Prestonwood: Any home there worth >$350,000 (Dallas, Alto: for sale, countertops, mortgage)

[sruth]

I'm considering a home in the Prestonwood area, near Arapaho & Preston Road, east side of the area in Prestonwood. The average home in the immediate area is >22 years old, and has a realtor value of ~$245,000. The home I'm looking at is fully renovated at a high level, it's gorgeous, but it's listed at >$350,000.


Okay you Prestonwood folks, if this was your son or daughter buying into the neighborhood, what advice would you give them pertaining to the price to offer ? What's the fair market value for a fully renovated 3000 square foot home there?

[turnbun]

I would not buy the house. My advice is always buy the cheapest house in the nicest neighborhood you can afford. You make money on the buy side, so if you buy the most expensive house on the block, you will not make much money if you have to turn around and sell it later (or you could lose money). I would buy the least expensive house I could find in your target neighborhood and renovate it myself. If you have $350k to spend, I would upgrade the neighborhood before I would upgrade the house. Does that make sense????

[momof2dfw]

First, it is NOT the most expensive house in the neighborhood nor in the area. Granted it is not in the areas surrounding it that are fetching the high dollars and on up to a little over $3MIL. Yet, it is near all of those areas and surrounded by them (Glen Abbey, Preston Trails, Bent Tree). Looking at realtor.com at the homes in the area that are for sale most of them have been remodeled and updated except for a few. Saw one house that was listed at $599K that was NOT remodeled or updated and had some lovely wallpaper in the kitchen to go along w/ the formica countertops and dated appliances . The homes in this area are all custom homes and you will find all different styles, probably one of the best areas in Dallas to find such an array of varying architectural styles and quality. I remember most of the builders in that area and they were all pretty reputable. If your kids are wanting a certain style home (somewhat contemporary I'm assuming) but with a bit of traditional and high quality then this will be the area to find it. Still in a good area and schools around there so for a young family that is a plus and convienent to most of the metroplex. As for this particular house, tax rolls have it a lot less than the asking price but higher than the realtors value. Ask your realtor to honestly tell you if they believe the house will appraise anywhere close to the asking price. They should know. The sellers are not going to sell it for less than what the county tax office has it appraised at (to check for any house go to dallascad.org) and the norm around here is the tax offices "total market value" is typically 10% less than the "real" market value. I'd say the real market value is probably closer to $305-310K BUT I AM NOT A REALTOR. Just familiar w/ that area and how the tax appraisal office works (sadly). AND!!! YOU DO NOT WANT TO OFFER A PRICE THAT IS WAY OVER WHAT THE TAX OFFICE HAS IT APPRAISED AT! Something like 10-20% over is one thing. What will happen is the DCAD will next year raise their taxable market value to what the buyers paid and you CAN NOT GET IT DOWN that year no matter how hard you protest and what "extras" were left and included in the price. Which if they DO buy something that is "personal property" from the seller like an appliance, pool table, etc the price can be included in the contract BUT put a value on EACH ITEM so that those items are NOT included on the tax rolls. If your kids are getting a loan the bank/mortgage company is going to have an appraisal done. If they offer $340K and the appraisal comes back at $300K then your kids will have to come up w/ the cash difference if the seller refuses to come down. Then the sellers realtor SHOULD tell them that they will need to really consider that this could be the best offer they get and since the house will not appraise at the price they want they better take it all into consideration.

Hope this helps some and good luck.