Questions about "The Colony" TX (Dallas, Plano: new home, neighborhood)

[hereticiam]

We have been focusing our search for a new home in Plana/Allen/Frisco area.
Inventory is just not there and it is very competitive.

We were exploring expanding our search to other areas. Even if it means potential for the worse commute.
I can be selective in where I work and may pursue remote work only. My wife's job is 100% remote already.

We found a home in a city called "The Colony" TX. I have never heard of this city before.
This home meets every need of indoor/outdoor living we have ever imagined.

Good homes don't last long so I am trying my best to learn about this city.

Schools assigned to it are:
Elementary: Prestwick K-8 Stem
Middle: Lowell Strike
High: Little Elm
District: Little Elm ISD

Prestwick looks excellent but the high school does not.

We are considering alternatives to Little ELM high school.
what are our options?
Are there charter schools, magnate schools, or private schools in this area?
Is it difficult to get into charter/magnet schools?
If it is a private school does it include transportation to school?
In MN private schools' cost ranges from 15K to 35K per year.
We will be signing up for private schools for 2 kids for four years so dependent upon the cost of school it may be quite expensive even if we can afford it.

I plan to reach out to Prestwick to make sure they will accept us if we live in this home.
My kids were born here. They are good students and do well in school but they enjoy non-academic activities. They love sports in general and are obsessed with football. They ski, swim, ice skate, play soccer, and are in flag football leagues. I want them to get a good education but I don't want them to be a highly competitive school where all they are expected to do is academics. This is why Frisco schools scare us a bit. Currently, my kids are in elementary and middle public schools. I compared them with West Plano/Frisco/Allen and found them to be very comparable. There is a significant difference in ratings/test scores/proficiency between our current schools and Little ELM schools.

Hoping to make a decision today so we can either make an offer this weekend or keep looking.

Appreciate how kind everyone has been to answer our questions.

[texstout]

Magnet schools are generally found in urban areas. For example, Dallas ISD has amazing competitive magnets - I doubt you will find them in a very far north suburb. Private schools are generally also located within Dallas. There are a few privates out there within/near Plano, but generally they will be very religious since most people move to the suburbs for the good public schools. Private schools do not include transportation and the prices in MN are consistent with most urban privates (slightly less for parochial schools).


Generally, Little Elm homes that feed into Frisco schools are more desirable, as are homes in the The Colony that feed into Lewisville schools. That said, I generally believe that a good student will perform pretty much the same in any of these schools.



I've heard people say that Little Elm can be undesirable if you are reliant on highway 380 to get anywhere. I"m sure someone else can speak to that better.

[stephwin]

texstout made some good points that I'll add onto.

Private school options are limited up here (I live in far NW Frisco). The biggest and most well known is Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco. I think you have to prove you are a member of a church to even enroll and I'm not sure how good the academics are compared to Frisco ISD. I've heard good things about the K-8 Stem school, but mixed thoughts about the middle and high school. As you already noted, Little Elm ISD scores lower than surrounding districts.

Definitely don't buy off of 380 or in a neighborhood that requires the use of 380. That would be a deal-breaker for me.

[biafra4life]

Honestly for your budget ($1.2 million correct?), the Colony wouldnt be where I would be looking. For a long time the Colony (and to a lesser extent Little Elm) was where people who couldnt afford Frisco ended up. Now there have been some new developments in the Colony like Grandscape, but I still dont think it's the most desirable part, especially for your budget.

[hereticiam]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

Honestly for your budget ($1.2 million correct?), the Colony wouldnt be where I would be looking. For a long time the Colony (and to a lesser extent Little Elm) was where people who couldnt afford Frisco ended up. Now there have been some new developments in the Colony like Grandscape, but I still dont think it's the most desirable part, especially for your budget.

Yes budget of 1.2 million is correct.
My wife found a home that had everything she ever wanted.
I wanted to evaluate if we can make it meet our needs.
Based on responses we have ruled out the home in The Colony, TX.

Thanks for your collective wisdom.

[TurtleCreek80]

I think there are better places to park $1.2M than The Colony - even if you don’t check item on your dream home box. That said - I assume the home is in The Tribute which is a very nice master planned golf course community.

The biggest con - and it’s a BIG ONE - is it’s location, it’s very very far from a major Highway - to get to 121 or the Dallas North Tollroad, it’s about 15-20 minutes or more depending on how deep you are into the neighborhood and how many school zones to drive through. The Tribute is on a peninsula on the lake and there is only 1 road in/out of there, it backs up REALLY bad in rush hour. While there is “stuff” on 423 (grocery store, gas station, Wal Mart, a few gyms, banks, donut stores, fast food, etc), you have drive far every time you want to go out to dinner or do more than basic shopping or any kid sports / activities / Bday party places.

I would absolute not make any offers without putting your boots on the ground to investigate and make sure you are with a lot of car time.


