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Posting about this community with zero discussion on this forum, AFAIK. We are a couple with a baby on the way and preparing to move out from our apartment to our first own home = house. We've settled for a newbuild to ensure energy efficiency and modern open floorplan layout (has proven difficult to find in older homes and we have no experience in remodeling). We are aiming for 2500sqft ballpark size with a decent yard. One and two story layouts are fine. My wife has been living in Plano & Frisco for few years but I moved from Europe a few months ago so have not much local expertise...
Working with a realtor, we have spoken to a number of builders: Cambridge, Trophy, Lenar (or something like that), American Legend and Huntington. Highland Homes is out of budget (our absolute cap is $550k). Visited the following communities: Edgewood, the Grove, Prairie View, Legacy Edgemont and one close to 380 whose name I can't remember. My wife works in north Plano so that's a restricting factor when thinking how far north we can go. I'm wfh so more relaxed.
The community & builder combo we have preliminarily chosen is Trophy homes at Frisco Springs (by Eldorado, between Dallas North Tollway and Preston). Found a nice looking floorplan and based on the word on this forum (and our realtor), Trophy Homes are at least a decent builder. Would try to hire an inspector though to be on their case during the construction. The house size is 3500sqft so slightly big for us (but we really like the layout) and it has a decent back yard. We would have fine with 2700sqft floorplan but they had almost no backyard space.
I have some questions about the location and would really appreciate your insights:
1) Commute-wise the location works really well with us; my wife's office will be ca. 15 min away (subject to traffic), CostCo, Market Street etc. shops are close so adds to convenience. 6 minute drive to costco, for example. Thoughts?
2) Security-wise, I've had a look at the crime map and there are some incidents but not sure this is nothing out of the ordinary. Any insights into the security situation in this area? Could the close-ish location of costco etc. a red flag? https://geo.friscotexas.gov/friscopo...f8b44a2d81649d
3) Schools: this factors into our decision, not least from resale value perspective. This community seems to be in Rogers Elementary catchment area. I know these rankings don't tell everything BUT the school doesn't stand out as great in any case (see here: https://www.greatschools.org/texas/f...entary-School/). There isn't much written about the school online or on this forum either. Does anyone have any insights? It looks like the test results are driven by different ethnic mix and high/low income student groups have a big gap between them vs. some benchmark schools I looked at. I'm not sure what to think about this but it bothers me slightly... Does anyone have any insights on the performance of this school?
4) Google maps shows there is a railway track on the west side of the community. Not sure how active it is and our plot is on the opposite side of the community. Does anyone know the activity and "nuisance levels" of this rail track?
5) Any other thoughts about the area? Simply staring at the map and having visited it a couple of times now, it feels like a decent location but we may well have missed something security/ schools/ zoning or otherwise, despite our research. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
We go to St. Francis (before COVID at least), which is right next door to this community so I'm very familiar with this area. My first thought when I saw this post was, "I would never buy there because of the train." It is an active line, so you will have some train noise. That being said, it might not bother you two depending on what you're used to. It could affect resale at some point.
Her commute will take 15 minutes if she uses the tollroad. It will take more than 15 minutes using surface streets. I live at Eldorado/Teel and I used to commute to Legacy/DNT. Just another thing to keep in mind. Otherwise the location is pretty good. Very close to DNT and Preston, lots of shopping nearby, etc. I wouldn't worry about crime. Just keep your house and car doors locked. Most crime in Frisco is crime of opportunity.
Like you noticed, the schools aren't the best that Frisco has to offer. The downtown area is primarily lower income and minority. Can you talk to any others that have already built in the community to see what their opinion is?
The neighborhood, in general, feels a little...oddly placed? It's surrounded by a cemetery, a railroad track, apartments, and a church. It's a strange mix that I haven't really seen anywhere else in Frisco.
Thanks - good potential but with question marks...
Thanks stephwin, those are very useful insights!
Railway: we would build on the east side of the community so based on your description, we probably would hear the train noise if outside but not be covering our ears. I'm trying to find out how frequently trains pass there but so far not much luck.
Churches: we did notice there are two churches and the cemetery - we would be a couple of rows into the neighborhood so not having the graves as our "neighbors"... Since you know the churches, do you foresee them causing any disruptions once services etc. resume? Do people e.g. drive through the neighborhood to attend or is there plenty of noise/ other issues? My initial feeling is "no", after a quick look at their websites?
Crime: thanks, that's good to know.
Schools: very useful insight, thanks and I get it now. It's an interesting situation because we do see the downtown improving so I wonder if the future trajectory of the school is up rather than down, if/when the area becomes more affluent... One can always speculate!
General: yes perhaps an unexpected location with good potential but some question marks, at least for now. Compared to many other communities we have seen in our budget, I do like that it feels well connected and not like we were living in a sea of houses with nothing else around us (well, except empty prairie!). But as you say, it is a strange location perhaps. Hard to make ones mind up about it!
