House investors/flippers (Dallas, Plano, Richardson: wood floors, apartments, rent)

[gocubs418]

Money is cheap and easy to get..... seems to be a cyclical business that goes when the market crashes from idiot consumers who live above their means.

I support Capitalism so if they are willing to put in the time. Then so be it.

[SC2TX]

Some brick is ugly but is it worth the extra maintenance bill to your home to paint all of the brick? We are looking for a solid/stable neighborhood/community. We are focusing our search on Lake Highlands and Richardson, also considering the Mid cities of Coppell, Grapevine and Colleyville. Plano maybe if someone can convince me it's really worth the extra time in commute with the other several hundred thousand people for 3 years of high school. Husband will be working downtown Dallas and traveling with his job. 1 son graduating high school in May and other will be entering 10th grade. The high school is very important for younger son but keeping my husband's sanity intact is equally important with regards to a commute. We need 3 years of public high school. Son not interested in private school. He would rather not be in the huge Plano schools. He is coming out of a high school of 1400 total. He attends a STEM magnet now but our district puts the magnets in stand alone schools. He attends school with kids from all over the district but these kids will graduate with their peers from their base high school zoned to the place in which you reside. We have a realtor and I am being fed listing changes as they come available on MLS. Many of the responses about flippers is spot on. The one person who is a flipper, keep using integrity in your work. Builders need to remember this as well. Shoddy new construction is prevalent and at a premium price.

[WorldKlas]

OP, you may be interested in this thread: //www.city-data.com/forum/dalla...l#post42196957

I believe homes being served by Hebron High School are a good value but no closer than Plano.

I wish you luck finding a home! I know it's a big challenge.

[TurtleCreek80]

Is needing to repaint your home's exterior every 15-20 years REALLY that big of a maintance expense? I think not but ymmv.

For a downtown commute and a somewhat smaller high school experience, I'd keep looking at Lake Highlands and also consider Woodrow Wilson (Lakewood area). Both are highly diverse schools drawing from a wide geographic area, but the more affluent kids put up much higher SAT scores than the school's average would have you think.

Coppell is the furthest out suburb I would consider (personally) from a drive time perspective.

I would also add Richardson's JJ Pearce HS zone to your search. High school is fantastic, ranks in the top 10 of area high schools. It's south of Plano. Housing stock similar to LH but either bigger homes or slightly lower prices.

[clickbear]

If you are going to consider Pearce keep Richardson HS in mind as well. Others may disagree but the campuses are starting to have more similarities within some of the student population. If your children will be in AP classes the classroom experiences at Pearce, RHS, & LHHS are comprobable for the most part.

[GrandParent555]

If your child is interested in STEM studies then TAMS(free boarding stem school in Denton), Dallas magnet schools or STEM Academies in Plano or Coppell are great choices.

If you want Plano schools but short commute than North Dallas with Plano schools is your only choice, may be far West Plano near DNT@GBTP but rest of Collin county is a long commute. Otherwise go with Lake highlands, Lakewood or JJP area.

[GrandParent555]

I was reading a popular realtor estate expert's blog and it said that to break into a desireable neighborhood without breaking your budget, bid on homes that aren't updated yet. That's where you get best value and then slowly over the years you can bring it to your taste or market's taste and make good money when you sell. Buying low in most wanted locations with most wanted schools is the way to make sure that you are buying right.

If you are buying a flip then flipper is the one who'll make money and those cheap updates may go out of fashion in few years. Older but personally updated nicer homes usually have timeless quality.

[4Movingeast]

We painted our brick and all exterior trim and added gutters last year. I did lots of research and talked to many pros. What I learned is paint is different than it was years ago. Everyone is free to make decisions for their property unless you are in a HOA that forbids it, and once we submitted the request, ours granted it. We rolled the dice buying a home where the brick was not harmonious with the Spanish tile roof. There was plenty of time for us to make sure there were no issues with the home structurally before we proceeded, and I spent time choosing body/trim colors that enhanced the tile roof rather than fighting with it. We had people stopping us in the yard after we had it done telling us what a positive change it was and how pleased they were (us too, I told them!). Colleyville and other burbs are full of pink brink homes that are being renewed with updated color schemes/landscaping and in my mind it is a good thing.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by karenw729

Why is painted brick a mistake? We remodeled our ranch and painted the brick and we love it. It was painted a few years ago and so far so good. I think you need to make sure and have good gutters and drainage to prevent water from running down the side of the house, which we have done. Our house was kind of remodeled for sale when we bought it and the owners painted every interior wall gray. Hideous. We quickly changed that. Plus every new build house I go into these days is gray and white. It's a trend.

Every time the brick painting issue comes up a number of people post negatively............sometimes it's done to weather protect deteriorating old bricks and mortar. Alternatively, a neighbor painted her brick home, the brick was '60s era pale yellow/tan. She chose gray with dark shutters and dark accents. The house looks vastly better.

If you used the right paint it should last 15 or more years trouble free.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by GrandParent555

If your child is interested in STEM studies then TAMS(free boarding stem school in Denton), Dallas magnet schools or STEM Academies in Plano or Coppell are great choices.

If you want Plano schools but short commute than North Dallas with Plano schools is your only choice, may be far West Plano near DNT@GBTP but rest of Collin county is a long commute. Otherwise go with Lake highlands, Lakewood or JJP area.

For clarification.

1. TAMS does not offer free room and board. The legislature arranges payment for tuition, books and fees and that's partially offset by a parent program charge that must be paid.
2. Parents/students don't simply decide to attend TAMS. It's competative admissions only, seriously competative.

https://tams.unt.edu/admissions/math-practice-exams