Have heard good things about Prestwick STEM. The high school is not good - generally LEISD not desirable compared to neighborhood districts. You would be driving very far to find a non-Evangelical private school for high school. No magnets that I’m aware of. I have no idea about charter schools. By the time your kids are in high school, you’ll be looking at $40k+ per year per child for non-Catholic, non-Evangelical schools in Dallas / North Dallas. They are already at $35k per year for high school and go up 3-4% per year. Catholic high school is about $5-10k less expensive.

[hereticiam]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I think there are better places to park $1.2M than The Colony - even if you don’t check item on your dream home box. That said - I assume the home is in The Tribute which is a very nice master planned golf course community.

The biggest con - and it’s a BIG ONE - is it’s location, it’s very very far from a major Highway - to get to 121 or the Dallas North Tollroad, it’s about 15-20 minutes or more depending on how deep you are into the neighborhood and how many school zones to drive through. The Tribute is on a peninsula on the lake and there is only 1 road in/out of there, it backs up REALLY bad in rush hour. While there is “stuff” on 423 (grocery store, gas station, Wal Mart, a few gyms, banks, donut stores, fast food, etc), you have drive far every time you want to go out to dinner or do more than basic shopping or any kid sports / activities / Bday party places.

I would absolute not make any offers without putting your boots on the ground to investigate and make sure you are with a lot of car time.


Have heard good things about Prestwick STEM. The high school is not good - generally LEISD not desirable compared to neighborhood districts. You would be driving very far to find a non-Evangelical private school for high school. No magnets that I’m aware of. I have no idea about charter schools. By the time your kids are in high school, you’ll be looking at $40k+ per year per child for non-Catholic, non-Evangelical schools in Dallas / North Dallas. They are already at $35k per year for high school and go up 3-4% per year. Catholic high school is about $5-10k less expensive.

This was the home
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...89524093_zpid/

The outdoor and indoor were great.

We started looking for a place to move to and narrowed it down to Raleigh and Dallas.
We spent a lot of time looking at homes. Dallas is a much bigger city and showed us a wide variety of homes so we felt confident that it has a pre-existing home that will meet our needs. We did not feel the same about homes in Raleigh. It also got quite expensive in the last 12-18 months so we moved on from Raleigh. We added Atlanta to the mix as a plan B but the primary choice still is the Dallas suburbs.

Thanks

[tmtex]

Colony is much older than the sounding cities. Some of it could be label as blue collar I think

[DFW_FTW]

Good gawd. You want to drop $1.2 million into Little elm ISD and The Colony address.

We have reached peak bubble territory at this point.

Time to buy some puts


If I had $1.2 million to burn and park into Little elm / The Colony, I would hope someone would slap me silly and point me to the below homes instead.


For the sake of your kids education and your investment, remove your honeymoon glasses and wake up.

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Frisco/537...home/109677891

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Frisco/139.../home/31841019

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Plano/2513.../home/32100110

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Plano/2801...home/144138868

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Allen/600-.../home/32153715

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Allen/1130...home/167673932

[hereticiam]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

I think there are better places to park $1.2M than The Colony - even if you don’t check item on your dream home box. That said - I assume the home is in The Tribute which is a very nice master planned golf course community.

The biggest con - and it’s a BIG ONE - is it’s location, it’s very very far from a major Highway - to get to 121 or the Dallas North Tollroad, it’s about 15-20 minutes or more depending on how deep you are into the neighborhood and how many school zones to drive through. The Tribute is on a peninsula on the lake and there is only 1 road in/out of there, it backs up REALLY bad in rush hour. While there is “stuff” on 423 (grocery store, gas station, Wal Mart, a few gyms, banks, donut stores, fast food, etc), you have drive far every time you want to go out to dinner or do more than basic shopping or any kid sports / activities / Bday party places.

I would absolute not make any offers without putting your boots on the ground to investigate and make sure you are with a lot of car time.


Have heard good things about Prestwick STEM. The high school is not good - generally LEISD not desirable compared to neighborhood districts. You would be driving very far to find a non-Evangelical private school for high school. No magnets that I’m aware of. I have no idea about charter schools. By the time your kids are in high school, you’ll be looking at $40k+ per year per child for non-Catholic, non-Evangelical schools in Dallas / North Dallas. They are already at $35k per year for high school and go up 3-4% per year. Catholic high school is about $5-10k less expensive.

Originally Posted by DFW_FTW

Good gawd. You want to drop $1.2 million into Little elm ISD and The Colony address.

We have reached peak bubble territory at this point.

Time to buy some puts


If I had $1.2 million to burn and park into Little elm / The Colony, I would hope someone would slap me silly and point me to the below homes instead.


For the sake of your kids education and your investment, remove your honeymoon glasses and wake up.

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Frisco/537...home/109677891

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Frisco/139.../home/31841019

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Plano/2513.../home/32100110

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Plano/2801...home/144138868

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Allen/600-.../home/32153715

https://www.redfin.com/TX/Allen/1130...home/167673932

Thanks for this list. Our realtor sent us some but not all of these to us.
We plan to check them out this weekend.

We were not looking in The Colony. All the home searching is done by me. My wife somehow stumbled onto the colony home. I sent it to my realtor. He did not say any of the drawbacks listed in this thread.

you are doing better than our realtor :-)