best comunities in the area?? (Dallas, Plano: university, shop, activity)

[Txstar]

I think you have to wait 24 hours before you can PM or recieve PM's.

[socketz]

Flowergal, it take about 24 hours before you can send PMs (private mail).

Once this feature is enabled, you will be able to click on my name and select "send a private message to socketz"

Thanks for the compliment. I've spent alot of time looking around, reading and talking to people about Real Estate. I did the same thing when I lived in San Diego and Orange County. Liked it so much, I got my license and started working the market there. It's very enjoyable to me.

[Muse123]

Personally, we picked Panther Creek in Frisco. We too, read about foreclosures, etc but did our own research. First, we visited and walked the area, then we drove through adjoining neighborhoods. Finally, we visited the Frisco police web site and mapped crime stats and location of registered sex offenders. Panther Creek Estates did not have these issues. We also read many online web forums and checked with friends. This similar process was used to evaluate other locations, e.g. Plano, McKinney, etc.

We discovered that there are many new homes in Frisco and McKinney and just about every neighborhood in our price range, $250K to $300K had foreclosures. Having ridden a number of housing waves in years past an looking to stay put for 5 years, we felt that Frisco and Panther Creek Estates had the best potential for home appreciation in 5 years. Our decision was based on the slated expansion of El Dorado, Preston, proximity to Tollway and the higher prices of neighborhoods surrounding Panther Creek Estates.

Then again, that is the conclusion of our research. All the best with the house search.

[Muse123]

I should point out in the previous msg, that we are moving from North Dallas. Prior to that, lived in Carrollton and Denton in N. Texas.

[CallMeLaura]

We're buying in Stonebridge. Although there were a lot of really nice houses in Plano in our price range, they all looked the same. The houses were the same, the neighborhoods were the same, and it all just kinda ran together in a big blah.

Fair or not, we didn't consider Frisco because we didn't feel the city services were capable of supporting the growth they've experienced recently.

And I know we looked in Allen, but I honestly can not remember anything we saw. It was probably the same deal as Plano - cookie cutter subdivisions.

I would suggest not buying the biggest house, just because it would be a steal on the coast. If you ever need to sell, you'll have to sell it in Texas, where we're not used to that kinda crazy housing market.

[Lakewooder]

Be aware those areas are very far north. If you work way out there, then ok, but realize at resale time not everyone wants something that far out that is not brand new (yep that's the mindset up there).

[rpiper138]

We decided on the Vistas at Waterstone. It is about as far south west as you can go and still be in Frisco. Even to the point where phase 2 of the Shores at Waterstone is Little Elm ISD.

There are a couple of concessions that we had to be able to make and live with:

1/ Pulte homes does not allow for a lot of customization during construction. Fortunately the build quality appears to be very good and the pricing allows some changes post construction.

2/ FM423 northbound (Main Street in The Colony) is a nightmare in the evenings. The expansion to 6 lanes doesn't seem to be starting very quickly, but for now Legacy to Lebanon gets you around the last mile of traffic.

3/ Shopping in Little Elm and The Colony have not quite reached Stonebriar levels and it is about 15 minutes to drive to Stonebriar. Building continues at SH 121 to the south and Eldorado to the north.

4/ Restaurants are lacking in much the same way as shopping.

5/ It is a long way to the closest hockey rink. This would not be a problem if I wasn't Canadian.

The big advantage of Waterstone is Frisco ISD and the distance from Lake Lewisville. Prices are also very reasonable. We purchased 3900 square feet for very low $300s.

[bluescreen73]

rpiper138 - Welcome to the area. From what part of the great white north did you hail?

FYI - FM423 won't be 4 lanes from Blue Sky in The Colony north to US380 until 2011 at the earliest.

I also doubt shopping in LE & The Colony will ever be like Stonebriar. The Colony, being adjacent to 121, will have better shopping in due time as the highway is completed. Little Elm has grandiose plans to add a faux downtown development in the next few years to capitalize on the traffic generated by the Lake Lewisville Toll Bridge.

Being in Little Elm ISD isn't a bad thing if you've got young kids. The elementary schools are all fairly decent. The high school is what drags the district down.

[$DFW8$]

Originally Posted by CallMeLaura

We're buying in Stonebridge. Although there were a lot of really nice houses in Plano in our price range, they all looked the same. The houses were the same, the neighborhoods were the same, and it all just kinda ran together in a big blah.

Fair or not, we didn't consider Frisco because we didn't feel the city services were capable of supporting the growth they've experienced recently.

And I know we looked in Allen, but I honestly can not remember anything we saw. It was probably the same deal as Plano - cookie cutter subdivisions.

I would suggest not buying the biggest house, just because it would be a steal on the coast. If you ever need to sell, you'll have to sell it in Texas, where we're not used to that kinda crazy housing market.

First of all, I love Stonebridge! It is very nice and in my opinion, it's the best housing development in McKinney.

But I don't agree about the part about Frisco not being able to support the growth. I know several people on the Frisco Economic Development Board and many of the city leaders. They have done an excellent job of keeping up w/ the growth. You dont here anything on the news really about Frisco as far as problems go. They have taken measures to control the growth and be proactive on expanding roads(Dallas North Tollway, Eldorado Parkway, etc.). But this goes for McKinney as well.

You can go onto the Frisco Economic Development website for updates on developments and they have a whole page of history on Frisco. They even have video that explains how the city went from a small rural town w/ a population of about 5,000 to a large fast growing suburb of over a 100,000 people .

It's very interesting about the growth in the Dallas Area. The growth pretty much started heading North from Dallas. First, it was in the University Park, Highland Park, and area inside 635. Then it moved on past 635 into Richardson, Carrollton, and Addison Area. Then the growth moved into Plano and boy did the land go fast! The growth then overflowed into Frisco, Allen, and McKinney. Now the towns just north of this area, including Prosper, Little Elm, and Melissa. Propser is also doing an awesome job of controlling the growth. Prosper is a very proactive town and there is a lot of new developments going on there now that the Tollway has been expanded all the way up to 380.

[rosscountry]

Originally Posted by LOK222

Thanks guys..

I will check into the areas you guys mentioned.

I got an apartment already in Frisco so once there we can explore around some more. I do like the idea of being a little bit away from the crazy traffic so maybe Mkinney will be better for us than Frisco? we'll learn a lot the first few weeks there I'm sure

-LOK

becareful of moving to mckinney for less traffic. The new city manager is very pro development and Mckinney plans on leading the area in employment opportunities and it will increase its shopping and restaurant venues to rival Frisco. 75 and 380 won't support the bottlenecks..
Also mckinney one of the fastest growing cities in the country..
What do you think is going to happen with Traffic. it will be just like Frisco soon enough.

Look at Allen and beat the traffic.