Preston Hollow v. HPISD for Young Family (Dallas, University Park: apartments, how much)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by BabyDoctor77

We live in University Park and send our daughter to Hockaday. In fact, a lot of families on our street send their children to elite privates. Lower taxes and better city services/safety are a strong point in the Park Cities.

We wrestled with the notion of better city services and proximity to downtown as big pluses for The PCs.

At the end of the day what swayed it for us is we wanted to be very close to Ursuline. The comparable, although different, home one a much bigger lot for far less money drove us to pick PH.

[HockDad]

Originally Posted by EDS_

We wrestled with the notion of better city services and proximity to downtown as big pluses for The PCs.

At the end of the day what swayed it for us is we wanted to be very close to Ursuline. The comparable, although different, home one a much bigger lot for far less money drove us to pick PH.

Just for kicks, I put into Moderator cut: not allowed the zip 75205 and looked for homes under 1.25 million. For the most part, pretty darn unimpressive. There are a couple of homes on the block by the tollway or duplexes, but you really can't find much of anything in that zip code that is not at least a bit crappy for 1.25 million (especially when you consider you are spending A MILLION BUCKS).

Then type 75230. The homes in the same price range are far newer, nicer and bigger. Still limited selection, but the ones you can buy, are pretty nice.

When living in PH the biggest draw back is you are not in the PC, but the homes are substantially nicer in the same price range.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by HockDad

Just for kicks, I put into Moderator cut: not allowed the zip 75205 and looked for homes under 1.25 million. For the most part, pretty darn unimpressive. There are a couple of homes on the block by the tollway or duplexes, but you really can't find much of anything in that zip code that is not at least a bit crappy for 1.25 million (especially when you consider you are spending A MILLION BUCKS).

Then type 75230. The homes in the same price range are far newer, nicer and bigger. Still limited selection, but the ones you can buy, are pretty nice.

When living in PH the biggest draw back is you are not in the PC, but the homes are substantially nicer in the same price range.

I grew up in 75230; my parents still live there. I guess whether you buy in PC or 75230 depends on whether you want to pour money into a house or pour money into a private school's coffers.

There were tons of kids on my street; the local elementary was Preston Hollow. Some of my neighbors went there, but we were all split up between a dozen private schools. The parents on my block bent over backwards to make sure we kids all at least KNEW each other, but not everyone did that. There's definitely a lack of neighborly friendliness in PH.

[HockDad]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

I grew up in 75230; my parents still live there. I guess whether you buy in PC or 75230 depends on whether you want to pour money into a house or pour money into a private school's coffers.

There were tons of kids on my street; the local elementary was Preston Hollow. Some of my neighbors went there, but we were all split up between a dozen private schools. The parents on my block bent over backwards to make sure we kids all at least KNEW each other, but not everyone did that. There's definitely a lack of neighborly friendliness in PH.

Totally agree. We gave up the closer nit neighborhood for a bigger house, bigger lot, and newer construction. I miss seeing all of the kids running around, but don't regret my decision. My kids arguably get a better education and I don't have to live in a house built 50 years ago.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by HockDad

Totally agree. We gave up the closer nit neighborhood for a bigger house, bigger lot, and newer construction. I miss seeing all of the kids running around, but don't regret my decision. My kids arguably get a better education and I don't have to live in a house built 50 years ago.

Please. Some of the most valuable real estate in the Park Cities pre-dates my own home (built in the 50s) by decades. Ditto Swiss Ave and Lakewood. Old doesn't mean crappy.

But yeah, everything else about PH is spot-on. I wouldn't live there again, even if it was in my price range.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Please. Some of the most valuable real estate in the Park Cities pre-dates my own home (built in the 50s) by decades. Ditto Swiss Ave and Lakewood. Old doesn't mean crappy.

But yeah, everything else about PH is spot-on. I wouldn't live there again, even if it was in my price range.

I think the point they are trying to make is 1.5 million house in Preston Hollow is going to be is either going to be newer and nicer, or much larger than a 1.5 million dollar home in HP.

