Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Dallas
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-16-2010, 07:10 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,154,575 times
Reputation: 13130

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by tyanger View Post
Everyone has different preferences and it is not necessarily bizarre when other peoples' choices do not coincide exactly with your own. I think it might be more bizarre to go about purchasing and living in a house as your primary residence with the main focus being worrying about the resale of the house.
Yes, but a lot of the "housing crisis of 2007-2010" across the country was caused by builders overbuilding in far-flung suburbs (building because there was customer demand for the product, of course)....at some point you have to realize that our population isn't exploding (the part of the population paying $200-400k for a McMansion, at least) and that all these people are moving farther out (from the city or an inner-ring suburb) for bigger homes. Who is going to buy all the homes they leave behind?

And voila! Housing crisis- too much inventory on the market and too many homes whose values have plummetted because the spec building boom couldn't continue. Now those people can't sell. So....part of a buying decision should ALWAYS be "how easily could I sell in an emergency" (loss of job, death or illness in family causing move, etc). It's not the be all and end all of the decision, but it should play a part.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-16-2010, 07:32 PM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,130,593 times
Reputation: 28547
Quote:
Originally Posted by skids929 View Post
I agree, but I am not trying to put anyone off by the size house we're after. Quite honestly I think we're being fairly conservative for Texas standards.

Lakewood sounds great, similar to say Arlington up here in MA, or Winchester, or Cambridge. All these are very nice places to live outside of Boston, but not places I necessarily want to raise my family, even though they are convenient, they tend to be very expensive and congested. Although Arlington MA might be an exeption, this town is tops..If I were to look seriously at LW I certainly would downsize my expectations, like I would for an equivalent town/city up here in MA. I will give it a look when I get back down there to see some of the North Dallas burbs. I think it will be hard to beat FM for us personally though. I liked it better than Southlake quite honestly, and much better than Kellar. Trophy Club actually had some older neighborhoods that looked pretty neat, the newer stuff didn't appeal to me. Looked like they napalmed the trees and just built homes. No trees in some of the new developments, not as appealing to me.

I still want to see Allen, Frisco, McKinney etc on my next visit..I am sure all the inner ring folks are going to rip me for that.
I won't; from what you've said you seem very committed to living in the exurbs in a new or nearly-new house that exceeds the average square footage of homes in Texas by quite a large margin. You will have very high electric bills, most likely no option for gas appliances (you'll be sorry in winter or if you like to cook), potentially natural gas drilling going on near you, and potentially a tough time selling your home if you have to at short notice for reasons already mentioned by others. But every area has its downsides, I guess. Personally I would never live in those areas and you could not pay me to do so, so I really can't understand why other people would want to.

Lakewooder recommends Lakewood to everybody, regardless of their budget or situation. Personally I like Lakewood and if I had half a million or more to drop on a house, I would probably be living there. But I don't and neither do most people NOT coming from an area with extremely high RE values. I had a set budget and all I could afford in Lakewood were scrapers or condos. Neither were appealing to me. Also, if good schools are a requirement for you and you can't afford private schools, you are almost always better off staying out of the DISD. IB program or not, talk to recent Woodrow grads. I have. They all say the same thing: "It's a dump." I personally did not attend DISD schools but I grew up in Preston Hollow and ran with people who did. You don't want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. Again, I would not know from personal experience...but I have never met anyone who went to school in the DISD in the last 20 years who did not think it was terrible.

On the other hand, you will hate your commute to Richardson if you live in McKinney, Frisco, Flower Mound, etc. I work with people every day who live in those areas...and areas further out...and their commutes are hellish. A coworker of mine who lives almost up in Allen (in Plano) usually takes 45 minutes to get to work each day, but it can take her up to an hour and a half if there's a wreck, if traffic is heavy, or if she catches the traffic lights wrong. And my office is in north Richardson near the Collin County and Plano city lines. If I catch the lights right, my door to door trip can be as little as 7 minutes. It's usually closer to 12-15. Personally I love Richardson's multi-cultural, live and let live, who the heck are the Joneses and why should we keep up with them attitude. It fits me to a T. I drove home today and one of my neighbors was restoring his 1950s Ford Thunderbird in his driveway. (You could not do that in an HOA neighborhood.) Another was walking her dog. Another couple were sitting in Adirondack chairs on their front lawn watching their granddaughter on the tree swing. I LOVE my neighborhood.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 08:01 PM
 
2,348 posts, read 4,799,810 times
Reputation: 1601
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek View Post
I won't; from what you've said you seem very committed to living in the exurbs in a new or nearly-new house that exceeds the average square footage of homes in Texas by quite a large margin. You will have very high electric bills, most likely no option for gas appliances (you'll be sorry in winter or if you like to cook), potentially natural gas drilling going on near you, and potentially a tough time selling your home if you have to at short notice for reasons already mentioned by others. But every area has its downsides, I guess. Personally I would never live in those areas and you could not pay me to do so, so I really can't understand why other people would want to.