If you are interested in Trophy, I would have your realtor inquire with them related to when they will start selling on the lots they bought in Edgestone at Legacy. I have a family member that is going to be building w/ them in that neighborhood. The location is better at Legacy/Stonebrook. The one downside to it is many of their lots back to Stonebrook itself, which is SUPER busy, and many of them back to 4th Army (still a bit busy, but not so much). There are also quite a few powerlines around so you would just have to be mindful of that. At least that's what I immediately recall from my last drive in that area a few days ago. Price point in my recollection of speaking w/ my family is fairly similar to what you are looking at with Frisco Springs.
While I don't live in Edgestone, I live right north of it and the area is fantastic and you're still really close to Plano access either through easy access on Legacy or cutting over to DNT.
Last edited by stargirl007; 10-26-2020 at 01:46 PM..
Railway: we would build on the east side of the community so based on your description, we probably would hear the train noise if outside but not be covering our ears. I'm trying to find out how frequently trains pass there but so far not much luck.
Churches: we did notice there are two churches and the cemetery - we would be a couple of rows into the neighborhood so not having the graves as our "neighbors"... Since you know the churches, do you foresee them causing any disruptions once services etc. resume? Do people e.g. drive through the neighborhood to attend or is there plenty of noise/ other issues? My initial feeling is "no", after a quick look at their websites?
Crime: thanks, that's good to know.
Schools: very useful insight, thanks and I get it now. It's an interesting situation because we do see the downtown improving so I wonder if the future trajectory of the school is up rather than down, if/when the area becomes more affluent... One can always speculate!
General: yes perhaps an unexpected location with good potential but some question marks, at least for now. Compared to many other communities we have seen in our budget, I do like that it feels well connected and not like we were living in a sea of houses with nothing else around us (well, except empty prairie!). But as you say, it is a strange location perhaps. Hard to make ones mind up about it!
Thanks again!
I think the only time you might have an issue with the church is during one of their bigger services, like Christmas Eve and Easter and maybe their cultural day if they continue that. Traffic gets really awful and they usually hire police to direct it. I'll admit that we've cut through the neighborhood during one of those big services to get out a little faster. But I don't think you'll have any issues outside of those.
Oh wow that area is so so busy. Right across fro Warren sports complex I believe. A big No. And I agree, Edgestone is probably better location wise.
Yes the sports complex is pretty much opposite the community. The main issue being that it creates tons of traffic so coming in/going out becomes a challenge? I don't anticipate noise being a huge issue for us since we're further into the community... Green & picnic areas & running trails would be a plus for us.
Interesting, what do you think are the main issues for the desirability? Our initial impression is somewhat positive:
1) commute is decent to the shops @ legacy area (15 minutes subject to traffic, of course)
2) all weekly shopping (target, best buys, costco etc.) close by but not close enough to cause noise
3) Unlike some other neighborhoods in our price class (target: ca $500k for 4 beds, we're getting 3555sqft with a BIG lot for $560k) viewed (e.g. prairie view), this one didn't feel like we are miles from any civilization and have to drive into empty prairie to find a sea of houses where ours is located..
4) initial impression of the ethnic mix in the area is positive (not entirely Asian - although the area is not nearly fully built)
5) we liked the builder: modern look & product with open & airy layout & good sized yard, not a stamp size. No need to spend ages at the design center... Size-wise, our target was 2500-2800 but the lot availability made us go big... We need that decent outdoor space (not huge, just decent to play with our dog, maybe build a small pool etc.)
6) Schools (we have our first baby on the way): a decent Frisco ISD elementary (Rogers) catchment area which still appears to suffer in the ratings due to low income students, but maybe this will improve in the future as Frisco downtown gentrifies. Who knows. Not too worried about that.
7) very reasonable HOA (900$ per year) - at least for a new build
Have also visited the Grove (similar properties available but HOA is 1400$+ per year and commute time is comparable. You can hear the hum of the highway for Trophy homes in the area...), will have a look at the RidgeView Crossing (Allen ISD, almost in the corner of Sam Rayburn & I-75, as a good elementary close by, not sure of the lot size though). Edgestone at Legacy looks better on the map but those powerlines... Prairie View, is a no and in terms of the builder, so is Lennar(?), Cambridge and American Legend because of unsuitable look & floor plans. Ideally we'd look at Highland Homes but they are out of our budget and we don't want to go to all the way to 380/ Prosper. So that leaves the better connected areas of Frisco, West Allen and North/West Plano (but haven't found anything suitable there).
Insights & ideas most welcome! Not trying to shut you down with the above, just listing all the things we've considered, for the sake of transparency.
Yes the sports complex is pretty much opposite the community. The main issue being that it creates tons of traffic so coming in/going out becomes a challenge? I don't anticipate noise being a huge issue for us since we're further into the community... Green & picnic areas & running trails would be a plus for us.
I don't think the park traffic will be bad. The neighborhood exit has a traffic light too.
One thing I keep seeing you mention is "prairie view." Don't count on that lasting long. All of those houses on the other side of Eldorado used to be empty land. Your neighborhood used to be empty land. That empty area to the east and north of you will develop at some point. I just don't know what they'll put there.
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Thanks - good potential but with question marks...