I mean come on, you're pretty much JUST paying for the land at this point:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...99-61274?row=1

But on the other hand there are multiple houses I'd PERSONALLY rather live in then a new house on PH. It's all about preference:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...1-30829?row=22

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...84-07625?row=3

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...9-43664?row=25

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

I think the point they are trying to make is 1.5 million house in Preston Hollow is going to be is either going to be newer and nicer, or much larger than a 1.5 million dollar home in HP.

I mean come on, you're pretty much JUST paying for the land at this point:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...99-61274?row=1

But on the other hand there are multiple houses I'd PERSONALLY rather live in then a new house on PH. It's all about preference:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...1-30829?row=22

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...84-07625?row=3

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...9-43664?row=25

Yes, 1.5 million goes much further in PH than in the Park Cities, but there are good reasons for that. You really do have to consider the staggering cost of private school in PH. DISD schools are only for the very brave or the poor. It's a very sad state of affairs.

My parents went the PH/private school route, partly because they felt a Jewish family would be made to feel unwelcome in the Park Cities in the 1970s and partly because they really had their hearts set on a specific school and didn't see the point of paying a premium for public schools that they were not going to use anyway. So they rolled that savings into college funds for my brother and me, and into their retirement. Worked out very well for them. YMMV.

ETA: I'm not accusing anyone of anything here. I'm just saying that things were quite different 40 years ago when they were house-hunting.

[GreyDay]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

I think the point they are trying to make is 1.5 million house in Preston Hollow is going to be is either going to be newer and nicer, or much larger than a 1.5 million dollar home in HP.

I mean come on, you're pretty much JUST paying for the land at this point:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...99-61274?row=1

But on the other hand there are multiple houses I'd PERSONALLY rather live in then a new house on PH. It's all about preference:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...1-30829?row=22

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...84-07625?row=3

http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...9-43664?row=25

150 x 50 feet in PC goes for what an acre goes for in PH. The houses on the high end (not the estates mind you) are 5-6000 sq ft in both PH and PC.

1.5 million in PH is a nice spread, room to breath, but school issues. Also, all that money spent on private school is gone. The extra money spent to put a kid in HPISD is made up at sale time.

Empty lots in PC are going for upwards of 800k these days- I'd say a peak is near, but all it takes is someone willing to pay it.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by GreyDay

150 x 50 feet in PC goes for what an acre goes for in PH. The houses on the high end (not the estates mind you) are 5-6000 sq ft in both PH and PC.

1.5 million in PH is a nice spread, room to breath, but school issues. Also, all that money spent on private school is gone. The extra money spent to put a kid in HPISD is made up at sale time.

Empty lots in PC are going for upwards of 800k these days- I'd say a peak is near, but all it takes is someone willing to pay it.

I think it rely comes down to how many kids you have. I think most people who can swing a home in either PH or PC could afford a private school for a single child. It's when you start getting into 2-4 kids that really has PC looking like a better option.

As for what you can get in PH vs PC for a million bucks etc. I love living in the PC area but I wouldn't spend much more than we're spending on our current home, either PH or PC. We're looking at a (newer construction) vacation home 1000 sq ft larger than our current home with 9 acres of land near an ocean and lake for only $400,000. The view is simply spectacular! Now thats a deal.

[BabyDoctor77]

When comparing the Park Cities and Preston Hollow, just looking at the absolute prices between two similar homes can be deceiving.

1. The property tax in the Park Cities is significantly lower (2.0%) compared to Preston Hollow (2.75%). 2. Properties in Preston Hollow only qualify for a 15% homestead exemption compared to 20% in the Park Cities
3. Our realtors at City Center advised us that average Preston Hollow home appreciation is 3-4% a year compared to typically 6-7% a year in the Park Cities. (Of course the last few years have been a bit of an exception for everyone).

Keeping all this in mind, along with record low mortgage rates, I would venture to say your investment would easily break even with 1 kid in HPISD. In our case, we live in the Park Cities and send both kids to private schools. The city services (police/fire response time, area upkeep) is no comparison in the Park Cities compared to anything in Dallas.