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You can get a bigger low-quality diamond for the cost of a better grade small gem. Or even a cubic zicornia! I'm sure those are popular out in big box land.
While I generally believe older homes are built better than many new ones, I don't think this is always the case. There are some crap homes in Flower Mound, but I believe most are pretty well built and many are gorgeous custom homes that rival anything in Lakewood.
Look at the homes built in the same time period as those in Lakewood, but in areas that are not as well kept up. They look like crap. It's really about how you maintain your home, not necessarily how it is built. Lakewooder...you posted that your family has had excellent luck with their home(s), but I don't think it is unfair to say that most of the beauties in the Lakewood area have been well taken care of or carefully restored/updated.
If the type of people who live in Flower Mound now keep living there for the next 20, 30, 50, 70 years, I don't think the homes will be any different.
I do love the architectural style of some of the homes in Lakewood, though--especially the Tudors. Cant really say I care much for the ranches, though. Awful period of architecture. (IMHO)
What is the best middle and high school in Lakewood?Thanks
Lakewood, Stonewall Jackson, Lee, and Lipscomb elementary schools in East Dallas (Lakewood & surrounding areas) all feed into Long MS and Woodrow Wilson HS. The other option for high school would be a DISD magnet (like Booker T Washington HS for Performing Arts, the Business & Law HS, etc) if your kid(s) have a particular focused talent/interest where they perform at an extremely high level. Magnet schools are by application/audition only.
Wilson is easily one of the two best "neighborhood" high schools in DISD. The other one is WT White in northwest Dallas.
Well, I commute from way the hell out every day, and it's nowhere near $2500 a year.
Clearly, your commute doesn't involve tolls. If one needs to use the Dallas North Tollroad or Bush Tollroad to commute, it can be in the $5-7/day range. My commute from uptown to Legacy is $6/day, or $1,500/year.
Not to mention that when you're driving 15,000+ miles a year, you go through tires more frequently, need 5 oil changes a year, and hit those milestone maintenance markers (30k miles, 60k miles, etc) more often than someone with a 6 mile daily round-trip commute.
Quote:
Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere
Second, you're not factoring in a lot of other things. How about the extra $2000 - $4000 a year for taxes? Or the extra cost of repairing an older house?.
No, on an equally priced home (say $250,000), the tax difference between Dallas and Denton/Tarrant County is negligible....a few hundred dollars a year, not $2-4k.
Home repairs is one I'll give you. Even so, my mom lives in a very well-built 1950's ranch slightly north of Lakewood and has had only one "old age" repair in the past 5 years....fixing a deteriorated pipeline going from her home to the sewer line in the alley. Believe that was $2k. My grandparents live in a 1920's Highland Park Tudor and other than fixing the routine things that VCR out every decade or two (water heater, various plumbing), the house is built like a fortress. As long as the home inspects well and isn't near the end of a 30-year roof, older homes can be good to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere
Or how about that, even if your math is entirely correct, you can still get a significantly nicer and better house out here than down there? Plus, you don't have to deal with living in Dallas, which is a big plus..
That point all comes down to personal preference, which is neither right nor wrong. I see living in Dallas as the big "plus" and I would rather have a smaller home to get the benefit of living in the city- that's my personal preference. You want a bigger newer home and prefer living in a suburb- that's your choice. So what?! Again, I'm not presenting Lakewood as a "one size fits all" neighborhood, but there are definitely great starter homes there that you don't have to be a millionaire to afford. It's not just an area for rich people, which if people only read your posts, they might believe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere
Also, I have a couple of friends that teach in Dallas...just because a school has a good rating doesn't mean it's a school you'd want to send your kids to.
Lakewood Elementary is good, but the middle and high schools are more
questionable. Not the case in Flower Mound.
I am quite picky about schools. Being a HPHS graduate and Top 20 Uni graduate, education will be the #1 priority when I have kids. Based on my friends (mostly HP grads) kids' experiences with Lakewood and Stonewall Jackson schools, I'd have no qualms about sending kids there. If we end up living in Lakewood, it would be only until we could trade up to HPISD. But that's because if I have the financial chance to send my kids to the best district in the area, I'm going to sacrifice everything else to get them there. Boyfriend agrees with this since he is a fellow HP grad.
