First time home buying - Coppell, Flower Mound, Grapevine & West Plano (Dallas: appointed, schools)

[mSooner]

Thanks mSooner. According to the maps, Wellington estates seems to be the last one on FM road. We will keep checking homes in this area. With our budget constraint, we might be restricted to 0.15 to 0.18 lot sizes. Are these homes in these lot sizes difficult to sell later considering people prefer FM for bigger lots. We are thinking of preferring relatively later built homes vs lot size.

The lots are smaller, definitely. I personally don't like the cramped feel of that particular neighborhood, but I honestly cannot speak as to whether or not they will sell better or worse than other FM homes. Original Wellington is prob your best bet--bigger lots and you should find some in your price range. Honestly, it will be a trade off between a newer home vs a larger lot. The portion of Wellington across from Wellington Elementary and backing to Flower Mound High School was built between 2000-2004ish. You might find something you like there.

[adixyz]

Both Wellington HOA and Flower Mound Town have strict rules on sidewalks, roads, general upkeep..etc. Typically any subdivision approval within Wellington has to go through lot of approval/ permit processes to meet the standards. Some of the recent subdivisions have smaller lots than the ones built before 2000 but you will have to wait endless (or be lucky) to find a house with bigger lot and like it as well.
If you are looking in Wellington at this time, the inventory is so low, you will be hard pressed to find a house you like and chances are if you do not react swiftly, it will be gone. I don't see lot size a factor in Wellington. Its more of a personal choice and relative to your needs.

[ritholtz]

Thanks mSooner and adixyz.

[ritholtz]

Is higher price and High HOA dues ($2200 per year) for Hackberry creek justifiable compared to similar homes in Valley Ranch assuming they are in same ISD. Lot sizes in Hackberry creek are very small even compared to VR.

[new2aus]

Hackberry Creek is nice and has a great location, but it is in the Carrolton-Farmers Branch ISD. Las Colinas Elementary is the neighborhood school that serves Hackberry and it has a very good reputation, but I think there are some mixed feelings about the middle/high schools...Barbara Bush and Ranchview. (those are the same schools that serve the east side of Valley Ranch as well as La Vallita in Las Colinas) I'm a member at Hackberry Creek Country Club and many of the people that I've met there that live in the neighborhood look at private school.

I don't think you could go wrong with Coppell ISD, but you might have a hard time finding something you like in Coppell proper with a 250-275k budget. The west side of Valley Ranch with Coppell ISD could be a good option and it sounds like that would be very close to your office. I think Flower Mound would also be a great option, and your money would buy more, if the commute isn't a problem. Realistically all of the places you are considering are nice and I don't think you could go wrong with any of them.

[ritholtz]

Originally Posted by new2aus

Hackberry Creek is nice and has a great location, but it is in the Carrolton-Farmers Branch ISD. Las Colinas Elementary is the neighborhood school that serves Hackberry and it has a very good reputation, but I think there are some mixed feelings about the middle/high schools...Barbara Bush and Ranchview. (those are the same schools that serve the east side of Valley Ranch as well as La Vallita in Las Colinas) I'm a member at Hackberry Creek Country Club and many of the people that I've met there that live in the neighborhood look at private school.

I don't think you could go wrong with Coppell ISD, but you might have a hard time finding something you like in Coppell proper with a 250-275k budget. The west side of Valley Ranch with Coppell ISD could be a good option and it sounds like that would be very close to your office. I think Flower Mound would also be a great option, and your money would buy more, if the commute isn't a problem. Realistically all of the places you are considering are nice and I don't think you could go wrong with any of them.

Thanks new2us. There are few homes in Hackberry creek with Coppell ISD with smaller lots (0.09acre). Trying to see if these are more desirable than relatively newer homes in Valley Ranch part of Coppell ISD with bigger lots and price/size being equal.

[loves2read]

You are trying so hard to find what other people think is the better choice--but they aren't going to be living in the house...
you should make a list of what you want in a house, a neighborhood and prioritize
decide what is the least you are willing to accept

when we were house shopping, we wanted privacy in our back yard even though we don't even spend lot of time outside with a pool...but we had that in the house we were moving from and decided it would be difficult to enjoy any time outside if we felt we had people staring into our backyard...

we also knew we wanted an open living arrangement with kitchen/den open
wanted a second bedroom and bath downstairs for older visitors...
AND I wanted a garage that was accessible w/o lot of backing up/turning to get in...preferably one that was R to L turning...that was difficult to find...

we thought we wanted two living areas down--but bought a house with only 1
we thought we needed a large master bedroom to fit our bedroom furniture--but because our master closet is so large, with built in chests--we only needed our triple dresser (to hold the cable box and DVD player) and night stands...
we repurposed the other bedroom pieces in other areas of the house

We thought when we started that we wanted a larger lot--mainly for privacy--but that would have meant moving farther out (like Aledo or north Keller) and/or spending more money to be in Colleyville or Southlake...

We are pretty happy with the house we bought--one thing that has been more of a problem than we ever considered is the HOA for this neighborhood...our first neighborhood had voluntary HOA that 99% of homes belonged to and our HOA was useful in enforcing property concerns==like neighbors running a roofing business out of their house...so we had positive attitude...
our current HOA changed from builder to HOA control shortly after we bough--it was/is run by people with much more personal agendas and the bylaws have been rewritten to give all power into the Board's hands..making changes doesn't appear to be desired by enough people in the HOA so we are stuck in this situation...

would suggest before you spend the kind of money you are considering that you make sure you get true picture of how any neighborhood HOA operates and the type of people on the Board...
that info is supposed to be available online now after new state laws but reading the bylaws isn't always complete picture of how the Board/HOA operates...
should go to a meeting and see for yourself...

[ritholtz]

Originally Posted by loves2read

You are trying so hard to find what other people think is the better choice--but they aren't going to be living in the house...
you should make a list of what you want in a house, a neighborhood and prioritize
decide what is the least you are willing to accept

Thanks loves2read. Sorry for asking too many questions.

[new2aus]

Originally Posted by ritholtz

Thanks new2us. There are few homes in Hackberry creek with Coppell ISD with smaller lots (0.09acre). Trying to see if these are more desirable than relatively newer homes in Valley Ranch part of Coppell ISD with bigger lots and price/size being equal.

Good to know. I just looked at a map and it looks like a tiny sliver on Waterford Drive. I think that could be a great set-up for the right person - especially a golfer or someone looking for a gated community. Personally I'd prefer Hackberry Creek over Valley Ranch if I liked the house.

The negative I could see is that might feel a little less of the Coppell community feel for the kids since Pinkerton isn't in the neighborhood. Not a big deal, but just means it might be a little less likely to have a bunch of kids in the neighborhood that your kids would know from school.

[ritholtz]

Originally Posted by new2aus

Good to know. I just looked at a map and it looks like a tiny sliver on Waterford Drive. I think that could be a great set-up for the right person - especially a golfer or someone looking for a gated community. Personally I'd prefer Hackberry Creek over Valley Ranch if I liked the house.

The negative I could see is that might feel a little less of the Coppell community feel for the kids since Pinkerton isn't in the neighborhood. Not a big deal, but just means it might be a little less likely to have a bunch of kids in the neighborhood that your kids would know from school.

Thanks new2aus. There are few zero lot homes on that road. Other downside is high HOA without any recreational benefits.