Preston Hollow v. HPISD for Young Family

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

C-D won't let me give you any more reputation, so here's a post to say that I TOTALLY agree with your POV here. Look, I get that people can afford 6K sq ft homes in very nice areas, but why do so many people buy that? The trend (driven by developers but sadly pushed by homebuyers) is to buy the largest house that can possibly be shoehorned into a lot. Drives me crazy. And DFW being a higher percentage of newer construction means we see a ton of that.

I think they do it purely for resale value. We lived in two homes in the Park Cities when I was growing up and we built both of them. The first one was all two story vaulted ceiling great rooms 2 story glass windows, etc. Minimal SQFT. for a more unique and WOW factor. When it came time to sell, all anyone wanted to know was SQFT, and that's how the house was priced. The next house we built was a boring box that got as my SQFT. as possible, because that's what sells in the PCs.

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

I think they do it purely for resale value. We lived in two homes in the Park Cities when I was growing up and we built both of them. The first one was all two story vaulted ceiling great rooms 2 story glass windows, etc. Minimal SQFT. for a more unique and WOW factor. When it came time to sell, all anyone wanted to know was SQFT, and that's how the house was priced. The next house we built was a boring box that got as my SQFT. as possible, because that's what sells in the PCs.

It's just where the market is going. One, the area is essentially 100% built-out. If the lot is say 1M, 6-700k in construction costs, you're going to need to price it at 2M to cut a profit as a builder- at the 2M point, it's going to need to be high-end finish, but also 6000 sq ft.

Soaring ceilings and atriums are great, but most see the home online first and the sq footage second. I have been in 3000 sq ft homes that seem open and airy and larger than poorly laid out 5000 sq ft homes.

[BabyDoctor77]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

1. To find a $265k home in the Park Cities, you'd have to time travel back to the mid 1980's, and even then you'd be buying a 2200sf cottage.

2. They're bulldozing the 3000+SF, $1.2M homes because more people don't want old "small" homes anymore...even when they've been lovingly maintained and updated over the years. A builder can buy the lot for $1.2M, put a 6000sf x $300/SF home on it, and sell the whole thing for $3.5M+...a tidy $500k profit for builder and a humongous family home for 4 people who can't imagine living in a tiny 3000sf home together.....I don't agree with it but that's why it's happening.....there's demand for a product that doesn't exist in the 3000sf 1940's homes

What is the going rate in the Park Cities for a 60 x 140 lot? Has the price per square foot hit close to $400/sq foot yet?

[GreyDay]

More like $80-90 per sq ft for a lot. Or a lot with a tear down on it. You may be thinking house pricing.