I don't have enough personal experience with Long to make a call about the middle school, but I wouldn't write it off until I visited the school and talked to parents & kids. I know many many smart & successful people in Dallas who graduated from Woodrow, White, & Hillcrest.
There are a lot of bad schools in DISD, but that doesn't mean you write off the whole district. The district is educating nearly 200,000 students, half of which are poverty level and don't speak English at home. Clearly, there are challenges that FM or other suburbs don't have. But if you look hard and do your homework as a parent, I believe there is a school for most every kid's talents/ interests/ learning style in DISD.
Plus, for the record, I have several good friends who teach in Plano ISD, which is a highly-rated district that people on this forum gush over. My teacher friends think the district is run by a bunch of idiots. They have no creativity to adjust teaching methods from the "Plano way" if their kids aren't getting it. The whole district is focused on test scores, not learning. The district is terrified of lawsuits (and theyget sued many times each year), so they don't support and back-up teachers to parents. Education is a tough arena to work in, no matter where.
Last edited by TurtleCreek80; 12-18-2010 at 12:53 PM..
Clearly, your commute doesn't involve tolls. If one needs to use the Dallas North Tollroad or Bush Tollroad to commute, it can be in the $5-7/day range. My commute from uptown to Legacy is $6/day, or $1,500/year.
Every morning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80
Not to mention that when you're driving 15,000+ miles a year, you go through tires more frequently, need 5 oil changes a year, and hit those milestone maintenance markers (30k miles, 60k miles, etc) more often than someone with a 6 mile daily round-trip commute.
I need two extra oil changes per year. And tires will occur about every 2 years instead of 3.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80
No, on an equally priced home (say $250,000), the tax difference between Dallas and Denton/Tarrant County is negligible....a few hundred dollars a year, not $2-4k.
I meant if you use your math and purchase a home that's closer but $75,000 more expensive, then you're on the hook for the extra taxes plus the extra mortgage payment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80
Home repairs is one I'll give you. Even so, my mom lives in a very well-built 1950's ranch slightly north of Lakewood and has had only one "old age" repair in the past 5 years....fixing a deteriorated pipeline going from her home to the sewer line in the alley. Believe that was $2k. My grandparents live in a 1920's Highland Park Tudor and other than fixing the routine things that VCR out every decade or two (water heater, various plumbing), the house is built like a fortress. As long as the home inspects well and isn't near the end of a 30-year roof, older homes can be good to you.
They sure can. But the little stuff is more expensive as well. Older homes require more custom work, so that price goes up.
Everything just sort of adds up. It's not a direct dollars for dollars comparison.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80
That point all comes down to personal preference, which is neither right nor wrong. I see living in Dallas as the big "plus" and I would rather have a smaller home to get the benefit of living in the city- that's my personal preference. You want a bigger newer home and prefer living in a suburb- that's your choice. So what?! Again, I'm not presenting Lakewood as a "one size fits all" neighborhood, but there are definitely great starter homes there that you don't have to be a millionaire to afford. It's not just an area for rich people, which if people only read your posts, they might believe.
It's an area that is overwhelmingly for, at a minimum, upper middle class. A nice-sized home up here will run about $180K to start with. Nothing even comes close to that in Lakewood.
However, your point stands. No place is one size fits all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80
I am quite picky about schools. Being a HPHS graduate and Top 20 Uni graduate, education will be the #1 priority when I have kids. Based on my friends (mostly HP grads) kids' experiences with Lakewood and Stonewall Jackson schools, I'd have no qualms about sending kids there. If we end up living in Lakewood, it would be only until we could trade up to HPISD. But that's because if I have the financial chance to send my kids to the best district in the area, I'm going to sacrifice everything else to get them there. Boyfriend agrees with this since he is a fellow HP grad.