Lakewooder recommends Lakewood to everybody, regardless of their budget or situation. Personally I like Lakewood and if I had half a million or more to drop on a house, I would probably be living there. But I don't and neither do most people NOT coming from an area with extremely high RE values. I had a set budget and all I could afford in Lakewood were scrapers or condos. Neither were appealing to me. Also, if good schools are a requirement for you and you can't afford private schools, you are almost always better off staying out of the DISD. IB program or not, talk to recent Woodrow grads. I have. They all say the same thing: "It's a dump." I personally did not attend DISD schools but I grew up in Preston Hollow and ran with people who did. You don't want to touch it with a 10 foot pole. Again, I would not know from personal experience...but I have never met anyone who went to school in the DISD in the last 20 years who did not think it was terrible.

On the other hand, you will hate your commute to Richardson if you live in McKinney, Frisco, Flower Mound, etc. I work with people every day who live in those areas...and areas further out...and their commutes are hellish. A coworker of mine who lives almost up in Allen (in Plano) usually takes 45 minutes to get to work each day, but it can take her up to an hour and a half if there's a wreck, if traffic is heavy, or if she catches the traffic lights wrong. And my office is in north Richardson near the Collin County and Plano city lines. If I catch the lights right, my door to door trip can be as little as 7 minutes. It's usually closer to 12-15. Personally I love Richardson's multi-cultural, live and let live, who the heck are the Joneses and why should we keep up with them attitude. It fits me to a T. I drove home today and one of my neighbors was restoring his 1950s Ford Thunderbird in his driveway. (You could not do that in an HOA neighborhood.) Another was walking her dog. Another couple were sitting in Adirondack chairs on their front lawn watching their granddaughter on the tree swing. I LOVE my neighborhood.
Yeah I get it..Seems like you follow me around from thread to thread offering nothing more than negativity towards what I prefer and positivity towards what you have. Go figure..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 08:09 PM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,130,593 times
Reputation: 28547
Quote:
Originally Posted by skids929 View Post
Yeah I get it..Seems like you follow me around from thread to thread offering nothing more than negativity towards what I prefer and positivity towards what you have. Go figure..
Well...for starters I did not begin by condemning an entire city with 100,000 proud residents. So...there is that.

But it's sad that you cannot recognize an honest post for what it is. I genuinely do not understand why you would choose to live so far from employment and cultural centers simply to have a larger house. It truly baffles me when anyone does that so please do not think you are unique in that respect.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 08:22 PM
 
885 posts, read 1,545,857 times
Reputation: 180
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek View Post
Well...for starters I did not begin by condemning an entire city with 100,000 proud residents. So...there is that.
This is fun. I am going to grab some pop corns.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 08:40 PM
 
Location: North Texas
24,561 posts, read 40,130,593 times
Reputation: 28547
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winter2010 View Post
This is fun. I am going to grab some pop corns.
Nah I am not trying to argue.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 08:53 PM
 
3,478 posts, read 6,527,355 times
Reputation: 3239
Quote:
TurtleCreek is letting you know this is a HUGE issue when it comes to the far flung burbs when it comes to resale. Just like you the buyers that are coming in from higher cost of living areas are chasing that "bigger" and "newer" house that they could not afford where they are moving from. They will pass right by houses that are 5 years old to go on down the road 5-15 miles so they can get that "bigger" and "newer" house. In their wake are left tons of cookie cutter homes one right after the other that really have nothing wrong with them and look just like the "brand new one" other than they are not "brand new". The appreciation on real estate in these areas is lacking because of it.
This is NOT Flower Mound...there is very little new construction going on in Flower Mound. What is being built? 400k+ beautiful homes or estates out in west Flower Mound. Maybe if you were in Frisco or McKinney you would have to worry about this, but NOT Flower Mound. This is coming from a former resident...not a Dallasite who has only been out there once, probably when it was in its building boom 10 years ago.

