Moving to Midland TX - Old Midland? (Dallas, West: real estate, house)

[fort.worth.native]

My family is very likely making the move to Midland, TX by the end of 2016. I myself have never been there but I've heard decent things about living there as a family with young children. With that being said, I'm used to living in a highly shaded, vegetated area and that seems to be impossible to find. Our goal is to find an older home in an established area and do a complete renovation (think Dallas M Streets/Lakewood type area). I'd prefer to live near other young families in a neighborhood that is safe where our kids can run around in the front yard with other children. Many have directed me towards the Old Midland area, east of Garfield, West of A, north of Illinois, south of Scharbauer. Can anyone tell me if this seems like the most desirable place for our family to live assuming I do not want to live in a new build community?

We'll be looking for a home in the low 200,000's and will do a high end renovation, aiming to resell around $150/sf when we leave the area in 3-5 years.

Should I expand my search North and/or West up to the loop but inside the loop? I'm ideally looking for an M-Streets/Lakewood type area in Midland (ha - impossible??).

Thanks for your help!!

[Westerntraveler]

Hello, fort worth native.I live in Midland and I am also a native of Tarrant County.Old Midland is the premier neighborhood here so I dont know or dont think you have a budget high enough for old midland.Old Midland is pretty close to some sketchy neighborhoods so a fixer upper in your budget may be too close to comfort to those.I have a cousin who lives there but they are pretty rich for their age since she married an oilman.However a high end renovation may be doable but I aint no real estate expert.

[fort.worth.native]

Thanks for the info! Our budget is flexible. The homes going in the mid-400's right now just aren't my taste at all, we can go higher but nothing on the market has been done to our taste so I figured we would renovate. There's a home off of Douglas between Garflield and A that seems like a good reno prospect, would you say that is still in the 'premier' area? Or can that part still be sketchy? I don't want ANY parts of where we live to be sketchy simply because we have small children and I want to live in a safe area.

When you say 'premier' area, can you please elaborate?

Thanks for the response!

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by fort.worth.native

Thanks for the info! Our budget is flexible. The homes going in the mid-400's right now just aren't my taste at all, we can go higher but nothing on the market has been done to our taste so I figured we would renovate. There's a home off of Douglas between Garflield and A that seems like a good reno prospect, would you say that is still in the 'premier' area? Or can that part still be sketchy? I don't want ANY parts of where we live to be sketchy simply because we have small children and I want to live in a safe area.

When you say 'premier' area, can you please elaborate?

Thanks for the response!

No problem.Well, I dont know much about the area since I dont go there often since Im on the opposite end of town.However we were looking at a house by the Museum of the Southwest and it got sketchy fast.I meant that CEOS,medical doctors, and multi-millionaire oil families live in that neighborhood.My cousins house is a nice house in that neighborhood but its more of a starter Old Midland residence not premo.Their house is nicer than ours.We also looked at a house that was maybe around 750 grand and thats not premo either in my opinion.

[fort.worth.native]

Thank you for your input!

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by fort.worth.native

Thank you for your input!

Anytime, best of luck.

[Mark Senior]

You're only staying 3 to 5 years. Is it very likely to stay longer? Probable? As a former Real Estate Broker, are you sure you can make all the right choices come from out of the area, in a short amount of time of really knowing the area and "buying right" and this is an upper end home, for fewer buyers for this price home, for a pretty fast turnaround in an area that is still largely dependent on the price of oil at any given time? Right lot, right house, right contractor, right interim financing? Yes, I know the area is trying to diversify, as some will likely respond and point out.

This area is not an area like San Francisco or some fixer upper area that you might see on T.V. I really think you are possibly at an undue risk for making a costly mistake. Maybe not so much, if you at least planned on staying there longer or an indefinite time, like we intend for this to "be home". Heaven forbid, what if you don't care for Midland at all. Seems a little too risky to me. You didn't ask, but maybe losing money wouldn't be a "issue" as everyone likes to say, or a "problem" "old school" either, lol Good Luck !!

[fort.worth.native]

The idea was that we'd identify the more desirable areas that already had renovated homes being sold quickly upon listing (that does seem to exist even in Midland even in this terrible oil economy) and go from there. Nicely updated homes do not stay on the market long there when they are in these seemingly desirable areas. I was hoping to mitigate our risk by buying in the premier area which seems to be Old Midland. I'm just trying to determine which parts of Old Midland are the most desirable and have the most potential for resale. I am going to work with a realtor but was hoping to get some Midland folks input on it too as many times realtors can/will just tell you what you want to hear.