I don't have enough personal experience with Long to make a call about the middle school, but I wouldn't write it off until I visited the school and talked to parents & kids. I know many many smart & successful people in Dallas who graduated from Woodrow, White, & Hillcrest.
There are a lot of bad schools in DISD, but that doesn't mean you write off the whole district. The district is educating nearly 200,000 students, half of which are poverty level and don't speak English at home. Clearly, there are challenges that FM or other suburbs don't have. But if you look hard and do your homework as a parent, I believe there is a school for most every kid's talents/ interests/ learning style in DISD.
Plus, for the record, I have several good friends who teach in Plano ISD, which is a highly-rated district that people on this forum gush over. My teacher friends think the district is run by a bunch of idiots. They have no creativity to adjust teaching methods from the "Plano way" if their kids aren't getting it. The whole district is focused on test scores, not learning. The district is terrified of lawsuits (and theyget sued many times each year), so they don't support and back-up teachers to parents. Education is a tough arena to work in, no matter where.
My wife teaches in LISD. I have friends that teach in DISD, in both "good" and "bad" schools.
It's not just the challenges that DISD faces (which LISD does as well - my wife has kids that don't speak a bit of English, or are close to poverty level), but it's the manner in which DISD addresses them.
Having been through both systems from the inside, Flower Mound is overwhelmingly the better choice if you look at elementary through high school.
Dude, nobody's listening to someone who clearly hates his life and is a miserable person. I stopped reading after the word "getmeoutofhere." Why don't you just get out of here since it is so bad?
Dude, nobody's listening to someone who clearly hates his life and is a miserable person. I stopped reading after the word "getmeoutofhere." Why don't you just get out of here since it is so bad?
That seems entirely unnecessary and more than a little rude. If I'm the miserable one (which always makes me laugh, by the way), then why are you the one going out of your way to attack someone on a stupid message board?
No doubt. Flower Mound schools are 5x better than DISD schools. If you do live in Lakewood or another part of Dallas, you can always do private schools if you feel it is necessary, though of course it's costly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere
Every morning.
I need two extra oil changes per year. And tires will occur about every 2 years instead of 3.
I meant if you use your math and purchase a home that's closer but $75,000 more expensive, then you're on the hook for the extra taxes plus the extra mortgage payment.
They sure can. But the little stuff is more expensive as well. Older homes require more custom work, so that price goes up.
Everything just sort of adds up. It's not a direct dollars for dollars comparison.
It's an area that is overwhelmingly for, at a minimum, upper middle class. A nice-sized home up here will run about $180K to start with. Nothing even comes close to that in Lakewood.
However, your point stands. No place is one size fits all.
My wife teaches in LISD. I have friends that teach in DISD, in both "good" and "bad" schools.
It's not just the challenges that DISD faces (which LISD does as well - my wife has kids that don't speak a bit of English, or are close to poverty level), but it's the manner in which DISD addresses them.
Having been through both systems from the inside, Flower Mound is overwhelmingly the better choice if you look at elementary through high school.
No doubt. Flower Mound schools are 5x better than DISD schools. If you do live in Lakewood or another part of Dallas, you can always do private schools if you feel it is necessary, though of course it's costly.
Agree. Not sure how many people can afford the high private school fees. Texas property taxes are one of the highest in the country and more than 50% of it goes to the ISD.
While I generally believe older homes are built better than many new ones, I don't think this is always the case. There are some crap homes in Flower Mound, but I believe most are pretty well built and many are gorgeous custom homes that rival anything in Lakewood.
Look at the homes built in the same time period as those in Lakewood, but in areas that are not as well kept up. They look like crap. It's really about how you maintain your home, not necessarily how it is built. (IMHO)
This couldn't be more true..And you can make a crap home in say FM a shining beauty with the right updates over time. Same updates any older home would have to see. The only way you're going to get a home thats built like Mike Holmes would do it is to build it yourself. Otherwise, chances are you get either builders spec, or old and needs updates, then you make it your own.
FM has some beauties on the western side of town and some of the builders that built there we quality and build solid structures.
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