
5--check how you get your fire and emergency services--are they voluntary/city/county
6--do you have propane tank or natural gas or all electric--check utility bills for past year--people's rates have been getting higher and higher and if you cook w/propane instead of electric or natural gas--that is different kind of heat level--and some people don't like it...

Bad weather tends to come into FTW from the west--think Aledo area would have on average more heavy thunderstorms/hail/tornado type weather than Grand Prarie which is east of FTW--but can't support that statistically...

some people like the flatter, fewer tree landscape that starts west of FTW --- some people hate it...
have you seen anything besides the pictures on MLS listing for the houses that you mentioned you liked--

just my thoughts....

[normanj]

Just to add to what has been said...my parents have lived in Willow Park/Hudson Oaks area for over 20 years. You do need to check on the water up front. Some areas have co op wells and some have wells, either way you would need to know that up front and the restrictions. Also, look at the lay of the land and how the water flows. Sounds like a stupid thing to say but my parents live in an area you would not think it would be a problem but it was and had to do with the way the water flowed to a small creek when it rained a lot. Aledo does not have a hospital - you would have to go to Campbell Hospital in Weatherford (only if you don't care if you die) but best to go to Ft. Worth to one of the bigger hospitals. Aledo also does not have police. Willow Park does have a police dept. Both have volunteer Fire Depts. For whatever reason, the only weather problem with willow Park seems to be tree branches. There are a lot of trees so high winds tend to knock down lots of branches. Other than that I would not say that they have any more problems than anyone else in the area. Aledo schools are good and have a small town backing in the way that the town really seems to be behind the sports teams.

[Power Strokin']

Thanks LOVESTOREAD and NORMANJ...Wonderful information and its greatly appreciated. The water is city water provided by the city of Willow Park. Is this a good thing?
No trees on the two acres. I can see that is a good thing in one sense...Its a bittersweet thing....I may wish I had a tree when its gets up to the 110s this summer ...but I will feel better knowing when the storm comes through I will not have a limp come join me in the bed at 2am! The lay of the land seems good no streams close by.

The house is all electric. Are you saying that is good or bad. Do folks not like to use a gas cook-top here? My house back home was all electric except for my gas cook top and some decorative inserts throughout the house.

I am trying to find out who the utility providers in that area are... I will see who the current owner uses through my real estate agent.

What are some good hospitals in Fort Worth? That is some good information to have. I don't currently have a death wish.

This is our first older home purchase. We always just build......but our last house was our dream home and thanks to a job transfer we had to sell our dream. So we are just going to down size, fix it up nice and be happy and save some money. No kids, but its nice to know the Aledo school district is good in case for resell. We do a home inspection on Monday.....this will tell the tale......

I have tried to find out where to get a Willow Park phone book at. No luck. I thought perhaps the library might have one I could have ??? Any ideas? I am used to having one provider for each service offered. Like some areas have just Bellsouth for phone and Jackson EMC provides the power for that area. Out here you have a series of providers of Electric and phone.... seems wierd to us...but we will get accustomed to it.

ahhhhhhh relocation.....don't you just love it......

[normanj]

ok first of all - hospitals - there is Harris and I think Baylor are there - both good and they have sattelites on the south part of town and downtown. The electric can be one of three places, TXU, City of Weatherford or Brazos electric. City of Weatherford is the best I think because it is non-profit. If you are outside the city limits you will have to pay separate for your trash pickup. Some people have gas, it is just a preference and seems to depend on when houses were built. Some have both and some are all electric. If you are looking for a phone book look for weatherford. It includes Aledo, Weatherford, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks and sometimes more of the outlying areas like Millsap and Peaster and Poolville. I have about 4 different phone books that cover different areas. If you cannot find a weatherford phone book send me an e-mail with your address and I can mail you one.

[Power Strokin']

Good info NORMANJ. The trash pickup is with the water so I would assume its in the city limits. Thanks for the tips on the power companies. That will come in handy. We are hopeful that the home inspection will turn out well. You just never know though with older homes. From the looks of things it has been well kept. I got to get my network of doctors going once everything gets settled so I appreciate the tips on the hospitals. Funny back home in Georgia we had hospitals in the outer small towns we called the "undertaker"...HAHA

[zeigfmly]

Do not move to Willow Park. If I had known my new house was Willow Park Water I would not have bought it. Aledo Schools are great. There are areas you could move into and still be in the good part of the Metroplex, but Willow Park Water rates are about 35% to 40% greater than surrounding cities including Aledo, Fort Worth, and Dallas. Aledo Water Department claimed as one of its achievements "not being taken over by Willow Park Water". If you have not jumped, I highly recommend staying away from any home serviced by Willow Park Water.

[loves2read]

have read posts on other sites that indicate there is problem w/water suppliers in outlying areas--right now some of the smaller towns like Annetta and Annetta N are trying to decide to consolidate so they won't be taken over by FTW...
if you are in to deep to get out of this house deal, you might look into drilling a well--depends on subdivision/city restrictions--depth of water and potability of it--and cost of establishing well--know that many people do have wells to water their yards if nothing else...

belive that whatever electric utility you have - if it is in deregulated zone--you can choose an electric provider and electric plan...

[Power Strokin']

We have compared the rates on the water with several of the surrounding towns. Nothing outstandingly outrageous. So this information is interesting. What is so funny to us, we have found every area we started to warm up to people would give us all the negatives. No area is perfect and we have found either the power company or the water company if not both are going to get you in Texas. Coming from a regulated state we knew this going in.
Hubby has laughed and said if we listened to all the negatives we will never own a home in Texas. We laugh and tell our new Texas friends that we have figured them out.... Tell everyone its really bad here and hopefully they will get the hint and go back home :0)

Seriously though we went and picked up the rates at Willow Park as well as some of the surroundings areas.....Nothing seemed just crazy outrageous. hmmmmmm

[normanj]

Well Powerstrokin - if your house deal goes through and you do actually move here - Welcome to Texas!