For what you want, you are going to really like Flower Mound. The schools are superb, it's beautiful, the area is safe, and you can get a lot of home for you $$$. Yes, the commute sucks, but there are tradeoffs everywhere.

Lakewood is beautiful...I'd love to buy a home there someday and I'm sure many would, but bottom line, it is a premiere area and you have to have a very nice income and be willing to live in a smaller home to do it.

And I don't get why the Richardson people's panties are STILL in a bunch...he likes the burbs better...get over it. It doesn't mean Richardson sucks!

City living isn't for everyone. Jacquielynn Floyd of the Dallas Morning News wrote a article about it once...too bad I cant find it. (I believe she lives in the Grapevine area)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 09:11 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,154,575 times
Reputation: 13130
I think most people who want "suburban" don't realize how quiet and peaceful many of the in-town neighborhoods are, especially people moving in from much denser cities on the coasts. Living "in Dallas" is much more suburban feeling than living IN Boston, DC, NYC, Chicago, etc- and people relocating fail to even look or consider neighborhoods that might suit them perfectly because they think it's the big, bad, loud city.

Bluffview, Kessler Park, JanMar in North Dallas, Lakewood, Forrest Hills, Hollywood Heights- all of these are quiet, peaceful neighborhoods that happen to be within a 10-15 minute drive to downtown. Most of those neighborhoods have NO major roads running through them, aren't on delivery truck routes, and are more than a mile from the closest freeway. I totally get people's reservations about the Park Cities and most neighborhoods north between Preston & Hillcrest corridors as being "high traffic"/ congested areas with a lot of "cut through" streets in the neighborhoods...but all of Dallas isn't like that by a long shot!

These people are generally shocked when the finally discover these neighborhoods and can't believe there are such pretty, quiet, family-centered parts IN Dallas. There is more traffic/congestion in Southlake, Frisco, Plano, etc than in Lakewood, Bluffview, Kessler Park, etc.

Not saying these areas are right for OP (as he clearly has "different" taste in home styles)- just venting that it's frustrating when people are so close-minded that they aren't even willing to look IN Dallas to understand our neighborhoods look and feel different than being 10 minutes from downtown Boston, Chicago, DC, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 09:13 PM
 
3,478 posts, read 6,527,355 times
Reputation: 3239
Quote:
Not saying these areas are right for OP (as he clearly has "different" taste in home styles)- just venting that it's frustrating when people are so close-minded that they aren't even willing to look IN Dallas to understand our neighborhoods look and feel different than being 10 minutes from downtown Boston, Chicago, DC, etc.
But what it really comes down to is the money. And the schools.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-16-2010, 09:23 PM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,154,575 times
Reputation: 13130
Quote:
Originally Posted by mSooner View Post
This is NOT Flower Mound...there is very little new construction going on in Flower Mound. What is being built? 400k+ beautiful homes or estates out in west Flower Mound. Maybe if you were in Frisco or McKinney you would have to worry about this, but NOT Flower Mound. This is coming from a former resident...not a Dallasite who has only been out there once, probably when it was in its building boom 10 years ago.

For what you want, you are going to really like Flower Mound. The schools are superb, it's beautiful, the area is safe, and you can get a lot of home for you $$$. Yes, the commute sucks, but there are tradeoffs everywhere.
Yes, but many house hunters are just like OP- people relocating or moving out of the city who look for houses from Murphy/Firewheel all the way west to Southlake. They aren't particularly set on FM when the begin searching, they're looking for an "x" square foot home no older than "2000-y" in a very broad geographic area. So while FM may be close to being built out (which ai don't think is true), but the competition in Southlake, Frisco, Little Elm, Lantana, Allen, McKinney, Prosper, Savanah, etc is still building. It's pretty easy to convince someone who just moved out of a $400k, 1200sf cottage in Seattle that for just a "tiny" bit further drive, they can be in a bigger/newer/better home in Lantana or wherever. They don't seem to understand that when they get transfered again in 3-5 years, another buyer is goin to bypass their home for an even bigger/ even newer/ even better home just a tiny bit further out.

Let's face it- most all of the northern suburbs from east to west are VERY similar- good to great schools, clean well-manicured neighborhoods, similar assortment of retail/entertainment/restaurant options... It's more a decision of which one you can afford and what kind of commute you can tolerate, and for some, whether you prefer to live near lake/airport/golf course.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Dallas

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top