Buying a home - Preston Hollow or Kessler? (Dallas, Plano: crime, neighborhoods)

[RZMA]

My husband, toddler, and I are moving back to Dallas and are house hunting.
We lived in Dallas for a couple of years, roughly 10 years ago. When we lived in Dallas previously, we lived in Highland Park.
We assumed we would return to HP, but the market has changed a bit since we left.
We would ideally like to stick to our budget of 2M, and would like new construction with a decent sized yard - obviously not happening in Park cities.
We see homes in both Preston Hollow and Kessler that would work. We are familiar with Preston Hollow, but Kessler is unknown to us. It was considered a rough neighborhood when we lived in DFW previously, but our realtor described it as up and coming, and a good buy. When we lived in Dallas previously, Preston Hollow was less young family friendly, and more older folks.
Our child will go to private school, so schools are not relevant, and my husband works from home for a company out of state- so a commute isnt a consideration.
We just want to know from locals about kessler vs Preston hollow. We want to be able to take walks and go to the park, and not be in a dangerous area. We want our child to be able to play outside with other neighborhood kids. We want to know our neighbors, and also not have crime on our doorstep.
Any feedback would be appreciated!

[Treasurevalley92]

Originally Posted by RZMA

My husband, toddler, and I are moving back to Dallas and are house hunting.
We lived in Dallas for a couple of years, roughly 10 years ago. When we lived in Dallas previously, we lived in Highland Park.
We assumed we would return to HP, but the market has changed a bit since we left.
We would ideally like to stick to our budget of 2M, and would like new construction with a decent sized yard - obviously not happening in Park cities.
We see homes in both Preston Hollow and Kessler that would work. We are familiar with Preston Hollow, but Kessler is unknown to us. It was considered a rough neighborhood when we lived in DFW previously, but our realtor described it as up and coming, and a good buy. When we lived in Dallas previously, Preston Hollow was less young family friendly, and more older folks.
Our child will go to private school, so schools are not relevant, and my husband works from home for a company out of state- so a commute isnt a consideration.
We just want to know from locals about kessler vs Preston hollow. We want to be able to take walks and go to the park, and not be in a dangerous area. We want our child to be able to play outside with other neighborhood kids. We want to know our neighbors, and also not have crime on our doorstep.
Any feedback would be appreciated!

Kessler is much prettier and closer to more interesting stuff. Preston Hollow has some beautiful homes but is less pretty.

I don't know when you last lived here, but I've been here 10 years and at no point during that time has it been considered "Rough."

"Up and Coming?" It was wasn't cheap 10 years ago, though I agree it is a great investment simply because they don't build neighbourhoods like that anymore and it hs absolutely had great increases.

[TurtleCreek80]

Well, I wrote a huge thing but lost it...

Basically:

Kessler - not “up & coming” and question any realtor whose opinions are that out of date.
Pros: terrain, architecture, location w/r/t downtown and Bishop Arts
Cons: not near many private schools, not a ton of kids
It’s safe but not HP safe.

PH (we live here)-
Pros: big lots, location is central and also close to most privates, lots of new construction
Cons: kids all go to different schools, whether they play together outside really depends on your block (how many kids, ages, what schools they attend, how social the block is)
It’s safe but not HP safe. Very few parks - we have to drive to PH Park or play at our schoop’s Playground. Northaven trail is great!


Is your housing budget the same in HP as in PH/Kessler? Because Dallas taxes will run you about $10k more per year and private school is easily $20-30k by early elementary years. That $30-40k per year would buy you another $500-750k of house in HP if that’s really where you’d rather live.

[RZMA]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Is your housing budget the same in HP as in PH/Kessler? Because Dallas taxes will run you about $10k more per year and private school is easily $20-30k by early elementary years. That $30-40k per year would buy you another $500-750k of house in HP if that’s really where you’d rather live.

HP would be preferable, but we noticed that there isn't anything new construction under 4M, although your point makes me want to look into University Park for this reason.

Also thank you on your feedback of PH/Kessler. Exactly what I needed to know. Thanks so much.

[numbersguy100]

We live near Kessler and candidly, I can’t imagine visiting each and not knowing based on feel which is right. Kessler is a great, social community where neighbors want to get to know one another. Even in E Kessler where the lots are larger, there’s tons of walking around the neighborhood. People who are social tend to know their neighbors there although people who want to be left alone also manage that. I think in Preston Hollow that’s fairly block specific, as TC80 mentioned. I don’t know how to screen for that in PH other than asking around and getting a really good realtor.
If you really prefer the lifestyle of Park Cities, I would probably make do with “less house” than you might prefer and make it work on your $2mm budget. You won’t be buying a tear down. But if you prefer private school in any circumstance, I get it. We would send our kids to private school whether we lived in Plano, HP, or anywhere else. I don’t think you can make a specifically wrong decision between the two parts of town in that case, but you just need to get a feel for whether the neighborhoods are right for you.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by RZMA

HP would be preferable, but we noticed that there isn't anything new construction under 4M, although your point makes me want to look into University Park for this reason.

Also thank you on your feedback of PH/Kessler. Exactly what I needed to know. Thanks so much.

That’s silly. I grew up in the Park Cities. No reason to get hung up on HP vs UP as there is no meaningful difference between the two.

[TeamLynn]

What school are you going to send your kids to? Might be a hike from Kessler.
To me two very different areas, with different demographics, different social status.
Two different price ranges as well in my opinion.
Neither area has a lot of new construction to choose from, but I'd think general PH area would have more.

[turf3]

I'd lose that "new construction" preference. It's unnecessary and it'll limit your choices enormously.

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by turf3

I'd lose that "new construction" preference. It's unnecessary and it'll limit your choices enormously.

^^^ That, for sure!

[Prumio]

What is your definition of "new construction"? Do you mean that you would be the first people to live in it or something less than, say, 10 years old? If the latter, check out the western side of "Preston Hollow" (always a vaguely defined area). There are many homes between Inwood/Midway, north of NW Hwy, that would meet your criteria. We visit in this area alot and have seen quite a few recently. Also a number of brand new constructions that should be on the market in coming months. "Devonshire" & "Briarwood" might also be attractive to you (south of NW Hwy).